"Youre the first boy Ive ever kissed," she said to me.
It was a few days before the new year, and Jamie and I were standing at the Iron Steamer Pier in Pine Knoll Shores. To get there, wed had to cross the bridge that spans the Intracoastal Waterway and drive a little way down the island.
Nowadays the place has some of the most expensive beachfront property iire state, but back then it was mainly sand dunes led against the Maritime National Forest.
"I figured I might have been," I said.
"Why?" she asked ily. "Did I do it wrong?" She didnt look like shed be too upset if Id said yes, but it wouldnt have beeruth.
"Youre a great kisser," I said, giving her hand a squeeze.
She nodded and turoward the o, her eyes getting that far-off look again. Shed been doing that a lot lately. I let it go on for a while before the silence sort of got to me.
"Are you okay, Jamie?" I finally asked.
Instead of answering, she ged the subject.
"Have you ever been in love?" she asked me.
I ran my hand through my hair and gave her one of those looks. "You mean before now?」
I said it like James Dean would have, the way Eric had told me to say it if a girl ever asked me that question. Eric retty slick with girls.
"Im serious, Landon," she said, tossing me a sidelong glance.
I guess Jamie had seen those movies, too. With Jamie, Id e to realize, I always seemed to be going from high to low and back to high again iime than it takes to swat a mosquito. I wasnt quite sure if I liked that part of our relationship yet, though to be ho, it kept me on my toes. I was still feeling off balance as I thought about her question.
"Actually, I have," I said finally.
Her eyes were still fixed on the o. I think she thought I was talking about Angela, but looking back, Id realized that what Id felt fela was totally different from what I was feeling right now.
"How did you know it was love?" she asked me.
I watched the breeze gently moving her hair, and I khat it was no time to pretend I was something that I actually wasnt.
"Well," I said seriously, "you know its love when all you want to do is spend time with the other person, and you sort of know that the other persohe same way.」
Jamie thought about my answer before smiling faintly.
"I see," she said softly. I waited for her to add something else, but she didnt, and I came to another sudden realization.
Jamie may not have been all that experienced with boys, but to tell you the truth, she laying me like a harp.
During the wo days, for instance, she wore her hair in a bun again.
On New Years Eve I took Jamie out to dinner. It was the very first real date shed ever been on, and we went to a small waterfroaurant in Morehead City, a place called Flauvins. Flauvins was the kind of restaurant with tablecloths and dles and five different pieces of silverer setting. The waiters wore blad white, like butlers, and when you looked out the giant windows that pletely lihe wall, you could watch moonlight refleg off the slowly moving water.
There ianist and a sioo, not every night or even every weekend, but on holidays whehought the place would be full. I had to make reservations, and the first time I called they said they were filled, but I had my mom call them, and the hing you knew, something had opened up. I guess the owner needed a favor from my father or something, or maybe he just didnt want to