8:188) Aaron Webb 03-MAY-98 18:49

A light flicks on over my bed at 1:30 on a sunday afternoon. The light is enough to send me up through the hazy layers of sleep back into reality, back into the now. I groaned, regretting the loss of some very pleasant dreams. My mother's voice chimes pleasantly as she opens the shades covering my window. "I know you didn't get back home last night until late..."

"six"

"Whatever. You need to get some homework done."

I moan a bit as I shift noncommitally under the flannel sheets, so I can watch my mother pick up the pieces of the rental tux which are scattered over the carpet. "What movie did you see last night?" she asks as the strap-on fake bowtie falls to rest on the hanger.

"Les Miserables" I reply. "They did a pretty good job, but nothing stood out. Kira liked it." Kira being the girl I met in Sorrento, who was suddenly my prom date a couple weeks later.

My mom turns toward me, a thought cued by my last comment. "Was Kira wearing any of that glittery make-up. There was some on the seat in your dads car."

"I guess so."

My mom squints at me, and adds with a voice of surprise thinly veiled by the tone of motherly concern that "There is a bit of glitter on your face too."

I respond with a nonchalant "Huh." resonating with the wonder I still felt 7 hours after a friendly post-prom embrace at her Grand Rapids home suddenly shifted into a long, tender good bye kiss filled with love and hope.

With sudden energy, I slide out of bed, grab the robe off the back of the door, and head downstairs for breakfast. There, while stuffing spoon after spoon of Cheerio's into my mouth, I ponder my first real kiss, the end of my life as a high school student, hopes for the summer, and a still rising long distance phone bill.