Three days after the drama with Yosefin’s father, she was ready to go home. On Wednesday afternoon, I drove her back. Her mother was in the kitchen when we walked through the front door. Yosefin didn’t acknowledge her mother’s greeting. She walked past her but stopped at the end of the hallway near her room. Her mother leaned over around the corner to look down the hallway. Yosefin moved out of sight when she saw her. I heard the bedroom door open but not close.

“My husband told me what happened.” Yosefin’s mother said. “Is she okay?”

“I wouldn’t mention what happened,” I said. “Or anything related.” I walked into Yosefin’s room to drop off her beg. She was in her seat. Her arms were crossed around her stomach. She wasn’t smiling, even after I came in. “You good?” She pressed her lips into her mouth when she nodded. “If you need anything, shoot me a text, okay?” She nodded again. I kissed her on the cheek before leaving. Her mother and I locked eyes for a second. We didn’t nod, blink, or say a word.

Once I closed the front door behind me, I got a bad feeling in my gut about how Yosefin’s day would turn out. I didn’t know her parents all that well. She didn’t speak to them during the three days she spent at my house. I worried they would bother her with more questions about herself or why she ghosted them. Three days weren’t enough to clear her head. Sometimes I noticed she would daydream when I talked about something lengthy. She did it multiple times throughout the day. The only times her mind was focused were at night before bed. Her attention was sharp. We were more intimate, yet it never lasted long. Something was eating her and I wasn’t bold enough to pry it out of her. I believed she would tell me what was on her mind when the time came.

As the days went on, there were alarming signs. The daydreaming increased. I would find Yosefin staring off into space. She barely paid any attention to the lectures in class. I had to tell her what we learned in class after it ended on some occasions. Another detail I noticed was a lack of makeup. She always came well-dressed whether it was in feminine or the usual tomboy outfit, but I couldn’t get my head around the makeup. Lastly, she wasn’t acting intimate. I had to engage it even though I sucked at it. She was the best at doing that. Picking up on her slack was not easy. It was awkward. Not all of my advancements had any impact. She didn’t want me most of the time. But, when she did, she was back to her normal self.

On a Sunday during Saint Patrick’s Day, I headed to the campus to study with Misty and Shannon. They liked my animation submissions and wanted to pick my brain before the midterms. We found an empty study room on the fifth floor. The room had a projector and two long tables flushed together. Misty hopped on the table and sat crisscrossed in the middle of the tables.

“Bro,” Misty said, checking out the place. “This place looks like one of the meeting/presentation rooms, yeah?” Shannon posed in front of the projector with her arm pointing at it.

“As you can see here by my graph,” Shannon said nearly laughing at her words. “Our stocks are tanking.” Her stupid joke made me chuckle. Misty snorted like a pig before laughing. “We’re all going to be fired.”

“What shall we do?” Shannon looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders. “Okay. That’s enough. Let’s get this going!”

“Sensei. Show us your ways.”

We laid our study guides on the table. Shannon and Misty sat beside me. I could smell their individual perfumes simmering up into my nostrils. Misty smelled like grape soda while Shannon had a sweet peach aroma.

“I can’t get my head around this question,” Misty said, pressing her index nail on the fourth question of her paper. It had an image of two walls morphing into each other. The question was looking for a single word. “What is it?”

“It’s a glitch, right?” Shannon said. There was a question later down the page that would fit that word. The image example showed a 3D model morphed and pixelated.

“It’s a collision,” I said. I crossed my fingers to show them. “The walls are phasing through.”

“Ah, I get it!” Misty said and slapped her forehead. “I’m so stupid.”

“I don’t think you are.”

“Trust me, I am.”

“You’re not.” She puffed her lips and frowned, but I knew she wasn’t mad at me. “We just gotta find key words and make up simple connections.” I pointed to the glitchy image down the page. “That’s a glitch. We know that’s a program failing to process, right guys?”

“Yes,” Shannon and Misty said together.

“Distorstion, morphing; or anything that goes against programing is a glitch.”

“Wow, Josh! You’re so smart,” Shannon said. When she said my nickname, I looked over my shoulder where the elevators were to see if Yosefin was there. She wasn’t there so I checked the door. The monopoly over my name gave me a pleasant scare. I had to sigh and laugh at how a simple common name jolted my heart. “What’s funny?” Shannon said. Her lips fluttered as if she was unsure whether to smile or not. “I wasn’t joking. I’m serious.”

“I’m not laughing at that,” I said after checking the elevators one more time. “My girlfriend doesn’t like when people say my nickname.”

“Why?”

“Uh,” I said nervously letting a chuckle slip. “I have no good reason other than she finds it special.” Shannon awed while Misty stared at me, smirking with one eyebrow raised.

“How long have you two been dating?” Misty said.

“Since Christmas,” I said, failing to maintain direct eye contact.

“You’re lying,” she said with a firm point. I couldn’t control my smile. “Do you know any girl that would get mad over a name after being together for three months?” She said to Shannon.

“Only the crazy ones,” Shannon said, giggling.

“Is she crazy?”

“Define crazy,” I said. They threw out different kinds of crazy Yosefin could be. I heard bat shit crazy and mad love crazy. “Yes,” I said after thinking about all the phases Yosefin went through. “But,” I said before they could speak. “She’s fine. She’s not crazy. She’s cool now. We’re good.” Good was an understatement. I didn’t want to mention the problems with Yosefin I had going on.

“That’s wonderful,” Shannon said. “I can’t wait till I find a nice guy.”

“What are you doing, girl?” Misty shouted. “There’s a fuck ton here!”

They went off-topic, talking about the men on campus. I heard everything about what type of race they had more of a sexual attraction to, hairstyles, clothing, height, and voice. Judging from their descriptions and wants, I couldn’t help but find myself feeling bad for them. They were cute women. The more they gossiped and chatted, the more I felt the need to throw in my two cents. I told them most men would take them if they made the first move. I used myself as an example and talked about how Yosefin introduced herself. All they had to do was say hi.

“It’s that easy, huh?” Misty said.

“We became best friends within a few months,” I said.

All the memories of my friendship with Yosefin came seeping in. I started to remember memories like the time she shoved my phone between her boobs to prevent me from talking to Kat. Another memory took over when Shannon asked if my friendship with Yosefin got close before we dated. Out of all the close moments we shared, the one that was emphasized was the first time she stood naked in front of me. The words she said echoed in my head. The vivid image of her body imprinted into my mind as if I had seen it moments ago.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I did,” I said after crossing my legs and arms to suppress my erection.

“I better go say hello to that guy tomorrow before we take our US government test,” Shannon said.

“Do it. And take all the chances you make.”

“Sounds like you missed some,” Misty said. I didn’t want to confirm or deny her statement. The shame I had could stir some emotions I didn’t want to feel.

“Can we get back to studying?”

We finally got serious. It took them over an hour to grasp the whole study guide. After Misty and Shannon went home, I called Yosefin as I got into my car.

“Hey,” Yosefin said in a groggy voice after yawning. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing but I got my answer,” I said. “I’ll let you sleep.”

“Wait,” she said when I put the phone away. “Do you want to hang out?”

“I do, but we can do it another time. Go back to sleep.”

“Josh, I’ve slept all damn day.” The last three words were emphasized, spaced out, and sounded airy like she spoke through her teeth. “Are you still at the campus?” I told her I was. “Come pick me up.”

She hung up before I could tell her I would be on the way. When I pulled into her neighborhood, she was sitting on the curb with her head down over her knees. She looked like she just threw on clothes and stepped outside. Her hair wasn’t combed. Her grey shirt was tucked under her orange short shorts and she wore a pair of black flip-flops.

I rolled close to the curb so I wouldn’t startle her. The first thing she did when she got in was use the vanity mirror to claw parts of her hair straight.

“Fuck it,” Yosefin said and slammed the vanity mirror up. She leaned on the door, rubbing her eyebrows with her fingers.

“You okay?” I said.

“Just,” she said sharply. “Get me away from here.” I sped out of there as calmly as I could without jerking us around. Once we left her neighborhood, she sat more upright. I drove towards my house since we didn’t talk about where to go. Her mind seemed occupied. She was silent and kept staring out of the window. “Oh?” She said. “We’re going to your house?”

“Do you want to?”

“I do,” she said when she looked at me. We didn’t talk again until we got in my room. I said her name milliseconds after she said my name once the door shut. “Yes?”

“It’s fine. You go ahead first.”

“How do I say this?” She hummed, walked around the room, and then sat crisscrossed on my bed. “I need to rant.”

“Okay.”

“But, a serious one. I don’t want us to kiss or cuddle.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” I said when I sat beside her. “You always wanted that.”

“I know,” she said and smirked for a second. “Maybe I’ll feel that way afterward, but not at this moment.”

The drama with her father got worse. He went as far as to recommend Yosefin to check what her doctors could “do for her.” He said he’ll pay for all the visits. I thought that was out of character for him to say until she told me it wasn’t. Her father never got over the day she accepted her mutations. Sometimes he would express his annoyance in subtle grunts when she was wearing a particular outfit. The judgment gazes and noises got worse over time when she became my close friend.

“Really?” I said. “Didn’t he give me his blessing to date you?”

“Oh, god,” she said and covered her eyes. “That wasn’t... him.”

“So, he really doesn’t like the way you look, huh?”

“No,” she said softly. “Especially how I act.”

“What about your mother?” According to Yosefin, her mother was on the side of her father at the beginning once Yosefin began to accept the mutations. Fortunately, once she saw how cheerful and outgoing Yosefin became, her mother supported Yosefin’s choice.

“I’ve turned to her a lot for support.”

“What are her thoughts on what’s going on?”

“I hear them fight a lot about me,” she said once she held the top of my hand. Her fingers gripped the inside of my palm. The other hand crumpled her shirt over her chest. “Did I make a mistake allowing this?”

“You didn’t make a mistake,” I said, opting out of holding to her hand so I could put my arm around her waist. She shook her head, mumbling that she did. “You didn’t, Yosefin.”

“It isn’t natural.” I hesitated on what I wanted to truly tell her because it would be my first time adding a new viewpoint on her mutations. What I wanted to say was that she was a natural beautiful woman. “Everyone knows I wasn’t supposed to look like this. Including you,” she added.

“That’s not entirely true.”

“You wouldn’t go out with me because of what I was.” Before I could remind her that I ignored that fact, she said, “You wouldn’t even have sex with me”

“That’s because I’m nervous.”

“Nervous?” She scoffed. “We both know why you don’t want to.” We were both correct. I didn’t want to admit that there was some bit of truth. I thought she understood there were some things I wouldn’t do. Just by her side-eye gaze and self-soothing arm rubs, I could tell she was irritated with me.

“I thought we understood that there are some things we can’t do together.”

“Well!” she snapped. “I think they’re some things we can do!” Her voice made me flinch. I moved my arm away from her to put it in my lap. She stared at me. Her brows angled over the top of her nose. She snarled for two seconds before pouncing at me. I fell on my back with her flat on top of my stomach. She didn’t say a word or move a muscle. After a minute went by, she lifted and put her lips inches from my ear. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m such an emotional wreck. I’m so conflicted on what to think and do.”

“It’s okay,” I said and held her close to my body. “Let’s just think about this moment. You and me.” It has been some time since we cuddled. All of the intimate passions kicked in once she began to secure herself on me. It felt so good to feel her trying to squeeze me with her weak strength. “It’s been a while since we did this.” She sighed and loosened her hold. “May I?”

“May you what?” I slid my hand up her thigh to reach her ass. “Oh! Of course you can. You don’t have to ask. Did you lock the door?”

“I didn’t check.” She hawked the door with her lips folded in her mouth. “Are you nervious about someone peeping?”

“Are you tired?” She said immediately after I asked the question.

“A bit,” I said, checking my phone to see how long I stayed up. “I’ve been up for nine hours,” I groaned. “Those girls were a lot of work.” Without warning, she tried to undress me. She pulled my shoes and socks off before attempting to take off my pants. I had to move around so she could get them off. Then, she got shirtless and took off her pants. She was covered until she took her bra off after putting a blanket over us.

“Take your shirt off,” she said, gliding her warm hand up my stomach. I yanked it off as fast as I could without being aggressive about it. Her bare skin touching portions of my stomach and chest felt immaculate. I never thought I would love something so small yet common between us. “If you want to nap, go ahead. I’ll stay still.”

“Or we could have a little fun,” I said, poking her lower lip. “It’s been days since we did something like this.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said under her breath. “Now you see what I’ve been dealing with.”

“You should come over more. I think it’ll clear your head.”

“Yeah?” She sighed. “Aber ich glaube nicht, dass es viel helfen würde.” (But, I don’t think it would help much.)

“One of these days I’m going to learn German,” I said, tickling her stomach. She tossed and turned the more I tried to find a ticklish spot.

“Don’t,” she said, trying to tickle me.

“Why not?”

“Because I won’t be able to hide what I say.” I stopped touching her while she continued. None of her pokes, pinches, or grabs made me smile. “Where are your tickly spots?” She went for my legs. It didn’t work. She tried my face and neck to no avail. “What’s going on?” Her fingers gently pressed into my cheeks. I saw her eyes flutter from right to left, glancing at both of my eyes.

“It’s nothing,” I said before stuffing my face into her boobs so she wouldn’t see my face.

We didn’t fall asleep. For another hour, she spoke more about her father. I didn’t listen to much of her rambling. The facts outlining how unsupportive he was were shocking, yet they were not as concerning when it came to what Yosefin thought of herself. Somehow in all the bullshit she heard, she thought it was right to see what her doctors would do. I disagreed. We argued about whether it was the right decision or not. I tried to explain that it was a dumb idea to change her looks into something she wasn’t supposed to become. Her argument was the contrary. Her main point was why stay with the wrong body, knowing she could correct it.

“Correct what?” I said, yelling my words softly. “There is nothing wrong with you!” I was so irritated when she said that, I had to shut up to avoid getting too emotional. There were so many reasons, compliments, and personal preferences I could give her, but it felt like her mind was falling on what she wanted to see.

“I’m a mutant, Josh,” She said on the verge of crying. “I think I should go fix myself. Why can’t you understand that?” Suddenly, she started grabbing her clothes. She put them quickly and demanded I take her home. It was almost midnight. When I said she should calm down and stay the night to clear her mind, she threatened she’d walk home.

“Okay,” I said, rushing to put on clothes.

I drove her home. The whole ride was silent, not even the radio or AC was on. I drove up to the driveway instead of pulling near the curb. She unbuckled her seatbelt the second I put the car in park.

“Hold on,” I said when she stormed out of the car. I had to jog around the car to get in front of her.

“What?” She said.

“Can we talk before you go?”

“Talking is done, dude. I’ll see you tomorrow in class.” She walked around me but I jumped in front of her path with a gentle yet firm grip on her arm.

“Can I at least say something before you go?” She rolled her head to give me the okay. “All I want you to know is that you are perfect to me.”

“But, I’m—”

“Beautiful.” I tried my best to lather any compliments that came out of my stupid desperate mouth. She listened without looking off. The more I rambled on about how alluring her body was to me and the phases I went through to like it, a smile grew. “Remember the smile I had on my face when you showed me who you are?”

“Josh,” she said with her palm on my chest. “I hear you loud and clear.”

“Do you see it?”

“I do.”

“Yosefin,” I said, inching closer to her face. “I would like to see that again.” Her lips came to me instead of the other way around.

“You want me to stand in front of you and have my hands out?”

“You could do other things if you want. I just want you to recreate that special moment.”

“Fine... Come inside.”