Page 18 of 50 First Skates
“Yes, you do.”
“My butt looks amazing.”
“It’s a ten.”
The skating footage ends, and then I say to the camera, “So that’s what’s up. I’ll make a new video for you if anything changes or progresses… I’ve met a lot of women in my life, Soleil, butyou’rethe one I can’t forget. You’re the one I want to see again. Every day.”
She sniffles, and I watch the tears cascade down her cheeks. She pulls the laptop into her lap and lowers her face closer to the screen, smiling at my image.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute I’ve spent with you,” I continue on-screen. “Even when you say or do the same thing over and over, it’s incredible—you still surprise me. Every time. I’m choosing to spend as many days with you as I can. To make new memories with you. I hope you choose to make new memories with me too. And we’ll figure this out together. One day at a time.”
I reach over to wipe the tears from her jaw with my thumb. Watching me, she turns her head and presses her lips against the tip of my thumb. Then, she leans in to kiss me on the mouth. Soft and sweet, but she tastes salty from the tears. I don’t pull away. I cradle her face in my hands and kiss her back, parting my lips for her eager tongue.
Her laptop slides to the carpet. Her hands grip my shirt. The tiny animal noises she makes into my mouth are so urgent you’d think she’s been waiting as long as I have to kiss me like this. There’s no way I’m a total stranger to her. She has to remember me on some level.
This is not how you kiss someone you’ve only known for a few hours.
This is how you kiss someone you want to kiss for the rest of your life.
I don’t even know if I believe in reincarnation, but this is how you kiss someone you’ve known for lifetimes.
This kiss is making me believe in everything.
“Way too quiet in there!” Noah yells from down the hall.
I can’t fucking believe that guy, though.
She laughs into my mouth before pulling away. That laugh. It’s inside of me now. It’s in my blood. It’s going to keep me going long after she forgets this kiss.
“I have to show you something,” she says quietly. Her tone would suggest that she’s about to show me her boobs, and while I would not have a problem with that, I would prefer if it happened when her family wasn’t just down the hall.
Soleil reaches for one of the notebooks, a pink one, and opens it. “This is dated February seventeenth,” she says and then shrugs. “They all were. But this was on top when I found it in the safe. So I think it was from yesterday. All the other journals had entries where I wrote at night only. This one I wrote in the morning. I wrote, ‘Had the most vivid dream about a guy. Tall. Light brown hair. Hazel eyes. Dimple in one cheek. We were standing side by side at Waterfront Park, looking out at the view across the lake. The view I painted for the mural festival. He kept glancing over at me. I don’t think we were talking; I just know he made me so happy. And I felt safe. I wanted to kiss him, but then I woke up…’ And I sketched this picture of the guy from my dream.”
She turns the notebook around so I can see the sketch. It’s clearly me. She used colored pencils. Excellent shading. She really captured my irresistible smirk. And the look of love in my eyes.
“You dreamt about me yesterday?”
She nods. “Seems that way.”
I kiss her again. She snakes her arms around my neck. “What do you think it means?”
“I don’t know. But it has to be a good thing.”
“Will you take me out?” she whispers into my ear. “Today? On a real date?”
“I’d love to. You think your dad will be okay with that?”
“He feels really guilty about everything, so even if he isn’t really okay with it, he’ll be okay with it today.” She plants another kiss on my cheekbone. “And I think you’ll make sure he’s okay with it tomorrow.”
“You got that right, sweetheart. Let’s spend the rest of the day together.”
8
SOLEIL
April 14th
Dear Diary,
