“Oh, you’re Mrs. Kean’s granddaughter Charlotte, right?”
She smiles and nods her head. “Yes, but most people call me Charlie. These are my friends Sharon, Michelle, and Karen. I nod to each one as they are introduced.
“Well, Charlie, it was nice to meet you. I’ll let her know I saw you, but I’ve got to shoot before it gets too dark. I’ve got no lights on my bike, and the police have already given me a warning.”
“Oh, okay. Maybe I’ll see you around?” She says in a hopeful voice.
“Very possible if you come in here most weeks,” I say, not realizing she was fishing. “I’ll see you around,” I turn and make my way to the door. As I open it, I look back, “we’re watching Rocky next Saturday, so we should be in here before at around three?” She beams back at me and nods her head. I returned her smile and left, not believing my newfound confidence talking to a girl. As I cycle home, it occurs to me that my conversations with Jill must have given me that extra confidence.
Sunday from the outside looks normal, but inside, my stomach is doing backflips as my mind races away at one hundred miles an hour. All I can think about is tomorrow evening. I start going through lists of what I should do. Shower and shave; make sure I clean my teeth at least four times daily. Make sure I have plenty of clean underwear. God, the list seems endless.
Looking out the window, I see Mr. Peters doing the washing up alone. It seems like he’s still in the dog house with Jill over her rose bed. I figure that we won’t be getting to the sex bit of our lessons until at least Wednesday, so Sunday is my last day for a good wank, and I am on my fifth before tea.
That night I shower and shave. Tick that off the list, I think to myself. I spend most of the evening in my room other than walking Archie. Mrs. Kean next door seems delighted that I bumped into her granddaughter on Saturday. I gather that she is in the same year as me but going to the local Polytechnic college. Mrs. Kean’s only complaint is that she doesn’t visit enough now she’s older. I’m not sure I remember her visiting at all if I’m honest.
My walk up to The Ridge is a solo one, and there are spots of rain in the air. The wind is cutting right through my coat, so I do the zip right up to keep it out of my face. I sit there looking out at an orange haze that hangs over the town.
Sleep doesn’t come easy tonight, I’m going to be taught how to kiss tomorrow, and I wonder what it will feel like to have a pair of lips touching mine. I close my eyes, thinking of Jill Peters’ lips, they are pretty full, and I can’t help think that kissing them will be just heaven. My mind suddenly has Charlie’s face and lips looking back at me. I have to admit that her lips are similar to Jill’s and wonder if I can use what I learn on her the following Saturday.
I drift off to sleep, thinking of a way I could get Charlie alone.
******
Monday morning dawns; I’ve been awake for an hour before my alarm clock was due to scream at me. I lay there not wanting to move; the house is quite cold in the morning. It’s seven o’clock when I hear the front door close as my Parents exit. They both work in Dover and car share most days. I wait for my dad to start his car before throwing back the covers and sitting up.
I look through a crack in my curtains and watch dad back out of our drive. My eyes are drawn to the Peters’ kitchen window that is lit. Mrs. Peter is there in her bathrobe. She glances up at my window, well, I think she does, and I drop to my knees, so she won’t see me watching at her. I laugh at my stupidity when I realize there was no way she could have seen me anyhow.
I hear Mr. Peters leave as I am eating my Shredded Wheat. I make a deliberate effort to make sure I walk over at the usual time, trying and failing to look as natural as possible.
I ring the bell and wait, “good morning Rob, how was your weekend,” Jill asks as she opens the door and walks back into the living room. I smile, marvelling at how natural she looks. As soon as I’ve closed the door and walked into the lounge, she’s behind me, going through a list of things she needs to do before leaving.
I smile when she looks into my eyes after a moment of staring into nothing. “Good morning Jill.”
She returns my smile, remembers something, and goes back into the kitchen. “Rob?” She calls out, “would you mind if we started the lesson this morning?” She says, walking out with a pile of books and her briefcase.
“No, but have we got the time?” I say, watching her put them down on the table in the hallway.
“Not a lot, but if it’s okay with you, I would like to start the kissing lesson. That way, it won’t be so weird tonight when we have more time.”
“Okay, where do you want to do it?”
“In the lounge will be fine, the curtains are still closed, and no one can see in any way.”
I put my bag down onto the floor, take my coat off, and she guides me to the dining table. I sit on the chair she has pulled out for me, and she sits down in front of me. “Now I know this is going to be weird to start with, so the sooner we can both relax, the better.” I nod and wet my lips. “The first thing you need to do is relax, take a deep breath and try not to put too much thought into it.”
She tries leaning forward for a minute but quickly realizes that we will both be reaching. Standing and sliding her seat back under the table, the next thing I know is she is sitting down on my lap. Putting her arms around my neck, we are now looking into each other’s eyes. My heart is going so fast as I wait for her to make a move.
A slight smile comes across her face as she leans in and tenderly kisses my lips. I am a little disappointed to start with because I was expecting something more than a pair of soft, moist lips squashed against my lips. The first thought that went through my head was what all the fuss was about. The kiss only lasted for three seconds but felt so much longer. Jill pulls away and looks into my eyes to gauge my reaction.
“Well, that was a good start; you have very kissable lips,” she says. “Now, the next kiss we should try with a bit of passion. It will start the same way, but if you follow my lead, I will try and show you how to introduce a bit of motion. One thing I will suggest is to try and keep that tongue of yours under control. Too much tongue can ruin the moment.”
Again she leans in, and our lips touch, but her mouth is slightly open this time. The moment we touch, she closes her mouth a little and pulls back so our lips part. This time she doesn’t pull away but repeats the motion. After the third time, I feel myself doing the same naturally, and I start to feel a tingle down below. We continue for a moment, just kissing like this when I feel her tongue just brush my lips. At first, I thought I imagined it, but then she did it again. The next time she did it, I touched her tongue with mine.
Her hand came up and slid down the side of my face oh so gently. She pulls back and says, “and that’s the end of lesson one.” Getting off my lap, Jill heads straight for the bedroom. She returns with her lipstick applied and her coat ready to go two minutes later. “Ready?” She asks.