It Started With a Kiss

I never liked Jake Tanner, my neighbor who stared at me during science class. Annoying. That is what he was. Always draping his arm about my shoulders in the high school halls, leaving love notes in my locker and calling every night to beg for just one date. Often I screamed at him. Many times I had broken his heart, but it didn’t discourage him.
I was going off to college in a couple of weeks and Jake’s harassment I wouldn’t miss. Then he did it. He knocked on my front door.
I rolled my eyes the second I answered.
“Go away, Jake.” The same greeting I always gave him. This time he was different.
He smiled and looked at his feet, shuffling them from one to the other. I knew he wasn’t going anywhere.
I groaned and stepped outside. “What?” The sooner I shot him down, the sooner he would leave.
Jake did not speak. He did not repeat the words I had come to predict. Instead, he seized my waist and pulled me to him.
A shocked moan escaped my lips. Then, his soft lips gently caressed my own, delivering the sweetest kiss I had ever felt. His gentle fingers traced my spine lovingly.
Sure, I tried to resist at first, but no boy’s kiss had ever sent a chill through my body like that. I gave in, wrapped my arms around his neck and threaded my fingers through his long, dirty blond hair.
I stood with my mouth agape when it was over, too stunned from his sudden aggression to speak.
“I’m leaving for Albany today. I just wanted to say goodbye.” He placed his hands in the pockets of his faded blue jeans, flicked his eyebrows playfully and skipped down my steps.
I glanced across the street. His car was already packed.
He looked back over his shoulder as he crossed the street and flashed a sheepish smile.

Screeching tires echoed through our neighborhood followed by a terrifying thud. I watched it all happen right before my eyes. Jake’s body flipped through the air and landed on the hard pavement twenty feet away.
I screamed. I ran. I dropped to my knees.
“Jake?” He didn’t respond.
His vibrant blue eyes never gazed upon me again.
It had started with a kiss. In that instant, my feelings for Jake changed. The next moment he was gone and I regretted the four years I wasted when I could have shared his love.