I don't care that I'm grounded. I have to meet with Paul.

The phone vibrates, I pick it up.

Paul: Where are you?

Me: I'm still at home.

Paul: You're not coming down anymore?

Me: Mother grounded me. Give me a few minutes I'm going out.

Paul: I'll wait for you, Lucas is here to give us a ride.

Where does he want to go? I don't have to think about that, now I have to figure out how to get out of here.

I approach the window. Maybe, I can get out the window like in the movies. The canopy should hold.

I climb over the window, put one foot out and key the surface. Yes, come on, it should hold. Now where do I climb down from? I look out: there's Paul.

He speaks in a hushed voice. "Martha, you don't want to come down from there, do you?"

"How can I? Mother is still awake, she's with a colleague of hers watching TV!"

"That's not a good idea. You'll hurt yourself!"

I approach the edge of the canopy. I have the toes of my shoes in the gap and that punching feeling in my stomach assails me. It reminds me of the school wall. I inhale.
I have an idea: I must use the gutter to lower myself down.

"Martha, what do you want to do?"

I reach the edge of the canopy: with one hand, I hold onto the outer wall of the house, and with the other, I reach for the contact of the gutter. My fingertips find nothing, only air.
I have to lean out more; I cannot stand with both feet resting. I get off balance: one leg is dangling and the other is in support; the hand advances a few inches and finally manages to get support.

Now it's my foot's turn, but I don't know where to put it. My hand slips, my heart beats in my throat. I squeeze my hand hard against the wall and the other finds the gutter.

"Martha!"

I was about to fall. I look down: I would have broken my neck.

Paul is right: I was helped up and down a simple wall, let alone down this canopy. I guess we'd better go out the front door!

I give myself a push and return with both feet firmly on the supporting surface.

"I can't get down from here. I'll try going out the front door."

"Okay, I'll wait for you."

I nod and return to the room. I almost spent tonight in the hospital. I slip away and make my way to the stairs. The feet follow quietly, step by step.

Mom is in the living room with Richard and they are kissing. What on earth...?
I'll figure it out later, the important thing is that they are distracted and haven't seen me.

Crumb is in the kitchen, staring at me, coming toward me. Don't make a noise, please. Don't make a sound.

"Meow."

Hush! I turn to my mother, still kissing.

"Meow."

Mother turns in my direction. She gasps. "Martha?"

Stupid cat.
"I was thirsty. I went downstairs to get a glass of water."

She gets up from the sofa and runs to me. "Martha, are you all right? I don't know what you saw..."

"Mom, take it easy." I pat her shoulder. "Just keep doing what you were doing."

"No, but it doesn't matter."

"Really, Mom. Go."

"Thank you." Mom smiles. "But remember. You're still grounded."

"Yes, I know. Don't worry about it. I'll go get a glass of water and go to bed afterwards."

"Okay, honey. Good night."

"Good night, Mom."

She has such a sweet look on her face. I've never seen her like this, maybe this is her second chance. I don't want to spoil it for her.

I walk into the kitchen, Crumb follows me. "Pussycat, you were giving me away." I crouch down and pet her.

Now, though, I have to think about me, there's Paul and Lucas waiting for me.
I drink a glass of water and out of the corner of my eye I glance into the living room. They are not kissing, but they are hugging. So cute.

I set the glass down in the sink. "Crumb, I'm going to go outside now. You be good, mind you."

I take the keys that are on the small table in the hall, go to the door and open it very carefully. It didn't squeak, now I have to close it lightly. I accompany it with both hands and a soft click lets me know the door is closed.

"Paul, here I am." My voice is a sigh.

"Martha, I'm here." Paul is behind a bush. "Let's go. Lucas is waiting for us."

We walk toward the car.

"Your mother didn't notice anything?"

"I guess not, let's just say she was a little ... busy."

Lucas's black car is parked in front of the neighbor's house. We hop in.

"Hi, guys. How are you doing? Your trusted chauffeur is happy to take you wherever you wish."

We laugh. Who knew Lucas had such a soft heart.

Paul high-fives him. "Thank you, for the ride."

"No worries. I had nothing better to do." He starts the car. "Where am I taking you?"

I really have no idea; being with Paul is enough for me. "Paul? Do you have any ideas?"

He ponders a few seconds, finally, he snaps his fingers. "Take us to school."

I smile. "Good one! Come on, pick a place."

"No kidding, I had something in mind..."

Is he serious? We can't go back to the scene of the crime. "You're kidding, right?"

"Trust me, you won't regret it."

If he tells me so, I can't refuse. "Lucas, did you hear what the gentleman said? Let's go to school."

"Of course, ma'am. Your wish is my command."

I laugh. "You will be charged a fair amount of money for all you are doing for us."

"Paul, did you hear that? We're meeting tomorrow to talk about the bank job. No more little locks." He laughs, turns on the radio, and leaves.

Unbelievable. I'm going back to school at night, after all that has happened. I think it's crazy, one I might regret. But how can I say no to Paul? He makes everything so easy and doable. I could climb Everest with him and I wouldn't feel the fatigue. I could even do a bank robbery and not feel the guilt.

Paul's hand rests on the back of mine. Goose bumps raise the hairs on my forearm. He didn't make a mistake, he really wants to squeeze my hand. I turn my palm upward and our fingers slide over each other until they cross. His ring on his index finger presses against mine.

This time it's not like when we were in school, which he held my hand to guide me. Now, that hand is taking me completely off the road, out of all known and explored terrain.
I had never experienced anything like this.

I squeeze his hand, but I don't dare to look at him. I'm afraid that any glance will jeopardize this moment. Better not to do anything else. This way I am fine.

We arrive at the school. We untie hands, but cross glances. It can't get any better than this.

Paul opens the door. "Thanks, Lucas. I'll call you later."

"At your service."

Lucas is a true friend. "See you later."

We walk out and arrive at the school wall.

"Martha, you're a professional climber now, let me see
how you do."

***

The half-broken door is in front of us. Why are we here?

Behind the bush, Paul picks up the step ladder. "I thought..." He lays it on the wall. "After the first date, this would be the ideal place for the second date."

He considers yesterday's a real date.

"Men first." I nod to him.

He smiles and goes upstairs.

I know it's dangerous, but it's so beautiful up there. I climb up as well.

He lies down and so do I.

We are very close. By now, that gesture in the car has started an intimacy we didn't have before. We are more casual.

"So? How did it go with the principal?"

"He didn't suspend me, but he said I couldn't do the school writing contest."

"Geez. Did you have a story in mind?"

"Something like that."

He turns to one side, elbow on the ground, head on his palm. "Tell!"

"I don't have the whole story in mind yet."

"Tell it anyway."

"Okay." I lay on my stomach and rise up on my elbows. "Well, the story isn't clear to me yet, but there's a guy, cute, and good with engines."

"Yeah, I like this guy, go on."

"His father taught him how to fix cars, and, at some point in the story, the world, well, needs him."

"Nice! All the mechanics are dead and he's the only one left on the face of the earth?"

I smile. "Not really. I told you that the story is still not clear to me, didn't I??"

"Yes, but he has potential."

"Let's say because of the boy's knowledge, the world won't explode or something."

"Wow. That much? Okay, I take back everything I said. I don't like apocalyptic stories. I was thinking more of a novel with cars, women, money."

"Okay, you write that one. I'll write mine."

We laugh and he scratches his temple with his index finger.

"Tell me about the ring on your finger."

He admires it. "This ring was given to me by my father." He turns to me. "We were on vacation in Paris and I had seen this ring in a store window. So, I begged him to buy it for me."

"Do you like music? Do you play?"

"Actually, it was my father who played guitar and I wanted to be like him." He smiled. "So instead of practicing guitar, I decided I would become like him by wearing a ring with a musical note."

"You can still start playing."

"I don't know. I don't think I'm capable of learning to play."

"With commitment you get everything."

"Too late, now I'm devoting myself to basketball. It's okay."

I feel sorry for him. I think he suffered, just like me.

I rest my hand on his wrist. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Tell me."

"That day when my mother's car broke down.... Do you remember?"

"Which day?" He smiles.

I slap him on the shoulder. "Don't be a jerk!"

"Come on, I'm kidding. Of course I remember. So what?"

"There was a moment when our arms were close to each other, so I wanted to know if you also felt-"

He moves closer and his lips meet mine. My heart races, my breath breaks. His scent permeates my senses and a shiver makes my skin vibrate. The kiss continues, tongues caressing, moist, like a soft, gentle massage. His hand wraps around the nape of my neck and slips his fingers into my hair. This is the decisive knockout. I am completely lost.

I didn't expect it, but it was exactly what I wanted.
Who would have thought we would kiss? And who would have thought we would kiss, here on the roof of the school?
I would never have believed such a thing if someone had told me. In fact, I would have taken him for a freak.

The kiss is intense and I caress his hair. That hair I've always seen him stroking. Now, I can do it for him.

I didn't think a kiss could be so good. I have often heard of some people who did not like their first kiss. They say that then things can change with time. But not this kiss. I'm really enjoying this kiss. I would be here for hours.

He pulls away.

He stares into my eyes. "In the car, I felt something, too. I wished that trip would never end."

I smile. How I like that.

"You're very sweet."

"So are you." He turns belly up, I lean against his arm. My head is on his chest.

"Do you know why I wanted to bring you here?"

"You wanted to kiss me?"

"Actually, I wanted to watch 'Kill Bill' with you." He laughs.

"You wanted to see it on your phone?"

"Yes, but if I'm honest. I feel like it was better that way."

Much better.

"So, you engineered all this to see a movie?"

"What should I tell you? I'm a simple guy."

"Okay, then we'll see, but first, I want another kiss."

Our lips meet again, one seeking the other.

I remember my first kiss with Thomas, I was a little girl, and there was just likes lips touching. Nothing to do with this.
This is a Kiss with a capital 'K,' one of the real ones. The ones I will always remember.

What a wonderful day! I would go to detention a thousand more times to experience what is happening now.
Good thing I made my choices. I can say that my choices were perfect.