AS TOLD BY CONNIE LIU
We are back in high school sometime during the mid-1990s.
Dav and I have started going out, and we ride the bus together. For our "first kiss", I plan in advance how to excute it on the bus. I wait nervously, watching the bus stops pass by. When it stops at my stop, I hurriedly kiss Dav on the cheek and rush out the bus.
Now one day, Dav says, "I'd like to try an experiment." He talks about this during lunch time. In the back of my mind, I tease myself, saying "He's gonna kiss me on the lips. Yah right." Lunch ends and recess starts. Recess is nearly over when Dav and I stand at the lockers at D building (not B). People are scrambling hither and tither getting to class. We pause, and I'm feeling really nervous, as if something big is about to happen. It feels like one of those dramatic breaks in movies when two people are about to kiss but everything around them is still moving fast. Then I realize, "Oh my goodness, he's actually going to do it." That thought is still running through my head when Dav, methodically and awkwardly, tilts my head and tries to kiss me. Strange sense of panic rushes through me and I move. His lips land on my nose, completing my panic. Without a word, I run to my next class, chemistry. There I wail about what happens to Nelson, who sits there chuckling. I grab tons of paper towels and wipe my nose, commenting that I can smell certain foods (probably from lunch). For the rest of the day, I can barely stand Dav, feeling very embarrassed.
I feel very bad for what happened, especially since I do not mean to make Dav feel awful. So I gather my pluck and the next day decide to kiss him. The whole day I feel a bit jittery. After school at the library, I steal his keychain while he sits with Victor. I figure I can get him out of the library. I explain whole-heartedly that I did not mean to act repulsive. I say, "Let's try again." So it works out fine.
Hence, that my version of the Hallway Story.
Hallway Story as told by DAVID NINOMIYA