Explain Yourself

Laura sat by herself at lunch the following day. Everyone else was playing baseball and having a real fun time. Normally, the young girl would have joined in, but her mind was still racing after what Willie had done the other day by the creek. She had not told anyone about their kiss and never planned to.

"Hey, Laura. Do you wanna bat?" Albert called over to his sister.

"No thanks." She simply answered.

Maybe Willie kissed her just to mess with her? Maybe it was all some big joke or something Nellie had put him up to? Whatever the reason why Willie kissed her, she was now determined to find out.

"Lunch is over, everyone!" Miss Wilder called out to her students while coming outside. She began ringing the bell and every kid rushed to get back inside. Laura walked back inside with the rest of her classmates, almost tripping over her own feet, lost in thought.

Later that day, Miss Wilder decided to dismiss the class early, giving Laura more time to track down Willie and get the answers she wanted from him. After running out of the schoolhouse, Laura immediately spotted the young boy. "Willie!"

Willie turned around after hearing Laura's call and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not wasting my whole afternoon working on that dumb project again." Willie stated clearly.

"I just wanted to ask you why...why you did what you did yesterday." Laura lowered her voice, wanting to make sure no one passing by could listen in on their conversation.

"What?" Willie asked, for a moment forgetting the last time he was alone with Laura.

"You know what I'm talking about, Willie Oleson. Did Nellie put you up to it or was it some sort of stupid prank?" Laura was filled with angry all of a sudden. How dare he forget.

Then, it hit him. Willie bit his lip, realizing what Laura was referring to. "Oh. I'll tell you later." Then, Willie sprinted away from Laura, leaving her in the dust.

"Willie, wait!" She yelled to him. But it was no use, Willie had concealed himself inside the mercantile. Laura would have to wait to get the answers she so desperately wanted.

The young girl walked home by herself. There was no one she could talk to about the strange kiss. Everyone would make fun of her or think differently of her, even her own ma and pa. However, the more Laura thought about it, she realized that kiss the previous day, was not the first her and Willie shared.

Years earlier, Laura had Willie help her make another boy jealous. Come to think of it, she did not even remember that boy's name anymore. Nor, if when she kissed Willie, if it was on the cheek or lips. Laura walked into her house, trying to think back to her childhood days.

"Hello, Laura. How was school today?" Caroline asked her daughter while preparing dinner.

Laura looked up, finally getting back to reality. "It was alright. Miss Wilder let us out a few minutes early."

"Speaking of, could you run over to the Wilder house for me and drop off this letter? Mrs. Foster mixed it up with our mail." Caroline asked her daughter.

"Sure, ma." Laura answered. She took the letter from her mother and set out for the Wilder house. Maybe seeing Almanzo would get Laura's mind off Willie.

Laura made her way over the final hill and saw the Wilder's house right away. Suddenly, she saw Almanzo walking between the barn and the main house. "Hi, Manly." She called to him, trying to sound enthusiastic about seeing him.

The older man looked up. "Oh hi, Beth. What brings you by?"

"We accidentally got one of your letters in the mail. I just came over to return it to you." Laura explained, staring deeply into Almanzo's eyes, trying to see if they looked at her in a certain way.

"Well, thank you, Beth." Almanzo shoved the letter into his pocket. "Say, I was just going to head into town. If you want, I could drop you off at your home so you don't have to walk all the way back."

Laura started smiling. She would do anything to get an extra time with Almanzo. "I'd like that. Thank you."

It took Almanzo only a few minutes to saddle up his team. Once him and Laura were safely in the buckboard, they started making their way back to the Ingalls' home. While riding, Laura listened to Almanzo talk about his work at the Feed & Seed. She did not take her eyes of the handsome older man, until she saw a scrawny younger boy walking to the river with his fishing pole.

"Manly, stop!" Laura yelled, jolting Almanzo up in his seat.

"What is it?" He asked in confusion.

"Nothing. I just realized I have to go somewhere else." Laura climbed off the buckboard and started in the same direction she saw him walking. "Thanks for the ride." She remembered to say to Almanzo, but not looking back at him.

Laura ran, almost sprinted, to the creek, hoping to catch up with him. As she looked around, she saw just who she was looking for. "Willie Oleson!" Willie looked up from his fishing pole and saw Laura making her way towards him.

"Explain yourself! Why did you kissed me?" Laura yelled. She was not going to let Willie leave this time until she got the answers she wanted from him.

The young boy sighed, realizing he was going to have to tell Laura the truth and that he picked a bad day to go fishing. "Alright. Alright. I'll tell you." There was a brief pause between the two.

"I had a crush on you once. It was stupid. Nellie made fun of me for it."

Laura had to take a step back. She could not believe it. After all the teasing, pranks and name-calling, how could Willie Oleson ever have had a crush on her? It did not make any sense.

"Really?" Laura asked.

Willie shock his head. "Yea. It was a long time ago and didn't even last very long. I just always wondered..." He trailed off in embarrassment.

"Wonder what?"

"Wondered what it would be like to kiss you. That's why I did what I did yesterday." Willie looked straight at Laura. "Don't worry, I don't like you like that anymore. You have gotten kind of annoying lately."

Laura shook her head at him. "Gee, thanks."

"Can we still be friends?" Willie was quick to ask.

It took Laura a moment to think about it. She guessed, in its own special way, her and Willie were and will always be friends. "Of course."

The two old friends both smiled. It was only a dumb kiss after all. Nothing more.

"Wait." Laura stopped, once she thought of something. "Did you tell anyone? You better not have told anyone, Willie."

Willie started laughing. "Why would I tell anyone I kissed you? Do you know how much fun I would get made of if people knew. My lips are sealed."

Laura nodded her head. "Alright. I'm going to trust you on this one. Now, since we're both here, let's get started on that project."

"No!"