“Sorry, sir,” I said, giving the last copy of a video game to a customer. “We are all out.” While the overweight acne-ridded man mumbled cuss words and had a temper tantrum, I clicked on my computer screen to set up entering his contact information. “Hey, enter your information so you’ll be notified of the next shipment.”

“No, I’ll just buy the digial version,” he said and left. On his way out, he nearly bumped into Yosefin.

“He didn’t look too happy,” she said.

“The game he wanted wasn’t available.”

“Ah...”

“So,” I said and messed around with game boxes behind the counter to make it look like I was busy. “You’re off early.”

“Jack started his shift early. My boss said I could leave if I wanted to. I did not hesitate.”

“Busy day?” She pressed her lips in and nodded. The store phone rang a second later.

“My house when you’re done?” I nodded while I spoke with a customer. My coworker came out of the backroom once I got off the phone and Yosefin was halfway out of the building.

“So, that’s her, eh?” He said softly. Once Yosefin was a few feet into the cafeteria, my coworker ran up the entrance to get a better look at her. “God, she’s hot!” His comment made me laugh and proud to at least know others found her attractive.

“You should have seen her with blonde hair.”

“Do you have pictures?”

“I’ll show you after work.”

I forgot I was supposed to show my coworker pictures of Yosefin when I clicked my seatbelt in. Since it wasn’t important, I drove straight to Yosefin’s house. I didn’t tell her I was coming. She was painting her nails on her bed in a bra and shorts when I came into her room. They were yellow and shined under the fan light.

“Need some help?” I said.

“Wouldn’t that be cute,” she said, smiling. “Too bad I’m finished.” I check around her room to find something I can do for her. The trash under her desk was full of empty snack bags and empty cans. In the corner near the right side of the bed against a wall was a pile of dirty clothes.

“Your room is a bit trashy.”

“Yeah,” she said, glancing at what I saw and at other things I didn’t notice at first. “You should see my bathroom.” Her sink was cluttered with makeup. The last time I was there, I remembered seeing everything in order from the lightest colors to the darkest ones.

“Well, I guess we better clean up.”

“What?” She giggled.

“I’ll start in the room. You clean the bathroom.” She didn’t move from the bed as I gathered her clothes into my arms. “Move your butt, Yosefin.”

“Okay, okay. Make sure you separate the colors.”

The laundry room was located in the far corner at the back of the house. Instead of having two machines for washing and drying, they had a two-in-one that washed and dried. I threw in her dark clothes first. They were mostly shorts, socks, and underwear. The machine had an automatic detergent dispenser. All I had to do was start the cycle.

I headed back to her room to find her organizing her makeup collection from lightest to darkest colors. I didn’t want to distract her so I went for trash under the desk. After I threw it in the garbage and came back, she was still in the bathroom.

“You’re still arranging?” I said.

“I found other stuff I need to do.” She came out of the bathroom with purple latex gloves on.

“Do you need help?”

“I got this. Do whatever you want while I clean up.”

There wasn’t much in the room I could do to kill some time. My eyes were a bit heavy. I wasn’t too tired yet I decided to take a nap. For an hour I slept like a baby. Yosefin woke me up so I wouldn’t waste my day.

“I didn’t ask you to come here to sleep,” Yosefin said. She leaned over me with her hands on my stomach. Her bra stretched to hold the weight of her boobs. “Hey, when was the last time we did something romantically fun?”

“What?”

“Like,” she said and wandered off to pace back and forth in a line. “All we do is hang out and make out. Don’t you think it’s getting boring?”

“No.”

“Of course, you don’t,” she said after rolling her eyes.

“What does that supposed to mean?”

Yosefin held up three fingers and told me it had been three months since we went somewhere to have fun or do something romantic. I mistakenly mentioned the wedding as recent evidence of me going somewhere. Her neutral expression turned sour. Her brows creased into the middle of her forehead and she slightly dropped her jaw. Her jaw came out as her lips bent into a frown.

“I asked you to come, dude,” Yosefin said. “There was nothing fun or romantic about that stupid wedding.” She crossed her arms and sighed without looking at me.

“Okay,” I said and sat up. “I guess I’m slacking on my New Year’s promise.” Once I laid my head down in shame, she told me to pick it back up and not look sad. Since I wasn’t an outgoing kind of person, I didn’t realize how much she expected me to uphold my promise. “What would you like to go for a date?”

“You tell me,” she said, softening her voice. “Tell me where we’re going. Tell me what to wear and how to look.”

“Wait,” I said to cut her off. “You want me to tell you what to wear?”

“Yes,” she said with a grin. “The idea of dressing in what my boyfriend wants me to look sounds crazy yet exciting.”

“You’ve gone mad,” I said, trying to hold my laughter. “Would you wear a dress?”

“Yes, and I would buy another one if you want a specific one.” The laughter inside me blew out as air. “I’m dead serious,” she said, laughing. “I’ll wear a skimpy outfit if you told me.” That statemate caught me off guard to the point I froze momentarily. “Just kidding!”

“God,” I sighed. I fell on my back, grabbing my heart. My rate went through the roof and stayed there for a minute. I closed my eyes and focused on trying to bring my heart rate back to normal. Once I could feel it settling down, something warm touched my face. Then I heard her breathe out her nose.

“Just behind closed doors,” she said, whispering with her lips touching my ear. “I’m no whore, dude.”

“What about being a whore behind closed doors?” I said, looking at her. “Respectfully.”

“Let’s focus on you being romantic,” she said before she kissed me on the lips. “You got a week to figure out. Saturday we’re doing something.”

“Great,” I moaned and sighed. “Let me see what looks interesting.”

Yosefin jumped off the bed, logged on to her computer, and turned her chair to me to sit in. I browsed the internet with her sitting next to me. She watched without saying a word when I found things I thought were interesting. I thought she was bored until I quickly took a peek to see her face. There was a smile. I saw it as a good sign to stop searching and choose the ones I visited.

“I’m done,” I said.

“Awesome!

Yosefin wasn’t lying. The second I walked into her room on a Saturday evening, I realized how serious she was. She came out of the bathroom half-naked once I locked the bedroom door. Her hair was damp but combed.

“You weren’t kidding,” I said. She showed me all of the clothes I could pick from. Since it wasn’t cold outside and the place I wanted us to go to was inside, my choice would be something casual.

“Shall we get started, darling?” She spoke in a British accent. “I’m curious to see what your creative romantic side finds.” Her voice never failed to amaze and make me blush all at once. “Come on love,” she said holding my hands. “Let’s start simple. What socks should I wear?” I checked her feet to give me some ideas of what would be nice.

“Something white,” I said.

“Okay,” she said and sat on the bed. “Second drawer.” She pointed at the nightstand near her side of the bed. There were multiple colored socks. I grabbed a random white pair and tossed it to her. The length stopped below her calves. “Is this what you wanted?”

“It is.”

“Next?” She said, tapping her legs. White socks could fit well with an opposite color like black. Pants felt like a good choice but the more I looked at her legs, I felt compelled to keep them exposed.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Shorts.” She pointed to another drawer at the foot of the bed. The first drawer had a pair of jean shorts I hadn’t seen her wear.

“This one,” I said after tossing it to her.

“Oh,” she snickered. “Excellent choice. Come put this on me.” She put her feet under the shorts and turned her back to me.

“Are you serious?”

“Mhmm!”

“Why won’t you do it yourself?”

“Joshy,” she said, whining and pouting her face. “You’re supposed to act romantic.”

I did what she wanted me to do. Once I pulled her shorts around her waist, I looked over my shoulder to look at my fingers looping the button, but I couldn’t see them. Her boobs were in the way.

“What are you doing?” She said, giggling. “You’re hair is tickling my neck.”

“I’m trying to see my hands.”

“Here.” She used my fingers to loop and zip her shorts, then wrapped my arms around her stomach.

“Why do I have a feeling this is what you wanted me to do?” I pulled her to my body to seize the moment and made her lean a bit so her ass could press into my crotch.

“You caught me, officer. I’m guilty.”

We role-played a cop arresting a criminal. I cuffed her hands and sat her on her bed. The bed represented a jail cell. She couldn’t leave the boundaries of it until I gave her a jail shirt and shoes. I handed her a grey shirt. Instead of putting it on, she raised her arms over her head.

“Fine,” I said. I rolled up the shirt so it would be easy to put it over her head. “Do I have to do this with your shoes?”

“Yes,” she said, pointing her feet at me while rapidly curling her toes in. There was a pair of white high-top flat shoes under the bed I brought out. I loosened the laces enough to make the shoes slip on her foot like a pair of sandals.

“So,” she said, smiling behind a giggle. “What makeup are you going to choose?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?!” She said, speaking in her normal voice.

“Yes,” I said and laughed when I saw her smile go away.

“Are you saying that to make this process go faster?” I shook my head, no. “I don’t believe you.”

“You look good the way you are,” I said sincerely. She opened the front camera on her phone to look at herself. I got behind her so we both looked together. “See?”

“I could do better.”

“But, I’m the one dressing you up.”

“You want this?” She pulled the skin around her left eye down and messed with her brows. “Could I at least put on some lip balm?”

“Of course,” I said as she walked to the bathroom. “Who wants to kiss dry lips?” She laughed going in and had a big smile coming out. “Let’s go!”

I brought her to a bowling rink that had a bar and a miniature restaurant inside. We tried a full game first before setting our eyes on the snack bar. Most of the balls were too heavy for her to roll. The smallest and lightest balls they had were for kids. Instead of using the finger hole, she underhanded each roll. After a few low-scoring points, she admitted defeat halfway through the match.

“Alright, dude,” Yosefin said, taking her seat next to me. “No point making an ass out of myself.”

“You’re not making an ass out of yourself,” I said, soothing the inner part of her thigh.

“But, people could be watching me fail.”

“Ignore them. Focus on me.” She went silent for a few seconds. When I looked at her, she asked me a silly yet important question.

“Did I look foolish?”

“No,” I said with a chuckle.

“I did, didn’t I?”

“No, you didn’t,” I said after clearing the smile on my face. “Is this your first time bowling?” She nodded while frowning.

“Now people are gonna wonder why this dude couldn’t bowl right.”

“This dude,” I said, putting my arm around her shoulder. “Shouldn’t care about what others think about her. She’s trying to have fun with her boyfriend.” Her lips puckered before they pulled into a grin.

“Can we continue?” I let her go so she could roll for her turn. She rolled the ball in the same fashion. The ball hit the middle pin hard enough to get a strike. “I did it, Joshy!” She shrieked.

At the end of the game, Yosefin lost with a joyful smile. I took that happiness to the snack bar and bought a large pizza for us to devour in a booth away from most people. It was a meat lovers pizza that had chopped onions, olives, and green peppers.

“How am I doing so far?” I said.

“Unglaublich! (Incredible),” Yosefin said with a mouth full of pizza. “This is the kind of man I want to see more out of you.”

“What about the other aspects?”

“They’re fine,” she said and smiled. “I just want you to build upon this.” Her finger tapped on the table when she mentioned I should improve. “Am I asking too much?” I chuckled at the thought. She smiled and told me it was a serious question.

“I think you’re making me better by telling me what you want,” I said. “You are technically my second girlfriend. I’m not experienced.”

“You and me both.”

After we ate, I took her home but I chose to go home after I dropped her off. I said I would come back in the afternoon to spend more time with her. Once one o’clock came around, I texted her that I was on the way. She didn’t respond. I headed to her house without making sure I could come. Her car was in the driveway. I thought she might have been asleep or busy with something until I got near the front door. Her and her father’s voice came through the walls. It sounded like they were arguing in German. He sounded softer than her. She was screaming and crying her words.

“Yosefin?” I said, shouting. I rang the doorbell several times to get their attention. They went silent. “Yosefin!” She opened the door, grabbed my hand, and stormed off down the street crying.

“Yose!” Her father said. “Yose!”

“Halt die Klappe, halt die Klappe, halt die Klappe! (Shut up, shut up, shut up!),” Yosefin said, balling her eyes out.

“What’s going on?” I said. She kept pulling me down the sidewalk. Once we were several houses away, she pulled herself into my body and cried loudly.

“I hate him!” She said four times. “Why is everyone against me?!”

“Who is?”

“Teagan, my uncle, and now my dad!”

“That’s not everyone,” I said softly. “What happened?”

Yosefin tried to explain the whole situation through a heavy amount of tears, stutters, and hyperventilating. She overheard her father in the kitchen talking to her uncle about her mutations. Teagan’s comments from the wedding convinced her family to question Yosefin’s family on why they didn’t prevent her mutation from continuing. Her father sided with her uncle. He mentioned the possibilities of surgical and medical procedures that would change her look. The worst part of the conversation was that he wished Yosefin would have accepted her doctors’ recommendations to revert the mutations. That statement erupted into her yelling at her father.

I didn’t know what to say. All I could do at the moment was keep her close to my body. I tapped her back and rubbed it as she cried some more. It took her another minute to settle down.

“Did I make a mistake letting my body turn into this?” She said, looking at me with the right side of her face on my chest.

“No,” I said. “It was meant to be.”

“I could have changed,” she mumbled softly. “I could have fixed myself.” The word fixed made me shake my head. “I could have been a—”

“Enough,” I said, cutting her off on purpose.

“But it’s true, Josh! I would have looked more correct than this!”

“You are correct to me.” Her tears came down her cheeks. She frowned as she began to cry. I gently held her cheeks in hopes it would keep her from crying. “You’re correct to me,” I whispered twice. The weeping didn’t come out in full. “Do you believe me?” She said nothing but nodded her head.

“I’m sorry,” she said and let me go to clean her eyes. “I want to spend time with you but I’m a fucking wreck at the moment.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t want to go back there.” I looked down the sidewalk towards her house. My plan for the day was to spend it there. I wasn’t sure of what to do next. “Josh,” she said in a soft voice. “Could I spend the night at your house?”

“Yeah,” I said without hesitation.

“Would your parents be fine with that?”

“I’m sure they will. If not, I’d buy us a hotel.”

I finally got to see the first smile of the day. Yosefin grabbed a lot of clothes for a night over my house. She stuffed what she wanted in an old gym bag and left the house without giving her father any attention. It was beyond awkward. He tried speaking with me when she went back to her room to grab something she had forgotten.

“Josh,” he said, using my nickname for the first time. “Can you tell her this is stupid?” Yosefin overheard her father as she came around the corner moments after he spoke. She stopped, shook her head, and then told me to leave. I calmly walked out with her holding my arm. “Yosefin,” he said once we reached the front door. Her hand clutched my bicep. I stopped walking once I felt my arm tug.

“Using that name because he’s here, huh?!” She said. “Trying to bring me back? Screw you!” She nudged me so we could continue walking. “Let’s go,” she said, gripping my arm tighter.

While I drove to my house, Yosefin texted her mother everything that went down. During our silent ride, I thought about what she said to her father before we left. “What did you mean by using that name?” She sighed before giving me an answer.

“When you’re not around, I go by that name.”

“I see.” We didn’t say anything for a time until I got to the last few roads before reaching the house. “Would it be weird if I called you by that name on a regual basis?”

“Yes,” she said, shooting her eyebrows down over her eyes. “Very weird,” she scoffed. “Don’t say it as a joke.”

“Really?”

“I’m Yosefin to you. Keep it like that.” Her words sounded sincere. Even though she wasn’t frowning or smiling, I didn’t feel like she was annoyed with me.

“Noted.” I saw a smirk she tried to break by scratching the side of her lips.

I drove up into the driveway a minute after my parents got home. My dad came out from the backdoor when he saw me park.

“Back so soon?” My dad said. Yosefin stepped out of the car but stayed near it. My dad waved to her and asked why she was there.

“Family drama,” I said out of earshot from Yosefin. “Could she stay here until she’s ready to go back?”

“As long as she’s not a bum. I’ve had friends overstay their welcome.” He waved his hand at her. She rushed over without delay. “Do you mind helping cook dinner?”

“Does that mean it is all right with y’all?” Yosefin said.

“Will there be any problems if I let you stay here?”

“No, sir.” My father looked at me and grabbed the grocery bags out of the trunk of our SUV. “Am I good?” She said, leaning her shoulder on my arm.

“Yosefin! Come help me!”

“You’re good,” I said and gave her a pat on the back. “I’ll get your bags.”

The rest of my family welcomed her in. My mother didn’t question me too much about Yosefin’s situation. Vanessa surprisingly didn’t get in my face to ask me a thousand questions. I worried she would get into Yosefin’s business. I stayed close just in case she asked too many questions. They were helping my mother cook in the kitchen. All of their conversations stayed clear away from the drama.

I sat in the family room for a time before heading upstairs to figure out what room Yosefin would stay in. The guest bedroom had some storage boxes around the bed yet it was good enough to sleep in. My bed could fit us if we didn’t spread ourselves. I didn’t believe we would be comfortable, so I put her bag into the guest room.

“Josh!” Yosefin said, singing my name in a playful chord. “Where you at, dude? Dinner is ready.” We met at the doorway of the guest room. “There you are! Hey, do y’all eat at the table or do the separate thing?”

“Separate. We can eat in my room,” I said.

“Awesome.” After we ate, Yosefin took our plates down into the kitchen. She came back into my room, looking all over the place.

“Where’s my bag?”

“Guess room.”

“Why?” Her left brow raised.

“The bed is bigger.”

“The bed is bigger,” she repeated, smirking with her head tilted. “Bigger for what?” Her smirk made me think about how dirty it sounded. I tried not to smile when I explained what I meant. “You want us to sleep separately?”

“For your comfort.”

“What if I’m comfortable with you in the same bed?”

“Uh,” I stuttered, looking at my bed.

“Come on,” she said, holding me from behind. “Let’s see.” We lay on my bed, facing each other with a few inches of space between our faces. She had room to move away but she didn’t. When I questioned why she wouldn’t move away, she said, “Something about that cute face is making me not want to stay away from it.” She inched forward and said, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For keeping the sadness away,” she said, twirling her index finger on the center part of my chest. “Being with you is such a breath of fresh air. I wish I could be around you all day.”

“You can.” She looked at me like she didn’t believe me. Her eyes rolled halfway after she grinned. “I’m serious.”

I reached over her waist to pull her close by using her lower back to draw her in and kissed her lips. There was a pullback from her head. Her lips didn’t fully press into mine. I moved away to get a glance at her face, but she kissed me again before I could open my eyes. We made out slowly. It didn’t last as long as I hoped for. I wanted to get intimate and do more than make out, but she didn’t seem to want it. She tucked her head into my chest, closed her eyes, and lay still. She napped for ten minutes. When she awoke, she apologized for dozing off. I got up, turned off the fan light, got in my underwear, and then got in bed with her. She took all of her clothing off except for her underwear. We went back into the same position and ended the night peacefully in our sleep.