By Ariel Barley

When unsure, I consult the code.



NOTES —> the kisscode (xoxo)

1: on the forehead (meaning “hello, and I love you.”)

• for little dogs, who scratch happy at shins and move their tiny bodies with their tinier tails
• for mothers, who sit on the paisley-print couches and watch doctor dramas. (this kiss can only come from the adult, the girl who has reconciled her mother as worthy of affection)
• for friends who look up
• for daughters and sons, one day — the ones with mini-dresses and buckled mary janes, with a mother who will buy them a whole closet for each size-up (thrifted, just like hers)
• for an apple (honeycrisp, probably,) just before teeth sink into to it
• for stuffed bunnies, worn with time

2: on the cheek (meaning “you’re coming to my wedding” or “I hate you, like, a lot”)

• for friends who look down. this kiss uses tiptoes, but can come more naturally with high heels and platforms
• for not-friends who don’t deserve Kiss 1. this kiss is dramatic, overexaggerated like sugar and honey mixed into a goop
• for distant relatives. they pinch cheeks and don’t have memorable names
• for grandmothers with leathery skin and knobby fingers; they have hair from a magazine and a shrill voice
• for the french (?)
• for cutesy Instagram photoshoots (at train tracks, or coffee shops, or the beach during winter)

3: on the nose meaning (“I love you and I think you love me” or “I’m drunk”)

• for cats, who sniff and sniff and wrap wormy tails around human legs. this kiss happens midair, with their skinny legs dangling and their voices shrill with protest
• for birthday girls who have known each other for years — who light candles with colored flames and throw fairy themed-parties
• for little brothers, who hole up in their room. this kiss is quick and harsh, tinted with tricky laughter and accompanied by a twisted earlobe
• for drunk twenty-somethings, who fall into their friends with fuzzy vision. this kiss is everything, the memory that stays behind in the morning
• “exactly, precisely”. this kiss is necessary, a friendship benchmark

4: on the lips meaning (“I like you like you” or “I trust you enough, I guess”)

• for friends-to-partners, first and foremost, after Kisses 1 and 2 have run their course
• for watching, annoyed but happy (at/for parents who tease each other over reality television, who meet in church and sing together in cars)
• for very drunk twenty-somethings, who spend afterwards all curled up in bed from pulsing hangover pain

5: not at all meaning (“I don’t love you yet, or I love you, and we’re done”)

• for strangers, potential spouses
• for people who have worn out Kisses 1-4 ■