I can't really tell when all this began. I mean, I absolutely remember the first time our eyes locked and I remember the exact second his hand brushed against my skin to lightly squeeze my arm to get my attention.
But I guess it all started a few months before, when I was notified by school that I was eligible for the Exchange Student program to go research Universities in Germany because of my good academic performance. So everything that was left to do was convince my parents to let me go live in Germany for 3 months, at 17 years old.
And against all odds they found it to be a great idea and there I was. I was sent to live with a girl my age and her family in Dortmund, Germany. And was assigned to attend the Gymnasium an der Schweitzer Alee, which was the local high school. It was a great big world and I was hungry for it.
I was born and raised in Guatemala, a small country south of Mexico in Central America. It is known for its beautiful scenery, paradisiac weather and happy people. So a trip to Europe sounded too good to be true, and I had no idea how it would change my life.
Anyway, there I was 1 month into my exchange program, immersing myself in the culture, the language, the snow and I loved every second of it. After 4 weeks of total immersion the program called for a meeting of the whole group of kids that had been scattered throughout all of Germany and Düsseldorf was the place the Program leader chose for us to meet in.
We were to meet in a hotel for 5 days to share how the experience had been going so far, what we had learned and to visit the campus of the HHU Düsseldorf (Heinrich-Heine-Universität) or to be plainly put, the local university in Düsseldorf.
I never had any idea of what I might want to go into for my higher education, but in the last months I was starting to lean into the medical field, so I was ready to learn anything I needed to secure a place for me right there. The first two days were spent catching up with fellow countrymen discussing which german city was the coolest, which high school had the hottest guys or girls and how badly we missed Guatemala’s warm and beautiful weather. Most of us had never even seen snow and here we were in the middle of November in Germany in cold cold -1C.
After touring the campus and getting settled in, hearing every story, talking about missing our families and watching a couple of pictures some of us had gotten printed out, the exchange leader kindly let us know we would be having the night off to go out to dinner and maybe catch a show at the nearest club. We were all very much excited when we learned that the legal age for getting into discos was 16, and that we also were allowed to drink beer, no liquor, though. At age 17 I already drank back home but I was yet to do it legally so a group of us decided that we would be going out and we would be staying out late.
We grabbed dinner on the street, everyone was big on eating Donner Kebabs, which were heavenly pita breads filled with roasted beef or pork cooked with oriental spices with a selection of fresh veggies and more yogurt sauce than you could possible need. It was absolute heaven. And nothing beats a warm dinner on a very chilly night when you have plans to get plastered listening to some new band later on. So, we headed to Unique Club, just 6 blocks from our hotel. 5 girls, 6 boys.
None of the people in the group I was particularly close to, but we all got along, we all knew each other, we all went to the same school back home so the atmosphere was very laid back.
We entered the club, which to our surprise was filled with people our age, we hung out, danced to the pop music blasting through the speakers and anticipated the band that was about to go on stage, some newcomers apparently.
About around 11PM the lights dimmed, the smoke from the smoke machines started rising and a group of guys appeared on stage. Their energy was undeniable and totally contagious. The music was catchy and the harmonies were like butter. They had the audience in a trance, boys and girls alike. One of them especially caught my eye. His energy on stage was electric, his voice was the smoothest sound I had ever heard, he never stood still and you could see he was having the best time on that stage. Two of the other guys were very attractive to me, blonde, cute, which was usually my type. But this guy, there was something unexplainable and undeniable about him.
In the blink of an eye the show was over. They had been on stage for over an hour but the time flew by and no one even noticed. Suddenly the boy that had been keeping me preoccupied moments before had vanished from sight so we all went back to just enjoying the night. When suddenly one of the girls in my group pointed out that the guys in the band were coming into the room, she quickly left our side and approached them while all of us just watched her. She walked up to a dark haired guy, very handsome, long face, perfect chin and we could see her throwing her head back in laughter a couple minutes later. She kept motioning us to join her and some of the guys did, but a couple of us, who usually were the more shy ones, just stayed at our table and just carried on.
Suddenly the whole group of guys along with the rest of our original group started towards our table. And that’s when I saw him, walking slowly behind a curly blonde guy, smiling softly and nodding at something someone had said to him. He slowly looked up and must’ve stopped to look at the girl with her mouth open who was staring at him. I could feel my face grow warmer from embarrassment as I quickly looked away and played it cool. They joined our party and the blue-eyed dark-haired guy was standing right beside me. My heart started racing, my palms became sweaty and I started kicking myself mentally for being such an idiot so I just kept looking away. That’s when his hand brushed my arm before gently squeezing it, making a bolt of electricity run through my body, I quickly turned to him with a bewildered look on my face, I’m sure.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hey,” I answered.
“How you girls doing? Your friend here tells us you guys are not local, thank God for that.” I smiled.
“Why Thank God?”
“Because I can’t speak German to save my life and English in a german accent should be illegal,” he joked. I giggled, he smiled wider.
“And what makes you think we can speak English any better than the locals?” I teased, relaxing a little.
“I don’t know, but a latin accent is something I have heard before, I used to live in Florida. And I actually kind of like it, it sounds sexy.”
The ice was broken. We kept the banter going for a couple of minutes. For once I was very grateful to have learned English at a very early age.
The other four guys were very nice as well. One of them was a total flirt, one was very shy and quiet, one of them did not stand still for the whole time we were there, and I was sandwiched between the object of my attention and the blonde curly guy who was so obviously the youngest.
“So, what’s your name, honey? I’m JC.” He put his hand out there for me to shake.
“I’m Kiki, very nice to meet you.” I grabbed his hand softly and shook it lightly. He gave me a half smirk that almost made my heart melt.
He went on to tell me how it was that they ended up performing that night at that club, and that they had been doing so for the last month and would continue to do so for at least another 6 months all throughout Europe. He also said he and the young blonde one, Justin, had been on a television show together the last few years, which followed by a lot of teasing from the group about being celebrities. I also learned that Joey, the handsome one with the chin, had starred at some show in Disney world and a couple of my friends were very excitedly telling him that they must’ve seen him the last time they were there and that they loved the show. He even did some of the moves from it as we all watched and laughed.
“Can I get you a drink?” asked JC suddenly, turning his back on the group and facing me. I tucked a strand of hair nervously behind my ear and bit my lip while holding my half empty bottle of beer up to eye level.
“I think I’m good.” He frowned a little. “But you can buy the next one,” I said flirting which immediately caused him to chuckle loudly.
How the rest of the evening passed I could not tell you. There was music, there was laughter, there was beer but most of all there was fog in my brain because the more we talked the closer JC got to me, the more I could smell the mix of sweat and cologne, the more I could hear the tone of his sexy voice near my ear and the light touches and brushes of skin were closer together. And just like that we ended up in a very badly lit corner of the club, a little far away from the speakers. I remember leaning against the wall, back lightly arched, with my hips seductively pressing against his. He had his left hand on the wall keeping him stable while his right was placed on my left hip bone, he slowly rubbed my side up to the waist and squeezed lightly, while I looked up at him biting my lip. I can’t remember for the life of me what topic we were discussing because the only thought on my head was how badly I wanted to bite his lower lip. He slowly slid his right hand to the small of my back and tipped his head down to me just as I tipped mine up to his, so his lips ended up pecking my chin. We both giggled, he stepped back slightly, smiled and bent down slowly this time with a clear agenda. His full lips pressed against mine and that’s when the club became empty and my head filled with fog. The feeling of warm breath on my face and his warm tongue parting my lips and caressing my own drove me insane. I don’t know how much time passed but I found myself lost in his kisses, they started soft and tender and grew a bit hungry and passionate back to soft and sweet. I remember so clearly feeling safe and thinking to myself how much of a gentleman this guy was because one of his hands was firmly placed on the small of my back and pulled me closer or let me a little looser depending on the intensity of the kisses at the moment and the other hand was either on my hip or running up and down my arm to my shoulder to the back of my neck. Never was there any groping or grabbing of any body part covered by clothing, which really should’ve just hinted at how experienced he really was and how he could really remain controlled even in the most passionate of make out sessions. I, however had lost all control over my body and was it not for his strong hands holding onto my body I would’ve ended up on the floor.
Every couple of minutes our lips would part, I’d feel him step back just a little and as I would open my eyes I’d find him looking at me so sweetly and as my eyes would open wider as to asking him if something was wrong he’d smile, whisper: hi, and resume with the task at hand. It was truly the most erotic experience of my young life, up until then.
Suddenly the lights went on and we were awakened from our blissful slumber. I remember JC’s hand on my waist as he chuckled lightly and we both regained ourselves. He almost appeared shy as he looked at me under full dark lashes which made his blue eyes pop even more, now with adequate lightning. He motioned me to find my group as he interlaced his fingers between mine and we started walking hand in hand. He quickly grabbed a napkin from the bar as we walked by and tore it in half, while we awaited our coats from wardrobe he asked the girl for a pen. He quickly gave it to me and whispered in my ear to write down the telephone number of the family I was staying at in Dortmund. He had told me earlier he was almost certain they would be stopping by that city sometime in the next weeks and he wanted to see me.
I scribbled it down quickly not really believing this was real. There was no way he’d want to see me again, there was no way I was getting kissed this passionately by such an amazing boy so far away from home, such an unlikely thing to be happening. He winked while folding the napkin and put in it his pocket then helped me into my coat and put on his jacket before grabbing my hand again and walking me outside. We met up with my friends outside, he whispered something in Chris’ ear and started towards my hotel, with my hand in his. He walked slowly while we chatted about nothing, he pulled my hand, let it go and put his arm around my shoulders pulling me closer to him. “I’m cold,” he whispered in my ear, and then continued to chat about whatever with the rest of our group. As we stepped into the lobby of the hotel, he turned me around, pecked me on the lips and said: “I’ll be seeing you pretty,” turned around and walked out of the hotel leaving me in a state of daze I think I never stepped out of.
