YAFF Muse: This Girls Life:The Perfect Kiss

Welcome again to YAFF Muse: blog rounds. The ladies of YA Fiction Fanatics have come together for YAFF Muse. To have a little fun, explore different styles of writing and to give you some kick-butt shorts to read. Enjoy!

Grass Kiss 2 By: Criswey

This Girls Life: Episode 63: The Perfect Kiss

By: R.M.Gilbert

“And cut!” The director calls out.

I push off the ground.

“Now we just need to get that same kiss from three other angles and we can call it a day,” Quentin says, still in the grass. I blush. He plays opposite me in This Girls Life. We’ve known each other since the show’s first pilot five years ago, and this is the first time our characters, Gage and Gloria, hook up.

If only life was as simple as our script. For years, I’ve crushed on Quentin and never had the guts to tell him. And kissing like this is anything but romantic.

“Places,” says the director.

I straddle Quentin, or rather, Gage, and lean in. They measure the distance from our mouths to the camera, angle our body’s so they can capture the light just right, and we listen as they instruct us on how to pucker our lips.

“This Girls Life: Episode Sixty-three: The Perfect Kiss. Angle 2. Take 1. And action.”

Fifty people surround us while we kiss. I’m being paid to make it look good and feel ‘real’ for our viewers. But it’s uncomfortable, almost painful.

After another five takes from the final two angles the director calls it quits for the day. Everyone claps because they think they’ve nailed the shots, saying that it really is the most perfect kiss.

I head back to my trailer to take off the pound and a half of make-up, asking my assistant for a minute alone. Tears well as I sit in front of dressing room mirror. For so long I’d imagined my first kiss would be different. Not something in front of a camera crew. Definitely not something scripted. Sighing, I pick up the make-up remover, strip away Gloria and return to plain old me.

“Sam.” My assistant knocks on the door. “Hey, Samantha.”

“One second, Kara,” I say, pushing my dark hair behind my ears before I stand, then open door. “What’s up?”

“Someone to see you,” she says and steps aside.

Quentin slips alongside the trailer. He smiles, his cheeks turn pink. “I thought we could talk.”

Kara glances between us. “I’ll come back later,” she says and strolls toward our last shoot.

“I wondered if…” Quentin rolls back on his heels. “The thing is, I thought maybe—”

“Do you want to come in?” I ask, pushing the trailer door wider.

“Yeah.” He glances over his shoulder before entering and stumbles on the top step, nearly falling on top of me. He uses the wall to steady himself. “Dang-it I wanted to do this differently.”

I close the door and try hiding the disappointment I felt only seconds ago. I turn to face him. “Do what differently?”

“This,” he says, capturing my face between his hands. His mouth brushes delicately over mine. Tingles dance across my body. And when he goes to deepen the kiss, our foreheads bump and tongues intermingle. He tastes like pizza and our teeth scrape, but I don’t care. I circle my arms around him. There’s nothing forced or awkward about this perfect kiss.

This short came to me last second. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about, mostly because I thought “How can you look at this picture and NOT see ‘Twilight’. The thing is, I didn’t think there was enough room for me to write a ‘twilightesque’ <–yes, that’s a word, novel. So, here I am thinking ‘Twilight’ when it hits me. No matter how much we love those movie/TV moments, they’re not real. How would a young actress feel if her first kiss was something scripted? My goal was to capture some of the awkwardness of being a teenager, no matter what your path in life.Thanks so much for reading.

After commenting, be sure to stop by other YAFFER sites to see how the picture inspired them:

Tags: Bloggity-blog-blog-bloggy!, Entertainment, Life lessons, Reading, writing, YaffMuse

BLOG IT, Critique Groups, Girl, Other blogs, Pics, Read Me, Writing General, YAFF MUSE SERIES!, YAFF! | R.M.Gilbert | July 28, 2010 8:50 am

9 Comments

By Rebekah L Purdy, July 28, 2010 @ 9:04 am

Hey girl,
I loved your “take” (hehehe) on this. Thought it was cool that you went with something different. And being on a movie set, well that’s awesome. And I like how your character had the “thoughts” of it being different (her first kiss).
Yay!
By Traci Kenworth, July 28, 2010 @ 9:12 am

Another shot out of the park, Rachel. I, too, had a hard time thinking of anything other than Twilight when I looked at the picture, but I’m glad you went with the story you did. It was great to get the perspective of the girl behind the girl. Good job!!
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By Jennifer Shirk, July 28, 2010 @ 11:22 am

Great post! I think you did a really great job capturing some of that awkward teenage kiss experience.
By Vanessa, July 28, 2010 @ 11:25 am

I really liked where you went with this, and that it was her first “kiss.” Very sweet ending too. Nice!!!
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By Susie Kline, July 28, 2010 @ 12:54 pm

I loved all of these! Thanks ladies!

xo Susie
Susie Kline recently posted..Dismal Domestic Diva
By Min, July 28, 2010 @ 1:05 pm

So sweet. I loved it. Super job lady. BTW it is so darn cute that their kiss was all “bumpy” at the end… like a real first kiss. hee hee.
By The Writer's Hat, July 31, 2010 @ 5:23 pm

Visiting from the Lady Bloggers Tea Party. I really enjoyed reading your story. Very sweet! I’m glad I found a fellow writer.
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By Alexandra, August 1, 2010 @ 11:03 am

I never thought of that. Exactly, why should a first kiss be a scripted one? What a thing to think about. I think any teen girl would love to read that. That’s what we think about, isn’t it? That first kiss.

Excellent.
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By Jennifer Fischetto, August 2, 2010 @ 2:28 pm

Hey Rachel, this is really cool. And I find what you said about Twilight interesting. Being an Anti-Twilight fan, I’d never think of it viewing that photo. It’s all about perspective.
Great short!
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