Kevin McCormick never thought that Shelly Marsh was ugly.

Sure, there was the headgear that marred her face. Sure, her hair was a choppy mess. But she had the prettiest eyes that he had ever seen. The shade of blue reminded him of the ice floes on Stark's Pond and they were framed by long, thick lashes. Her hair, as messy as it was, was a nice golden brown and when the sun hit it in just the right place, it looked like she was wearing a halo. The few times that she genuinely smiled, her entire face lit up. She regularly reapplied her Chapstick during the day, because according to her, the drooling caused by braces absolutely wrecked her lips (Kevin himself couldn't be bothered with Chapstick). He would be lying if he said that he didn't ever wonder how those soft, shiny lips would feel pressed against his.

Kevin made his way to his locker, curiously glancing at the girls walking past. It seemed like half of the seventh and eighth grade girls were wearing those stupid shirts that were more like half a shirt. He didn't understand the point. Weren't they cold? They looked fucking stupid with their bellies hanging out like that.

Shelly would never wear one of those, he thought to himself. She preferred to stay as covered up as possible, even at the pool.

Kevin was rummaging through his locker when he heard a familiar pair of footsteps approaching the locker next to his.

"Hey, turd."

"Hey-"

Kevin's breath hitched in his throat.

Shelly was wearing one of THOSE shirts.

Kevin felt the blood rush to his face as he caught a glimpse of his friend's bare midriff. She looked...

Incredible.

Kevin's gawking did not go unnoticed by Shelly.

"I know, it's stupid, but Melissa dared me to try it on at the mall the other day and she said that I looked good in it-"

Kevin vaguely nodded along as he continued to gaze at Shelly's...figure. He felt his knees go weak as she reached up to grab a book from her locker.

"And I actually like it. Best of all, it pisses my dad off. I called him out on his patriarchal bullshit. I can wear whatever the hell I want and there's not a fucking thing that he can do about it! And so I - shit!" Shelly swore as her phone fell from her hands. She bent over to pick it up.

Kevin felt that blood rush again. He stammered a goodbye to Shelly and ran to class with his math book placed strategically in front of him.

"Dude, Shelly Marsh is a total butterface," Kevin overheard one of his classmates whisper to his friend as they headed to the cafeteria.

Butterface? What the fuck does that mean? Kevin wondered. Was it an insult? New slang? Kevin was always behind when it came to those things.

Kevin skipped the cafeteria and made a detour to the library.

Butterface is derogatory. Usually it's used for a woman whose body is attractive but whose face is ugly.

Kevin stoically pushed his chair away from the computer desk and walked out of the library.

Everything after that was a blur. The last thing he remembered was being hauled off to the principal's office with bruised knuckles.

Kevin lay on his bed, wishing for the millionth time that he had his own room. He couldn't get the image of Shelly at her locker out of his head and it was starting to get to him.

Kevin was about to bolt to the bathroom and take care of his... problem when Kenny burst into the room. "Dude, what did you DO?" he asked his older brother. "I heard that you got sent home early. Did you bring beer to school again?"

Kevin scowled. "Some jackoff was talkin' shit and I fucked him up!"

"What was he talking shit about?"

Kevin wasn't about to tell the truth. "Mom," he lied.

Kenny snorted. "You suck at lying, dude."

Kevin flipped him off in reply and rolled over, facing the wall.

Kenny was silent for a moment. "It was about Shelly Marsh, wasn't it?"

Kevin didn't answer.

"I saw her getting dropped off today," Kenny continued. "Dude, she is FIT! Once she gets rid of the headgear and bitchtastic attitude, fixes her hair, and inherits her mom's rack, she'll be a perfect ten! Her stomach is so flat that you can use it as a writing surface and her BUTT-" Kenny yelped as Kevin threw one of Karen's dolls at his head.

"Shut up! Don't talk about her like that!" Kevin bellowed. "She ain't one of those girls from yer magazines!"

Kenny's eyes widened in realization. "You're in LOVE with her! I knew it! That's why you went so apeshit!"

"S-Shut up! You don't know what yer talkin' about," Kevin replied. He raced out of his room and out the door, heading to Stark's Pond. He needed to clear his head.

Kenny was right.

Kevin McCormick was hopelessly, desperately in love with Shelly Marsh.

While it was true that Shelly's new wardrobe stirred up some strange new sensations within him, he couldn't deny that his feelings for her were there for as long as he could remember.

It wasn't just her body or her beautiful blue eyes. She was a total badass. He had seen her beat up guys who were three times her size. She was never shy about expressing her opinions. She might have been "bitchtastic", but she was compassionate in her own way. She would bring extra food for lunch and demand that he "help her finish it". She cared for him without treating him like a charity case. There was nobody in the world like Shelly Marsh.

Kevin was pulled out of his thoughts by a familiar voice.

"Kevin!"

Shelly approached the bench he was sitting on, her cheeks ablaze with fury.

"You beat the shit out of Tommy Schneider? What the hell happened?" She demanded.

"You mad?" Kevin asked.

"No, I'm not mad! You know that I fucking hate that turd! I just want to know what happened!"

"Why's yer face all red?" Kevin asked, trying desperately to change the subject.

"My stupid dad humiliated me when he picked me up from school!" Shelly growled. "I refused to get in the car. He finally left when I told him that I was going to the library. I went to your house and your brother told me that I might find you here."

"Oh."

The two sat in silence for a moment before Shelly spoke up again.

"Seriously, why did you beat him up?"

Kevin refused to look her in the eye. "He was jus' sayin' some stuff, that's all."

"About?" Shelly prodded.

Kevin couldn't hold it in any longer. "He was sayin' shit about you - yer body and... stuff. I didn't wanna hear it, so I shut him up!"

Kevin buried his face in his hands until he felt a hand on his arm. He finally dared to look Shelly in the eye.

The blazing fury he expected to see in her eyes was absent.

"You did that for me? Why?"

"Yer my best friend, Shells. My - my only friend. And I love you-"

Kevin clapped his hands over his mouth as realization hit.

I'm gonna be sick. She's gonna hate me and I'm gonna be alone and -

"I gotta go!" Kevin stuttered out. He stood up from the bench, only to be yanked down furiously.

"Don't you go anywhere, turd!"

Kevin obediently stayed put.

Shelly stared at him intently before reaching up and unhooking her headgear from her braces.

Kevin was floored. He hadn't seen Shelly without her headgear in almost two years. He tried not to think about how pretty she was without the metal obscuring her face.

"What are you-"

He was cut off by a pair of lips pressing against his.

Kevin felt that familiar rush of blood to his head as Shelly kissed him. Her lips tasted like cherry Chapstick and were every bit as soft as he imagined.

Shit, what do I do with my hands? he asked himself. This was Kevin's first kiss. He didn't know all of the details yet.

He finally rested his hands on her waist. He felt a jolt of electricity as he made contact with her bare skin.

Shelly wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. He tentatively probed her lips with his tongue and she parted her lips, intertwining her tongue with his.

Kevin never wanted the kiss to end. He hoped that their braces would lock together so that they would be forced to stay attached for awhile.

The two teens reluctantly pulled apart and came up for air. They silently gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, their foreheads resting against each other.

Shelly eventually broke the comfortable silence. "If you want this to happen again, you better start wearing Chapstick, turd!" she smirked. "I told you that the drooling makes your lips chapped! Didn't your orthodontist tell you?"

"Aww, c'mon, Shells! I ain't wearin' that chick shit!"

She punched him affectionately on the shoulder. "No more toxic masculinity, turd! You're wearing Chapstick if I have to put it on you myself! And stop being such a pussy! I'll get you the unscented and unflavored kind! Your precious manhood will still be intact!"

"Okay, fine!" Kevin held his hands up in defeat.

Satisfied, Shelly snuggled closer to Kevin and rested her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her.

There was still one burning question he had on his mind.

"Shells, can I ask ya somethin'?"

"What?"

"Ain't you cold in that shirt?"