Kale

November 23, 2010. That was the day I officially fell in love with Marjorie Blake.

I’m not exactly sure why I loved her. Maybe it was that her name was French even though she was one hundred percent Irish. Maybe it was that she had eyes so big and blue it was as if you were looking up at the sky when in reality you were staring into those beautiful owl eyes. Maybe it was how she was taller than all of her guy friends except for me, on account that I hit puberty early. Maybe it was a lot of things, but I was positive I loved her.

We were all sitting around the fire pit in Marjorie’s backyard. There were ten of us. Marjorie, Aly, Ashley, Emma, Dana, Ian, Alex, Brandon, Marcos, and then there was me. We were all sitting down, “criss cross applesauce,” as Aly had put it.
Marjorie held a bottle in her hand. She placed it on the ground, and we all watched as it spun. I was pretty sure every guy there was crossing their fingers behind their backs, hoping it would land on them. I’m not gonna lie, I was hoping too. As the bottle slowed down, I started to get a little panicked. I don’t know if I was more grateful or upset when it landed on Alex, who was sitting next to me.
I saw Ashley giggle when she saw who Marjorie had to kiss, and I almost laughed too. Alex was 5’4, a good six inches shorter than Marjorie, and he was probably the cockiest guy at our school. He hugged, flirted, and kissed up to over half the girls at our school, including most juniors and seniors.
Alex jumped off the ground and practically ran over to where Marjorie was sitting. She slowly stood up and was practically glaring at Ashley and Dana, who were laughing so hard they were crying. Marjorie bent down and Alex stood up on his tippy toes. They kissed. It wasn’t romantic or anything, just a quick peck, and the look on Marjorie’s face was priceless. She looked mortified. Alex skipped back to his seat next to me, and grinned for about twenty minutes straight.