Lydia contemplates this for a moment. "Gross," she concludes. Then she leans her head to the side, cheek pressing to her shoulder. "Barring strong feelings, kissing's like saying hello with your mouth."

The last round of kissing disasters may have ended, but the general air of freshman enthusiasm hasn't. There's a gleam. It looks vaguely concerning. "Somebody might want to tell that to the shortstack over there." Not concerning enough that the somebody in question is going to be her, though.