Spin The Bottle

Connie lived across the street when we started walking to Kindergarten together just two blocks away. Graduating to the middle school, we hoofed the six block walk every day as well; weather didn’t matter because we weren’t getting a ride.

Neither had gone steady with a boy yet, not even close, but we were more than slightly obsessed. Who would be the first one to kiss?

All the “popular” boys had given their I.D. bracelets to all the “popular” girls and everyone knew what that meant… Immediate access to the infamous boy/girl parties to which we had NEVER been invited for two reasons…No boyfriend, Not exactly popular!

The “grapevine” said EXACTLY what went on in the pretty girls’ basements; Spin The Bottle and Seven Minutes. Even the names fascinated us. We were extremely intrigued, curious yet way out of our league. “Wow” was all either one could say. We whispered secret feelings, on our walks to and from school…a desire to see, with our own eyes just what went on in the darkness of “Georgie’s” basement.

Somehow, someway by someone, we were deemed worthy one Friday afternoon.

Expected in our front doors by 3:30, we ran the half-mile home breathlessly hatching a plan. “Just say a quick ‘hi’ to your mom, then let’s go”; an excuse was right at the tip of our tongues. "Going to Kathleen's."

No words could describe how nervous we were seeing the house. Almost backing out at Patti’s front door, we saw a taped note. “We’re in the basement” Duh?

It took a few moments for our eyes to adjust. Kids were everywhere AND they were making out! Smack in the middle of a circle of twenty, or so, was the glass Coke bottle.

Georgie waved us over as someone took a spin. Crawling on hands and knees to the center, a boy and a girl kissed. Suddenly, I had a pit in my stomach and I was beginning to sweat. I touched Connie’s arm and said to everyone, “I’m going to use the bathroom”. Connie said, “I’ll go with you”.

Would you call that leaving a party with grace? Uh, uh. I would call that extremely awkward but unavoidable at the time. I might have been more embarrassed if I’d vomited in the circle.

RemembeRED: Finding Beauty in Awkwardness

Think back to your own adolescence. With the perspective of time, try to find the beauty or grace in an awkward adolescent situation, even if there is only a sliver to find.

If you are one of the two people on the planet to make it through your pre-teen and teen years without a single moment of awkwardness, try to write about a situation you observed during that time that seemed awkward for someone else.

400 word limit.