After my work shift, I headed to the cafeteria to wait for Yosefin to get off work. At that point, it was automatic. Since we got our jobs here, we always came there to chill, snack, and talk about our day. I always picked the same table that gave me the perfect view of the coffee building. It was lined up directly in the middle of the store. We could see each other. Sometimes she would quickly wave her hand, smile when she saw me looking, or try to make me laugh by making a weird face. Most of the time, I didn’t have to wait long. After twenty minutes, I would see her disappear to the left of the store and skip out the employee door over to me.
“Joshy,” Yosefin said, stretching out the last letter until she said beside me.
“What?” I chuckled. She threw her cap on the table and then laid her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her to make myself comfortable.
“Today was sweaty,” she groaned. I noticed some strains of her hair were sticking to her forehead.
“Why?” I said, putting the strains of her hair with the rest of them.
“The AC in the store wasn’t working properly. I feel so sticky.” She shook her shirt and wafted the air on her face to cool down. I bought her a cold bottle of pink lemonade and got myself a cola fountain drink. She drank half of it before I took a sip of my drink, then let out a loud massive burp. “Excuse me.” The sound tingled my ears. No one around heard the lion roar. Even she was surprised by what she did. She was looking at everyone around her with her hand over her mouth. “Holy shit,” she whispered.
“Holy shit indeed.”
“Anyways,” she said then took a quick sip. “How was your day?”
“Same old same old.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” She scooted closer with her hip touching mine and said, “Wanna chill at my place?” The way she was looking at me when she asked gave me mixed signals. She was gazing at me from the side and her lips on her bottle. As much as I wanted to appease my curiosity, I had plans with Naomi after work.
“I can’t. I’m going to see Noami.” Her smile dripped. She put her bottle on the table and then laid her head there with her arms crossed under it. “We can hang out tomorrow.”
“Unfortunately, I have a date too... with this guy.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” she answered without any emotion. I was ecstatic. I hugged her, patted her on the back, and told her how proud I was. “Stop cheering. This is nothing to celebrate about.”
“Why not?” All I got were rolling eyes and a scoffing grunt. She shut down on me. When I asked why again, she closed her eyes and hid her face in the bend of her arm. “Is there something wrong about him?”
“No,” she mumbled. “He’s nice,” she said, sitting upright. “He wants to take me out to a fancy dinner.”
“So,” I said, rotating my hands as tried to think of what else to add. “Why shouldn’t I be excited?”
“Do I have to say it, Josh?” I leaned closer to her, squinting my eyes to check each of her eyes. “I’m still not ready to give you up yet.” Before I could say anything or make the slightest movement, she said, “Please don’t get mad at me.” She held my forearm when she said that. It prevented me from chewing her ass out in the kindest way possible. “I’m struggling to move away from you.” I was annoyed at this point. If she were to tell me to say something nice, I wouldn’t be able to find the words. Her constant reminders that she hadn’t moved on or that she was finding it hard to be with someone began to get under my skin.
“Why are you acting like you want to get back with me?” I said after finally finding the words. “We never dated.”
“I know... but...
“But what?” I almost snapped.
“You’re my first,” she said, looking at the table with her forearms crossed over her lap. “First hug, first kiss, first cuddle, and first to touch me.”
“Touch me,” I echoed to help me figure out what she meant by that. “What do you mean?” She told me all of our intimate moments where I had my hands in different places on her body. I remembered some like the time she allowed me to touch her breasts to show that they were not fake and touching her ass, but all the things she brought up left me blushing.
“I don’t remember doing all of that,” I said as I recalled all of our moments. Everything came back like a light bulb bursting after it short-circuited from turning on.
“You don’t?”
“Nevermind. I do.”
“Oh,” she said then smiled. “You’re so special to me,” she said softly near my ear before backing away to talk normally. “This thing we’re doing is upsetting me.”
“I’m doing this for our benefit. You know there’s a line between us I’m uncomfortable crossing.”
“We wouldn’t have to cross it.”
I got a text message from Naomi asking if we were still going out together right before I was about to erupt on Yosefin for suggesting I ignore what we agreed upon and that there were some things we couldn’t do because of what she was. Naomi wanted me to come with her to have dinner at a buffet restaurant. I texted her to confirm our date. Yosefin didn’t give me any privacy and watched the whole conversation.
“Where are y’all going?” Yosefin said.
“Buff Cake Buffet,” I said to not be an ass. She looked up the restaurant on her phone to read the details.
“Seems cool.” I zoned out while she talked about how the place looked nice and how the food seemed delicious. My mind was on her last statement before she asked me where I was going. After all the things we agreed we wouldn’t do and the fact that we were trying to see other people, I was annoyed yet shocked she recommended that.
“Yosefin.” I sighed. She looked at me without saying anything. Her thumb pressed the button on the side of the phone to lock it. “Never mind.”
“Hey,” she said, touching the middle part of my thigh before lightly squeezing it. “I’m sorry. I’m being an ass.” That statement nearly made me chuckle. “I’m serious,” she said with a snicker. “I’m trying. I really am. I plan on coming back here to pick out a dress to wear for James.”
“Good.”
“Would you mind helping me choose which he’ll like tomorrow?” I said yes since I didn’t have anything to do on that day but work. “All I have is the yellow dress I wore when we went on that trip.” That dress looked amazing on her when I first saw it. But, it didn’t feel right to be used for a date. Her yellow dress was cute and fit the spring season. If I was James, I would expect her to wear the most dazzling dress out there. Something that would show a modest amount of her figure. It had to be sexy yet classy.
“I’ll come and help you,” I said.
“Thanks,” she said while giving me a tight hug.
We said our goodbyes and headed home after lollygagging in the mall for half an hour. Several hours later, I met Naomi at Buff Cake. She was waiting outside for me, sitting on a bench with her head on her phone. The outfit she wore looked slick. She dressed a bit for a casual dinner date. Her shirt was a loose-fitting black long-sleeve button. It was neatly tucked in her dark blue jeans. She wore low-profile high heels that had thick heels and an opening view of her toes. My collar shirt and jeans made me feel like I was underdressed.
I got out of my car and was able to stand two feet in front of her without Naomi noticing me. She jumped to her feet when she looked up from her phone. The top of her head stopped around the height of my eyebrows.
“Hi!” Naomi said. She fumbled to put her phone inside her handbag. “Get the fuck in there,” she whispered through her teeth. Once she found a spot and zipped up the handbag, she opened her arms out for a hug. I came in tightly putting my arms around the middle part of her back. She tightened the hold by squeezing herself closer to my body. “It’s so nice to see you again. You look good.”
“So do you,” I said once we let go. “I feel like I’m underdressed.”
“Oh?” She blushed to the point she couldn’t look me directly in the eyes. “I think you look perfect.” I couldn’t help but blush too. It took us a moment to look into each other’s eyes. I felt like I was back in my high school days, blushing at a simple compliment from a beautiful girl. “Come on,” she said, locking her arm around mine. “I’m starving!”
We had a wonderful time at the buffet. She got to know a bit about what I went through during my first semester. I alluded to some of the lewdful crap I did with Kat, but I went off into talking about how angry Yosefin got. Naomi expressed her worries about us if we got close because of Yosefin’s history. I told her my plan with Yosefin on getting dates and reassured her that she wouldn’t be a problem. Naomi praised Yosefin’s courage for seeking others after the close friendship we had. She commented that having me as the only friend and love interest was odd. Putting all her time on me wasn’t normal, which I agreed to. She asked me if she could give Yosefin advice on what to look for while dating. It took me a second to tell her it would depend on Yosefin because she was into those love books she showed me last year. I said go for it but don’t expect her to take it.
The next after work, I roamed with Yosefin in a woman’s store while she shopped for dresses to wear. I became her mobile shopping cart, holding all the dresses she wanted, but it didn’t mind being used. I liked how seriously she was taking our plan. She didn’t look like she wasn’t enjoying searching for what to wear. I didn’t hear a huff or a puff when we wandered all over the place.
After she got what she found was nice, she headed to the changing room. There was a separate room I sat in that was at the entrance. I wasn’t the only one sitting in the room. There was an old and young couple showing off their outfits. Yosefin came to me after three minutes of waiting. She came out barefooted with her first dress. She wore a similar dress that reminded me of the one she had during the spring. This one was white but came down to her shins. It had blue and white flowers all over it. The straps that rested over her shoulders were thin. The whole dress perfectly showed her figure modestly. Her boobs were covered yet a good portion of her upper chest was visible.
“Hey, what do you think?” Yosefin said.
“You look good,” I said. I pulled on the dress where her hips were to feel what the texture felt like. It felt rough yet looked smooth at a glance.
“I noticed that too. Let me try on the others.” She left before I could confirm that was true. A few minutes later she came out barefooted again with a horizontal black and white striped long-sleeve dress. This one conformed to her body. The hem ended at the middle of her thighs but had a weird split around the left thigh. It felt like it was designed to make the dress sexy by exposing more of her legs. I couldn’t keep my eyes off it and she used that to her advantage.
“You like?” She said, grinning. She stood with her left leg out in front to give me the perfect pose. “I think this might be the winner, ja?”
“Uh,” I stuttered while I thought about whether I should say that I didn’t care for the strip pattern or ignore it.
“Is there something wrong?” She brought her leg back and stood normally, clearing my brain fog.
“I don’t like the stripes.”
“Scheiße! (Crap!)”
“But it’s sexy,” I said softly to avoid the other couples from hearing my compliment as I jumped out of my seat. “I like the way you look in it.”
“Really?” She asked with her voice matching mine, creeping closer to me. She cupped her hands together in front of her lips and asked, “Could you tell me what stands out to you?” The two details that stood out were her hourglass shape figure and her how legs looked coming out from the dress. When I told her what I liked she immediately hid her face by using my chest. Her hand was still on her mouth but I could see her smiling. She was blushing.
“Did I say something embarrassing?” I asked as a joke.
“I like it when you compliment me,” she said, looking dead in my eyes. “It’s been a while since I felt shy from your words.” I became shy about being honest. My heart rate jumped. The fact that it had been some time since I complimented her aroused my ego. I felt the desire to feed her shyness with more compliments.
“If I was dating you, it would be hard to not stare and be amazed.”
“Stop it,” she giggled. “Maybe if I could find another dress that isn’t striped, you would be bewitched.”
“Bewitched?” I chuckled.
“Maybe.”
She poked my stomach and slowly strolled back toward the dressing room. Her ass kept bouncing on every step she took. Once she entered the room, she looked over her shoulder and watched me stare as used her left hand to guide herself to her room. If I was still acting shy, I would have looked away the instant she saw me. Maybe I should’ve stopped and acted with more respect. We were seeing other people for the sake of our friendship, but we began acting like we were into each other. When she walked into the stall, I thought I would revert to distancing myself. Unfortunately, I got more eager to see the other dresses.
Instead of coming out with the next dress, she texted me to come over to the stall. I didn’t know precisely where she was from where I stood so I had to look under the doors to find her feet. I saw them three doors in. They were facing to the right when she crept the door open.
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“Quick, come in,” she said. I stormed in after I saw that no one was looking my way. “Hey,” she whispered. “Check this out.” My eyes caught her hanging bra on a hook before she directed me to her outfit. She had on a deep vibrant red somewhat tight dress with pinky finger thin straps. The length stopped below the knees right above the shin. “Is this too much?”
“Um,” I said while checking her out without getting overly excited at how amazing she looked. The dress looked sexier but I was worried it wouldn’t be proper for a first day date. “Maybe, unless you’re going to a club.”
“I had that feeling too.” She examined herself in a mirror, touching her boobs and hips. “I’m starting to see it as a bit risqué.”
“What?” I said in my normal voice before slapping my hand over my mouth.
“You know,” she said close to me with her hand over her mouth. “This is something I would wear before...” She stood on her toes to reach my left ear to say she would theoretically use the dress as a tool to arouse a guy before having sex. I never thought I would imagine her ever doing that. The flashes of images I created in my mind grossed me the fuck out but didn’t at the same time.
“I believe that.”
“That would be a weird time.” Her cheeks began turning red the more she spoke about it. “Who would wanna do that with me? How would I get them to agree with that, y’know?” I didn’t know what to tell her at the moment. They were important questions that left us stumped. I thought I found a good answer and when I told her, she looked at me like I was insane.
“Maybe James would,” I suggested.
“You’re crazy!” She gasped and then yelled softly.
“No?”
“James would ghost me if I told or showed him what I am.” That remark was what I feared she would come across. “According to his interest, he’s into women, Josh,” she said while looking at herself in the mirror. “I’m not that.” Before I could think of something to say, she said, “Plus, I’m not into him like that. I just want to be friends.”
“And that’s okay. You don’t have to spill the beans about what you are to everyone.”
“Yeah?” She said, eyeing me through the mirror. “When should I do it?”
“To the ones that absolutely accept that part of.”
“So, someone like you?” She said when she turned around. I told her I was a terrible example of a person who could accept the fact that she was. No matter what examples I brought up from our past, she believed I would be more accepting than the next guy. “Stop it!.” Her soft hands gently grasped my cheeks. I was mesmerized by her little smile. My body felt arousingly warm and lightweight. “I could make out with you right now and you probably wouldn’t be bothered by it.”
“Yosefin... we’re seeing others. We can’t do this.”
“Then push me away right now if you believe that.” I put my hands on her hips to ready myself, but I couldn’t take her away from me. Her lips were tempting me to go in. Maybe if I could let this one slide, she would be satisfied with me and focus on other people.
“I can’t. I probably wouldn’t be bothered by it”
“Well, well, well,” she giggled. Her hands came off of my face to move my hands away from her hips to hold them out in front. “I wonder what else you’re okay doing?”
“Come on, Yosefin...”
“What?” She blushed.
“Let’s stay focused.” Without warning, she threw off her straps. The dress fell to her waist. I looked away the second I saw the top left part of her nipple. “Really, dude?”
“Oh, shut up. Stop acting like it’s your first time. You played with them.” Another fact that left me momentarily speechless.
“I’m gonna go outside...”
“Kay. I’ll be out there soon to show you the rest.”
I had a smile on my face I couldn’t take away as I calmly walked back to my seat. No matter how hard I tried, it stayed and unfortunately grew bigger. She nearly made me want to make out with her and made me shy at the sight of her boobs. I thought coming to help her shop for a dress would be a simple pick, choose, and leave type of situation. I didn’t expect she would open up more about her feelings.
“Goddamn, it. What the hell is wrong with you?” I whispered to myself, shaking my head. I told myself I needed to focus on helping her for the rest of the day and avoid talking about our feelings. “Don’t let her get to you,” I said out loud four times when I was rubbing my eyes.
“You okay?” A familiar voice said. I quickly turned my right with my eyes and then looked at their face.
“Kat?” I said after gasping in shock. My heart dipped into my stomach.
“Hey,” she said then looked around as she was searching for someone. “Is... Yosefin with you?” I lazily pointed my thumb at the changing rooms the moment I saw Yosefin exit the stall. She didn’t notice me pointing because her head was down.
“This one is simple,” Yosefin said walking right in front of Kat without noticing her. “It’s fully made of polyester. Touch it.” She stood between my knees at half an arm’s length. It was a long-sleeved dark red dress that cuffed around her wrist and stopped above the middle part of her thighs. A thick portion of the hem is buckled for a wavy design. I touched it and pinched at the fabric around her stomach to feel how soft it was.
“It’s very soft,” I said while not trying to glance at Kat. “It looks great on you.”
“Great! I got two more to show you and we’ll be done. I think if found my two.”
“All right.” She took a few steps back and turned the opposite way, completely avoiding Kat. My heart stopped momentarily and sunk deeper into my stomach.
“She looked nice in that,” Kat said quietly. “What’s the occasion if you don’t mind me asking.”
“She’s going on a date with a guy.”
“Wait, what?!”
“It’s a long story.”
“Aren’t,” she paused to quickly look into the changing rooms. “Y’all like... super close? I thought you two would be dating.”
“Like I said,” I sighed after I thought about the reasons Yosefin wants me over anyone else. “It’s a long story.”
“Well,” she said after clearing her throat. “I’ll... head somewhere else and be out of y’all’s way.”
Kat disappeared before Yosefin could see her. I didn’t dare mention that Kat talked to me and was nearby. Yosefin and were having a fun time and if she heard that Kat come by, it could sour her mood. So, I kept my mouth shut while she showed me the rest of the nice dresses.
Yosefin bought three dresses worth eighty dollars. Later that day before she went on her date, she video-called me because she was having cold feet. She was sitting on her bed in a white bra and had on a gray pair of basketball-looking shorts.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said.
“No jokes here,” she said, smirking. “I’m pussying out.”
“No, you’re not. Go get ready.”
“Josh,” she whined, moving off camera. “I am so freaking nervous that I’ve pooped three times today!” She continued rambling on about how much anxiety she was going through while getting herself dressed in and out of view of the camera. It was funny to see her scurry around the room yet complain nonstop about what she was dealing with. There were many invalid excuses she brought up. Yet in all that talk, she was ready to see James in her stunning dress.
“You look great,” I said.
“Thanks and thank you for making me change my mind. I’ll tell you how it goes tomorrow,” she said then ended the video call.
“But, I didn’t do anything,” I said, looking at Yosefin’s profile picture in the menu of the video app. I felt like the video call was a rouse for her to see me before she left. It wasn’t until I was fast asleep that I realized that even though she wasn’t dressed, she had makeup around her eyes. She probably was going to go anyway if I didn’t answer the call.
The next morning, I arrived at the campus a bit early. For some odd reason, my route got all the green lights. I had fifteen minutes to spare so I used it to wait in an empty open lounge close to my class. Around five minutes in, I saw a few of my classmates walking back to sit in the classroom. I thought about heading in to take my seat until I saw Kat walking by. When she saw me looking at her, she froze. We awkwardly stared at each other without moving a single inch so I was forced to say something.
“Uh, hi,” I said. “Are you... good?”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, walking over to me. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for my class to start,” I said, pointing at my classroom.
“Wow,” I said slightly smiling. “I didn’t know you were close by. What’s that class for?”
“Computer science.”
“Oh! That’s,” she hummed for a few seconds before talking again. “That’s like, computer programming, right?” I nodded. “So,” she said, taking a seat next to me. “Have you made video games?” A large amount of her perfume funneled into my nose without warning.
“Not yet,” I said, holding back a cough. “Eventually I will in the fall.”
“That must be exciting.” I had to think about if it was or not. So far, the assignments felt easy to understand but I knew they would get crazy later in the semester. Every class would eventually become difficult no matter what subject. It was inevitable.
“To be honest. I’m nervous if I’ll make it.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she said, soothing my knee gently for a short moment. “When in doubt, find a tutor.”
“I might—” Out from the corner of my right eye, I saw Yosefin’s blonde hair come into view. She was hawking down Kat who hadn’t noticed her yet. Her elbow was on the couch and she was resting her chin on top of her knuckles. I tried my best to avoid Yosefin to keep the conversation going but I kept stuttering. When Kat put her hand away from her face, she saw Yosefin and immediately hid her face. “Yosefin,” I said because I was afraid she’d explode. She glanced at me then stared back at her. The silence was deafening. A few moments later, Namoi walked by.
“Yo, Joshua!” Naomi waved. “Morning Yosefin!” Yosefin’s neutral expression became snarky. Her brows came down into her eyes. Naomi stopped walking towards the class and looked at me with worry. “Is that, Kat?” She said, mouthing the words. I soothed my lip with my finger and tried to nod my head without Yosefin and Kat knowing.
“Hey... Yosefin,” Kat said in a weak voice. “How’s it going?” Yosefin kept her cold stare going. Kat crossed her arms and legs. I saw how uncomfortable she was getting. She couldn’t look her in the eyes anymore. “Uh,” she chuckled nervously. “So... how did your date go?”
“Excuse me? How the fuck do you know that?” Yosefin said. Kat panicked and spilled the beans on us talking when Yosefin was trying on outfits. “Josh, what the fuck, dude! Why were you talking with her?”
“I was just,” I said then paused to figure out the best answer I could think of. “Being friendly.”
“Friendly?” She yelled, stepping closer to me. “Why are you being friendly to this whore?!” Some people walking around us momentarily stopped to watch her go off on me. “Did you forget what this bitch made you do?”
“Relax, Yosefin.”
“I am relaxed!” The blood boiling in her face said otherwise. “And why did you tell her I was going on a date? That’s private.”
“I was just talking about why I was here,” I said calmly to make myself feel embarrassed by people looking at me. “I was in a woman’s store.”
“I’m going to head to class,” Kat said when she stood up. “I’m sorry, Josh.”
My heart stopped when she said my nickname. Yosefin had a monopoly on that name. The last time Kat spoke it, Yosefin threatened her she would knock her teeth out. I saw her clench her right hand. It sickened me to my core that her warning could become true. I was about to pull her away until suddenly Naomi performed a saving grace. She walked past Kat and Yosefin to offer me her hand. She smiled and pointed her head to go into the classroom. It made Yosefin look at her long enough for Kat to slip away almost unnoticed. Yosefin somewhat pursued her but gave up after taking two steps.
“Let’s go to class,” Naomi said once I took her hand. She put me in front of her while we walked towards the classroom, using her palm to guide me in. I didn’t see Yosefin until I turned around near my desk. “Sit over here.” Naomi pointed at Yosefin’s seat.
“Why?” I said. Yosefin stood right behind her with her arms crossed.
“Just do it,” she mouthed in a whisper. She sat in my chair. I sat in Yosefin’s seat without any further questions.
“What are you doing in his seat?” Yosefin said.
“I wanna sit with him,” Naomi said, smiling up at her while tapping my thigh. “He can’t talk to the back of my head.”
Yosefin looked at Naomi’s empty seat and then took her seat next to me without any incident. She laid the side of her head in hand as if she was exhausted or tired. Her face was still red from before. I didn’t dare ask if she was mad at me. I felt like she was at a level of anger that couldn’t be detected until the moment of eruption. She didn’t say a word for five minutes straight.
“Explain yourself,” Yosefin said, side-eying me.
“I already explained myself,” I said.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“How?” I slightly snapped at her.
“You’re pissing me off,” she scoffed then looked away to her left. I wasn’t going to let her childish attitude get to me. I looked away like she did but I at least had someone nice to take my attention towards.
“Hey,” Naomi said with a gorgeous smile.
“Hi,” I said nearly cracking my voice. She heard it and smiled more.
“Hey,” she said, leaning closer to me. “Are you free after school?” Mostly every day after class, Yosefin and I would hang out before going to work. But after how she acted, I didn’t want to be around her for the day.
“I got some time.” I heard Yosefin move the second I said that. I was afraid to see what she was doing so I kept my focus on Naomi. “What do you want to do?”
“I’ll tell you after our classes.” Before she looked at the professor, she momentarily gazed at Yosefin and smiled. She kept that smile for a few more seconds before her face relaxed. Curiosity got to me as to what made her smile. I turned around to find Yosefin snarking. The red color on her face receded to her peachy skin color.
“Will you stop that?” I asked softly. “Please.” She squeezed her cheeks and rolled them around to try to break that expression into something less angry.
“How’s this?” Yosefin asked still giving me a grim look. All it did was make her look madder.
“Never mind.”
I tried ignoring her as much as I could by keeping my focus on the lecture or talking with Naomi about random things that came to mind. Five minutes into it, Yosefin must’ve known I was actively neglecting her. She wouldn’t stop looking at me. I could see her out of the corner of my eye giving me an unyielding gaze. She would poke my side or lightly flick my thigh to get a reaction out of me. I couldn’t outright tell her to leave me the hell alone. I didn’t want to act like an absolute asshole to my close friend. The only thing I thought at the time to appease the issue was to rest my hand on her knee to show her I was no longer seeking to ignore her. She scooted my hand off two seconds after I put it there. I looked at her, thinking she was furious, but she wasn’t. She wanted to hold hands instead. We interlocked our fingers and held them there for a time until I had to write notes.
Yosefin and I didn’t talk for the full length of class. After it ended and the whole class stepped outside, she pulled me to the side of the door near the wall of the classroom to privately talk. She waved Naomi to take several steps back to be out of earshot. Naomi complied but decided to leave to head to her next class after telling me to text whenever I was done with the rest of my classes.
“She’s really into now, yeah?” Yosefin said as she watched Naomi walk off. Naomi waved me goodbye before turning the corner into another hallway. “A lot,” she mumbled out her teeth.
“What do you want?” I said.
“Don’t give me an attitude.” She said like she was giving me some lip yet was smiling. I didn’t find what I said to be funny. “Uh,” she said, dropping her smile. “I wanted to clear the air. I don’t like us acting distant.”
“You were pissing me off.”
“You were talking with someone I absolutely despise,” she said quickly while softly like she was quietly yelling at me. I got another long-winded reminder of what Kat did last year and the shit it did to my friendship with Yosefin. “You should be avoiding that woman like an STD, dude!”
“You make it sound like she’s truly terrible. She apologized, Yosefin.”
“I don’t care. Stay away from that snake,” she demanded as she lightly forced her finger into my right chest.
“Or what?” I said, getting in her face. She snarled her brows and made a frown with her lips. I had enough of the mean-looking faces and walked off to my next class.
“Josh, wait,” she begged. “Josh, I’m sorry.”
I left her without looking back. I was done trying to make her see that Kat was sorry. Yosefin was acting like one of those stereotypes where women couldn’t let grudges go. I was left fuming with a level of annoyance that made me speechless for the rest of the day. Being with Naomi after school in the den broke my silence and lifted my spirit.
We sat on a couch, watching two students play a competitive match of ping pong. Most of the people in the class were watching in awe. The game felt like it went on forever. My back began to ache from sitting for so long. I lifted my right arm behind her and turned to my left to stretch my back. She took the moment to close the gap between us. We were already sitting close, but this was intimate. She snuggled under my armpit and wrapped my arm over her. Her soft boob pressed into my ribcage as she squirmed to find a comfortable position.
“What made you want to do that?” I whispered to avoid other people from listening.
“I couldn’t let the opportunity pass,” she said, keeping her eyes on the match. “I’ve learned to take advantage of the small things.” It took a hangout and one date for us to be at this beginning stage of our friendship. There were still a lot of things we needed to disclose for us to truly connect.
“Is that because of your past relationship?” I asked. While she was answering my question, I happened to glance at the door and barely saw Yosefin passing by the doorway. I saw the ends of her hair and the back half of her backpack. I couldn’t tell if she was walking by or storming off. “Crap,” I mumbled without thinking.
“Hmm?”
“Nothing. I thought I saw something.” I said, keeping my eyes on the door just in case Yosefin circled back. Naomi looked at me for a moment.
“Was it Yosefin?”
“How’d you know?”
“One,” she said, holding up her finger. “You looked worried.” She showed two fingers and said, “Two, she’s predictable. You guys are very close. She gives off stalking-like vibes.” That thought sounded absurd.
“Yosefin isn’t a stalker. “She’s...”
“Still has feelings. You need to show her that you moved on, Joshua.”
That last statement was the highlight of my day. Those words were the combination of what I wanted Yosefin to head towards. So far, it wasn’t looking great. I didn’t even get to ask how her day went with her date until the next morning before class started. Fortunately, she said it went fine and he wanted to see her more. Sadly, she didn’t go into details and I never pushed for more information. But, at least she was trying. That was all I cared about.