Thank you for staying with me even though I'm so hard to deal with.

Wish #8: Have my first kiss

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Dave’s POV

I froze. I completely froze. Having Kath’s lips pressed to mine was something I never expected. Why is she so unpredictable. I felt my blood boiling all over making me terribly warm against the cold.

My eyes remained open through the kiss, which only lasted a few seconds before Kath pulled away. I just stared at her shocked while she mumbled something to herself. She sneezed.

“Um,uh…let’s go home” I quickly said, “we are soaking wet”. I was about to take Kath’s hand when I remembered the kiss. I hesitated but Kath took my hand so there was nothing to think about.

We took a keke then trekked halfway back home. Do I talk about the kiss or do I ignore it? There is no way I can ignore it. It will be best if we talk about it. I am sure its nothing. I don’t like Kath and she doesn’t like me.

Ha! Her liking me is impossible. She is a crazy girl who deserves an equally crazy guy. We stopped in front of the house and looked at the sky. the rained had stopped. I took off my jacket since it was just soaked.

“uh, Kath” I started awkwardly, “about the kiss–“.

“Oh that” Kath said oddly cheery, “I actually wanted to know what a kiss actually felt like”.

My face probably looked confused now, “you wanted to what?”.

“uh, yeah. You know my dad has never let me leave the house so how would I even get a chance to kiss a guy? My dad would have simply beheaded any guy who attempted to kiss me”.

I stared at her with a slackened jaw. “you are 22 years old and you’ve never been kissed by anyone?!” I exclaimed in shock.

Kath shrugged with a sheepish look, “yeah I know, how embarrassing right”.

I suddenly felt a pang of sadness and pulled her in my arms, stroking her hair gently. “Oh you poor child” I cooed sadly and somewhat dramatically. I also said it in a way to tease her.

“Hey!” Kath pulled away. She glared at me, “don’t pity me. It doesn’t matter now”.

“yeah, so that means, I’m your first kiss” I said in realization.

“yeah” Kath admitted, hiding her face from me.

“Why?”.

“I had to get that first kiss thing done. It was on my wish list, how come you didn’t see it” Kath said not looking me in the eye.

“because the crazier ones were on top of the list?” I answered unsure, “but answer my question, why me? Why not Ayo? You had enough chances. It would have been one kiss and then done”. I don’t know why but the idea of Kath kissing Ayo left a bitter feeling in my chest.

“yes. My first kiss wasn’t really supposed to be anything special” Kath said earnestly, “all I wanted was to get it over with but then I met you. You became my first real friend, my confidante. I trust you, so I decided to have my first kiss with you because I knew you would respect me. Respect the kiss as a good friend”.

Staring at Kath, I couldn’t help the slight smile that came to my face. “Atchoo!” Kath sniffed again and coughed. I sighed, rolling my eyes “I told you not to play in the rain but you never listen to me. Stupid”.

Kath pouted at me but I ignored her and opened the door for us. Sam was in the living room watching football. “What happened to you? You are soaking wet” he asked looking amused.

“Kath will explain, but all you need to know is that…it’s her fault” I said taking Kath with me.

“it’s not my fault, blame the rain” Kath refuted. I took Kath inside and gave her a towel.

“Take off your clothes then take a bath. I will put hot water on the fire for you” I told Kath.

“Oh, thank you” Kath nodded and went to her room. We both changed and took warm baths before going to sleep quickly after a busy day.

The next day was Sunday and Mum, Sam and I went to church. Kath stayed behind and I am sure I saw her sniffling and coughing. I am pretty sure she has a cold now.

I told her not to play in the rain but she didn’t listen, she never listens. We returned home and found Kath wrapped in blankets and coughing into tissue papers.

“What happened?” Mum asked concerned, immediately running to Kath’s aid.

“i-I-I am n-not feeling too well” Kath answered, her teeth jittering. I went to Kath’s other side and began to scold her, “I told you not to play in the rain but you never listen. You are no longer a child”.

“Stop scolding her and help her” Mum yelled at me, “I know what to do. Since she is feeling cold, she should rub menthol all over her body. Then Sam, go and buy cold medicine for Katherine”.

“really?” Sam asked, finding it difficult to leave. He reluctantly went out and heeded to mother’s word. I took Kath inside and did what mom said, with help from the damsel in distress.

“t-thank you d-Dave” Kath weakly smiled.

“Stop thanking me. We are friends, friends help each other, now do me a favor. Get some rest and get well soon” I said, “you should take a nap first. I think you will fell better after that”.

Kath didn’t seem to like the idea of taking a nap but she didn’t have a choice. I made her lie on the bed and she slept off almost immediately. She was really tired. I knew she shouldn’t have played in the rain!

I changed into a singlet and a pair of shorts and came to the living room. Sam was watching football, again. “Don’t you ever watch anything apart from football?!” I complained reaching out to take the remote which Sam held captive.

“Keep quiet and watch” Sam said, holding on to the remote tighter. I looked at him deadpanned and sat next to him. “Dave! Come and help me cook!” mom yelled from the kitchen.

I winced and muttered, “come on!”.

Sam laughed softly at me, “aren’t you the chef? You like cooking so why are you complaining?”. I narrowed my eyes at Sam then went to the kitchen to help mom. Just because I’m a chef doesn’t mean I like cooking all the time! I get tired too!.

I didn’t want to complain so mom would blackmail me emotionally then make me feel worse. My mom may seem down to earth but when she starts her theatrics, you are done for. I quietly help her make the food. It wasn’t complicated. It was just rice and stew but still.

“I heard that you and Katherine stood in the rain last night” mom stated more than asked but I nodded anyways. “You should be careful, you might get sick soon”.

“I’ll be careful mom” I replied I nonchalantly. We finished cooking quickly and that’s when Sandra arrived. “Sandra, welcome” Sam smiled.

“Thanks, hi Dave” Sandra waved at me.

“Hey” I nodded.

Sandra looked around, “Where’s Kath?”.

“she is inside sleeping. She is sick” Sam answered for me. Sandra nodded, “oh”. Sandra sat next to Sam and watched football but her attention was more on me and Sam.

“What happened to her?” She asked.

“Cold and catarrh. I told her not to stand in the rain, this isn’t a cartoon where it magically rains and the girl sings under the rain” I ranted. Sandra laughed and I continued, “but she never listens to me”.

I snatched the remote from Sam seeing his guard was down. “Aw! Come on man!” Sam exclaimed. I shrugged nonchalantly and changed the station. Sam sighed in defeat and went inside.

“so you and Kath went out yesterday?”.

“Yes, I had promised her I would go out with her so I fulfilled. It was fun” I said, my attention still on the TV. “It went fine. We even crossed of one of her wishes. It was a strange one though”.

“Oh, what was it?” Sandra asked curiously. I was about to answer when I realized, I can’t tell anyone about the kiss. They would blow things out of proportion and neither me nor Kath want that.

“nothing important. Kath’s wishes are very outrageous, it doesn’t matter” I answered calmly. Sandra didn’t ask anymore questions. Sam suddenly came back with some old videogames.

“You still have videogames?!” I exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah, Sandra and I played it when we were very free. Do you want to play? It’s been long since we’ve played” Sam asked with a grin.

“totally” i said enthusiastically and soon, we put in the game and began playing. Sam and I played first, fighting against each other. “get him Dave! Get him!” Sandra cheered on.

“Of course, keep on cheering him. Now I know who your favorite is” Sam said dramatically, feigning sadness. I just laughed as I won.

“yes! I am the champion!” I yelled excitedly, “I beat you in one try after such a long time since I last played”.

“oh shut up” Sam said. I still laughed and my attention was drawn to something hiding in the corner of my eye. “Kath? You’re awake?” I asked surprised to see her come out wrapped in a blanket.

“Uh yeah” she answered softly, “I was just…passing by”. I went to Kath and touched her forehead.

“Your temperature has gone down and you seem better now” I observed, “you must be hungry…”. I noticed Kath staring up at me.

“I didn’t realize you were so tall. I thought I was taller than you but…I guess my wonderful cheerful personality made it seem like I was taller than you”.

I raised an eyebrow at her, “okay, I hope you are not hallucinating”.

Kath shook her head, “I’m not. I am very much awake. I want to play videogames. I am much better than you at them. I am a pro”. She walked past me and sat on the chair in between Sam and Sandra.

“Hi Sandra” Kath waved with a smile.

”hi” Sandra smiled calmly and faced the TV. I joined them on the table sitting in between Sandra and Stella.

“Oh, you are playing video games. Let me play too” she said with an excited ring.

“can you play?”

“Can I play?” she repeated like I was mocking her, “I ought to be world champion. I am good at any game”.

“okay, let’s see then” I said competitively and gave her a controller, “start”. We both started to play and amazingly, Kath was super good. She was thrashing me badly and soon, I had lost. “Dang it!” I cursed staring at the TV screen in disbelief.

“Oh yeahhh!!!” Kath exclaimed happily, pumping her fist in the air. She turned to me with a mocking look, “in your face, in your face, booyah!!!”.

“Okay, that’s enough. You won” I said holding Kath’s arm because at the rate she was jubilating, she would fall off the couch.

“let’s play a team game” Sandra then suggested, telling Kath “Dave and I versus You and Sam”.

“Hmm, okay but get ready because you are definitely going to lose” Kath said confidently.

“You do understand to team up, we need to have an understanding of each other” Sam pointed out, “and we don’t because we just met Dave and Sandra have played together before so…it’s not fair”.

“We can still crush them” Kath exclaimed, her morale still high, “you just have to listen to me carefully”. I restarted the game and made it team mode.

“Okay, let’s start” I said and we began playing. At first I thought it would be bullying because Sandra and I had already played as a team before so we knew each other quite well, on the other hand, Sam and Kath had no clue how to work together.

That was what I thought until I realized Sam and Kath were beating us. “What the…” I said surprised. Sandra was also surprised and tried her best to fight back but Sam and Kath finished us with a final move.

“Nice work Katherine” Sam said impressed as he gave her a low five. Katherine slapped hands with him while staring at the screen with a smug smile on her face.

“how did you do that?!” I asked in disbelief.

“never underestimate the power of a gaming genius!” she exclaimed pumping a fist to the air like a full-of-power champion.

“you are good” Sandra said from behind me impressed.

“thank you thank you” Kath said dramatically, nodding her head and bowing. “don’t take all the the credit” Sam said from Kath’s side.

“it’s time to eat. Dave and Sam, come and help me here” Mom called, “Sandra, I am sure you will be joining us”. Sandra smiled, “yes ma”

“Okay” Mom answered and we went to help her. Soon, we finished eating and were resting in the living room. Sandra and I were talking.

“It’s like old times now that you are here” Sandra said, “are you going to stay here?”.

“No, I will leave once I am done with the work I came here for” I answered. “okay” she replied.

“Hey, does everyone want to go to the zoo? This is for you Kath” I announced loud enough for Sam and Kath to hear.

“A zoo?!” Kath repeated excitedly, “that sounds amazing. Let’s go, let’s go”. She sounded like a kid.

“when?” Sandra asked.

“suggest your free day, maybe it will work for all of us” I answered. Sandra hummed while thinking. “how about Wednesday?” she suggested.

“good timing, I’m free on that day” Sam said agreeing to the day, “I am going to bring a friend along”.

“cool, Wednesday is good for me too” I said, “Ayo should be joining us by then”.

“Ayo is coming?!” Kath interrupted, staring at me for confirmation.

“Yes” I said I’m a slightly bitter tone. I wonder why.

“This is going to be fun. I can’t wait” Kath grinned and I laughed. Soon, Sandra left and everyone went to do their own thing. I went to Kath’s room and knocked.

“come in” she said and I came in. I saw her lying on the bed with her laptop. “Hey Dave” she grinned, “what’s up? I can’t wait for Wednesday. I am going to see live animals”.

I smiled, “yeah. I just came to check up on you. You don’t seem very sick anymore”.

“yeah, I feel better and I will be in time for Wednesday” Kath said still very excited.

“Okay, get some rest” I said about to leave.

“oh, and Dave?”, I halted in my steps and looked at Kath. She looked really happy, “thank you for everything. I really appreciate everything you’ve done”.

I turned to her, “I have told you before. Stop thanking me like this. Friends help each other, it's normal”.

She shook her head, “no, you have tolerated me, become my friend...it's more than I could ask for. Thank you for staying with me even though I'm so hard to deal with”.

I looked at Kath with a scrutinizing gaze and nodded with a smile knowing she was being sincere.

“Okay Kath, I understand” I smiled, “now go to bed and rest. You need it to get better. Good night Kath". I went to the door.

“Good night….David” she said with a mischievous smile and I left the room. I smiled in thought of her. Kath is…so strange. She is very childish and silly but she is also an amazing and special girl.
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