September 28th, 2014: Josephine

PLACE: Davidson, North Carolina

TIME: Sunday, 09/28/2014, 1:40 AM

KISSER: Josephine, aged 19

RECIPIENT: Matthew, aged 19

My third kiss happened a lot sooner than I expected. In fact, when I left that night, I had had no intention of kissing a girl at all.

That evening (which had technically been the previous evening of the 27th ),I had left to go out on the town. It was an interesting move for me; I rarely entered the party scene. Something about the drinking just didn't appeal to me, and, since there wasn't anything else to do on campus, I rarely went out on the weekends. The parties at F and the frat houses were pretty much the end all, be all if you wanted to have fun. On that particular night, it was the tail-end of what had been a long week of academics. I figured I deserved a break.

Almost three months had passed since I had experienced the first of many kisses with theatre co-star Alyssa. I did not expect another kiss to come my way for a long time. But, it was fate and luck that convinced me to go "down the hill" that night.

I wandered around aimlessly for a time until I ran into a bunch of Chorale friends. They dragged me along over to the main party that night on campus: THE America Party in Warner House. It took me a time to get used to the atmosphere, but eventually I got into it. I even got up on one of the mechanical-bullish tabletops used for crazy dancing and leadership for the crowd below. While up there, a girl joined us. Scantily clad, she had on short shorts and a red-white and blue bra bandana sash. She was very sweet and even caressed my face a little bit, which I enjoyed. Then again, I would later observe her doing this with all the other guys. Nevertheless, she was very sweet.

Finally the tightness of the atmosphere got to me, and I went out on to the back patio to get some cool night air. I spotted the girl sitting on the railing with another guy. It dawned on me that she had known my name while we had casually danced on the tapletop. Slightly embarrassed, I approached her and asked for her name. Josephine was the reply. She reminded me that we had been in a P.E. volleyball class together the previous fall and thus jogged my memory. Then, she suggested something totally unexpected.

"Why don't you DUUMO?" she asked.

"What?" I said, not recognizing the acronym.

"Dance Until You Make Out," she explained. "Go find a nice freshmen girl, get up behind her and start bumping and grinding. Pretty soon, she'll be all over you." I must not have looked entirely convinced, for she ran her hands along either side of my face. She was probably a master seductress. "Seriously. Go try it."

I nodded and proceeded to go back into the madhouse that was Warner Hall. Instantly, I ran into problems. It wasn't because of failed attempts at trying; in fact, I didn't try at all. It felt like an oven in there, and I could hardly see anyone, let alone hear them over the music. Plus, almost all the girls were taken. And, even if they weren't, there was something unethical (at least in my view) of going up behind a total stranger and digging your manhood into their ass without so much as asking for permission. I did eventually ask a Chorale friend to dance with her; but it was only the casual stuff.

Totally at a loss, I went back out on to the patio. I re-approached Josephine, who was still talking with her male pal.

"There are several problems with your theory," I reported, and began to list off all the obstacles I had observed. Josephine just smiled and shook her head.

"Come here," she grinned. When I didn't catch on right away, she grabbed my chin and pulled me forward, pressing her lips to mine softly. It was very fleeting, but then again, my kiss with Hannah had seemed that way and so had some of the many I had shared with Alyssa during Little Things.

Though I had never been kissed by someone (at least by someone who had taken the initiative), I rolled with it. I smirked. "Really?" I asked as if that wasn't good enough. I cupped her face in my hands and pulled her back to me, giving her a slightly longer kiss in return. It only dawned on me much later than it must have been really awkward for the other guy sitting right there, but I didn't really give a damn.

When Josephine and I broke apart, her smile was still there. I was amazed that she had actually let me do that.

"Shoo, shoo," she instructed softly. "Go find your freshman girl." I was aware that she had probably planted one on me out of pity, but a kiss was a kiss. As I have demonstrated, this doesn't happen every day.

I headed a short distance away, out of sight of Josephine. I noted the time. 1:40 in the morning. Holy smokes. This was the longest I had been at a Davidson party ever, at least of the few I had gone to. My roommate had gone to bed hours ago. Josephine mingled some more, caressing other boy's faces. I played with my phone, trying to act cool. I didn't intend to stay much longer, but I planned to thank Josephine and give her a kiss goodnight. If what had just happened was any indication, she would not refuse me.

Playing with my iPhone turned out to be a huge miscalculation. When I looked up, Josephine had disappeared. I scoured the patio and the inside of Warner Hall, trying to locate the girl with the American-colored bra sash, but she was gone. Thank God I had gotten her first name. But without a last name, how was I supposed to know who exactly she was? I might as well have kissed her while at a masquerade ball, a la Cinderella, for all I knew about her. I thought of the Prince in that story hollering, "I don't even know your name, please, how will I find you? Wait, please, wait!" and actually had to laugh.

The last name turned out to be less difficult than I thought. A quick Facebook search gave me a last name. One look at the profile picture and I knew it was her, golden locks in ringlets and all. Still, the last name was about all I could get. Without confirmed friendship, there was not much else I could go on, though through some good sleuthing I guessed she was probably a junior. I elected to not Facebook friend her just yet. Though I was sure that when I eventually did she would accept the request, I didn't want her to think I was stalking her or appear too eager. Then again, with caresses and kisses like that, she probably had all the rich asshole guys at KA and scores of others drooling after her like little lost puppies.

Still, I went to bed that night anxious. I hoped the chance would come where I would run into Josephine again. I at least wanted to thank her, even if that did not come with grabbing her and kissing her senseless, good and proper.


Later that same day, I uncovered a crucial piece of information. Josephine was in fact not a junior as I had tried to deduce from dates and locations of photos, but in fact my year – a sophomore. Who knew that kind of stuff could be so misleading? There was only one place that she could be living then: my very same building.

She was not on my floor, 4th North, even if the majority of the students on our co-ed hall were girls. That left 1st through 3rd North and 1st through 5th South as the floors where she could possibly be. Quick scans of the floors I passed every day told me she was not in North. She had to be somewhere on South. 5 floors. Trying to locate her would be difficult without raising any suspicions. But, I would do my best. I had to find her and thank her.

2nd, 4th and 5th South were all a bust. I temporarily abandoned my search after that so as not to be conspicuous. Still, the possibilities were down to 1st and 3rd. 3rd had had a Hello Kitty sticker on the door coming from the stairwell, which had indicated to me it was a girls hall. I would return later, when there were as not as many people in the lounge and slip to the other side with a book for studying. Every New Dorm floor had at least one longue for students to quietly study in. With that cover, I could conclude my search.

Then, came another boon. Josephine accepted my friend request soon after. With more information now at my fingertips, I confirmed that she was indeed on South. Close examinations of pictures told me that she was likely on 3rd, which I confirmed later.


I didn't get to see Josephine again until around sundown that evening. She was alone in her room. I thanked her for the night before. She appreciated it in a hoarse voice that clearly meant she was losing her voice. I admitted to her that I had never "made out" with anybody before, once again citing my lack of experience. If I was expecting her to respond the way Alyssa had, she didn't. Awkwardly, I took her face in my hands and made to kiss her, but she backed away. Needless to say, I was disappointed. Some of the conjectures I had formed last night got confirmed as Josephine explained why she did not want to kiss or even make out with me.

"I was drunk," she explained. "I was kissing everybody." I told her I understood, and that I hoped to see her around. Then, I left.