First Time

Hi Cath, can you talk now?

…Okay, good, so, you know how Mark’s parents were away over the weekend for Valentine’s Day? Well, he invited me over, and…we did it!

I know! I was so nervous about it because I knew he’d been with Becky before, but he was really sweet and reassuring about it.

He cooked dinner for us and lit candles and everything! It was so romantic!

There is one thing that I’m wondering about though. I don’t know if I should tell you…

…Okay, so we had to stop in the middle because…um…I don’t know how to tell you this, but…

It was very dark. The streetlights outside were coming in through the gap in the curtains, and I could only barely make it out, but I squinted when he started screaming, and that was when I saw it. It took me a while to take it in, but I slowly began to realise what had happened.

His left eye had just sort of…fallen out.

…I know, right!

…No. I didn’t see it happen. Apparently, it had just jolted right out of its socket while we were doing it. It just sort of hung there over me; dangling from the optic nerve.

We had to stop of course. It kind of ruined the mood. It was a shame, because the evening had been going well.

He got off me and started trying to push the eye back in, and obviously, it wasn’t working. He was trembling and struggling to breathe and making this adorable noise like a whimpering puppy. He started telling me that I needed to take him to the surgery.

We put our clothes back on (his T-shirt was a struggle) and he made me drive him over to see Doctor Crispin.

Doctor Crispin was really nice opening the surgery up for us at that time of night. He sewed the eye back in place and gave Mark some injections.

Mark was so embarrassed, but strangely, I was totally fine with it. I thought it was kinda cool, y’know?

Apparently, this happened with Becky as well. They were in the middle of doing it and his arm just fell off. She had to put it on ice and get it to Doctor Crispin so he could sew it back on again.

…I know! The scar around his shoulder you can see when he wears tank tops! It makes sense now!

I asked him about it, and Doctor Crispin said this is totally normal. He told me it happens to some boys at this age. They just fall to pieces when they fall in love.

…I know! He’s in love with me! Like, actually in love with me! It’s magical!

…Yeah, we’re still together. We’re going Ice skating on Saturday.

The weirdest thing is, I actually kind of…liked it.

…yeah, I know, is that normal?

I asked him if he wants to try again soon. He said he should probably see Doctor Crispin again, but I kind of don’t want him to. I think its romantic.

I kind of…want bits of him to start coming off.

I like it when he falls to pieces for me.