Pommes for Breakfast
October 9, 1978, Monday, New Paltz, NY
“Conor, it’s 6:30 AM, what are you doing here?”
Kai was awake long enough to be ready for school, yet no one besides her sister had ever disturbed her morning routine on a school day. Ever since last week’s late-night episode with QB1, she was a bit gun-shy about seeing anyone first thing in the morning. Especially Conor. She’d said goodnight to him only a few hours before, and after getting over the surprise of seeing him, she smiled and palmed his cheek.
“Good morning, Pele.”
“Kai, wouldn’t it be great to wake up every day in the same bed? We could meet the day together, make coffee, and plan the day’s adventures. Wouldn’t that be incredible?”
“I know, I get it, but we’re still in High School, live at home, and there are rules,” Kai countered.
“Yeah that’s true, but we’ll both be 18 in a few months and I vote to change the rules,” Conor said. “Until then, on occasion, I might wake you up and have something special for you to do.”
“Like today,” Kai asked.
“Oui princesse, je le fais.”
Kai smiled, she loved that he embraced her love of French, even though his accent wasn’t particularly good.
“That’s awesome! D’accord, est ce special?”
“What’s special? I’m glad you asked. Pommes pour le petit déjeuner,” Conor replied.
“A morning apple. You remembered Conor!”
A fresh apple picked off a tree with the dew still dripping off it had been one of his favorite things shared with her when they first started as a couple.
Kai jumped into his arms. “Do you think we’ll find a crisp one?”
“Oui, tres probable,” Conor replied.
“Cool, allons-y, let’s go!”
Conor took Kai to an apple orchard up a path off of Rt 208. It had rolling hills that dipped deeply into ravines that with the right conditions delivered a natural echo. It was far off the road in a secluded spot and there would be no one to bother them. It was still early and the cool fruit on the apple trees were dripping from the morning dew left by the colder evening that had only recently receded.
The long grass in the orchard was wet with dew as well. To keep Kai’s feet dry, Conor had borrowed a pair of his mom's wellies or rain boots. Luckily, they fit. He had also scouted out the best part of the orchard a few days earlier and led her to a tree that had beautiful deep red apples.
The sun had been up for just a short while and was cascading through the trees. The long morning rays gave everything a soft-edged filter. The long grass and leaves on the trees provided a deep green backdrop for the apples whose ripe red colors popped throughout the orchard.
Kai reached up and plucked an apple off the tree. She rubbed it against her sweater to clean it and held it up to Conor with a look of amused expectation on her smiling face. They both stopped moving and stood still, and Kai waited for total silence.
She took a bite out of the apple, it was very crisp and made a crunching sound as she bit into it. Sure enough, the sound of her bite echoed out and above where they stood. Juices ran down her chin as she smiled wickedly and was completely tuned in to how amazing life could be. More importantly, how this man, Conor Walsh, was introducing and changing the way she experienced it. She high-fived him, and the sound of their slap echoed loudly throughout the orchard. They giggled, and their giggles echoed too.
“Everything echoes from here!” Kai said while laughing.
“Well, yes, it’s cool though right?” Conor asked.
Kai replied, “Conor, you’re beyond amazing!”
She jumped up and wrapped her legs around Conor’s lower back, with her arms around his neck and shoulders, she began romantically kissing him deeply on his mouth. While perched on his upper body, she began rubbing her breasts back and forth against his sweatshirt.
Kai had a short skirt on and whispered in Conor’s ear, “I’m not wearing panties.”
Conor pulled his head back as she held on to his upper body to look her in the eye, and she gave him a “why not” smirk.
He whispered back into her ear, “Who are you? You must be an alien from the planet “Perfect.”
Conor reached down, released the latch on his pants, and wiggled his jeans to his ankles while Kai slipped down on him. Too wet to lay down in the grass, they made love standing beneath the apple tree. Kai frenched kissed him throughout and they both put an exclamation point on the experience of a crisp apple bite echoing in an orchard on a cool morning.
They were late getting to school that day. The typically stern assistant principal couldn’t help noticing their flushed faces and how wonderful they looked with each other. She didn’t bother asking why they were late. She checked them in, stamped their hall pass, and sent them on their way reminiscing to herself about her own first love.