I was in the middle of talking with Yosefin on my gaming console when Kat wanted to chat randomly. It was odd since we barely spoke in class. I could have easily ignored her and kept my focus on gaming, but my stupid curiosity wanted to know why she messaged me.

We talked a fair bit. There were moments when I had to balance talking to Kat and Yosefin. Double-tasking was my kryptonite. Yosefin called me out on my inability to retain my focus on what we were talking about.

“Are you okay? Your mind seems somewhere else. You’re literally going near negative in every match,” Yosefin said.

“I’m talking with Kat,” I said.

“Kat?” Yosefin yelled like she was surprised. “What does she want?” Her tone almost sounded as if she was disgusted in a not serious way. Kat’s name was pitched in a shout that stretched out every letter. When Yosefin asked what Kat wanted, the word, she, was emphasized.

“Nothing, it seems. She just wants to... talk.”

“Yeah... talk...” Yosefin sounded like she didn’t believe a word I said. Her words felt dismissive. I got an uneasy feeling that Kat came with some intention other than conversing.

“What do you think she wants?” I asked.

“Oh,” she huffed, laughing. “I have no idea.” Her words were bluntly sarcastic.

“But, you sound like you know.”

“Well, I could give you some reasons why.” She brought us into a private lobby within the game to prevent us from playing with other players online.

“Okay, what are they?”

“Uh,” she giggled in a muffle. “She might be bored.” I read through my messages to see if that was right. Kat did express she was bored and felt lonely. I told Yosefin she was bored and feeling lonely. “So she goes to the guy that doesn’t talk to her much for a conversation?” That fact she knew about me was surprising. “Nah, she’s looking to fill a void and believes you can do that.”

“What if she truly wants to talk?”

“I don’t know about that, but go ahead and find out.” The way she was interpreting Kat seemed off-putting. I didn’t know what to think of what was going on. Kat’s messages looked harmless. There was nothing to suggest anything but straight-up talk.

“I guess I’ll see.” Out of the blue, someone joined our chat under the name, Monov_D.

“Yo, Lyn!” Monov said with a lot of enthusiasm. Yosefin’s gamer ID is, Lynxerxes.

“Monov, hey! Wow, it’s been a while. Like...”

“A month and some change. My job has been killing me. I finally got a week off.”

“Damn. I’m sorry to hear that. Uh, Josh.”

“Hmm?” I said.

“I’m gonna start up a game.”

“Okay.” They continued talking together as if I wasn’t in the room. It didn’t last long, but it was awkward to be in a conversation I couldn’t speak in. He told her he was coming into town for a Japanese anime/manga convention and wanted her to come. The convention began later in the day and lasted for three days, but she prioritized spending time with me for the day.

“I got plans with my friend, Josh. Tomorrow we can go up there,” Yosefin said.

“Sweet. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he said, then left our group chat after they said their goodbyes.

My eyes were glued to my phone to read Kat’s message while Yosefin babbled in my ears about something I didn’t care to focus on at the moment. Kat asked if it would be okay to come over to her apartment the next day to study for the second upcoming test in history.

“Earth to Josh,” Yosefin said, breaking my concentration from thoroughly reading Kat’s message.

“What?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“No. I asked if you wanna come with us tomorrow.”

“I,” I stopped talking to read new messages from Kat. She gave me the address to her apartment.

“Josh!” She screamed into her microphone. The volume peaked, making her voice ripple. Her loud voice made me jump and nearly throw my headset off my head. “Do you want to come with me tomorrow?”

I told Yosefin I couldn’t go, but I kept my mouth shut on expressing any care for the convention. Japanese manga convention sounded like another rave situation without the fun part near the end. It sounded like another event with people cramped into a confined space wearing strange outfits.

“Damnit,” Yosefin sighed. “Well, tomorrow is going to be super awkward.”

“Why?”

“I’ve played with him off and on this year. I never showed him my face. We’re not close like you and me. Also, he doesn’t know the little... concern about me.” She took us out of the public lobby again to be in a private one. I knew this would be a serious talk, so I kept my phone silent to avoid getting distracted. "Should I tell him what happened to me?”

“Why would you want to do that? You’re just hanging out at a convention.”

“Yeah,” she sighed through her nose, spiking the volume threshold on her microphone. “But I feel compelled to lay everything out so there won’t be any issues in the future.”

“You worry too much, Yosefin.”

“Remember what happened when I exposed to you what I am?” I cringe, resting my face in my hands when I remember what I did and how it affected her. “I don’t think I should hide that.”

“You’re not hiding anything.” She began laughing but stopped after two seconds. “What? I’m being serious.”

“I know you are, but my looks are deceiving. I got everything. The face, voice, the body, but this one fucking thing could ruin it all.”

“You’re too harsh on yourself. You need to stop that.” She went silent long enough to make me feel like I stated something wrong. “Nothing is wrong, abnormal, weird, or unusual about you. You got to stop having that mentality, Yosefin.”

“I’m glad I have you as my friend,” she told me in a soft voice. “If Kat didn’t claim you for tomorrow, I snatch you up in a heartbeat.”

“We can hang out on the third day if your friend is still around,” I said from my heart, then immediately regretted my words. The good friend in me went against my introverted character and spoke words I should’ve considered. I had to flick myself in the face for being too willing to move out of my shell.

“That would be amazing,” she cheered. “But let’s see how tomorrow goes. Also, don’t forget you’re going to meet my parents.”

“I haven’t forgotten. Text me when you are ready for me to come.”

“I will.” Her voice pitched. “Wanna actually play a freaking game now?”

“Yeah!”

Later that day, a sudden cold front came in, dropping the weather from seventy to fifty-eight. Halloween was tonight. Yosefin’s family began making dinner around four o'clock so they wouldn’t be bothered by the trick-or-treaters later in the day. She sent me her address, and I drove over there without delay. When I went down the street where her house was, I saw her standing outside on a sidewalk. She had a black witch hat on her head, purple-striped leggings, and black military combat boots. There was one detail I didn’t notice until I got out of my car. She had on round glasses that almost reached the center of her cheekbone.

“You wear glasses?” I asked after accepting her hug.

“These are just for show.” She put the glasses on me to show they didn’t do anything, then placed them back on her face. “You’re looking sharp,” she said, lightly pulling on my shirt. I noticed her nails were painted purple and black. Both ring fingers had an image of a jack-o-lantern with different faces.

“I see you’re in the Halloween spirit.”

“What do you think? Is it too much?” She turned slightly sideways and rubbed the side of her hip as she looked down at it.

“I think you look great.”

“Thanks,” she said, looking at me for a split second before glancing at the house. Someone behind the front window blinds pulled away their finger to stop watching us. “So, are you ready?”

“Yeah. You?”

“I was ready,” she chuckled nervously without smiling. “They were asking questions of you.”

“Like what?”

“Shit, like, is he comfortable with who you are? Are you cute? Are you friendly? Are you a drugy?”

“A drugy?!"

“Yes!” She whispered with her index finger near her mouth as she stepped closer. “My father even asked if you were... gay.”

“Gay?!” I felt insulted.

“I had to lay out you weren’t like that. After I said that, they left me alone, but I feel like they will silently scrutinize you.”

“Only one way to find that out,” I said, facing the front door. My stomach turned slightly as my anxiety rose. I wanted to look confident, so I kept my body relaxed. “Ready?”

“After you.” She gave me a little push to make me start walking. The door opened before I could touch the knob.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Oh, hello. Come on in, Joshua,” Mrs. Böhme said with the thickest German accent I have ever heard.

“Thank you, Mrs. Böhme,” I said.

“Joshua, mein Junge. (My boy.)" Yosefin’s father said from the kitchen off to my right.

“Poppa, English bitte (Please.)" Her father slapped his hand over his mouth as if he had accidentally said something wrong. The whites of his eyes shot out. “Uh, is dinner ready?”

“Yeah, yeah, almost. Take your seats around the kitchen table.” She locked her arms around my left arm to guide me to the dining room. The floor was made of black polished wood. Even the table was black, but it was marble. When she moved the chair back for me to sit in, the legs glided over the wood without any resistance.

“Thanks," I said.

“You’re welcome,” she said with a warming smile. “Would you like something to drink?”

“What do you got?”

“I got your favorite soda, some water bottles, and fresh raspberry lemonade.” I had to think for a second about what I wanted to choose. Soda sounded like the safer option, but I picked Raspberry lemonade.

“I’ll take the lemonade this time.”

Yosefin skipped over to the kitchen like a hyper child. Her parents began quietly talking in German, including her. I felt like a stranger even though they wanted me there. Something about not knowing someone’s language bugged me. What if they were making jokes about me? I knew a few words but not enough to understand sentences.

“Here you go,” Yosefin said, handing me my drink while taking a sip of hers. “Foods ready. Let’s go get our plate.” My heart sunk deeper into my stomach. For some stupid reason, I thought they would bring the food to me.

“So, what are we having?” I asked with a minor tremble in my voice.

“My take on chicken alfredo,” Mrs. Böhme said. Mr. Böhme handed me a plate from a stack of them near the steaming pot of chicken alfredo. The food looked orgasmic, mouth-watering, and smelled amazing. It had some sort of green herb on it. Once we all sat at the table, I wasted no time digging in. Yosefin did the same three seconds later but ate at a slower pace than me.

Before I could swallow my food, Mr. Böhme said my name.

“Yes?” I said in a mid-swallow.

“My daughter speaks about you a lot,” Mr. Böhme said. I looked at Yosefin’s face to see if it were true. She momentarily stopped chewing when she indirectly glanced somewhere down at my leg, then focused her attention on her plate. “If I had to guess, she might be in love with you," she said, directing his voice to the table instead of at me.

“Poppa!” Yosefin shouted with her mouth full of food. “What is wrong with you? I don’t.”

“Honey. It’s okay if you do. We can see how much you admire him,” Mrs. Böhme said. It took Yosefin three more glances for her to put her eyes on me. Her cheeks were blushing red.

“Can we not talk about myself?”

“Okay, okay. So, Joshua, tell a bit about how you two met.”

“Uh,” I said, watching Yosefin’s face. “The first time we met was in middle school.”

“Middle school?” Mrs. Böhme gasped. Mr. Böhme had the same facial expression Yosefin’s mother had. Their eyes were shot open, and their eyebrows flew into their foreheads.

“But we didn’t become friends till the beginning of college.”

“You two must’ve gotten very close,” Mrs. Böhme said cheekily.

“Mhmm,” Mr. Böhme hummed with a chuckle. “You have my blessing.”

“Blessing?” Yosefin and I said togehter.

“Poppa!” Yosefin yelled softly after lightly slamming her hand down on the table. “Machen Sie es ihm nicht unangenehm.” (Don’t make this awkward for him.)

“Weißt du, du bist schon am längsten rot im Gesicht. Ich bin nicht blind, Yosefin (You know, you’ve been red in the face for the longest. I’m not blind, Yosefin.") Her mother said and looked at me with a smile before putting her focus back on her.

“Is everything okay?” I asked to break the tension.

“Sorry,” Yosefin said, grabbing my forearm for a quick moment. “Everything is fine. My mother forgot to tell me something.” The whole time she said that she kept her eyes on him for whatever reason. Then, she looked at me to ask, “So, Josh. What kind of career you’re going for?” At first, I was confused about why she asked me that. She already knew my answer of not knowing, but then it hit me. The question was for her parents to learn more about me.

“I’m not sure, to be honest. That freshman class Yosefin and I are taking could help me find the pathways I like.”

“Were you fresh out of high school?” Mr. Böhme said.

“Yes.”

“Ah, just like my daughter.”

Yosefin looked at me and smiled after she took a sip of her drink. That was the first smile she showed since everyone sat at the table. There was a time of silence when none of us talked to each other that lasted roughly fifteen seconds. At that moment, I thought about what Mrs. Böhme mentioned before about my friendship with Yosefin. Yosefin and I became great friends in the three months of knowing each other. Our friendship felt at a point I could tell her my deepest secrets, and she would keep it between us and vice versa. We were compatible with certain hobbies, even though she was more outgoing than me. She really liked doing things in person, spending much of the day away from home and with me. I never had someone like her constantly want to be with me daily. Not even my childhood friends ever did that. There was space in between days or weeks before we came together. But, with her, I was in awe.

**

Yosefin and I finished our plate before her parents did. She took me away from the dining room to the outside of the front door. Once she closed the door behind me, she lifted her head back and sighed aggressively with her hands flexed, building veins across her face.

“Are you good?” I asked.

“Diese Idioten. (Those idiots.) I hope they didn’t stress you out too much,” she said.

“Well,” I paused to look at the window where the dining room was. “It kinda was, but it wasn’t too bad.”

“Scheiße!” (Crap!) “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. They seem to like me.”

“I was scared they’d ask you something stupid. They almost did.”

“Like what?” She froze when she looked directly into my eyes. “What is it?” The blush on her face got redder. I could see the pores on her forehead begin to sweat.

“Uh,” she giggled, moving over to the sidewalk. “Don’t put me on the spot like that, you asshole.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” She giggled some more, then pointed up the sidewalk to an intersection.

“Let’s go chill at this school park near my neighborhood.”

“Why?”

“Why the fuck not?” I couldn’t tell if she was mad or not. The way she said that to me sounded like she was annoyed with me, but she was giving me a genuine smile. She jogged away while holding her witch hat on her head from falling off.

“Wait up!”

“I will certainly not!” We ran into a colorful elementary park. There were hanging bars, various slides, climbing towers, and dipping bridges. She slid under a railing to get on a bridge. Her hat hit it and fell off her head. I handed it back to her before she could reach it herself. “Thank you.” She stepped into a tower with no slides attached to it, then turned around to look down at me. “Step into my office.”

“Yosefin,” I laughed, entering the office tower. “What are we doing here?”

“Sit with me.” She sat down while padding the space next to her. “Let’s just chill for a bit, ja?” I was somewhat annoyed by the stupid fact that we didn't plan to come to a playground. But my annoyance was momentarily the moment she leaned her shoulder on me the second I sat down. My heart spiked, and then I got pleasant chills throughout my ribs from how close we were. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Oh, dear.”

“What?” She said, smiling. “You haven’t heard it yet.” We looked deeply into each other’s eyes. Our faces were about nine inches apart. Her eyes kept jumping around as she continued to gaze. She broke her gaze first before I did. The moment became awkward, yet it made us giggle. “Would you be bothered if I lay on you for a while?”

“Lay?”

“Snuggle?” She mumbled quietly, shrugging her shoulders.

“Uh, wha... why do you want to do that?”

“Because,” she said and rolled her eyes. “Just don’t think about it.”

“But that’s so random to say.”

“So you’re telling me if a girl asks if she could snuggle on you, you’d deny her?”

“No,” I said with a restraining smile.

“Well, what makes me different?” There weren’t any reasonable words I could think of. “Is it because I’m a little bit different?”

“It’s not,” I quickly said.

“Then why are you hesitant and looking nervous?”

“I was curious to know why you want to, that’s all.”

“Because...” She stopped to take a quick breath. “I wanna tell you something, but I want to hold you so I can feel comfortable talking about it. Hopefully.”

“Oh...”

“May I?” I lifted my arm to let her hold me. Her left arm reached around my lower back while the other stayed over her lap. Once she found her comfort, I rested my arm on her. Being that close felt invigoring in an oddly pleasant way. I felt comfortable and somewhat aroused by how she held on to me.

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

“I want to expound on the reason why you kept me going. I left that on a cliffhanger when I revealed who I was.”

“Oh, yeah. You did. What did you mean by that?”

“You’re the only guy I hang out with in person,” she said in a gentle, calming volume. “Growing up, I was sheltered because my parents didn’t understand the changes I was going through.” Her grip around me got tighter. I unconsciously redirected my arm closer to her waist, but most of it was on her ribs. When I realized what I had done, I moved from her hip to the meaty part of her waist. “Social interaction was mainly through games. Life was a bit depressing, Josh. I fucking hated going through that.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“It took me to the point I formed into what you see now for things to ease the fuck off. Sometime after that, you came in and out of my mind.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I fantasized about you a lot. Like, I could write a book about the things I thought of.” I got nervous when she said she fantasized. But she followed up by saying, “Not sexually.”

“Right,” I said like I already knew that.

“I might have a few times.” She looked up at me before laughing. “Just kidding!” Her words and the wink she gave me afterward made me feel more nervous. Also, she kept trying not to smile by pulling her lips into her mouth. “Dude! Relax! I’m just playing around.”

“Then why are you smiling like that?” It took her five seconds to respond.

“Anyway, before I forget what I’m going to say!” She said, rocking her body into me. “I wanted to know you so badly. You already know that now, so that’s one of the reasons that kept me going.”

“What were the others?” I asked, looking down at her with the side of my eyes.

“Acceptance, hobbies; future fun adventures I want to go on.” Those reasons made me happy to hear. One question I wanted to be answered out of curiosity’s sake was if I was what she expected.

“Am I what you thought of?”

“Hell no,” she giggled. “Don’t take it the wrong way. I envisioned about a guy I didn’t know anything about, so I made up my own Josh in my head.”

“So, who’s the better one?”

“The one I’m in front of now,” she revealed as she held me tighter. “But, I wish he was more...”

“More what?” I asked, leaning closer to her face.

“Y’know... outgoing. You got to get out the house, you couch kartoffel (Potato).” I rolled my eyes at her and tried to hold in my smile. She slapped my thigh hard enough to make it mildly hurt.

“Ouch!”

“Oh, you’re such a pussy,” she said while laughing and rubbing the pain away. “Is that better?”

“It is.”

“I can see you don’t like it rough.” I took that remark in a dirty way and as an insult to my manhood.

“I can handle pain.”

“Oh?” She said like that aroused her. “Can I ask you some... questions?”

“Oh, jeez. Is this about to get dirty?”

“What? Are you scared to talk about your sexual desires to your amazing friend?”

“I’m not. I’ll tell you anything.”

“Good. I feel the same way. I feel like we can speak about anything.” It made me happy to know she felt that way, but I wasn’t that willing to be open. Unfortunately, she quickly tried to make me fold with a battery of questions. She asked me how much I watched porn and, if so, what type of categories I watched the most. Then she questioned if I was a virgin.

“Whoa,” I said several times. “Too many questions.”

“I thought you would tell me anything,” she said, giggling between her words. My nervousness increased when she saw my sweaty hands.“Dude,” she chuckled, drying my hand with the end of her shirt. “Your secrets are safe with me.”

“Sorry. I’m not comfortable exposing that kind of information.”

“Hey,” she whispered, cupping one hand around my ear. “If it makes you feel comfortable, I own a sex toy.” Somehow, that instantly killed all the tension within me.

“Wait... Seriously?!”

“I sure do!” I was absolutely shocked she had that item. We were the same age. I never considered buying something for myself. The biggest question I had was how did she get them? She didn’t have any source of income that I was aware of.

“How did you get—”

“I took several car rides to the mall and used my parent’s credit cards without their knowledge,” she whispered closely in my ear. “I’m sure you’ve seen the place I’m talking about, right?”

There was a place in the mall called My Little Dungen that sold all things used for sex and whatnot. Behind their pane windows were mannequins wearing bras and panties. I mostly saw women go in and out of that shop. To think that Yosefin shopped in there was unbelievable.

“Why?” I said before thinking of a better question to say. “Why do you have that?”

“To use it, duh,” she chuckled. “But, hey,” she whispered. “Don’t tell my parents,” she said, winking. She made me lock pinkies to solemnly swear to keep our secrets no matter who wanted to know throughout our lives. “Good,” she giggled as she snuggled more of herself onto my body. “Your girl is a bit of a freak.”

Twice she said that to me. We were friends, yet she kept using words to suggest she was special to me.

“Your girl?” I said, hoping she’d explain why she said that without pushing for an answer.

“Sorry. Uh... I meant to say your friend is a freak. Ignore what I said.”

Needless to say, I didn’t erase that from my memory. Something like that stayed firmly in my mind. Why would she say that? We weren’t dating for her to say something so possessive. Even though I questioned it, I kind of like thinking that she was my girl. I didn’t favor her romanticly, yet those words felt frighteningly good. She was my girl in the sense of being my closest friend. Yet the meeting with her family suggested they presumed differently. It made me wonder about what kind of things she said about me near them.