It was a party like no other – it was my brother’s farewell party. He was leaving India to go abroad for his studies so it was a really big deal. Our house and terrace were flooded with people, food and tonnes of alcohol. I was busy socialising with my brother’s friends and our family and that is when I met Atul. I had hung out with my brother’s friends before, most of who considered me as their own little sister. Probably because they met me back when I was still a little girl running around in her frocks. Atul, however, was a different story altogether.
He saw me on the day of the party, in a pretty hot dress, a girl just about to begin college. He was already in college and well, back then, there was just something about college boys. I can’t deny that he had the most amazing smile and while I thought his dressing sense was pretty hideous (who wears double shirts?), I still thought he was cute the first time I shook his hand and smiled.
I spent half of the night just switching from group to group, talking to everyone. It wasn’t until almost midnight that we actually struck a conversation. It started out with the usual small talk – he told me about his college, asked me what I was planning on studying and I told him about how sad I was to see my brother leave and how glad I was that all his friends had actually showed up. ‘Well, I had to, otherwise I would never have met his pretty sister.’ he replied, I laughed but I felt my heartbeat get 10x faster.
There was no going back after that. We kept talking, in a little, secluded corner away from the rest of the people. I think on a normal day, my brother would have noticed, but he was too busy enjoying his last party. It was somewhere around 2 AM that I finally told him I should go downstairs and he said yeah, he was getting pretty tired too. So, both of us headed downstairs and somehow found ourselves alone in my room. ‘Well, I really should get going, I am driving back home.’ he said and smiled. ‘Yeah, I know, it’s pretty late too. I don’t think the party will end anytime soon!’ I replied. ‘It was really great seeing you.’ he said and I smiled back at him. I don’t know who initiated it but before I knew it, our lips were on each other’s.
I was just starting to get used to how soft his lips were when he pulled away, and behind him I saw my brother standing near the entrance of the room. ‘Hey!’ I exclaimed, Atul turned around to see my brother and I saw his face flush with embarrassment. My brother didn’t say anything, he just stood there looking at us.
‘Are we going in or what?’ came a voice from behind him as his girlfriend emerged from behind him, laughing and quite drunk from the looks of it. She looked at us and froze too. So, there were five minutes of the four of us just standing there looking at each other, trying to figure out what the other was doing. My brother and his girlfriend were obviously not up to any good and neither were Atul and I. The only question was how do we address this situation?
‘Well…’ My brother finally spoke ‘…we are going to go to the other room.’ I looked at him and as our eyes met we made a secret sibling promise to never speak of this again and follow the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy. ‘Yeah, and I should get going. Great party, man!’ Atul said, shaking hands with my brother then looking back at me to smile for just a moment and then he was gone.
That was one of the most awkward moments of my life. I tried my best to not disturb my brother and his girlfriend that night and even covered up for him the next morning when my mom asked why he wasn’t there for breakfast. I never met Atul again, and although we did become friends on Facebook, neither of us ever really talked about it.
So that’s the story of how I kissed my brother’s friend. When I think about it, I mostly think of it as an awkward experience but I have to say, those were the softest lips I have kissed so far.
*Names changed to protect privacy
Images: Shutterstock
