Page 15 of Twice
Herman looked relieved. The rest of us paired off. I was matched with a skinny girl named Adrian, who had braces on her teeth and wore wide bell-bottom jeans. We sat next to each other as Stewie and Robin went into the closet first, while a kid named Pete checked his watch. When seven minutes passed, Pete banged on the door and the closet opened. Robin emerged, her shirt untucked. She was fanning herself.
“I want more time!” she squealed. Stewie grinned. The rest of us laughed nervously. These two had clearly moved up the coolness scale.
Next, it was our turn. Adrian rose and walked to the closet. I followed behind, my heart thumping so hard I swore the others could hear it.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Stewie cracked.
To say those next seven minutes were excruciating would be underselling it. I barely knew Adrian. I could only see her silhouette. For a while, we said nothing.
“Do you think they really made out?” she finally whispered.
“Who, Stewie and Robin?” I whispered back.
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
“I don’t know.”
“Me neither.”
Silence.
“Do you think she likes him?” I asked.
“I heard she did.”
“Yeah?”
“She told Alison. She wrote him a note.”
“What did it say?”
“I don’t know. I just heard she did it.”
“Oh.”
It went on like this, with muffled music coming from under the door. Our eyes adjusted and Adrian’s shape became more visible in the darkness, as did the shelves and boxes in the closet. I felt like I needed to advance things in some way, so I edged closer and nervously slid my hand onto her arm. I moved it down until my palm rested on the top of her fingers. She wiggled them uncomfortably.
“You smell funny,” she said.
“I do?”
“Like my dad.”
The aftershave. I swallowed hard. After that, I couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
“We don’t have to make out,” she finally offered.
“OK,” I mumbled.
The rest of the time, we just sat in the darkness. A single minute never felt so long. When we finally emerged—to a chorus of “whoo-hoos”—I noticed Adrian shoot Robin a look and shake her head no. Stewie saw this, too.
“They didn’t do anything!” he yelled. “I knew it!” He pointed at me. “Wimp!”
As you probably guessed, I tapped out seconds later. I redid the whole event. This time I skipped the aftershave. And I walked to the party determined not to be so meek. When Robin suggested Seven Minutes in Heaven, I shouted,“Cool! I love that game!” And once in the closet, I told Adrian, “You don’t have to like me or anything, but I think we should kiss so that they don’t make fun of us when we get out, OK?”
She seemed taken aback by my honesty.
