Little Men from Neptune III
I woke up on the morning of the first day of school. My alarm clock was going off, shouting the familiar, �Hey Arnold!� which I hadn�t heard much of all summer long. I yawned, stretched, pulled the plug out of the potato, quieting the alarm, got out of bed, and made my way to the bathroom, which was thankfully unoccupied because I had risen so early. I entered, locked the door, and proceeded to disrobe out of my red plaid boxers and white undershirt. Long gone were the days of my blue pajamas, as I had discovered that my new sleepwear was easier and more comfortable.
I proceeded to get in the shower, letting the warm water wake me up. I washed in five minutes and stepped out of the shower, throwing a towel around my waist. I brushed my teeth and made my way back to my room to figure out what to wear. I tossed the towel to the floor, put on my boxers, and inspected myself in the mirror. I had turned 15 just a few days before, and decided that the summer had been good to me. Heh, Gerald threw me an awesome party.
�Happy Birthday Arnold!� everyone shouted as I walked in the door of Gerald�s rec room. He had helped his dad turn the basement into a rec room that summer, and it turned out to be extremely wicked awesome. Now, Gerald knew how to throw a party. I have to admit; I think he is better at party throwing than Rhonda. His parties always had loud music, great food, and plenty of girls, and my party was no exception. I don�t know where he finds these people, but they show up.
�Everyone� included all of our friends from PS118, along with about 20 people we had met in Jr. High that Gerald had become good friends with, and about 10 more people I had never seen in my life. All of them were girls.
�Where did you find all these girls, Gerald?� I asked quizzically.
�They just follow me around, man. I�m a babe magnet,� was his reply.
Ever since Phoebe and Gerald had broken up over �irreconcilable differences� last summer, Gerald had been moving from girlfriend to girlfriend every couple of weeks. I on the other hand, just watched this spectacle from the background. I had always been way too shy when it came to girls, and so I had never gotten up the nerve to ask out any of my crushes, resulting in my still having never been kissed, besides those times by Helga... which I don�t count anyway.
So, the party was going great. I was dancing and attempting to socialize by having Gerald introduce me to people who I had never met or didn�t quite remember. I also chatted to Helga and Phoebe who were standing by the snack table.
�So, Helga, check out that hot Latin hunk over there, he�s a total babe.� I heard Phoebe saying.
�Yeah, he�s OK, but you know I go for blondes, like that one.� Helga said and pointed to me.
I smiled and said, �Hey girls, how�s it going?�
�Just fine.� They both said in unison
Helga had told me that she loved me way back in the fourth grade, and basically, I didn�t know what to think. I was flattered, but that was about it. I was too young to have any romantic feelings toward her. Look where that got Gerald and Phoebe. Anyway, we became pretty good friends after that, but she has never let the fact go that she once used to obsess over me, and constantly teases me.
�That�s good. Having fun?�
�Yeah football head, this party is boss.�
�Gerald always throws the best parties.�
�There you go again, Phoebe, complimenting Gerald. If I didn�t know better I�d say you still liked the guy.�
�Shut up Helga, you know I got fed up with his player mentality. Plus, I think I�m going to go talk to that guy I�ve had my eye on. See ya guys.� She walked away.
�So, see any guys you like?� I asked Helga giving her a friendly poke.
�Yeah, those blondes over there are pretty sultry. You know I go for �the boys with the cornflower hair�.�
�Heh, yeah.�
Just then, Gerald announced that we were going to play some �7 minutes in heaven.� Yeah, I knew what that was, but I didn�t expect Gerald would actually suggest it. I tried to go hide in a corner somewhere, but he located me, and dragged me by the arm, over to the closet.
�You get to go first birthday boy! Pick your partner in crime!� I just stood there, dumbfounded. After a minute, Gerald spoke again. �Fine, I�ll choose for you. Jacqueline, come here.�
A really cute blonde girl who was about my height came over to me. �Hi Arnold, I�m Jacqueline, a friend of Gerald�s.� She extended her hand to me and I shook it.
�Nice to meet you,� I said shyly.
�Ok, enough chit chat, get in there, and don�t come out till we say so! Have fun!� Gerald said, and practically shoved us into the closet, closing the door.
My heart was pounding a mile a minute and I wasn�t sure exactly what to do. I probably would have sat there in the dark freaking out for seven minutes, but all of a sudden I felt Jacqueline�s lips touch mine. We just stood there in the dark closet, well, she was kissing me, but for a while I just stood there, shocked. She pulled away.
�It takes two people to kiss,� She whispered.
�Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry.�
She resumed kissing me, and this time I attempted to kiss her back. It was all new to me, and I wasn�t exactly sure what I was doing, but she didn�t stop, so I assumed I was doing it correctly. Suddenly, I felt her tongue in my mouth as she began frenching me. I don�t know what came over me at that point, but I really liked it, and I frenched her back. My brain was filled with all these thoughts and feelings. �Wow, I�m having my first kiss,� kept racing through my mind, and I really liked it. I was having the time of my life!
About five minutes later, I believe Gerald opened the closet door, but I didn�t notice until I heard the sounds of clapping and cheering and �Go Arnold!� being chanted. I pulled away and blushed up a storm with this big goofy grin on my face. (I really need to learn to control my blushing.) Everyone else had their turns after that, though I think Gerald got longer than seven minutes, but I just couldn�t stop thinking about that kiss. It had felt so good! It had been so much fun!
I didn�t really talk to Jacqueline for the rest of the party. I was too busy lost in thought.