I wanted a kiss. That was all, just one little kiss. And I wanted it from her. I knew I wanted it on that very first day, right when our brown eyes met for the first time. The first thing she said to me caught me off guard. She told me that with 5 minutes left of life she’d strip naked and run across the football field. After that, I was sold. But there was a problem. Two actually. First, I didn’t know how to pronounce her name. And second, I’ve never kissed anyone before.

I don’t even know why I was drawn to her. In my seventeen years that had never once happened before and I definitely wasn’t prepared to handle it. My strategy to get to her was slow, maybe it was romantic, or maybe it was stupid. I observed her for the first couple weeks in Human Nature class. I tried to hide my constant stare but every time I thought I was safe, her eyes flickered right towards mine and locked in place. Why was this happening? Did she think I was a creep or cute? I went with the second one, because when our eyes met, she smiled. Her smile was addictive. I craved it. My goal was to make that beautiful smile appear on her face every day. I decided to quit being secretive. I just watched her and hoped that she would notice, when she did, I would wink. Thank god she found this amusing.

I’m shy when it comes to girls, I always have been. It’s not that girls haven’t flaunted themselves at me, I just haven’t felt anything for them. I’m a senior and hadn’t found anyone to give my first kiss to, until I met that girl. Something was different. This time I could tell she wasn’t like the rest. She wasn’t trying to impress me, she was being herself. She was definitely weird and I liked it.

I was nervous about going any further. Then one day she quoted Napoleon Dynamite and that pushed me over the edge. I had to go for it no matter how scared I was. If a girl likes Napoleon Dynamite, put a ring on her finger. If she knows about Pedro’s protection you’ll be pretty safe with her. That was my justification. So I went for it and I didn’t look back.

Now if I could just say her name without looking like a freaking idiot. Her name was spelled C-a-r-a. I didn’t know if it was Car-uh or Care-uh. I had to find out before I addressed her. I hunted her best friend down and asked. Turns out it’s Care-uh. Good thing I didn’t say anything. I wonder if her friend ever told her I asked. Oh well, that’s one problem out of the way, now for that kiss.

I kept trying to get her attention, posting random funny movie scenes all over he Facebook wall and “liking” her pictures. I asked her about homework and kept the conversation going. Turns out she’s definitely unique. She’s cute. She has an excellent taste in music. And she likes Hot Rod. Not many girls are like that. I had to make her mine. Then I got a brilliant idea. I’d tell her cheesy pick up lines so it’d be obvious that I like her. And so I did. Some of my favorites include, “If you were words on a page, you'd be fine print,” “If you were a triangle...you'd be a acute one,” and “Do you have a BandAid? I scraped my knee falling for you.” I’m pretty sure she started falling too.

I worked up the nerve to ask her out. Well, hang out, that is. She seemed excited and eager to do so. I wanted to show her my guitar playing skills and hopefully that’d make her crazy for me. Sadly, the natural elements were plotting against us. Every time she tried to come over we had a huge snow storm. It sucked. Then she said she’d had enough, that we’d hang out even if it was after school in the parking lot. She said even if it rained we could just dance in it.

Finally she came to my house for the first time on a Thursday night after her ballet class. She was even prettier in worn out jeans, an old sweater, and her long brown hair hitting her at the hip. Was I dreaming? No, I decided I wasn’t. I felt her soft skin on mine and heard her heart beating steady. We watched Napoleon of course and her laughter was music to my ears. We kept glancing sideways at each other, making that famous eye contact. She blushed and I’m pretty sure I did too. She kept touching my arm and all I wanted was to take her face in my hands and kiss her. But I didn’t. I wasn’t ready, I knew she wanted it by the way she tilted her head towards mine, leaning in, but I didn’t want to screw up. I think she knows why I didn’t do it, and I think she’ll wait patiently. I hope she does, because I’ve never wanted anyone more than I want her. At least I whispered her name correctly when we said goodnight.