KISSING VALERIE

In 10th grade I was in love with a girl named Valerie from my Intermediate drama class.  She had brown hair, brown eyes, and the most exotic face and deeply sensuous mouth this boy of fifteen had ever seen.  My chances of anything happening between us, however, were brutually slim because she was a cheerleader and member of the student government, while I hung out with the drama nerds and could barely form two sentences around beautiful girls.  Valerie drove her Datsun B2-10 to school every day from her house in the hills, while I rode to and from the school in a giant yellow school bus.

One week, by sheer dumb luck or the providence of God, the teacher assigned us to do a scene together from a play called "Blue Denim."  In a stroke of genius casting, I played the boy and she played the girl.  Doing the scene together meant I would be working closely with her for over three weeks and that our work together would eventually be put on stage for the entire class to see.  I nearly had a stroke, then, when I read the script for the first time and realized that not only was there a part in the scene where we had to slow dance to romantic music, but that after the dance we had to sit together on the couch where the girl then leans in and kisses the boy right on the lips.

I couldn't sleep for days.

For the dance, we chose the song "Sara Smile" by Hall and Oates.  It was 1978, after all.  During rehearsals, I held her in my arms and we swayed together to the "blue-eyed soul" of that song, but naturally, I couldn't wait to pratice the kissing part and in the privacy of my own head I often dreamed of what kissing Valerie would be like, but shy as I was, never once had the courage to suggest to her that we actually try it.  I figured she'd let me know when she was ready. 

Finally, an upperclass girl named Leslie, who was a teacher's assistant for the class, realized what was going on, came over and said, "I'm directing this scene now.  For God's sake, kiss her already.  Just kiss her.

And I did.

Ever since then, I can't hear "Sara Smile" without thinking of standing on that stage, sweating under the hot stage lights, and watching Valerie lean in, sensing my eyes close, and feeling the softness of her lips on mine.