Aftertaste

The nickname has stuck: I am officially 'lightweight' now.

Many people at our school think it's because I'm skinny and thin, but a few kids from the popular circle – the ones who had organized Spin the Bottle that dreadful night and who gave me the nickname in the first place – know the true story behind my new found and oh-so hilarious title.

"Hey, lightweight!" A random guy howls at me, laughing.

I scowl at him but not fast enough for the guy to see it, since he's already gone down the hallway. This is the fifth time someone has called me "lightweight" today and classes haven't even started yet.

"This is getting really old, really fast…" I grumble under my breath while Adam nudges me lightly on the shoulder to get my attention.

"Are you going to apologize to her, man?" he asks while walking beside me.

We are heading to our lockers to get our books for first period while a stream of students pass us by in a flustering morning hurry.

"What, me? Are you crazy? I am never talking to her again!" I wail theatrically. "I will avoid her like the plague if I have to. She won't ever see me again."

Adam stifles a laugh as we arrive at our lockers. He puts his combination in and yanks the door open. "You could at least try to say a quick sorry. Shit like that can traumatize a girl for life, you know?"

I grunt, rubbing my temples and leaning against the locker next to his. "I think it's best if I keep my distance for now. She probably wants to kill me right now. Have you heard the latest rumor?"

He doesn't even bother trying to hide his laugh this time. "Yeah. It's so disgusting."

I groan louder, guilt written all over my face. "I can't believe people are saying that a kiss from her is so revolting that it makes boys puke. That's cruelty on a whole new level, man."

Adam nods. "I know. And if you stop to think about it, this rumor must have come from one of her friends. They are the only ones who saw what happened that night."

"Oh, God. That makes it even worse," I mumble, shaking my head. "This is all your fault!" I decide, irritated. "If you hadn't dragged me to that stupid game upstairs, none of this would've happened."

He raises both hands in the air. "Hey, don't hate the player, hate the game."

I shoot him a dark glare. "But I am going to hate the player. You! You suck. Thanks to you, I'm 'lightweight' now and Jennifer is making boys puke with her kisses."

"Hey, I didn't make you puke and I didn't force anyone to spread those nasty rumors." He tries to defend himself. "You can't put all the blame on me, man."

He takes a couple books out and gives them to me, then goes back to rummaging through the messy pile of rubble in his locker that has built over the last couple of months. Sometimes it feels like he's going to fall in, be pulled into another dimension and never come back.

"Was this nonsense worth it to you, at least?" I ask curiously. "How was your kiss? You never said anything to me about it after the game ended."

He seems uncomfortable as he shrugs. "It was all right, I guess."

I raise an eyebrow at him and then I realize he can't see the doubtful expression on my face because his head is stuck inside the locker, so I vocalize my skepticism. "That bad, huh?"

He pauses for a moment and then continues rummaging inside. I start to get the feeling that the reason he has his face so profoundly stuffed into that locker is more to avoid looking at me if anything else.

"Come on, Coop. Tell me the truth." I insist.

"It wasn't exactly what I expected it would be." He finally confesses.

"What did you expect anyway?"

He gives up his charade of searching for unfindable things and takes his face out of that locker to glance surreptitiously at me.

"I don't know… I expected it would be something more… amazing, I guess? People say it's the most awesome thing in the world and all that crap, but it was nothing like that!" He complains childishly. "That's false propaganda, man. I feel like I should sue someone for this."

I feel a rush of relief wash over me and a strange warmth spread in my chest. At least now I know that Adam's first kiss was as bad as mine. Well, not as bad, but still… it didn't blow him away, and it feels good to know we can bond over the fiasco that this experience has been for the both of us. I feel less alone now.

"Well, if anyone should be suing over this, it's me, okay? My kiss was way worse than yours, by miles. At least you didn't throw up after yours…" I say the last part feeling embarrassed.

He tries to look stern and sympathetic, but his shoulders are shaking with suppressed laughter and his lips are twisting in agony.

I punch him hard on the arm.