Hunter Stephenson had more game when he was 7 years old than at any other point in his entire life.
Although he was convinced that he could get any girl, woman or MILF to love him, he gave his first kiss to his babysitter Pam, a brunette with a freckle-spattered back. His mom never found out about the kiss.
Stephenson's story is one of 50 tales collected in First Kiss, the new zine edited by his girlfriend, Elizabeth Spiridakis, and her friend Marisa Meltzer. Contributors include fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson, New York Observer reporter Leon Neyfakh, and The New York Times writer Jon Caraminaca.
"Everyone can relate to the excitement of the first kiss," Spiridakis said. "As you get older, some of your other firsts can be embarrassing, awkward, upsetting. But first kisses are always cute to remember even if you don't remember the guy."
In the zine, Shelby Keyser describes her first kiss as a "hazy, adolescent, embarrassing blur." She only remembers that it was with a guy named Kevin Lord, who was about "5-foot-5 both ways."
Then there's Sven Barth, who, as a first grader, witnessed Stephanie skipping from boy to boy, kissing them and predicting their futures. A peck, then a declaration: "You're gonna be a fireman!" Naturally, Barth lined up to get his fortune told. And his kiss.
The 66-page zine, folded and stapled between thick construction paper covers, looks unmistakably homemade. There is something endearing about it, something genuine. Pages are photocopied with the occasional crooked blurb, an unmistakable sign of human handling.
And the stories themselves contain a tinge of that rushed, casual quality. It's easy to imagine the authors hanging out and retelling their renditions of sucking face for the first time. Who wouldn't want to listen and join the fun?
And the zine is more than just isolated, entertaining tales about kids going to camp and dudes who give wet, sloshy smooches. As a collection, it reveals a lot about how freaking weird and confusing adolescence is.
Inside, you'll find an accurate depiction of what it's like for a teenage girl to share her first kiss with a boy when she really wants it to be with a girl. You'll hear, and feel, what it's like to be the only lip virgin in the class along with the fat kids. Most stories address the perennial influence of pushy friends and bragging rights. Yes, there are a few cutesy stories, but most of the accounts are totally unsentimental — just honest.
If anything, this zine speaks to the people who view kissing as "not a big deal." It proves that if you think a kiss is just a kiss, you're missing the point.
