The yang of that other thread needs a yin.
I don’t know how long I’d known Janet, but it was something like 10 years. We weren’t really friends, we just shared friends. We really didn’t even know each other. In all that time, we’d seen each other maybe a dozen times, tops. The last time I saw her, for some reason we needed to exchange phone numbers. But we never called each other.
Then one Saturday in late August, she called me out of the blue. She wanted to know if I wanted to go to a drive-in movie that night. I said yes. As it turns out, mutual friends Chip and Cheryl were going as well.
It was fun. I was mostly surprised that there were even any drive-ins left in the world.
So the next week, Janet called and asked if I wanted to go again. Again, I said yes, but C&C found it to be an unpleasant experience, so they didn’t go. Then the week after. I can’t remember what we saw, but There’s Something About Mary and Armageddon were among them. Sometime during those weeks Janet mentioned that she and C&C were going camping, and she invited me to come along. I was unsure. I was 17 the last time I’d been, and all I remember was getting bitten by bugs, snakes, bears, and red dragons. But I figured I would give it another try.
So a-camping we went. I was a little confused as to the etiquitte of the sleeping arrangements. There were four of us, and two tents. Guys in one, girls in the other? But C&C were engaged. Was I expected to… Oh my. Janet later recounted my trepidation as “cute.”
We shared a tent, then the next day we hiked over what must have been 37 miles of mountains. It was exhausting. The others kept commenting on how awesome everything looked. All I remember was how awesome Janet looked. Later that night I collapsed in the tent.
When I woke up the next morning, I discovered that we’d both shifted in our sleep, and somehow we accidentally ended up holding hands. And our faces were mere inches from each other. We just laid there for what must have been a good half hour, wordlessly looking into each other’s eyes.
We never, ever, talked about that.
Later that day, I was at a video store, and saw a chocolate asteroid for sale. It was a promotional thing for Armageddon. I thought it would make a thoughtful gift for Janet, so I bought it. I figured I’d give it to her the next week.
I was wrong. She called a little later to ask if I wanted to go see Titanic that night. Having heard that that was a great movie, and wanting to see Janet again, I said yes. She was thrilled with the chocolate asteroid. And while sitting in the car, waiting for the movie to begin, somehow our hands found each other again. Then the movie started, and we were soon in agreement that it was the worst piece of crap either of us had seen. We couldn’t wait for the damn boat to go down.
While we were watching, somehow our bodies slowy drifted together. At one point, our cheeks were practically touching. I couldn’t tell you what the movie was about by then. Something about a boat and a wonderful girl named Janet. And then – slowly, and quite by their own accord, mind you – our mouths met. That kiss must have lasted a good half hour. And it wasn’t just a kiss. It was magic. I have never in my life, before or since, enjoyed anything quite as much. I know it’s really hard to describe such a thing, but trust me, nothing in the world can compare that one particular event.
A little while later we decided to watch a good movie – we were waiting for the boat to sink – so we went over to the screen showing TSAM, sat on the grass, ate Janet’s asteroid, and laughed our heads off.
We never talked about that kiss. In fact, we never talked about our relationship at all until the last day of it, two months later. And they were a very rocky two months. But for one day, from beginning to end, the world was a perfect place.