Kiss The Girl

What better lesson to learn from The Little Mermaid? For those not familiar, the temporarily mute Ariel has to get the strapping young prince to kiss her or she'll have her soul eternally signed away to the witch-octopus-queen and she'll live a life as a shriveled unhappy girl in a garden of shriveled unhappy souls. In an attempt to save her soul, her friend Sebastian tries and sets the ambiance for an awesome first kiss by singing the following song:



Thankfully, the stakes are rarely this high. However, that pit (or is it butterfly?) feeling in your stomach when waiting for that first potentially wonderful, potentially awkward, kiss can sometimes feel like the leap between a life as a miserable singleton and the bliss of mutual affection.

After a second successful date, I was walked home by an awkward, sweet, smart, awkward boy. We had shared a bottle of wine and I was slightly flushed and at that face-numb pre-buzzed place. A good place to be. He walked me up the two stairs to the front door of my building...

Silence.

I turn myself to face him square on.

Nothing.

I angle my face slightly upwards.

He shifts uncomfortably. It is apparent that I do not have a lovable crab, turtle drums, crickets, or a romantic boat ride to help my case. I immediately worry that I've misjudged the situation. In my not-quite-tipsy state I may have made some incorrect assumptions. I freeze in my somewhat uncomfortable pose trying to figure out how to quickly remedy it. Smile, say goodbye, search for my keys? Pretend to be stretching my neck? I smile and start to shift. He shifts and takes a half step towards me and whispers, "I don't know what to do!" I take a half step towards him and say, "Kiss me!"

And he kissed the girl. Sebastian would be proud.