Everyone suffers from a first kiss. I say “suffer” because no one actually enjoys this kiss. It’s usually sloppy, wet and consequently makes you gag.

My first kiss happened when I was in sixth grade, on a porch swing, in my aunt’s backyard. It wasn’t memorable, and it is nothing to brag about.

From that point, I’ve had several crushes and a handful of boyfriends, but I now realize I spent a lot of my time searching for something that is maybe impossible to find: a guy whose kiss was so perfect it changed my life, thus making me a better person.

In the movie “That Thing You Do,” the hunky main character walks up to the leading lady at the end and says, “When was the last time you were decently kissed? I mean, really, honestly good and kissed?” We are left to assume, following that one kiss, they live happily ever after.

How many girls dream of the day a guy asks her similar questions, then sweeps her off her feet? How many people would end a relationship with another person because they were a bad kisser? Kisses are oh-so-very important.

My best kiss came about three years ago after a party. I had shown up alone hoping to meet my best friend, who to my dismay never showed up. So I was alone at a party where I didn’t know too many people. I sat at a table near a guy I knew through mutual friends and had seen around, but never really talked to. We hit it off almost immediately, and, before long, we were dancing. I knew where the night was heading, but I kept telling myself I couldn’t pursue him because he was a stranger.

The party broke up and he walked me to my car. I knew he was going to kiss me from the way he was walking too slowly, from the building through the parking lot. (It’s funny how sometimes guys are so predictable.) By this point, I had decided to let him kiss me, since “stranger” is such a harsh word, and after a night of talking, laughing and dancing, he wasn’t too much of a stranger anymore.

I reached into my bag for my keys and before I could say anything, he had kissed me. It was the clich’eacute; type of kiss that takes your breathe away. I actually had to move closer to the car so I could lean on it. My legs grew shaky and he made all of the blood in my body rush to my head. I didn’t want to open my eyes. I was afraid to let the moment slip away.

Of all the kisses I have partaken in, this was the best. Time slowed, and I didn’t want it to stop. It was just like I had dreamed; it was the type of kiss that changes a person’s life, just not in the way I had hoped.

After a kiss like this one, you can imagine I never wanted to kiss another person. But this guy turned out to be just as disappointing as all the others. It did not lead to love, or even a relationship. It only lead to a falling out a few days later.

We obviously weren’t meant to be, but I have never been the same following that kiss three years ago. I now have high standards and no one has ever been able to meet my expectations.

Fairy tale princesses will tell you that they are all helplessly searching for Prince Charming. But what if I were to say the only thing every girl really wants to find is the perfect kiss.

Maybe this is why people say you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince. I know I am still looking for that one magical kiss that changes everything and makes me a better person, and especially that one kiss that leads to my happy ending.

– Contributed by a member of The News Staff.