Chapter 2-011

I fell asleep that night thinking about the kiss that might have been. What did a kiss feel like, anyway? Somehow I knew it wouldn't be like the one I got from Mom or Dad at bedtime. The same species,maybe, but a radically different beast, to be sure. Like a wolf and a whippet—only science would put them on the same tree. Looking back on the second grade, I like to think it was at least partly scientific curiosity that made me chase after that kiss,but to be honest, it was probably more those blue eyes. All through the second and third grades I couldn't seem to stop myself from following him, from sitting by him, from just wanting to be near him. By the fourth grade I'd learned to control myself. The sight of him—the thought of him—still sent my heart humming, but my legs didn't actually chase after him anymore. I just watched and thought and dreamed.