Unexpected | Teen Ink

Unexpected MAG

June 26, 2010
By ssophiaa GOLD, Falls Church, Virginia
ssophiaa GOLD, Falls Church, Virginia
17 articles 0 photos 52 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You cannot operate from a concern of how you're perceived."
--Kevin Kittle


First kisses are supposed to be perfect. They're supposed to be romantic and sweet. You're supposed to fall in love just after you kiss and feel fireworks all over your body. You're supposed to be under the stars at your front door after the perfect date. A shooting star flies by, and he says, “I just wished that you would kiss me,” and you – feeling unusually flirty and confident, because you're in a perfect moment – kiss him and it lasts for the perfect amount of time and doesn't get gross or walked in on by your parents. And then he says he loves you and you say you love him too and give him another sweet kiss before walking in your door and not telling anyone about it because it was too wonderful.

That's how first kisses are supposed to be, but not always how they are.

Larkin was in the girls' bathroom after school, crying. She tried wiping at her eyeliner, but it streaked even more. Her eyelashes felt heavy and clumped, and she cursed herself for wearing waterproof mascara but regular eyeliner. Then she began to cry again and retreated back into a stall.

Her eyes were red and her lips were puffy. Her nose was stuffed up and she tried to smile, hoping no one would notice. But when she smiled into the mirror to see if it looked like tears, it was unmistakable. So she began to cry.

Again.

She finally emerged from the bathroom 20 minutes after the buses had left. There was no late bus, so she had to walk home, a mile away. And she had a huge load of homework. So she walked, sniffling as she went.

I hope I don't see anyone I know, she thought, but knowing me, I will.

And how well she knew herself, because walking right in front of her was Jackson Davies, a boy she had known since first grade but never really talked to. He was nerdy, tall and lanky, and super pale, unlike the guys she liked who were tan and buff and … well, still tall, but they were into football, not computers. Or whatever Jackson and his friends were into.

“Please don't turn around,” Larkin whispered, willing him to keep going. She made as little noise as possible with her flip-flops, but it was a challenge. However, it was also slow, so it put her even farther behind him, which was good.

A stoplight was ahead. It was a long wait, and if it was still red when she got there, she'd be forced to talk to him.

Please say walk, she willed again. But she knew luck was not on her side that day, and how right she was. She took a deep breath as Jackson turned around.

Look upset and maybe he won't talk to you, she said to herself, trying to force tears.

“Hi, Larkin.” Jackson waved.

No tears came when she needed them. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Hey,” she said softly.

He looked closer. “Are you crying?”

“I was,” she answered truthfully.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Larkin considered this. She wanted nothing more than to pour her heart out to someone who wouldn't judge her. She looked at Jackson in his white socks, pulled up to the calf, and his bright orange basketball shorts and running shoes. She figured he wouldn't be one to judge.

Five minutes later, they were sitting on a bench outside Taco Bell, talking.

“It's just that I wanted him to stay with me into high school,” she admitted, forgetting who she was talking to. “I sort of envisioned us going to homecoming and spending the summer together … I just never thought he would be the one to end it. I mean, I thought of ending it a million times, but I never did. I wanted him to be my first kiss. I wanted him to fall in love with me.”

Jackson sighed and touched her shoulder. She jumped a little at his touch, but then relaxed. He wasn't making a move; he was Jackson Davies, for crying out loud.

“You can't wish for someone to be in love with you. You just have to enjoy them so that first ‘I love you' and that first kiss are unexpected. You can't plan love,” he advised.

Larkin looked up at him, confused. Jackson's face was inches from hers, and suddenly, he wasn't so bad. His breath smelled like 5 Gum and he had freckles that were kind of … cute. His teeth were white and straight because of braces in sixth grade. And his lips were the perfect pink a guy's lips should be: not girly pink, but natural.

And now, Larkin didn't care that things weren't perfect. She didn't care that this wasn't homecoming and she wasn't in a beautiful dress with her hair done. She didn't care that Jackson wasn't asking her to dance under the stars. She didn't care that she was in a smelly Taco Bell parking lot in ripped jeans and worn flip-flops. She didn't even care that Jackson had a pizza stain on his shirt. And mostly, she didn't care that Jackson was, well, Jackson. It just felt right.

She scooted closer and leaned in. Then he leaned in and … then he stood up.

“I should get going,” he said. “Nice talking to you.”

Larkin didn't even wave. She just watched Jackson Davies, the boy she had never paid any attention to and suddenly wanted to be her first kiss, walk away from her.

She ran into the Taco Bell sniffling, clenching her teeth to fight tears. She ran straight up to the counter.

“You got a bathroom?” she asked frantically.

“For customers only,” the greasy guy at the counter replied.

“Crap!” she squeaked, running out and down the street.

Her eyelashes felt heavy as she ran and tears moved toward her ears and her flip-flops broke.


The author's comments:
There are so many articles about perfect first kisses, I wanted to write something real.

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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 69 comments.


on Jul. 21 2011 at 5:56 pm
LunaIsNotHere BRONZE, Phoenix, Arizona
4 articles 0 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I admire the concept of selling your soul for the sake of an unforgettable performance"

UIt's so true that you can't plan love. Almost all my life I'd been planning my entire life, who I was going to fall in love with, how our love was going to go, who I was going to marry, where I was gonna to college, all the way up to my retairement. But you can't just plan those things, especially love, and ESPECIALLY at age 11.

on Jul. 20 2011 at 4:13 pm
meganwagner21 PLATINUM, Old Bridge, New Jersey
42 articles 0 photos 139 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Sometimes good things have to fall apart so better things can fall together." -Marilyn Monroe
"Nobody can go back and make a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -Maria Robinson

as much as i dnt like unhappy endings, it was extremely realistic and i liked it!

on Jul. 1 2011 at 9:03 am
Bookworm1998 GOLD, Brampton, Other
17 articles 2 photos 118 comments

Favorite Quote:
Preserve your memories, keep them well; what you forget, you can never retell.

this was really good! i was hoping the story wouldn't be so predictable and it wasn't! cangrats 4 being a great writer! :)

on Jun. 30 2011 at 2:00 pm
Kat4ever333 GOLD, Orange, California
14 articles 35 photos 104 comments

Favorite Quote:
I make dark things beautiful and beautiful things dark!
-Kerli I.L.U

it's a suckish situation but it made a great story

Fizza SILVER said...
on Jun. 27 2011 at 2:14 am
Fizza SILVER, Raipur, Other
7 articles 2 photos 177 comments
a real life incident! 

on Apr. 26 2011 at 7:11 pm
kfelt158 SILVER, New Era, Michigan
7 articles 0 photos 21 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A dream will only be a dream until you work hard to make it a reality."

Beautiful! This is magazine-deserving for sure :) please check out some of my work, especially "The Red Rose." :) thanks!

on Apr. 16 2011 at 9:45 pm
FatesMistake13, Springerville, Arizona
0 articles 0 photos 157 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes." Oscar Wilde

"The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame."

i love how it isnt corny and he doesnt kiss her and they dont fall in love. its like comically real at the same time as being realistically sad :) i love it

on Apr. 16 2011 at 9:43 pm
FatesMistake13, Springerville, Arizona
0 articles 0 photos 157 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes." Oscar Wilde

"The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame."

i am 15 and havent had my first kiss either :) even if i dnt love the guy i just dont want him to be random i know it wont be perfect but oh well :)

amondal SILVER said...
on Apr. 16 2011 at 8:44 pm
amondal SILVER, King Of Prussia, Pennsylvania
5 articles 0 photos 27 comments
i am saving my first kiss for that special someone...i'm 15. i think you should give that away to someone you really love <3

leydi_bug said...
on Apr. 16 2011 at 2:41 pm
I'm 14 and i still haven't had my first kiss, but honestly i want to wait till i'm 16. I want it to be special and him to be special. Stupi? I don't care it's what I want and you should just hope for the special guy to come around the one who has the guts to give you what you deserve. Your first kiss, your best kiss, the one  that makes your knees weak and makes you want tob laugh.

ssophiaa GOLD said...
on Apr. 12 2011 at 9:23 pm
ssophiaa GOLD, Falls Church, Virginia
17 articles 0 photos 52 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You cannot operate from a concern of how you're perceived."
--Kevin Kittle

That's exactly what happened to me with my first kiss, but three years later I've found someone who makes me feel amazing and every kiss with him is special. Just wait it out. Don't rush. It's never going to be perfect if you anticipate it!

quiet1 said...
on Apr. 12 2011 at 1:55 pm
quiet1, Fort Mill, South Carolina
0 articles 0 photos 10 comments

Favorite Quote:
Live, Laugh, Love
Girls rule, Boys drool.
Peace+Love=Happiness
Love will always find its way in.
If you don't like me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best.
You drive, you text, you die.

and sometimes your first kiss is a miskake. so watch out who is going to be that very first one. who knows? maybe that one guy could be a complete stalker after you kiss him.

dreamer said...
on Apr. 11 2011 at 11:15 am
don't worry, your not the only one out there who didn't have their first kiss yet, i'm about the same age as you =)

Ryssa BRONZE said...
on Apr. 3 2011 at 7:33 am
Ryssa BRONZE, Kennebunk, Maine
3 articles 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
Don't think or judge, just listen. - Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

I still haven't had my first kiss (pathetic huh? I'm almost fifteen!) but I tihnk this is how a first kiss should be. When I was dancing with that one guy I sort of liked in eighth grade, kissing him right there didn't seem right. But with another guy, we almost did when we graduated middle school, we both chickened out, but we both knew it would have been an unexpected time, the perfect time. This is awesome! Good luck!

jocyLOL BRONZE said...
on Apr. 2 2011 at 1:15 pm
jocyLOL BRONZE, San Jose, California
2 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Everybody dies but not everybody lives" (moment for life-nicki minaj)

Ohmygod you are so right! First kisses are unexpected, it won't be like the ones in the movies, but it'll be perfect to you and that's all the matters.

ssophiaa GOLD said...
on Mar. 30 2011 at 3:25 pm
ssophiaa GOLD, Falls Church, Virginia
17 articles 0 photos 52 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You cannot operate from a concern of how you're perceived."
--Kevin Kittle

Well, the whole point is that nothing happens. Thank you for the compliment though, I'm glad someone would read one of my books besides my family!

on Mar. 29 2011 at 7:03 pm
musicloveswritting16 SILVER, Troy, Missouri
5 articles 0 photos 8 comments
that is the truth! you got it, right on the head. see, i had a guy, and we had been friends, and then one thing lead to another one night and he kissed me. for a week i let myself think that he liked me. turnes out, he never talked to me...again. so, you're right. this is the most real and true ending you could have written.

on Mar. 2 2011 at 7:54 pm
Tiannasquigglescake, Myrtle Creek, Oregon
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments
I loved it! Like, a lot. If you could make this into a book, and this as the first chapter, I would absolutely read it. I kinda want to know what happens to Larksin and Jackson. 

ssophiaa GOLD said...
on Feb. 25 2011 at 7:51 pm
ssophiaa GOLD, Falls Church, Virginia
17 articles 0 photos 52 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You cannot operate from a concern of how you're perceived."
--Kevin Kittle

Thank so much, but just to tell you, I'm not writing more. Leaving it like this is more realistic. It's a story, never intended to write a book. Thank you though!

on Feb. 21 2011 at 9:51 am
SongAway BRONZE, Burton-Upon-trent, Other
1 article 0 photos 24 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I need to find me a quote"??

I think to leave it when you did is an excellent decision, we want more. As I was reading it I thought 'ahh, so predictable. She'll have that perfect kiss with Jackson' But you didin't confor to that which is great. It's always good to suprise your readers. Erm, in terms of constructive criticism, I can't help you there, it was great!