Love, Rosie (290 page)

very
first
time.
It
was
like
the
world
stopped
turning
just
for
us.
An
odd

magical
silence.
The
very
same
one
that
you
told
me
you
had
with
someone

all
those
years
ago.

Then
he
kissed
me.
Toby
kissed
me.
And
it
was
the
best
kiss
I
have
ever

had
in
all
my
30
years.
And
as
our
lips
pulled
apart
my
eyelids
opened
slowly

to
see
him
staring
at
me,
looking
as
though
he
was
going
to
say
something.

And
in
true
Toby
form
he
said,
“I
bet
there
was
pepperoni
in
your
dinner.”

How
embarrassing
.

Immediately
my
hands
flew
to
my
teeth
remembering
how
he
used
to

always
comment
on
the
food
stuck
in
my
braces
all
the
time
and
tease
me

about
it.
But
he
grabbed
my
hands
and
pulled
them
gently
away
from
my

mouth
and
said,
“No,
this
time
I
could
taste
it.”

Is
that
heart-wrenching
stuff
or
what?
My
legs
nearly
buckled
from

underneath
me.
It
felt
so
odd
that
it
was
Toby
that
I
was
kissing
but
in

another
way
it
felt
completely
natural
and
I
think
that’s
what
the
odd
thing

was
about
it
if
you
no
what
I
mean.

We
spent
all
day
together
again
today
and
my
stomach
is
doing
somer-

love,
rosie

427

saults
at
the
thought
of
seeing
him
again
tonight.
I
now
no
what
all
my

friends
were
talking
about
when
they
tried
to
describe
this
feeling.
It’s
so

good
it’s
indescribable.
Dad
kept
teasing
me
for
walking
around
with
a
silly

grin
on
my
face
all
day.

Toby
asked
me
to
move
back
to
Dublin,
Mum!
Not
to
live
with
him
of

course
but
just
so
that
we
could
be
closer.
And
do
you
no
what?
I
think
I’m

going
to.
Why
the
hell
not?
I’ll
throw
caution
to
the
wind
and
leap
into
the

darkness
and
all
those
clichés
and
we’ll
see
where
I
land.
Because
if
I
don’t
fol-

low
this
feeling
right
now
who
nos
where
I
will
be
twenty
years
on
from
now.

How
crazy
does
all
this
seem?
What
a
24
hours
it’s
been!

from
:

to
:

subject
:

Rosie

Katie

Yes!

Oh
it’s
not
crazy
at
all
Katie!
It’s
really
not
crazy
at
all!
Enjoy
it,
love.

Enjoy
every
second
of
it.

from
:

to
:

subject
:

Katie

Alex

In
love!

So
Mum
was
right
Alex!
You
can
fall
in
love
with
your
best
friend!
Who

new?!
I’ve
packed
everything
up
and
I’m
heading
home
to
Dublin
with
my