I hurriedly came back from school and I heard dad shouting as usual, “That enough. You are going to have someone teach you Math and you better get good grades this term.” Who cares! I thought. As far as I reckoned, I was going to kiss my tutor good bye.

The tutor turned to be a raving beauty with the most enigmatic eyes I had ever seen. Her name was Christine. She was 18 years old, a high school senior, and a couple of years older than me. The first day I saw her, I was flipped. The most interesting part was that she was way ahead in intelligence and poise than those no-brainer bimbos in my school. Christine’s eyes would seem to twinkle with glee whenever I was able to solve a trigonometric problem. I used to take special interest in the subject because of her presence. Soon, I found that I was miserably in love with her. I realized the importance of my feelings for her, when she could not see through my final exams due to her appendicitis operation.

She did not come to my place for a couple of weeks. My exams were over and she came over to my home, one day, during my vacations. She looked gorgeous in her pink halter top and I could make out that she had missed me for quite some time. She was in my room for some time and we decided to watch television. We were watching ‘The Wonder Years’ and the theme was about kissing. Towards the end of the serial, we watched Kevin Arnold kissing his girlfriend Delores.

There was something electrifying about the scene. I don’t know what it was; may be it was the fact that I could relate to the protagonist Kevin, who was also a high school student like me. Or it was because of Christine presence. As the characters kissed in deep oblivion, I found myself stealing a peek at Christine. She seemed transfixed at that scene which was complimented with a romantic music in the background. Out of the blue, she looked at me and then averted her gaze. Soon the serial was over and the credits rolled.

I looked at her and asked her, “How was it?” She nodded shyly “It was interesting. How did you find it?”
I laughed, “The kiss was terrible”

She peered at me.” What do you mean, I didn’t find anything wrong in it. It was perfect.”

I stared at her. “How do you know if it was the perfect kiss?”

“Well,” she stuttered. “It was nicely done and there was a beautiful innocence in it. So it was perfect, I guess”
I further probed her, “Christine, How do you determine a perfect kiss. Have you been kissed before?”
She smiled. “Yes, my ex-boyfriend kissed me a couple of times. What about you?”

I replied, “Not me. I don’t know even know how they lock their lips…Don’t your noses come in the way? Err. How do you guys breathe?”

She burst out laughing, “It is not all that difficult, if it is done with love. I am sure you will come across a girl who will give you a perfect kiss.”

I smiled, “I don’t think so Christine. I have never kissed anyone before and I know I would mess it up and any girl would be crazy to be kissed by me”
She held my hand. “It is not that. Kisses don’t have to be perfect. There is no technique as such for a good kiss. The first kiss is not always perfect but it is really endearing. It is very special.”

I asked her, “What happened to your boyfriend? Do you mind if I ask?”

For the first time, I was asking something which was personal. I just felt like punching myself in the stomach for having asked that question. It was evident from the moistness in her eyes that she did not want to talk about it. “We broke up, because he found a more kissable, good looking girl, I guess.” I looked at her straight in the eye. As if reading my thoughts, she said, “Even I don’t have the answer to that question, dear.”

I changed the subject and asked her if she could join me for the movies tomorrow. She accepted it with a slight reluctance. I had dressed my best for the occasion. After the delightfully entertaining movie, we went to a crowded restaurant. Christine was getting uncomfortable with the cacophony. “Let’s go some place, quiet,” she said.

We went to the beach. It was 10 in the night. I had called up home and told my mom and dad that I was out with friends. Christine looked perturbed. She was scheduled to go to Amsterdam to meet her relatives. I assured her that I would walk her home in some time. I had the best time of the evening with her, where we talked on end about everything from movies to relationship, from her family to mine. She told me that she had never found anyone so childish, easy going and understanding like me. She was leaning toward me and she was playing with her locks as she told me about the interesting mess-ups I would make with my Math, when she had started teaching me, initially. Soon it was eleven. She had to leave. It was evident that she would know be in the Amsterdam for a couple of months.

Suddenly all conversation seemed to stop. Our eyes seemed to communicate to each other about the longing we felt for each other. I was longing to kiss her. My heart was thumping and I was about to ask her, “Can I kiss you Christine?’ But I stopped myself. It seemed foolish to ask. The silence between us may have been just for a minute but it seemed like a huge span of time. I felt as if that the voice of silence was urging me to act upon the situation. I just instinctively kissed her on her forehead, as I brushed her hair lovingly. She seemed to like my soft caresses. She seemed irresistible. I took a deep breath. There was an emotional vulnerability about her, so tender that it seemed to exude through her eyes. I gently put my hands around her waist and pulled her toward me. I ran my fingers through her hair and looked in her eyes. I cupped her beautiful face in my hands, slowly leaned toward her and kissed her sensuously on her cheek, making way slowly to her lips. I found myself saying, “I don’t know what the perfect kiss is but these lips are perfectly kissable”.

She was taken over by the fact that that this boy had instantly transformed into a man in charge with passion riding his senses. As our lips met slowly, her eyes seemed to close as her mouth accepted me. I followed suit, closed my eyes and got immersed in the pleasure of my first kiss. We were oblivious of the happenings around us, as we were so taken up with each other, so enveloped in each others arms that we did not want this moment to end. Her lips were soft and smooth like rose petals. I gently teased her tongue with mine and she began to push her tongue into mine. Slowly the kiss became more urgent and frantic. Her lips guided me intelligently as her tongue began to probe and play with mine.
With much reluctance, she broke the kiss, “Guess we should be leaving,” I looked at her with moist, swollen lips and urgent eyes. She appeared a bit shaken with the sudden flow of events. We kissed again for some time and then we mutually broke away as I held her hands in mine. I looked deep in her eyes and quipped, “I will drop you”

We walked slowly. As we came to her home, she smiled and shyly looked at me. “It did not look like it was your first kiss.”

I smiled, “All thanks to my teacher”
She blushed, “I have never felt this way before, you kiss really well. Like I said, the first kiss is not always messy. Sometimes, it could be perfect also. You just need the right kind of person.”

I pecked her on the cheek, “You are that right kind of person, Christine. I am crazy about you”
She kissed me back, “And I am in love with you too, Bye”
I watched her walk away to her home. I found happiness like I had never experienced before. Christine left the following morning to Amsterdam. She returned after a couple of months and we made love. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship which never seemed to end. Thanks to the first kiss!