All the Boys

I’m 12, wearing my terry cloth shorts

kissing all the boys in the neighborhood

an epic game of Truth or Dare

Marsha is there too

she keeps picking “truth” and talking about cheating on her SRA test

The first kiss is sloppy and wet

for a moment my heart drops

the next ones are better

Bazooka gum

sweet, heavy breaths that I don’t mind one bit

dry lips with good pressure

tongues that dart

a timid peck that cracks me up

some tilt their heads

some ask if I’m ready

only Robby puts his fingertips on my face

kisses so soft I moan like I’m eating a Milky Way

We play until the street lights flicker on

then we scatter

I push the beanbag chair in front of my bedroom door

pull out my tiny Avon samples

choose Ruby Red

pucker in the mirror before I insert my retainer

my lips look bigger, swollen

I wonder where the boys learned to kiss

will they think of me when they smell Love’s Baby Soft

if I called 104.5 and requested the Hall and Oates kiss song

would Robby be listening

was he laying on his Star Wars comforter

replaying our kisses over and over

will my lips still tingle in the morning

I resist closing my eyes

I don’t want to forget the tastes

the smells

the feeling of their faces so close to mine

I want to remember forever and do it again and again

I want to kiss all the boys