A/N: It has taken me forever, but this is for ElleCC, who generously donated to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation through the November Fandom Gives Back auction. I hope it was worth the wait, Elle!

Any characters, products, or song lyrics referenced in this story are property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended. This story is mine.

Many thanks to Chele681 for beta'ing & mskathy for prereading.

Jasper Whitlock was the first boy I ever kissed. Well, really kissed.

We grew up outside Seattle, in one of the suburban neighborhoods northeast of Bellevue, and on our street there were six families that had kids around our age. Every weekend, we would come out of our houses after dinner and meet on the Mallorys' front lawn. From there, we'd choose the game for the night. Sometimes, if there weren't many of us around, we would play basketball in someone's driveway. On rainy days, we'd congregate in someone's basement and have a movie night. The best nights, however, were the times all the kids were around and we could play a neighborhood-wide game of Hide and Seek. Of course, our rules were a little different from the traditional kids game, but the concept was the same, and we all loved making strategies, finding the best new hiding places, and running around in the dark.

Everyone knew Jasper from school, so he was quickly welcomed into our group when his dad moved in two houses down from mine. His parents were divorced, and he and his little sister Jane stayed with their dad every weekend. Even though little Janey was with Jasper practically everywhere he went, he was still fun to hang out with, and we got along pretty well.

Lauren Mallory became my best friend by default even though we had very little in common, especially as we got older. She was always going on and on about something (it didn't really matter what). I often got the feeling she just enjoyed the sound of her own voice. Lauren wanted to be popular and grown up and do things I never dreamed of at such a young age. She listened to music like Pink Floyd and Nirvana and wore make-up in middle school. She smoked cigarettes in the community park after the sun went down and wore shirts that showed off the breasts she had developed years before mine did.

By the summer before eighth grade, I had never kissed anyone with tongue. Lauren had kissed lots of boys, including older boys who went to different schools. She'd been doing that since we were ten years old, and by the way she talked about it all the time and wrote strange, suggestive poems that she made me read, I had begun to feel like there was something wrong with me.

Tired of our "kiddie games," as she called them, Lauren decided to have a campfire at her house one Saturday night. There was a small patch of woods that ran behind the houses on that side of our street, and the Mallorys had a little fire pit back there. It was slightly obscured from view if you were in the house or backyard, and Lauren thought that was just perfect. She invited several other kids our age and the grade below us over, even ones who didn't live on our street. She said that anyone younger than that was not allowed to come to her party.

Jasper was a year below us in school, getting ready to go into seventh grade, and there were a few other boys and girls his age there as well. It was fun to hang out with everyone, I suppose, but I didn't get quite the thrill out of it that Lauren seemed to. I assumed that she felt more grown up having a "private" party, even though our parents were all within shouting distance and all we were doing was talking and cooking hotdogs and marshmallows on the fire.

At some point, Lauren conspired with Jessica Stanley, and they started a game of Truth or Dare. I knew that Lauren was up to no good when Katie Marshall was the first person to choose a dare and Lauren made her kiss Mike Newton. Not every dare was like that, but I dreaded my turn coming. I just knew that Lauren would pull one of her mean tricks when it came to me. If I chose truth, she would use it against me to make me reveal some embarrassing secret, and if I chose dare, she'd surely make me kiss someone like Tyler "hotdog chunks in my braces" Crowley. Eww.

Instead, I was shocked when it was Jessica who dared Jasper to kiss me. Everyone knew that Jasper Whitlock and Rosalie Hale were boyfriend and girlfriend for sixteen days in sixth grade, so of course he had kissed a girl before. I wondered if they all knew I was a smooching virgin.

Jasper got a shy look on his face for a moment, but then it was gone, and he moved toward me, pulling us out of the light of the fire. Everyone was watching us, which made me shake nervously, so he turned his back to block me from their view. I smiled a little when he pulled some gum out of his pocket and gave a piece to me after he popped one in his mouth. It was really quite thoughtful because who wants to kiss someone who's been eating hotdogs, smores, and drinking sticky soda?

People started complaining that we were taking too long, so I chewed faster and then nodded at Jasper. I knew there was no way we were getting out of this, so I just hoped it would go quickly. He was taller than me, but not too tall yet, so he leaned down until we were really close. Too nervous to close my eyes like they did on television, I watched him tip his head, and I mirrored the action. Unfortunately, that made our noses bump, and we both tipped the other way, bumping noses a second time. Finally, he put one hand on my cheek and held my face still while he pressed his lips to mine. I didn't realize it immediately, but this was another shield he created to give us privacy from the gawking crowd.

I didn't know what to do at first, so I just sort of opened my mouth a little and waited. It felt really strange when his tongue touched mine and moved between my lips, but after a few seconds I got the hang of it and starting moving and swirling my tongue around. My arms were stiff at my sides the entire time since I didn't know what else to do with them. The whole kiss probably only lasted half a minute, and when it ended, I found myself a little disappointed; it had just started to feel good.

I couldn't look Jasper Whitlock in the eyes for the rest of the night, and it was three whole weekends before I could bring myself to talk to him. The day after we finally started talking again, I found a note in the pocket of my jean jacket I wore on cool summer nights like that one.

Was that your first kiss? I thought you did good.
If you didn't like it, sorry I sucked. I've only kissed one girl before.
See ya next weekend!
JW

After that, I didn't feel so weird around Jasper anymore, and the next time I kissed a boy, I was much more confident about myself.

E/N: This is a multi-chap, so put it on alert. Chapters will be short, and I plan to post at least twice a week.

No, they won't be young for long. The next chapter skips ahead several years.

The next FGB auction is gearing up to begin on June 26th, so get ready to bid on some wonderful stories, art, crafts, and celeb merchandise! It's going to be an even bigger and better event this time! I'm offereing outtakes, originals, and a collab with mskathy, if you're interested =)

Your thoughts are always appreciated...