Linc looked at his phone. He couldn't remember the last time he'd heard from Becky or Rob. Hockey and Emma Johnson had been on his mind a lot. A shot of guilt coursed through him. Every time Mum spoke to Becky or Rob she'd said they were fine and told him not to bother them as Rob was training hard and Becky was studying for her mid-term exams. She'd said both had explained that they were pressed for time and had apologised for not keeping in touch as regularly as they should.

He opened message on his mobile to send Becky a text when his phone rang. Emma's name flashed up on the screen. As he clicked answer, the memory of Rob and Becky telling him he'd want to kiss a girl one day came to him. Linc grinned. They had certainly been telling the truth because all he could think about was kissing Emma Johnson.

"Hello," he said with a big grin on his face.

"Hi, Linc. This is Emma. Emma Johnson."

Linc could tell she was nervous. They had only just exchanged numbers the day before.

The Friday bus from the school had been packed with kids wanting to get off at the shopping centre.

Carl had jabbed Linc in the ribs when he'd noticed Emma get on. He forced Linc up the aisle, weaving around the pile of students who couldn't get a seat. When they'd got to where Emma and her friend Chelsea were standing Carl shoved Linc in the back making him bump into the girls.

Emma's immediate reaction was a look of annoyance but she smiled as Linc fumbled a sorry. He made a point to remember to thank Carl later. His embarrassment had been worth every second of Emma's smile.

Bringing his mind back to the present he said, "Hey, Emma." Linc tried to think of something cool to say and blurted, "I loved watching you eat ice cream yesterday. Ah... I mean seeing... ah... having. I mean... I mean having ice cream with you. I mean with you and Chelsea yesterday. Carl's super keen on Chelsea so he pushed me into you on the bus so, you know, I'd ask if you'd want ice cream so he could talk to her."

Linc knew he was babbling so tried to change the subject and said, "I'm sorry I got you hazelnut. I didn't know you were allergic. I hope those ugly red splotches went down. Like, can that kill you? I wouldn't want that to happen because I think you're..."

"It's okay, Linc." Emma tried to talk over him but he wouldn't shut up. "Linc!"

"Ah... yeah... sorry. Not that red splotches on a girl worries me because I think you're really pret..."

"Linc!"

"Pretty," he finished with a sigh and felt like he wanted to vomit. What had he just said to her? "Sorry, Emma. I wasn't saying you were ugly, I was just worried. And..."

"Linc! Will you shut up or I'm going to hang up on you!"

"Ah... Oh... Sorry..." He clamped his jaw tight and took a big breath through his nose.

"Are you done now?"

Linc could hear humour in her voice. He hoped it meant that he hadn't blown it completely. "Yeah. I'm done."

"Good," Emma chuckled out the word. "Do you want to meet me at the zoo?"

"What about Carl?" Linc cried down the phone.

"What about him?"

"Well like I said he really likes Chelsea and he'd probably want to come too."

Emma blew out her breath. Her sister, Hayley, who was sixteen, had convinced her to ring Linc because she said boys were stupid when it came to girls; especially boys who were nearly fourteen. She said they had rocks for brains and even though it was obvious they liked a girl they'd never be gentlemen about it. Usually they did idiotic stuff like shoving the girl in the back to get her attention.

Hayley had laughed when Emma arrived home covered in hives because Linc had fed her hazelnut ice cream. In his defence Emma said he didn't know she had a nut allergy and she'd been too thrilled that he was sitting across from her to have taken any notice of what flavour he'd bought. Luckily she'd only had one lick and hives were the result.

Now, here she was, ringing Linc, on Hayley's say so and he was babbling about her hives and worrying about Carl's crush on Chelsea. Boys really were a bit thick. "Carl has Chelsea's number and she has his. If they want to go to the zoo they can organise it themselves," she said and then continued, "I'm asking you if you want to come with me because you owe me an ice cream. Plain vanilla or chocolate."

"Oh... ah... so... just you and me, you mean?" How was he going to talk to her if it was just the two of them?

"Yes, Linc. Just you and me." Emma looked up as Hayley walked into the room and mouthed, 'Is that him?' Emma nodded and shrugged as if to say, it's not going so well.

"Yeah. Okay." Linc thought about Rob and Becky and how long it had taken Rob to get Becky to be nice to him. Three, maybe four months. He grinned. He'd liked Emma for about the same amount of time but hadn't spoken to her properly until yesterday. He regretted the hive comments and wished he could take them back but they mustn't have bothered her because she hadn't hung up on him. He'd have to play it cool and take control like Rob would. He said, "I'll see you there at ten," and then ended the call.

****

It was the greatest day of his life. The ice cream was the best he'd ever tasted and Emma had stayed hive free. Linc looked down at her dressed in denim shorts, a pink t-shirt and sandals. She was the prettiest girl he'd ever laid eyes on. Beautiful olive skin with dark wavy hair tied in a pig tail and rich brown eyes that lit up every time she laughed and, laugh they had. His legs felt like jelly because he wanted to kiss her but he didn't know how. What had Rob done? He'd put his hand on the back of Becky's head, leaned in and just did it. Was his mouth opened or closed? Linc tried to remember. Had Rob put his hand on Becky's waist? Damn this was hard.

Linc took a breath and blurted, "I had a great day, Emma. Thanks for asking me to come."

"Me too, Linc." She stared at him wondering if he was going to kiss her. His blue eyes seemed to be flashing with indecision. He'd shown off a lot like Hayley said he would if he liked her. Emma was certain all the shoulder nudges and rib jabs meant that he did.

"Great." Linc stepped forward, and then back. He took a breath and dove in. He clamped his hand on the back of Emma's head, brought his face forward, squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for the best. He opened his mouth and sucked on her nose.

"Ooo..." Emma squealed and jerked her head back. She burst into laughter. Even though she could see the stress on his face, as it turned bright red, she couldn't help herself. "Linc," she chuckled, clamped her hand over her mouth and wrapped her arm around her stomach to try and stop another gale of laughter from exploding from her body. "I'm. I'm. So sorry. Oh my God that was funny."

"It wasn't meant to be," he grumbled as he hung his head.

Emma felt bad. She immediately stopped laughing but couldn't stop smiling. She stepped toward him and put her hand on his forearm. "I'm not laughing at you. It was funny. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, well, I feel pretty stupid," he scowled and gave her a sideways glance.

"You shouldn't." Emma smiled again and stepped in closer. "If we ever get married it'll be something funny we can tell people at our wedding about the first time we kissed."

Linc lifted his head and frowned at her. First time we kissed? But they hadn't kissed?

Emma's face lit up as she said, "I'm not saying we will get married but we might and people will say, do you remember the first time you kissed, and I'll say yes, at the zoo he tried to suck my nose off." A bubble of laughter erupted as she added, "And you'll say, I tried to be cool and ended up eating her nose."

He couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from lifting in a smirk. "I wasn't trying to be cool."

"You were." Emma shouldered him.

"Wasn't." Linc stuck his finger in her ribs.

She squealed and jerked away. "Were so, Linc Bridgestone."

Linc laughed and grabbed her hand so she couldn't run away. "Yeah... well... I am cool. That's why you like me." He watched her mouth part and before she could say anything he touched her lips with his in a gentle kiss. When he pulled away he realised he had his arms around her waist and she had hers around his neck. How easy was that, and he hadn't even thought about it? Linc beamed at her and without thinking said, "Emma Johnson. Will you be my girlfriend?"

How did Linc go on his first real date?

Is he as smooth as Rob once was?

This chapter dedicated to @SteveRattray for all your help with edits. I hope Linc passes your judgement and he was gentlemanly enough.❤

Photo image belongs to Sydney Zoo.