First Time

“Have you ever kissed someone?”
“No.”
He leaned closer.
I closed my eyes and leaned forward slightly, as if to give permission, the anticipation was making my hands sweat.

6 Weeks Earlier

Christian, a normal everyday 13 year old, well, mostly normal.
Jack, average 15 year old athlete.
We met in summer baseball, I was right field, which is baseball code for “you suck”. I spent a lot of time watching Jack, he was the pitcher. We didn’t talk much then. But he was the only one on the team who was nice to me. Everyone else just ignored me. Day after day I would stand in the sweltering heat watching the infield make plays, trying to be ready in case I got a chance to actually touch a ball. But mostly I’d watch Jack, he was amazing, consistently whipping the ball int