The first time Elliott and I kissed; we were fourteen.
The sun was just barely going down, painting the sky in a pinkish-yellow hue. I remember we had just pulled ourselves from my pool when he asked me.

    “Hey Queenie.” I had looked up from my book; Elliott was lying beside the pool, his fingers making swirls over the bumpy scar over his chest, his second tumor removal.

    “Yeah? What’s up?”
He was quiet for a moment before he said, “Have you ever kissed a girl?”
     I was taken by surprise by his question, my heart had jumped to my throat and heat flooded to my face. I cleared my throat,  “Yeah.”

    He had rolled over on his stomach to look up at me in shock, “Really? When? Who?”
I shrugged, “Fourth grade. During Kitty Argus’s sleep-over and we were playing truth or dare. I got dared to kiss Janie Flech.”
He stared down at the concrete, “How was it?”

    “It was alright, and she tasted like coconut Chapstick.”

    “Did you like it?”

    “Not really. I don’t like coconut.”
Elliott nodded before asking, “Do you like girls?” not a moment passed before he quickly said, “Not that it would matter or anything! I wouldn’t care either way! I was just curious!”

    “No. No, I don’t like girls.”

    “Oh. Okay.” Elliott nodded and we lapsed into an awkward silence.

    “I kissed a boy once.”
My head snapped up. “You did?”

    “Yeah. It was last year, with Danny Diaz. We were in detention and he suggested that we try it.”

    “How was it?” I was curious now.
He shrugged, “It was dry, and he used a lot of teeth. But he tasted like strawberries so that was nice.”

     “Do you like boys?”
He thought for a moment, “I don’t think so.”

    “It wouldn’t have mattered to me, if you had like boys, just so you know.” I turned my attention back to my book.

    Elliott had crawled towards me until he laid his head in my lap, covering my book completely. My heart fluttered when he reached up and pulled on my hair, observing its red color.

     “I’ve never kissed a girl before.”
His eyes turned to me. I could see the blush forming on his cheeks.

     “Really?” I breathed out.

    “Yeah. Have you ever kissed a boy, Queenie?”
I gulped; I was pretty sure that I was blushing a deep red as I nodded my head yes.

    “Who did you kiss?”

    “Dylan Corbin.”

    “Did you like it?”

    “It wasn’t bad. It was ok.”

    “Just, ok?”

    “Yeah.”
Elliott nodded; he pushed himself to his elbows, his face was very close to mine. I had been holding my breath.

   “I want to kiss you.” He whispered.
I’m pretty sure I looked like a fish in that moment; mouth open and red faced.

With my silence he said, “Do you want to kiss me too?”

I closed my mouth and nodded.

He pushed me up and his lips brushed mine.

His lips had been soft and tasted like mint.