At the Kissing Booth

Tristan sighed as he entered through the carnival gates. The bright lights of the amusement rides danced across the sky. Every vender from every stand talked to all passersby, wanting them to take a shot at their new game or spend a little on some merchandise. He ran a hand through his curly brown hair and looked behind at his best friend, Luke.

“Why did you bring me here again?”

“Because, you needed to get out,” Luke answered, his shaggy blonde hair falling into his brown eyes. “Ever since you and Marcy br-“

“Don’t talk about her,” Tristan demanded as his grey eyes grew even darker.

“It’s been one month,” Luke reasoned, “You have to start getting over her. And you can’t do it by being cooped up in the college dorm all day.”

“You don’t just ‘get over’ someone you love.”

“But she didn’t love you back,” Luke said frankly. “And you have to accept that. Every since you two broke up you’ve been moping around. That’s why I brought you out here tonight, to have some fun.”

“You want me to forget all my troubles…at a carnival?

“As a matter a fact I do,” replied Luke, his comedic personality shining through again. He slung an arm around Tristan shoulder’s and said, “Some good and clean fun.”

“You don’t expect me to ride any roller coasters right?”

“Of course not. I brought you here because the girl at the Kissing Booth is hot.”

Tristan managed to put on a smile, “Really?”

“Smokin’.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll go check it out.”

><><><><><><><><><><

“Lizzie, don’t make me do this!”

“Please Penny, I need a break. I can’t kiss one more guy right now!”

“Then why did you take this job?!” Penny’s dark blue eyes glared at her older sister.

“Because it pays well. But never mind that, please do me this favor?”

“And what do I get out of it?” Penny wondered as she put her curly dark brown hair into a pony-tail.

“A twenty?” Lizzie suggested.

“That’s hardly worth it. You said that the regulars at the booth are disgusting.”

“Can’t you just be nice and do me this favor?” Lizzie looked at her, pleading with the same navy colored eyes.

“Fine,” she gave in, “But you owe me.”

“Thank you!” Lizzie squealed as she embraced her little sister.

“How long for?”

“Just an hour, then I’ll be back.”

“You better,” Penny scowled.

“It isn’t that big of a deal,” Lizzie assured. “You’ll just sit on a stool and take the guy’s ticket. Ask their name, give yours in return, flash a smile, and give them a little five second kiss.”

“That is a lot of ‘five second kisses’ to give in an hour.”

“It’ll be fine,” Lizzie said, itching to leave. “Just don’t scrunch up your face like that. It’ll drive away the customers.”

“Maybe I want to do that.”

“Ugh, I’ll ignore that comment Penny. Just don’t get me fired. And put your hair down,” she added as an afterthought.

Penny obediently pulled the hair tie from around her chocolate locks and peeked at the line in front of the booth. There were at least five guys out there, waiting for Lizzie to come back. Her older sister had been working here for the past two months, and it had been the most successful booth ever since. Penny wondered if they would be disappointed to find that she had taken Lizzie’s place.

“Lizzie,” Penny whined, “most of those boys are either too young or too old. And they’re all here to see you.”

“No problem,” Lizzie smirked as she stood in front of the pink booth. “Hey guys, I hope you don’t mind but my little sister Penny is going to run this for about an hour. Do you guys mind?”

A little boy of about ten years old called out, “What does she look like?”

“Well Petey, she’s younger and looks a little like me. Penny, could you come out here?”

Penny slowly came out from behind the kiosk and stood next to her sister and gave a small wave to the crowd.

“No,” one of the guys answered, “I don’t have a problem with it.” The small group of males shared similar remarks.

“Alright that’s good, we’ll open the booth in a sec.”

Lizzie took Penny’s hand and led her back behind the stand.

“They’re pigs!” Penny screamed.

“Shh,” hushed Lizzie. “They won’t hurt you or anything. My friend Mark runs security around here and I’ll tell him to keep an eye over here, alright? Don’t worry, they’ve never hurt me before.”

“You’re four years older!”

“Penny, calm down. Just do me this one favor.”

Penny nodded and Lizzie’s face washed over with relief, “Okay, I gotta go now. I’ll be back in an hour to take you home.”

“Bye,” Penny bid as she went to hug her sister. “But if I get raped it’s on your conscience.”

“Stop being so dramatic. And don’t start any unnecessary trouble.” Lizzie called back as started to walk away.

Penny took deep breaths before reentering the booth and drew back the curtains to signal that the booth was officially open. She looked at the small group and said, “Hi guys…I’m Penny. The Kissing Booth is now open.” By then the guys gotten in line, a narrow section marked off by parallel ropes.

The first to step up was a little boy with sandy blonde hair.

“Hello, you’re Petey right?”

“Yep!” he said enthusiastically as he handed her his ticket.

“And how old are you Petey?”

“I’ll be ten next month,” he stated proudly. “How old are you Penny?”

“I’m sixteen,” she replied.

He then leaned in, his lips overdramatically pouted.

Penny hesitantly bent her head and placed her full, lip-glossed lips over his thin ones. She counted in her head ‘one, two, three, four, five,’ then quickly pulled away.

“Well, thanks for coming. Hope to see you again soon,” she smiled politely though she felt like rinsing her mouth out.

“Wow,” Petey said with dazed eyes, “you’re an even better kisser than your sister!”

Penny’s smile faltered as Petey hopped off the stool and the next customer took his place.

“Hi, I’m Billy,” he said whole digging in his pocket for a ticket.

This man looked to be in his early twenties. He looked to be seventy pounds overweight and his chubby face shined with sweat. He had tangled brown hair that hung by his double chin and a lopsided smile across his fat lips.

She tried her hardest not to cringe, “I’m Penny.”

“Like the coin?” he cracked.

Penny sighed, it wasn’t the first time that she’s heard that one. However, it was better than being called Penelope.

“Sure,” she said sarcastically, “like the coin.”

Then Billy leaned in his big head, ready for the kiss.

><><><><><><><><><><

“Is that the booth?” Tristan asked as they approached the pink stall.

“Yeah,” Luke replied as he looked at the girl running it. “That isn’t the girl that I was talking about though. They look alike, but the girl that’s usually there is older.”

“Dude, how many times have you been here?”

“Uh,” Luke scratched the back of his head, “just, um…a couple of times.”

“Sure,” said Tristan; not believing him.

Luke changed the subject, “It’s a bummer that Lizzie isn’t here though, she’s a great kisser. But that chick’s kinda cute too, don’t ya think?”

“Yeah,” Tristan admitted. He took all of her in. Her brunette curls, her mysterious blue eyes, her round face; she looked so innocent—and after Marcy it was just the thing he needed to see in a girl. “Isn’t she a little young though?”

“Let’s go find out!” Luke suggested and pushed Tristan to the back of the line. There were six people in front of him. However, he didn’t mind the wait.

><><><><><><><><><

‘Seven more minutes,’ Penny comforted herself. ‘Only seven more minutes.’

By then Penny had kissed forty-one guys. She felt so dirty. She couldn’t wait until her sister came back, she hoped that Lizzie would be on time.

Penny kissed five more guys before Lizzie snuck behind her and poked the sides of her stomach; making her squeal. Penny usually despised being tickled, but in this case she jumped with joy.

“Yes, you’re back. You have no idea how happy I am to see you!” Penny shot out of her stool and embraced her sister tightly.

“You don’t like my job very much, huh?” Lizzie laughed.

“I am neverdoing this again,” Penny said as she pulled away. “No matter how much you beg.”

“Was it really that bad?” Lizzie asked as she opened her purse and took out two twenty dollar bills from her wallet and offered it to Penny. “Here, that’s almost four times what I make an hour. Go have some fun.”

“Excuse me,” the man next in line interrupted gruffly. “Paying customer waiting.”

“Thanks Lizzie,” Penny said, stuffing the bills in to her jean pockets.

“Meet me back here by nine,” Lizzie ordered as she sat down on the stool and tended to the discourteous man.

><><><><><><><><><

Tristan watched sadly as the teenager was replaced with someone that looked more his age.

“Now that’s the girl I was talking about,” Luke said as he tapped Tristan’s shoulder. “Her name’s Lizzie.”

Although Tristan thought this woman was gorgeous, and as Luke would have said she was said, ‘smokin’ hot,’ but Lizzie didn’t have the naive quality he desired; the feature that the girl had.

“Hey Luke, it’s good to see you again,” Lizzie greeted.

“Hi, Lizzie. I’m actually here for my friend,” he gestured to Tristan to the right of him. “Tristan has been going through a tough time.”

“Well Tristan, can I cheer you up?”

“Who was that girl that was here before?” Tristan asked, ignoring her question.

“That was my little sister Penny. Why?”

“Do you know where I could find her?”

Lizzie looked at him suspiciously. “Hey guys?” she directed to the line behind Luke and Tristan, “I’m gonna take five.” She drew the curtains on the booth shut and waved the guys aside.

“What do you what with my little sis?” Lizzie asked as she eyed Tristan.

“Um,” she was quite intimidating, “I was hoping that she would still be working, at..uh, the booth.”

Lizzie shook her head with disapproval, “You’re too old for her pal.” She started to walk away.

“You just let her run the Kissing Booth for you. I saw her kiss guys twice her age.”

Lizzie turned around sharply and marched over to Tristan until they were inches from touching. “How old are you?”

“I’m eighteen.”

“You’re borderline illegal then, huh?”

“I don’t want to have sex with her, I just want to talk with her.”

“Tristan,” Luke said, “just forget about it.”

“First off, ‘her’ is named Penny. And secondly, why do you care so much?”

“Because…” Tristan stumbled before finding his train of thought, “she looks so innocent. I have been heartbroken for the last month, and she—Penny—is the first girl that I’ve noticed since then. I…I just want a little bit of hope. Hope that there’s a girl that thinks you’re enough.”

Lizzie started to back up, “She’s probably at the smoothie stand.”

><><><><><><><><><><

“A medium strawberry and coconut smoothie please,” Penny told the cashier as she took out one of her newly earned twenty dollar bills.

“Could you make that two?” Tristan asked from behind her. Penny turned her head to see who said this and Tristan quickly handed the cashier ten dollars before she could object.

Penny was about to refuse but the cashier had already put it in the register and was counting Tristan’s change.

“Why did you pay for me?”

“I want to talk to you.”

Penny shrugged, “It’s good to know that my time is worth three dollars and fifty-two cents.”

Tristan smiled and grabbed both of their drinks, ushering Penny over to a nearby picnic table. They sat on opposite sides and began sipping at their drinks.

“So what’s your name?”

“It’s Tristan. And I already know yours. Penny, right?”

Penny looked at him, slightly frightened. “How’d you know that?”

“Lizzie told me.” Tristan realized that he knowing her name may have come off as a bit sketchy.

“Oh, okay.” Penny said, more at ease. Then she tilted her face sideways as if studying him. “Hey! Weren’t you in line at the Kissing Booth?”

“Umm, yeah.”

Penny just looked at him confused.

“I didn’t kiss her though,” he added.

“What did you want to talk to me about Tristan?” Penny wanted to know why he tracked her down.

“Have you ever broken a guy’s heart?” Tristan asked abruptly.

“Uh, not that I know of,” Penny replied hesitantly. “Why are you asking me?”

“I just wanted to know if there was hope.”

“What are you talking about?” Penny didn’t understand this confrontation.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Shoot.”

“I used to be with this girl named Marcy. She goes to the state university with me. We met during orientation and soon we became a couple. Things were great. I told her I loved her, and she said that she loved me back. We were together for the entire school year, eight and a half love-filled months.

“And then came the last day of school. I wasn’t going anywhere because I decided to take summer classes but she was going back home. I was helping her move out her stuff. And when all of her things were cleared out, she took me aside…and she said, ‘Tristan, I’m not coming back next year.’ I was a little mad at her, you know? I asked why she didn’t tell me sooner, why she was transferring, and where. And then she looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘I’m going to a community college closer to home. When I came here, I left someone that I love and I never really stopped. I’m so sorry.’ She didn’t even have the decency to tell me sooner. Her heart was with someone else the entire time.

“Needless to say, I was crushed. It was like she was lying to me every day that we were together. Every time that she told me she loved me. And the saddest thing is, the last words I said to her were ‘but I love you.’ And I kept on loving her; it’s even possible that I still do. I called and e-mailed but she never responded. I haven’t talked to her since the day she left me.”

Penny was awed. She wanted to hug Tristan, but thought that it would be too weird. She just met the guy, and here he was telling her about his heartache. She wondered how somebody could just do that to a person. Penny wondered if she could ever do that to someone.

“But what does that have to do with me?” she asked quietly. Penny didn’t want to pity him, though she hoped Tristan didn’t feel as if she was being uncompassionate.

“I saw you at the Kissing Booth. You looked so blameless. It gave me a bit of hope. So I went in line, wanting to meet you, but you left before it was my turn.”

“You wanted to meet me so much that you asked my sister where I was?”

“Yeah.”

“You must be something than if my sister actually told you where I would be. She’s pretty protective of me.”

“I had to convince her that I wasn’t some kind of rapist before she told me where to find you.”

“That’s Lizzie for you,” Penny giggled.

“Yeah, she’s pretty intimidating.”

“Mhm.”

They sat in silence for a little while.

“So,” Tristan began, “was that the first time you ran the Kissing Booth?”

Penny nodded, “And I’m never doing it again.”

“Not your cup of tea?”

“Hell no. I don’t know how Lizzie does it. I felt so disgusting. The first thing I did was rinse out my mouth.”

Tristan was laughing.

“I kissed more guys in that one hour than I thought I ever would in my entire life time.”

“Well…how about one more?” Tristan inquired, bringing out a ticket from his pocket.

“I’m off duty,” said Penny. “That means extra.”

Tristan obliged and put four more tickets on the table.

Penny’s cheeks turned pink, “Well, I can’t refuse a paying customer.”

Tristan smiled as he started to lean his body as far as he could over the table. Slowly, Penny did the same. When they were a mere four inches away, Penny shifted her weight to her feet so that their lips would touch. Tristan brought up his hand and placed it at the nape of her neck; flattening her ringlets to deepen the kiss. It was soft, and unrushed. Out of all the kisses Penny endured today, this was the only one that she allowed to become intimate, giving Tristan entrance to her entire mouth. She felt their tongues touch and her back tingled with warm sensations.

The kiss lasted a lot longer than five seconds. When they pulled away, Tristan looked straight in to her eyes. And for the first time in a month, he had faith in love again.