Our First Kiss

We kissed for the first time late on Saturday, February 7, 2004

Stephen:

We began sitting together at Open Mics and hanging out at Denny's afterward, and discovering we liked a lot of the same things and just enjoyed talking with each other. Kristine bought a copy of my CD, and I asked her to let me know what she thought after she'd listened to it.

Kristine:

He gave me his screen name and we talked a lot online.

Stephen:

We probably packed a month's worth of dating conversation into a week and a half online. Kris had mentioned her love of photography, and how she wanted to take pictures of somebody out in the snow. I volunteered. We thought it would be fun to share some of each others' favorite music and explore Albany and take pictures. We both had the next Saturday free.

Kristine:

Steve and I agreed that we should have an "Artsy-Fartsy Music Day", which turned out to be February 7th. He said he would come by sometime in the morning so I got up early, showered and got dressed and listened to his CD over and over again.

While I was sitting there, all nervous, my friends Lisa and Christina decided to wait with me. We knew he was getting close, and we saw him drive by and were all cheering him on and then simultaneously sighing when he missed the entrance to Lima Lot. It was pretty great.

Stephen:

The entrance to Saint Rose's Lima Lot is hidden... it's basically a small driveway between two houses. After turning around and successfully parking on campus, Kris met me in the lobby of her dorm.

Kristine:

We drove around a bunch and went into a few places, one being Arlene's Art Shop, where we found that we were continuously in the way no matter what we did.

Stephen:

The day went by quickly, in the best way. We drove up and down Western Avenue, listening to music and talking. We stopped at Crossgates Mall to wander and have some lunch. A calendar kiosk was having a clearance sale, and we saw the weirdest calendar...

Kristine:

...Mr. Winkle, the very strange dog....

Stephen:

...which we laughed about for the rest of the weekend. On the way back to campus we dropped off a roll of Kristine's film at a Rite Aid for one-hour development, and then went to watch a video in Kris' dorm room.

Kristine:

We had the room to ourselves because my roomie Maria was visiting her boyfriend back home.

Stephen:

After the first movie, we drove back to Rite Aid and discovered they'd closed at 9pm. We drove back to campus, and put in another tape. Neither of us wanted the evening to end.

Kristine:

We watched a bunch of movies; "Willow", "The Three Amigos", and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

I remember that when we started watching the movies we were sitting next to each other on my bed (there weren't enough comfortable chairs in the room).

Stephen:

Initially we were sitting side by side, with our backs against the wall. As time passed, we relaxed. At least, we seemed to relax - I don't know about Kristine, but I fought to appear calm.

Kristine:

I started leaning up against Steve as the movies continued.

Stephen:

First our hands were next to each other. Then they were bumping against each other. Then we were holding hands. More and more, we were talking and joking and getting closer and closer instead of watching the movie.

Kristine:

After a few of the movies I had leaned so far over that I was really leaning across his lap.

Stephen:

Earlier in the day, a common reply to shared revelations had been "Well, you're just that good." Now, as we were talking, Kris meant to say this and instead misspoke "Well, you're just that goat."

We laughed about it for a solid 5 minutes, and in between fits of laughter, all I could do was look down at this adorably cute, smiling girl lying on my lap. I'd wanted to kiss her for at least an hour.

Kristine:

I looked up at him and he kissed me. I was so excited I almost jumped up and down, but I didn't; I didn't want move from the spot.

Stephen:

It was a tentative kiss - not a peck, but not a KISS. She smiled, and I smiled, and there was a shared moment of "Did that just happen?" So I kissed her again.

Then, the videotape was over. She asked, "Want me to put in another movie?" I agreed - I didn't want to leave.

Kristine:

We continued to watch movies until about 3am. Steve said he should be getting home, because he was getting really tired. I didn't want him to leave, and driving while tired really isn't a good idea. So I offered for him to stay the night because it was so late anyway.

Stephen:

I was too tired not to agree to stay.

Kristine:

I went to the bathroom to change into my pj's and Steve stayed in his clothes. We ended up kissing a lot, and it was very nice.

Stephen:

Kris got under her covers. I slept on top of the sheets. After saying goodnight, we were each asleep within minutes.

Waking up side by side the next morning... I can't even describe the immediate happiness.

Kristine:

I remember taking him to get food at St. Rose's Camelot Room and picking up my pictures at Rite Aid (and never took film there again).

Stephen:

After a late breakfast/early lunch with Kristine, I went back up to my apartment in Malta. The next Saturday would be Valentine's Day, and we both knew we'd found someone to spend it with.

photo by Kristine: holding hands