on the last day of school

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She slipped her palm into mine and led me into the door-less closet, past neatly stacked erasers, unopened boxes of chalk.  Though her breasts showed signs of danger, my curious eyes took them in, then she slid her arm, freckled and warm, behind my neck. Her heart shaped bracelet tinkled in my ear, her mouth the fragrance of bubble gum and salt.

Then, not knowing how, I kissed Kathy Carlo, my lips pressed into hers like I saw John Wayne do. And as she skipped down the hall, I stood stunned in the electric dark. 

All that night, hands resting behind my head, I practiced ways to pucker my lips, and wondered what to do with this suddenly clumsy tongue.  What to do with this new way of giving and receiving.