I shook my head no. It was so quiet. 

“Not even when you were little?”

I shook my head no again. And she looked very sad. 

She told me about the first time she was kissed. She told me that it was with one of her dads friends. She was seven. And she told nobody about it except for Mary Elizabeth and then Patrick a year ago. And she started to cry. And she said something that I won’t forget. Ever. 

“I know that you know I like Craig. And I know that I told you not to think of me that way. And I know that we can’t be together like that. But I want to forget about those things for a minute. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“I want to make sure that the first person you kiss loves you. Okay?”

“Okay.” She was crying harder now. And I was, too, because when I hear something like that I just can’t help it. 

“I just want to make sure of that. Okay?”

“Okay.”