Without a word we started walking along the water together, Olivia and me. The tide was going out, and after a few steps we took off our shoes and let the waves roll over our feet in the soft wet sand. There was a sailboat in the distance. Behind it, a line of pink puffy clouds looked like the castle wall of a faraway country. We stopped to look.
“Do you ever feel lonely, Wen?” she asked. “Like we’re just small parts in a giant, complicated universe?”
“I’m not lonely,” I said. “I’m here with you.”
She blinked at me. Then something unexpected happened. She reached out and touched my cheek, staring right into my eyes, and kissed me. And I kissed back. It was a real kiss, soft gentle and quiet, the kind that gets your blood rushing and your head spinning, and when it was done I just stood there, surprised, looking at her, focusing on every inch of her face.
And she was looking back at me.
– From Lemonade Mouth Puckers Up
