When Earl was fifteen his tongue had few jobs and spent most of its time in his mouth. If someone talked to him, it pushed out three or four word sentences. It mangled peanuts and slurped at the water fountain. And if someone said or did something that he resented his tongue clicked out a you sack of shit under his breath.

The undemanding, uncomplicated life that Earl's tongue knew ended when he met Louise. She sat next to him in Algebra. She had a booming voice and was fascinated with how Earl and Squirrel rhymed. She called him Earl the squirrel or Earl, what a squirrel, or sometimes she was satisfied with imperfect rhymes and would say, "You getting a little squirrelly there, Earl?" Earl was less infatuated with these rhymes and was frightened by how loud her voice was. She tried talking to him about roller-skating and the different kinds of cars she liked. He avoided her. One day, he was tying his shoe and she came up to him to show him her new socks. Earl was eye level with her socks, which had pearly beads sewn along the rims.

He looked up and saw the gorgeous curve of her leg. His tongue started rubbing against his teeth and his chest became constricted. She was talking about the nasty clerk who sold her the socks. Her loud voice became rich and musical. He listened to her story about her new socks, entranced. Then, he asked her to get some hamburgers with him after school. She hesitated and the silence was oppressive unit he said, "Please, Louise."

She said, "alright."

Earl loved her legs and he loved the new life his tongue suddenly had. It moved all the time to tell her off-color jokes and stories about baseball. They went roller-skating and Earl lost his balance and jammed his elbow into the wall. He said shit for the first time in a loud voice in front of other people. He started talking about cars as well. He and Louise french kissed and he licked her ears and the syllables of her name because precious to him. His tongue formed them to himself when he was walking down the halls. Louiselouiselouise. From between his teeth, his tongue tasted the world and the world, with Louise in it, tasted sweet and peculiar.

For the first two years of their love affair he only saw her calves and he wondered about the rest of her legs hiding under her full cotton skirts. When Louise turned eighteen, they celebrated at an expensive Italian restaurant. They split a bottle of red wine. Louise's hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. She laughed at every joke Earl made. The olive oil and garlic from the food was so strong the smell go onto their hands and there was tomato sauce under both of their fingernails. The wine was finished and Earl started to tell a joke about a nun who went into a bar looking for directions. Louise was already laughing so hard she was sliding out of the booth. She said "No, no, Jesus Christ no I'm going to pee my pants. Stop it." and then staggered over to the bathroom. Earl watched her unsteady calves and their beauty struck him dead in the throat. He ran into the bathroom behind her. She was still laughing. He kissed her, drinking in the taste of Italian food and wine, feeling his heart bang blood into his ears. They crashed against the sink. He lifted up her skirt, saw all of her legs, and fell on his knees. The yellow skirt fell over him like a tent. Louise started laughing again. Earl rested his face against her thighs and said, "Marry me." Louise laughed harder. She was crying. He said "Marry me" again. She was laughing so hard she was on the verge of blacking out. She slid on the floor and knocked her head against the sink. Earl was afraid some one was going to come in. She finally managed to say, "Ok. ok. I'll marry you, Earl."