Kissing Games
By: Leah Zamorah
*Note: This was set four years before Matched happened.
Today is Valentines' day, an unofficial holiday declared by the Society. Since it was a Saturday, I still had to go on with my recreational activity. I finished my portion of food and threw the aluminum container into the disposal.
"Bye Bram," I told my little brother.
"You're leaving this early?" Bram asked.
"Yeah. I want to go on for a walk first." I replied.
Just as I stepped out of the door, I saw Xander walking down from his front porch steps. I went to him and we both walked heading to the pool.
"It's weird for the officials to declare this day a holiday when we aren't doing anything special." Xander whispered conversationally.
"Well, long ago they used this day as a reminder to show love to their matches." I said knowingly.
"I know my history lessons, Cassia." Xander joked good-humoredly.
"Then maybe you could use this day to show love." I teased back.
Xander glared at me and kept quiet. We walked in silence for a while and he suddenly stopped at a flower patch.
"You know, people long ago used to give their matches flowers on this day." Xander said.
"I know my history lessons, Xander." I smiled.
"I know you do." Xander said amused.
He suddenly bent down and started picking flowers.
"Xander, that's illegal." I whispered.
"You can easily get away with it." Zander winked.
He carefully gathered the flowers. He was right. The officials didn't take those offences seriously. He got pulled a piece of stem and wrapped it around the clump of flowers. He stood up and faced me.
"For you." Xander said seriously.
I got the flowers and studied it. Roses. My mom used to show me pictures of this kind of flower when I was little. It had a pretty shade of red. It wasn't the dark type of red that reminded me of blood. It was bright red that had a radiant glow. I guess it reminded me of warmth and of love. Maybe these were the kind of flowers men long ago gave to their matches. I looked up at Xander and caught him smiling at them.
"Maybe you were right when you said that we could make this holiday special by showing love." Xander said, his expression still amused.
"Thanks, Xander." I said barely audible.
We were staring at the flowers on my hand for a minute, as if daring it to make something magical happen. And maybe it did. It stood on my tip toe and kissed his cheek. The next thing Xander did was unexpected… He laughed.
"What's so funny?" I asked offended.
"Nothing." Xander answered still chuckling.
I glared at him. And he might have known that I was committed to do so until he told me the reason why he laughed.
"Come on, Cassia. Don't be mad. It's just that I realized that…" He hesitated.
"Realized what?" I asked.
"Have you ever been kissed before?" Xander asked.
I was surprised. But it didn't take long for me to understand what he meant. It was those kissing games we used to play when we were little. When we tried to run after those boys we like and steal a kiss from them.
"Yeah." I replied.
"Well, I just realized that I never got a kiss from you." Xander said half-teasing.
"Maybe that's because we were always together that we never needed to, or you were always chased by girls who were awaiting for your kisses." I teased.
"I never kissed them, though." Xander replied truthfully.
"Really?" I asked, surprised.
"Yup. I was always so terrified that I would hide behind the door until they would all go away." Xander told me.
I laughed. It was funny how immature we were back when we were eight.
"So you never had your first kiss?" I asked.
"Nope." Xander replied coolly.
We looked at each other face to face, both of us wondering what would happen next. Xander leaned in and I did, too. It was a kiss. A fair one. Not long we pulled back.
"Thanks." Xander said.
"Thanks for what?" I asked innocently.
"I don't know, for sharing this moment with me." Xander replied.
I blushed and held my flowers tight. We continued walking to the pool and got engaged in a new conversation. It was as if nothing happened. And maybe nothing did. After all, that was just another kissing game.