Anything For A Friend

Chapter 1 - The Kiss

Chapter 1: The Kiss

Rhiannon

I was nineteen when they asked me to kiss him. That was eleven years ago. I'd known for awhile the poor kid had liked me, so it hadn't come as a complete surprise. They always teased him about it. Max was such a shy, quiet, polite kid. My brother and his other friends often taunted him in front of me, without coming right out and saying it. He liked me. It didn't matter to him that I was nine years older than him, and a good foot taller. It also didn't bother me that I was the object of some kid's fantasies, especially since he was such a sweet kid. It was kind of flattering. 

It was their idea to have us kiss in the treehouse. I didn't really care. I wasn't expecting to do much more than give the kid a quick peck on the lips. After all, I might have been nineteen, but I'd never kissed anyone before, either. I was hardly the one to be giving lessons on the subject. The boys wanted to make sure my parents didn't find out. I wanted to make sure no one found out.

I was in the treehouse when he climbed up at four o'clock that Friday afternoon. He was such a cute kid, with his chocolate brown hair and midnight blue eyes. I could tell he was going to grow up and be a heartbreaker. Someday he would develop crushes on women much sexier and much more experienced than myself. I was the tip of the iceberg. The older sister of one of his closest friends.

He looked embarrassed. "You don't have to do this," he stated. "I know you're just doing it because you feel sorry for me," he said with wisdom well beyond his years.

"Who said I feel sorry for you?" I asked with a smile on my face. "I'll tell you a secret, if you want," I offered.

He nodded, looking expectantly at me.

"I've never kissed anyone, either. It'll be my first kiss, too!" I exclaimed, hoping to make him less nervous.

He looked up at me, "But you're old," he said. "You don't have to lie. It's just cool that you're doing this at all. The guys didn't think you would. They just asked you to try and humiliate me," he explained.

"I happen to be wise to their games. I'm on your side. You're much cooler than they are, anyway," I said, ruffling his shaggy locks. "You ready?" I asked him. He nodded.

The truth was, I really hadn't ever kissed anyone before. I was quite embarrassed by this fact. The only one who knew this sad tidbit of information was my best friend, Bria. Now, Max knew, too. He just didn't believe me.

He closed his eyes and puckered up. I stifled a giggle, not wanting to embarrass him. He was just so darn cute! I leaned towards him, put my lips on his, and kissed. I was about to back away when the little bugger put his hand on the back of my head, pushing my face into his. His tongue was trying to get in my mouth. Seriously? This kid knew more than I did. I was starting to feel icky. After all, he was a kid. I'm not sure how I did it, but I managed to keep his tongue out of my mouth and end the kiss gracefully. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I didn't want to go to jail, either.

I looked at him to see his reaction. He was staring at me, smiling. "You didn't slap me," he said as he turned off the video camera. We had been taping it to show my brother and Max's other friends. I was planning on burning it once they viewed it.

"Hey, you gave the tongue thing a shot," I said. "I admire your gumption. Ten years from now, if you want to try that again on me, I might respond more to your liking," I reasoned. That elicited another smile out of him.

"I'll remember that," Max said, licking his lips suggestively. It was a pretty humorous sight.

"You watch too much TV," I exclaimed, tousling his hair with my right hand. "Now lets go show this to the perverts down there."

As I stuck my head out to begin climbing down out of the treehouse, I saw the hooligans waiting for us. My little brother, Joey, was there along with his friends Jake and Brent. "How'd it go up there, Cougar?" Brent asked.

"Did you show him the time of his life?" Joey asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Shut up," I replied. "No need for explanations. The proof is in the tape." As I hopped down onto the green grass in our back yard, I pulled the tape out of my backpack. Max hopped from the ladder as well, and we all began walking toward the garage, where the old VCR and 19" TV were set up and ready to help us prove that we had in fact kissed.

I hooked the camera to the VCR and pushed play. There we were, smooching on camera. Hey! I hadn't noticed Max's little had resting on my butt during the kiss. I looked over at him. He was looking from me to the TV, back and forth.

"Woo hoo," Jake hollered. "You touched her butt, bro."

Max just smiled.

"Why did you let him?" Joey looked at me. He might have been twelve, but his tone mirrored that of a father.

"Honestly, I was too busy keeping his tongue out of my mouth to notice that. He's a slick one," I humored.

"Max, you devil," Joey remarked. "Next time, though, use those moves on someone your own age.....and someone whose not my sister!"

Max

I couldn't believe that I had actually kissed Rhia. I'd loved her my whole life. Well, as long as I could remember, anyway. I loved her big brown eyes and her pretty brown wavy hair. Most of all, I loved her because she was always smiling and never mean to me. She treated me the way she treated everyone else, instead of like the dumb kid I really was.

My hand was on her butt during the kiss, true, but I was just showing off for the guys. I was in my glory since she had agreed to kiss me, and I wanted to live it up for as long as I could. I knew I didn't have an ice cube's chance in hell with her, but I appreciated the fact that she was willing to play along.

The guys were always trying to embarrass me around her, but she never played into it. I loved her even more because of that.

I wasn't a stupid kid. I knew I'd grow up and probably marry someone else. After all, Rhia would be nine years ahead of me in life. It was nice for the time being, though, and when you're ten, you live in the moment.

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Next: Max is invited along when Rhiannon's family takes her to college.

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