Chapter 1

“Why do you always kiss your friends goodbye?” my brother asked me, his head tilted to the side.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’d never find two guys doing that. Giving each other a peck on the lips whenever they leave.”

“Why not?” I said with a grin. “It might be hot.”

Arnold’s eyebrows shot up at that.

“So you do it to be hot?”

“Of course not,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “It’s just a friendly gesture.”

“Girls are so kissy,” he said with a strange look, before falling silent.

I went up to my room - Kristine had just been over to drop off some homework that I’d missed, and I was keen to get it over and done with.

A few minutes later, I looked up to find Arnold standing at my door, an odd gleam in his eyes.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he said, his eyes flicking around the room, landing everywhere but on my face. “Just wondering when Kristine was coming over again.”

“Why?”

A small smile appeared on his face.

“Oh my god,” I said, sitting up and letting the book fall from my lap. “Are you into her?”

“No!” he said unconvincingly, and I shot him a knowing look. “Maybe a little. Do you want to see if she wants to come around and watch a movie some time?”

“Sure thing,” I said.

I returned to my work, but he was still standing there, looking at me oddly.

“What?”

“Maybe ... maybe you should be there.”

I’m not going to lie - it was tempting to make fun of him, but it was obvious that he was nervous.

“Sure thing,” I said, and when I next looked up he was gone.

I didn’t think about it again until a few days later - my brother and I were watching that movie about Drew Barrymore going back to high school, when I noticed that he seemed to be watching me more than the film.

“What’s up?” I said, never moving my eyes from the screen. I wasn’t even a huge fan of the movie, but when my brother had gone to all the trouble of ripping it to DVD, I felt like it would be rude to not watch it with him.

“I was just wondering...”

He trailed off. With a sigh, I gestured for him to continue. When that didn’t work, I prompted him more obviously.

“What?“

“I was just wondering if you’d had a chance to talk to Kristine.”

Truth be told, I’d had a bunch of opportunities - it had just completely slipped my mind. As I watched David Arquette coach his sister on how to be cool, I felt a bit bad.

My brother liked a girl. Shouldn’t I be doing whatever I could to help him out?

“Of course,” I lied. “She’s coming over this weekend. Are you free?”

“Oh! Oh, yup. Yeah! Oh that’s great,” Arnold stammered, and for the rest of the film he just watched me in silence as I watched Drew finally get the man of her dreams.

At the end of the film, something that my brother had said struck me. Something he’d said a few days ago, actually.

Kissy.

He’d said that girls were so kissy.

I wasn’t sure if that was necessarily true. I mean, me and Kristine give each other a quick peck on the lips to say hi or goodbye, but I don’t think it’s a universal truth or anything like that. It’s not like all women are the same.

No, it’s not all girls who are kissy. Just me and my friends.

Or maybe just me.

Once the credits began to roll, I leaned over and gave my brother a quick peck on the lips.

“Thanks,” I said with a warm smile. “That was really fun.”

Fortunately, Kristine was free that weekend. She didn’t even question my invitation to come over and watch a movie, and so on Saturday morning, I was delighted to find that my brother had actually scrubbed up a bit - he wasn’t in a suit and tie or anything like that (it would’ve been weird if he was) but he’d clearly put a bit of effort in.

I was in a yellow sundress I’d found in the back of my closet. A little more frippy than what I normally wear, but I guess I was just in a good mood. My arms and shoulders were completely exposed, and my dress ended just above my knees.