December 11, 1999

It is 10:30am and I just woke up (it's Saturday!). Last night was Michelle's party and it was really fun. It was supposed to be a surprise party for Gina, but Gina found out about it. Tyler was there, but we weren't really talking and it was kind of stupid and awkward.

Steph was there, too. At one point, she stood up and said, "Excuse me! I have an announcement to make." The only response she got was that one guy yelled out, "Take off your shirt!" And everyone laughed. But at least that got everyone's attention, and she could continue. "Everyone form a circle - we're going to play Truth or Dare." There were a few groans but everyone obeyed, and soon we were sitting in a circle of chairs with some people on the floor.

Jenna jumped up and said, "I'll start!" And she spun around in a circle with her eyes closed for effect before pointing her finger at me. "Emily," she said in this suspicious way that made me nervous. "Truth or Dare?" While I was thinking about it [what's there to think about - always pick truth] Louis cried, "I dare you to go bang Tyler!" "Truth!" I shouted. Everyone groaned and the game kind of broke up for a moment while everyone discussed whether or not they thought Tyler and I should go hook up. It was so embarrassing.

Then Daniel came over and said, "Tyler needs to talk to you... in private." "Does he, really?" I said sarcastically, because of course he didn't, really. Tyler came over and took my hand and led me to this little storage room off the main part of the basement. I know it must have been hard for him to work up the guts to do that. When we got there, he let go of my hand and turned to face me. We just kind of stood there for a second. He looked extremely uncomfortable, and I felt the same way.

"Oh, this is so embarrassing!" I said, and he just kind of nodded. Then I started babbling on about something, and neither of us was really paying attention to what I was saying. Louis ran by screaming something ridiculous, and we both turned to look at him. I was seriously contemplating just running away from this situation, but I knew I would hate myself later if I did that. [Running away is always a valid choice.]

So I turned back to Tyler and said, "Are we going to hook up?" "Yes," he said, and that was that. I reached up and put my hands around his neck and he put his hands around my waist. I hadn't realized we were standing that close to each other. I closed my eyes and our lips met, and it was the most beautiful kiss I've ever experienced.

It was not a head-swallowing, let's-see-who-can-move-their-tongue-the-fastest kiss [sorry - head-swallowing?! Yikes]. It was like a movie kiss. There was a little tongue, but there were lips, too. I just completely lost myself in the kiss. That is, until Stacy looked in and shrieked, "Oh, my god!" totally breaking the mood. We gently stopped kissing and I put my head on his shoulder. He's the perfect height for that.

After that kiss, we didn't actually talk much for the rest of the party. I hate it how now that we're going out, it's all weirdness. I wish I could talk to him like we did when we were friends. Maybe I should talk to him about that.

Anyway, the rest of the party was a blast. Jenna taught me and Louis how to pole dance - don't ask me how she knew! [Yeah, I won't ask.] I tried to teach Melanie how to do the worm, but she couldn't. The girls who knew the dance to "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom" did it when that song came on, and Louis and Daniel stood behind me for the part where we kind of stick out our butts. Ew. [Vengaboys are back in town!]