A Kiss I Never forgot

 

 

     A Kiss That I Never Forgot

Nguyen Nhon Thanh

      Have you ever had a kiss that changed your life from that moment on? A kiss that had you seeing fireworks! After 25 years, I still remember it as it happened yesterday. The year was 1980, when I was only 14 years old, living in Songkla, Thailand. Songkla was a temporary shelter where boat people were officially received into Thailand. At the refugee camp I met a beautiful 15 year old girl named Hồng. Hồng and I met at the English class that was offered at the camp. Every day before class, we would get together to review our homework. After dinner we would get together to do our homework, either at my place or hers. Our parents would set aside a bowl for each of us every evening. They never knew where we would decide to have dinner that night.

      It all started the last night Hồng’s family stayed at the camp before heading out to America. Hồng’s family invited me to their home for one last dinner together. The atmosphere was different. Even though everyone was excited about the new journey; for me, it was a sad time. I was about to lose my best friend. I asked Hồng to go for a walk with me. This walk was a lot different from any other walk. There was silence between us as we walked to the beach, our favorite hangout to do our homework. I didn’t know what to say to her until she said: “I’m going to miss you.”

     “Me, too. In the last few months you have become my best friend.”
     “I’m feeling the same way about you. Before you came, I had no close friends at all.”

     “It will be a lot harder without you here.”

      We finally walked to our favorite place and sat down on the rocks. We had come here every night to watch the stars. For some reason, there were no stars in the sky, but even without stars, the night was so wonderful that neither of us wanted it to end. It was late and I had to get her back home. On our way back, I could feel Hồng’s hand holding onto my hand. In all these months, this was the first time we had ever held hands. I held her hand tenderly, and started walking her back to the hut. For some reason, we stopped a few steps away from her hut. I didn’t know what was going on, but I leaned over to Hồng and kissed her. The next thing I heard was fireworks everywhere.

     “Wow! Wow!!” I screamed.

     “What’s the matter with you?”

      “Did you hear that?” And I then pointed up in the sky and said, “Did you see that?”

      “Hear what? See what?” She asked me.

      “Fireworks, don’t you hear them?”

      “No!” she said. “Are you sure you heard fireworks?” She asked me again with confusion on her face.

       “Never mind.” I continued to walk her to the hut, and gave her a hug, How could that be? How could she not have heard that? Did I really hear the fireworks? I continued to walk back to my hut, still thinking about the kiss and the fireworks. Wonder why couldn’t she hear the fireworks? Are there supposed to be fireworks when you kiss a girl?

      Life at the camp was tough for me after Hồng left. Beside my family, I had no friends at the camp. I still had questions about the kiss that night for a long time. Now and then, I would wonder about Hồng: How is she doing? What happened to her? The most important thing to me was why did she not hear fireworks that night?

    At the camp, we learned about the US culture, people and language. No matter how much you think you ready for it, you’re not. When I walked off the airplane in Philadelphia with a suitcase on one hand and a bag of honey roasted peanuts in the other, I saw that people were a lot bigger and taller than I expected and  I could not understand what they were saying. My family and I were walking toward an empty seat, when a group of Vietnamese rushed up to my family from all directions. Uncle Tùng walked toward my mom and gave her a big hug. The rest of us were waiting to be introduced. Finally they stopped hugging each and started introducing everyone. After the family introductions were finished, we all headed back to Uncle Tùng’s house.

        Uncle Tùng house was bigger than I expected: it had four bedrooms, three baths a huge front yard and back yard. Since my family was going to stay there until we could get our own place, Uncle Tùng and Aunt Mai decided to put my brother and me with my cousin in the same room, while my sister and my parent got their own room. Of course, Uncle Tùng and Aunt Mai had the master bedroom.

      I started high school a few months after we settled down in America. School was tough at the beginning because kids made fun of me for the way I spoke. Since my English was not good, sometimes my cousin and I spoke Vietnamese to each other. Kids laughed at us and made weird noises as if they were speaking Vietnamese. A lot of times I wanted to punch those kids for making fun of us, but I realized that I was out numbered.

      Aside from my cousin and me, there were no other Vietnamese going to our school, so I had to learn to make friends with American students. In my math class there was an American girl who sat beside me; she had long blond hair and blue eyes. She was a lot taller than I was, but she was the only one who talked to me every day, even though she just asked me about the homework. It was funny to hear us communicate; I had to say everthing at least two times before she could understand me.

      Our friendship grew as the semester continued. By the middle of the semester you would see both of us together everywhere. We became an item near the end of our freshman year. Our first date was the spring dance. I had decided to ask Lisa to go with me, and I was surprised when she said yes.

     On the night of the dance I went over to her house to pick her up. Mr. Miller, Lisa’s father, was the one who opened the door and said “Yes, can I help you?”

     “I’m here to pick up Lisa for the dance.”

     “What dance?”

     “School dance, sir”

      “Let him come in Bill!” Mrs. Miller said as she walked out to the door.

      “You are looking handsome, young man.” Mrs. Miller said.

      “Thank you. Is Lisa ready?”

      “Yes she will be down soon, would you like something to drink.”

      “No thank you ma’am.”

      By the time I walked into the living room, Lisa was walking down the stairs from her room. She looked gorgeous.

      “What do you have in your hand young man?” Mrs. Miller asked me.

      I turn around and told Lisa “Oh I’m sorry, I brought you a flower; I hope you like it.”   

      “I love it, how did you know that a pink rose is my favorite flower.” Lisa said with a smile.

      “Just a lucky guess.” I said as I gave it to Lisa.

      After her parents took our picture, we headed out. We must have been at least half way to the dance before I told her that she looked beautiful.

       Everyone at the dance was looking nice; guys wearing their best suits or tuxedos while girls wore their best evening gowns. By the time we got to there, everyone else was there. As we walked into the gym where the dance would take place, every eye was looking at us. I had hoped that everyone would look at us because Lisa was gorgeous and I must say I was not bad looking either in my eyes.

       I had never seen our gym look so festive before. There were all kinds of collored lights everywhere. There was music as we entered the gym. On the right side of the gym, there were fancy tables. Lisa and I finally found a table where several of our classmates were seated. Now this was the first time I had ever gone to a dance, so I had no idea what to do. I decided to copy everything all my classmates were doing. John was walking toward to the refreshment table to get a drink for him and his date. I decided to follow him and do the same thing for Lisa and I. There were a lot of guys already at the refreshment table doing the same thing that John and I were there for.

      The music began one by one couples went to the dance floor and began to dance. I had never danced before but since we were at the dance, I had to dance. I took Lisa’s and and we walked toward the dance floor. I pretended that I knew how to dance. I was watching every guy on the dance floor to see how they moved and decided to do the same thing. It was not as hard as I thought. As long as you move your feet and body, you are dancing; at least that was what I tried to do-- move my body back and forth with the music.

      We must have danced for over an hour before I told Lisa that I needed a break. She agreed to go for a walk to cool down a little bit, and we headed outside.

      “I’m thirsty, can we get some punch before we go for a walk.” she asked

      “Sure.” I said.

      We headed over to the punch table get ourselves a drink. There was a park on the right hand side of the gym; we decided to go there. I guess our decision was a popular one because we were not alone. It was a beautiful night and the weather was perfect for a walk. Stars were everywhere in the sky. We were holding hands walking under the stars. Is there anything more romantic than that?

      “Look! Did you see that?” Lisa pointed up to the sky.

      “What? What is it you see?”

      “A shooting star!! Did you see that?”  

      “Yes, I saw something, but it went past so fast. I thought that was just an airplane.”

      “Do you know what happens when you see a shooting star?”

      “No, What?”

      “You’re supposed to make a wish.”

      “A wish? About what?”

      “What ever you want and it will come true.”

      “Really?”

      “Yes.”

      We both were making a wish together. I then decide to ask her.

      “What did you wish?”

      “You are not suppost to tell what you wish.”

      “Oh really!”

      Lisa decide to move closer to me and put her head on my shoulder. I then put my arm around her. She felt comfortable in my arm. Not a word was spoken between us; my hand was playing with her beautiful long blond hair. She looked so beautiful in my arms and I could not believe there was a beautiful young woman so close to me. How was that happening to me? We must have been there for a long time when she told me that she was cold, so I took her back to the dance. On our way we saw a lot of couples still walking around and few other were sitting on benches kissing each other. As I turned to look at Lisa; she looked at me. We both smiled at each other, then continued to walk toward the dance. We probably danced for another hour before it was time to go home.

      Lisa was holding my hand as I drove her home, then she leaned her head on my shoulder. I still could not believe the whole thing to me. Was I dreaming or is it really happening to me? When we got to her home I parked and walked to the other side of car to open her door. I was wondering what I should do when I walked her to her front door. The question was should I kiss her now or should I wait? I didn’t know if she could tell how nervous I was. Finally, the moment of truth.We were at the door.

       “Thank you for taking me to the dance,” Lisa said.

       “No problem; I had a great time.”

        The funny thing was that we both leaned toward each other and gave each other a kiss. Then father opened the door and saw us standing there looking at each other.

       “Thank you for a great date,” Lisa said.

       “You’re welcome, I had a great time tonight.”

       After that she went in to the house with her father and I walked back to my car. I was thinking about the kiss. There were no fireworks with the kiss. Was I doing something wrong? The question about fireworks kept wandering in my head as I drove home.

       Lisa usually came over my house after school to do homework and sometimes even stayed for dinner. My parents adored her. My mother enjoyed talking with Lisa and also teaching her how to speak Vietnamese whenever she came over.

      When Lisa and I were starting to get to know each other, none of our friends liked our friendship. No one told us that we should not hang out with each other. After a few months of our dating, most of her friends didn’t like the idea that she was going out with me. They made it hard for her, and then all her friends quit talking to her. Lisa tried not to show me that their silent treatment was hard for her. Everytime her friends saw Lisa and me, they would give her the silent treatment. I didn’t know how to help our relationship; other then to ask her “Honey, you know how I love you, but I don’t think we are meant for each other.”

     “What do you mean by that?” she asked me with confusion in her voice. “Am I do something that hurts you, honey?”

     “Oh no, no, you did not do anything wrong!!” I said “Honey, I love you, but we not meant to be together.”

      “What do you mean?” Lisa asked.

      “Baby, everytime we are together and your friends act differently. I know how much you tried to show me it doesn’t bother you, but it’s tough for you, I know.”

      “But, honey I can handle that.” Lisa continued “I don’t care about those people; it does not bother me.”

       After a long talk, Lisa agreed with me that it was time for us to move on. Neither one of us really wanted to end things, but both of us realized that the relationship was not going to make it. No matter how great Lisa is,  there still something missing. I was still thinking of Hong and the kiss with fireworks. Why did that happen? I had not heard from Hong for over five years; why did I think of her now? I didn’t understand that. I could tell that the break up was right for Lisa because she was a lot happier when she spent time with her friends. Lisa and I were still friends, and we both continued to help each other with the homework.

       Finally, my family moved out of Uncle Tung’s house to our own place. After three years my parents had bought a small house about an hour from Uncle Tung’s place. That meant I had to change schools for my senior year. The great thing about moving was that there were more Vietnamese living

in the neighborhood than in Uncle Tung’s area. This was the first time since Vietnam that I had Vietnamese friends my age. In my math class there were severval Vietnamese students. It was so great to have friends who could speak Vietnamese with me.

        As happy as I was happy to have Vietnamese friends around me, my parents were even more happy. A few houses down on the block; there was a warm and friendly Vietnamese family. The great thing was that they had two kids around my age. Thuy was around my age and Trong was couple of years older. He was a freshman at local college, when we moved there. Since our parents were friends, Trong and I were friend. We played soccer together at a local park every Saturday. We became a good friends, and Trong tutored his sister and me with our homework every day since we were in the same class. Thuy and I had to take our S.A.T. in about two months.

        After our study everyday; Thuy and I alway went down to the family room to play ping pong. That was how we became great friends. Thuy was a lot different from other girl I knew. She loved sports, not only could she play ping pong; she also could play volley ball. As a matter of fact she played for our school. Also serval colleges want her to play for them. She also a great fan of other sports. Thuy was the only girl enjoyed watching American football every Sunday with me.

        Finally I had a chance to go to see Thuy play volleyball at our school. Thuy was an increadible player! I had never seen a girl play volleyball like she did. She was everywhere on the court. She was the best player on her team. After the game, Thuy and all her teammates invited me to celebrate with them at the pizza shop. It was any guys’ dream to hang out with the entire girls’ volleyball team. It was fun to hang out with her teammates, but the best part for me was getting to take her home from the party.

        During this time my feeling for Thuy become different, Thuy is now more than just a friend, now that I had a chance to get to know her a lot better. She was more than just a girl who love sports. I can not believe that I had fallen in love with my friend.

       By the end of the volleyball season, she was voted as the best player on the team and she received a scholarship to play for one of the top college in the country. I decided to take her out for dinner to celebrate her scholarship. Since she loved Italian food I took her to a restaurant where I worked. It was an Italian restaurant close to our school. I had talked with my manager before taking Thuy there, and he had set up a romantic table for us before we got to the restaurant. Thuy was very surprised to see how beautiful the table was and we just sat there look at the table without talking to each other.

       “Can I get both of you something to drink?” the waiter said.

       “Sure, ice tea please.” Thuy said.

       “Can I have my usual please, Mike?”  I said, Mike was our waiter for that night.

       We had a lot of fun that night. Not only was the meal great but the conversation was fantastic! We had such a great time talking that the restaurant had to tell us it was time to close the restaurant. We decided to go for a walk at the park a ten minutes away from our house.

        As we walkeed toward a bench, in the bench, I put my arm around her waist. As we sat down Thuy leaned over and put her head on my shoulder and I put hand on her long black hair and played with it.

        “Thank you for a great night.” Thuy said in soft voice.

        “I had a great time too.”

        “What do you think about us?”

        “What do you mean?” I asked her.

        “What will happen to us, when I head out to California for school?”

        “Our family lives about a block away from each other; plus both of our family are good friend.” I then smile at her and continued, “We will still see each other at the holiday.”

        “That’s only couple of times a year.”

        “We can talk with each other on the phone once a week.”

        “But that is not the same as seeing each other.”

        I held her hand to let her know that everything will be fine. And then, we sat there for awhile and continue to talk and laugh at our jokes.                                Thuy was the only that allow me to be myself when I was around her. I decided to take her home because it late. When we arrived to her house, I walk Thuy to the front door. Thuy put her hand around me and softly in my ears “Thank You!” I smile at her and lean over to kiss her. right Her mom was still up waiting for Thuy to come home. I was happy that I had a chance to take her home tonight, because after tonight I have see another side of Thuy. On my way back home; I feel like there was something missing but I don’t know what. Latter on, I realized was missing! After that night I tried to go to her practices as much as I could and wait for her until she finished her practice and drove her home.

        Finally, school is end it was time for Thuy to say good-bye to everyone. It a tough for me. More matter how much I tried to act like it not bother me; it did get to me. I tried to pretend everything was fine but the in my heart I worried that we would never be together again. Everytime we were together I tried to do fun thing with her and also tried to take at much picture as possible for memories. The time is come for us to say a final good bye.  

     On Monday morning Thuy was flying out to California for school. Saturday night her parents had a big dinner party for all her friends and their families. So I decided to ask if I could take her out for dinner on Friday night to our favorite Italian restaurant where I still work there some nights. Again, I asked Mike to set up a table for us. By the time, we got there our table was ready everything was already set up for us. There was a single rose on the table for her. The food was great of usual. I never remember any time we spent time together that was as silent as we were then.

      After five years, we decided to tie the knot. When we had been married over ten years and had two kids, no matter how great my life with Thuy’s,  I will never forget the fireworks. Hong and I never saw each other again. I still wonder now and then why I could only see firworks with Hong not anyone else? Do fireworks only come with the first kiss?  To this day I don’t know where Hong is, but I still remember that kiss.

   

   

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

   

Reviews

[Ice QueenJen]

This was a fabulous story of your first kiss, and that you did go on to having a happy life with someone you do love.
Great writing since English is your second language!

[None]

This is a very nice recollection of times gone by and of love. It is good to take your time to find the special one. I agree with what "Candle in the wind" wrote about fireworks being short lived and a special relationship and lasting love being hard to find. Very good story!

[Serendipity]

This is beautiful.

A story of first love, first kiss.
Fireworks, a feeling that only comes once in a lifetime.

Thank you for sharing.

[THERISA]

Thanh, you did it again. Another beautiful slice of young romance with the first kiss. Thank you, your short story revives my view that my true love is out there.

Therisa

[Candle in the wind]

It is such a heartwarming spontaneous and vivid story.Hope you see the fireworks again.But maybe the love and companionship you share with Thuy is very precious too and fireworks are shortlived.

[Yvonne Heidt]

What a wonderful story to run across this sunday morning! I was glued to the screen - mesmorized. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to leave everything I know and go to a country where no-one could understand me or I couldn't understand them. What an incredibly brave thing to do. As for the first kiss and the fireworks? I've had it happen twice!

Excellent story. Thank you for sharing this piece of your life with us. Fascinating.

[Theta S. T.]

This is a great piece ful of ups and downs, daydreams and achievements I don't think anyone has written a story about a 1st kiss on the caf� well done! I did see some spelling errors and some out of place words in the story but that's easily fixable again great job and welcome to the caf�!!

~~Theta

[Lia]

Aww so romantic! Liked this piece. You have the story written twice.