《An Unlikely Connection: Part 3》


 All Is Well

    Another year was around the corner. Like most of my New Year¡¯s Eve holidays, I spent them by myself or with my family if their work didn¡¯t call them. Luckily for me, I didn¡¯t have to spend it alone. My girlfriend, Yosefin, had a special day planned for us. She didn¡¯t have to convince me to come see what it was but warned me to wear warm clothing.


    I came to her house with enough clothing to keep me warm in the frigid weather. The second Yosefin¡¯s father opened the door, Yosefin came charging around the corner from the hallway where her room was. The sound of her bare feet slapping the tile floor made me realize how hard she was running. Her black hoodie flopped all over the place. With every step she took, her hoodie lifted over her short shorts. She hit the brakes before ramming into me.


    ¡°Joshy!¡± Yosefin said when she hugged me.


    ¡°Yo ¨C Yosefin?! Where¡¯s your pants?¡± Mr. B said. He stood off to my right while I held her as tightly as she was. ¡°You¡¯re legs will get cold.¡± He shut the door before I could turn around to do it myself. ¡°She was worried about you.¡±


    ¡°About what?¡± I said after glancing at her beautiful smile.


    ¡°She kept asking if you were okay since it took you some time to get here.¡± I looked at her to judge if that was the case. She didn¡¯t deny it or say anything. All I got was a light giggle out from her nose. ¡°Anyways.¡± He handed her a pair of keys I hadn¡¯t seen before. ¡°Make sure you put it on snow mode.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Josh,¡± she said and took me by the hand. We went to her room. She walked me in and closed the door behind me. The door didn¡¯t close all the way. I had to press my finger into it to shut. ¡°Don¡¯t lock it,¡± she said as I was about to lock it. ¡°All I need to do is put some pants on.¡± She took off her shorts to put on insolated leggings before wearing thick winter pants. ¡°Kay! I¡¯m good to go!¡±


    ¡°Awesome!¡± I went to reach for the door but she grabbed my hand. She placed it on her cheek to snuggle with it. It was warm and soft. ¡°What are you doing?¡± I said out of curiosity.


    ¡°I just wanted to feel you.¡±


    ¡°Feel?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said then curled my hand around the side of her neck. ¡°It¡¯s been days since we were together.¡± She moved my thumb on her Adam¡¯s apple. The lack of one reminded me how special she was. I soothed it, causing her to giggle.


    ¡°Did you miss me?¡±


    ¡°Very much,¡± she said in a gentle voice. Her voice gave me a gentle tingle that spread across my chest. ¡°I can¡¯t stop thinking about that night.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you might be thinking more about it than me.¡±


    ¡°Probably,¡± she said, snickering alongside me. ¡°I think I¡¯ve gone crazy. It feels like it happened hours ago.¡±


    ¡°Are we... overdued?¡± It took her a second to figure out what I meant. She turned her head away but kept her eyes on me. When I saw it click in her head, her eyes popped open.


    ¡°We are,¡± she said, snickering again. ¡°But I need to get that off my mind right now.¡±


    ¡°Good thing you called me for whatever you are planning. It could be a nice distraction.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Yeah! Let¡¯s head out! We don¡¯t want to be late for the parade!¡±


    ¡°A parade?¡±


    ¡°Yup! Isn¡¯t this exciting?¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. I had never been to one yet they always looked interesting to me.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said not thinking of what to say. ¡°Are you comfortable driving in snow?¡±


    ¡°Let me show you.¡±


    We headed through the garage to get to the truck. It was running when I got in. The inside was toasty. I got hot after a minute of sitting.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna break a sweat!¡± I said. Once the truck¡¯s engine kicked on after she pressed the start button, the climate gauge didn¡¯t have a number. It read, ¡°hi¡± in all caps.


    ¡°Jesus,¡± she said, dialing the temp to seventy-five degrees. ¡°I don¡¯t know why my dad set it so high.¡± She clicked the garage button below the sunglass holder. It opened moments later.


    ¡°That¡¯s fancy.¡±


    ¡°This whole damn truck is fancy.¡±


    I looked at everything I could before she backed onto the road. The digital speedometer transitioned to white before she put the truck into drive. There were physical buttons for almost everything like the volume knob, fan knob, and defrost controls. The touch screen was high resolution, wide, and tall. Her navigation came on when she slid her phone under in a crawlspace below the center console.


    ¡°Whoa,¡± I said, pointing at her phone and the navigation. ¡°How did that happen?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s wireless,¡± she said after snickering with the back of her hand over her face. ¡°My car can do it too.¡±


    ¡°Amazing.¡± I was impressed. They hid their riches well. I didn¡¯t realize the type of wealth her family had to be able to afford such luxury vehicles.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be there in forty minutes.¡± She turned the volume knob just enough that I could hear the vocals of a rock song playing. ¡°Oh, I love these guys.¡±


    She jammed out and sang along to a seven-minute song. I watched her in silence without her noticing I was watching her vibing out to a song she knew like the back of her hand. Another song she knew came afterward. She sang a few lyrics before stopping once she saw I was looking at her.


    ¡°Keep going,¡± I said. ¡°I wanna hear you sing.¡± She had the giggles. It took her a moment to regain the confidence and the payoff was amazing. The singer had an early 2000s way of singing that sounded like he was forcing a British accent. She matched his vocal pronunciations perfectly. Once the song finished, she turned down the music with a button on the left side of the steering wheel.


    ¡°Joshy,¡± she said, keeping her eyes on the road.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°What are your New Year¡¯s Resolutions?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know,¡± I said, looking out my window to watch the cross traffic at a busy intersection before we reached the highway. ¡°I don¡¯t do that sort of stuff.¡±


    ¡°Awe. Why not?¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. The tradition of one making themselves a promise for something they would do in the future sounded lame. I felt if people wanted to do something, they wouldn¡¯t need a new year to boost their confidence.


    ¡°It just isn¡¯t my thing,¡± I said after I told her my stance.


    ¡°I see what you mean. But...¡± I looked at her from the corner of my eye and waited for what I thought would be an argument. Instead, she asked if I wanted to hear what she planned to do for the new year.


    ¡°I wanna outshine all of your expectations of me and be the best girl you ever had.¡± Her answer made me speechless. That was a big promise I wouldn¡¯t gamble even if I sought to be the best boyfriend she¡¯d ever want.


    ¡°You wanna be my best girl?¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± she said, blushing with a smile. ¡°Did that part sound stupid? I know I¡¯m not a¡ª¡±


    ¡°It didn¡¯t sound stupid. Those are good resolutions.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± She sighed and went silent for almost a minute before she spoke again. ¡°I got a resolution for you to do.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Be more of an extrovert.¡±


    ¡°Yosefin,¡± I said and rolled my eyes. ¡°I basically am. I¡¯m always going out with you.¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m asking for you to come. When are you going to take me out?¡± She asked with a pouty face. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be the man of the relationship. Not me.¡± I burst out laughing a second before she did after I realized the subtle joke. ¡°But seriously.¡±


    ¡°I get it,¡± I said, nodding.


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    ¡°We could trade if it sounds too difficult.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I said, reaching over the armrest to pat her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll do what you want.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said fist pumping with both of her hands. ¡°This new year is going to be fucking awesome!¡±


    Once we got into the city, Yosefin drove around several blocks, hoping to find a rare chance of free parking. There was nothing we could find, so she ended up paying for a packed garage. Luckily, she found a spot at the top. It was in a position where all she had to do was drive in.


    ¡°Oh, thank god,¡± she mumbled. The center screen turned on a camera somewhere on the front bumper. She lined up the truck within the lines and then turned it off a few feet from the wall. ¡°The truck is saying it¡¯s twenty-seven out there,¡± she said and shivered. ¡°You gonna keep me warm out there, Joshy?¡± Her playful question made my heart rate spike. I loved how cutely pitched it was and the gorgeous smirk she had.


    ¡°Of course, I will,¡± I said. The second I opened the door, a cold breeze snuck its way through the crack of the door, hitting me square in the face. I shut the door and looked at her with my eyes flushed as far as I could open them.


    We rushed through the snow-covered parking lot rooftop to get inside as we held each other¡¯s hands. The top stairwell was empty but I could hear people talking throughout the garage. Yosefin briefly let go of my hand to press the elevator button. It opened halfway, stopped, and then flushed all the way open. She entered first and pressed for it to go to the ground floor. Once the door closed in the same manner it opened, she let go of my hand and tried to push me into a corner.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I said.


    ¡°Making room.¡± She laid her back against my stomach. I put my hands on her shoulders to give anyone extra breathing room just in case the elevator would be packed. They weren¡¯t there for a second before she took them to her lower stomach. The subtle change made me feel warm inside. I took the hold a step further and dropped them below her belly button. She chuckled in a quiet hum.


    People began to enter floor by floor. The elevator nearly reached full capacity when the people from the second level came in. I pulled Yosefin closer to me even though it wouldn¡¯t add more space. There was a random urge to protect and keep her away from them. No one was acting hostile. A man was standing in front of her that had his back inches from rubbing against her boobs. I almost told him to move away to give her space. Luckily, the elevator opened on the ground floor. It skipped past the first level.


    Everyone began to shimmy out of the tight room towards the bombastic streets. The relief after the man in front of me left was enough to make me sigh. I relaxed my hands to let her know she could walk out. She took them with her for one step. We were separated for two seconds before returning to hand-holding.


    ¡°It sounds chaotic out there,¡± I said.


    ¡°It does,¡± she said and pulled me closer to her arm. ¡°I¡¯m anxious. This is my first time being in one.¡±


    ¡°Serious?¡±


    ¡°Mhmm,¡± she said with a cute little smile.


    We stood at a four-way intersection. It had an unobstructed view of the massive parade. Multiple marching bands were playing the same music as if they were playing through a speaker. The music never faded as the next entourage came by. Between them were colorful dressed people. Some danced, waved, or sang. I asked Yosefin what they were but she had no clue. She had to look up all the details of what they were.


    ¡°Mummers?¡± She said, pronouncing it wrong.


    ¡°It¡¯s mum, like the British,¡± I said.


    ¡°Mummers,¡± she said with an emphasis. ¡°Did I say it correctly that time?¡± She said in a British accent. ¡°Mummers, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said, laughing. ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±


    She read through the entire program in that accent. When she got to the end she pointed at an evening concert. It was followed by a fireworks celebration at midnight. I was shocked at how long the parade lasted. I thought it would be a few hours of my day and not its entirety.


    ¡°Goodness,¡± I said. ¡°This is long.¡±


    ¡°I knew you wouldn¡¯t be able to handle it all,¡± she said, putting her phone away to put her glove back on. ¡°So, I planned to take breaks throughout the day.¡± The fact she took precautions was admirable.


    ¡°You¡¯re too good for me.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll stay here for a time. Then I want to have you all for myself.¡±


    After an hour passed, we went to a nearby park to get away from the crowd. The park was almost empty. A few people were roaming around under the light snow. The sky was clear enough for the sun to heat my face while Yosefin and I sat together on a wooden bench.


    ¡°So,¡± She said after cuddling under my arm for warmth. ¡°Are you having fun?¡±


    ¡°Eh,¡± I said, tilting my head from side to side. ¡°A little bit.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to go home?¡±


    ¡°No. You brought me here to celebrate. I don¡¯t want to cut the day short.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t be doing that if we left,¡± she said and blew hot air into her palms. ¡°All I care about is seeing you happy. The parade doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re not having fun.¡±


    ¡°You really do love me that much?¡± I said, cuddling her tighter.


    ¡°What type of a person would I be if I didn¡¯t care about my boyfriend¡¯s feelings?¡± She turned my head to make me look at her. ¡°An ungrateful one.¡±


    The irony of her statement made me appreciate how it reminded me of the type of woman I wanted to have. One would have sunken me in a false sense of a true relationship. The other one stated she would be loyal from the get-go. She was the ideal woman I wanted yet it wasn¡¯t enough for me to choose her in the end. Yosefin was certainly not the type I went after even if there were no mutations involved. Yet, I couldn¡¯t stay away. I used the mutated look as a means to justify my attraction and the things I did. It worked for a time but it began to destroy our close friendship. I knew in the back of my head who I adored even though I denied the truth. I knew I found the one when I got a reality check on the difference between kissing for looks and kissing backed with love. And I knew it was game over when I couldn¡¯t resist answering the call for the so-called rants. I was in love for a while.


    ¡°Yosefin,¡± I said.


    ¡°Mhmm?¡± My emotions were high. I felt like I could cry, smile, and laugh at any moment. She watched me closely as I tried my best to form the right words so that I could express what I felt.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± A tear came out of my eye. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say,¡± I said and let out a light chuckle. I hid my face, hoping it would help me find the words to say.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± she said. ¡°You don¡¯t have to say anything to me.¡± She rubbed her head on my arm until I moved it away. She slithered her way over to my lips, bringing the cold winter to them before the warmth of the spring took over. ¡°You can tell me with kisses.¡±


    ¡°Is that the only way I can tell you if I¡¯m having trouble?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she said after grinning and giggling through her teeth. ¡°I can think of a few things you could do if you can¡¯t find the words.¡±


    ¡°You tell me and I¡¯ll do them.¡±


    ¡°Noted!¡±


    We headed back to the city to eat lunch that was on the same street the parade went through. Yosefin suggested that we find one so we could continue to watch it and be warm.


    ¡°What¡¯s the next event?¡± I said.


    ¡°There¡¯s a concert in a few hours further in the city,¡± she said, looking through her phone and eating a triple chocolate cake. ¡°And the last event is the countdown.¡± I let out a soft moan when I thought about how much of the cold weather I would have to sit through. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Not looking forward to staying in the cold.¡±


    ¡°We can go back to my place and chill before the last event comes.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s okay with you.¡± I had a strong feeling that there would be something spicy sprinkled in. ¡°I don¡¯t want to ruin this moment.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re fine, dude. I kinda wanna take you back to my room.¡± My heart rate began to rise as I thought about what she wanted to do with me.


    ¡°What are we going to do for several hours?¡± She blankly stared at the table. The blood in her cheeks got redder as time went on. ¡°Yosefin?¡±


    ¡°We could play some video games.¡±


    ¡°For several hours?¡± The corner of her lips started to fold the more she tried to prevent herself from smiling.


    ¡°Sure,¡± she said, glancing at a waiter who walked past us. Once she was out of earshot, Yosefin leaned over the table to whisper. ¡°We could do other things.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I said, leaning over the table too. ¡°Watch a movie?¡±


    ¡°Uhh...¡±


    ¡°I think I know what you want. Maybe we should do that first.¡±


    I sat back in my seat and let my statement marinate in her head. She didn¡¯t confirm or ask what I thought she wanted. Eventually, I got my answer when she hastily rushed me to her room and ignored her parents¡¯ questions about why she was home.


    ¡°Be quiet,¡± she said after locking the door. She pressed her ear against the door. For two minutes I stayed silent.


    ¡°Are they out there?¡± I whispered. I got out of my warm clothes while she continued to listen. Suddenly, she cracked the door open and aggressively spoke to her parents in German. She shut and locked the door after having a one-sided conversation.


    ¡°We should be good,¡± she said with her voice down, walking over to me. ¡°They better not bother us doing this.¡±


    ¡°Doing what?¡±


    ¡°Quality time with my boyfriend.¡±


    The quality time she meant was us making out, cuddling, and having deep-thought conversations about her life during the time her body changed. It was a terrible time for her. The first change she noticed was the acne on her face. That was common. I had to deal with that mess. Next, it was her voice. It pitched higher instead of going down. She mentioned again at the age of fifteen her breasts grew but she added it was the origin of her phantom pains.


    ¡°My doctors didn¡¯t know what the hell was going on with me,¡± she said. ¡°My teenage life was nothing but tests.¡±


    ¡°That must¡¯ve been terrible,¡± I said as I soothed her exposed thigh.


    ¡°It affected my social life. I was so depressed, Josh. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m still here.¡± The thought of seeing her gone scared the ever-loving shit out of me. It reminded me of the time I almost lost her in a car accident last year.


    ¡°How did you get through it?¡± I said. I stopped soothing her thigh so I could clutch her close instead.


    ¡°It was a bit of acceptance,¡± she said, pressing my arm tighter around her stomach. ¡°I tried to make what I thought was a curse into something cool.¡±


    ¡°Cool?¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± She chuckled. ¡°I became what you saw last year.¡±


    ¡°Yosefin B?hme?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she said, shaking her head. ¡°She was invented for you to fall in love with.¡±


    ¡°Well, she certainly got me,¡± I said in my head. ¡°Then what exactly are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Yose B?hme...¡± She said after soothing my fingers with her thumb. ¡°My style, my interests, my desires. That is... his... That¡¯s... mine.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also hers too,¡± I said and used my nose to tickle her neck.


    ¡°Josh,¡± she said, giggling like a child. ¡°Don¡¯t make me laugh. This is a serious talk.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, but it¡¯s true. You two are the same.¡± She turned on her side to face me but never looked directly at me. The top of her head was tucked under my jaw. Her soft nose rubbed against my Adam¡¯s Apple as she readjusted into a near fetal position. She didn¡¯t speak for a time. She lay with me with her eyes closed. After a few minutes, I asked if she was feeling okay.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m just digesting what you said.¡±


    I let Yosefin lay in silence. Another minute went by when she decided back to town to see the rest of the parade. We caught a portion of the concert. Most of the artists that came on didn¡¯t amuse me. There were two that I enjoyed and they were mostly an alternative rock band. At midnight, the whole city erupted. Fireworks filled the sky while people cheering blew out my eardrums. She was among them but she was the most tamed. The most I did was clap.


    Yosefin drove me back to her house. She parked the truck in the garage but didn¡¯t get out once she turned the truck off. Her right eye slowly turned to me. The corner of her lip pulled into her cheek. She didn¡¯t have to say a word for me to know she didn¡¯t want me to leave.


    ¡°What do you want this time?¡± I said, rolling my eyes and laughing.


    ¡°Nothing particularly. I just want to say I had fun today.¡±


    ¡°Same.¡±


    ¡°Happy New Year, Josh. May it be a great year for us both!¡±

 Unrecognizable

    The spring semester started with a heavy load of classes I had to take. I continued advancing my studies in game programming. On top of that, I enrolled in a creative writing course. My computer science professor from last year said it would be smart to at least understand basic storytelling in the event of making a game. According to his background of working with triple-A companies, it could take days, weeks, or months to be considered hired to work on games. Garanties usually vary. Working with small teams was the best choice for him and that was the advice he gave to his students.


    The class I enrolled in taught how to use 3D software. There were students I recognized from last semester, but it was mostly full of fresh faces that were guys. The class had two geeky-looking girls sitting in the front row. I learned their names to be Shannon and Misty after our professor did roll call. Shannon had blonde hair and Misty had brown hair with half of her hair buzzed off. They sat together in the front of the class, right in front of me out of all places. The ratio between them jumped a point when Yosefin strolled in.


    ¡°Hiya!¡± Yosefin said. The girls lifted their heads to see her. They watched her walk around them and they didn¡¯t look away when she kissed me on the cheek. ¡°You smell good. What do you got on?¡± Her compliment made me too shy to answer in front of them. ¡°It smells like grapes.¡± She guessed correctly. I bought a new scent after the brand I liked wasn¡¯t in stock at the grocery store.


    ¡°It is,¡± I said. Misty smirked. She turned her body halfway over her chair and asked if she could get a whiff. Shannon laughed. Yosefin didn¡¯t find it amusing. She gave her one of the most terrifying death stare I had seen.


    ¡°What? It was a joke,¡± Misty said.


    ¡°Come take a whiff.¡±


    Yosefin leaned over my desk from the aisle, putting herself between me and MIsty. She told her to come again and curled her finger to hurry up. Misty refused. She even apologized. Thank god Yosefin stopped pressuring her. Yosefin would have made a simple joke turn into some stupid fight or argument.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I said. ¡°Did you get off the wrong side of the bed?¡±


    ¡°If being on the wrong side was stomach cramps,¡± she said quietly. ¡°Then yes.¡± It took her, Kat, and Naomi for me to figure out that women tend to have varying types of mood swings and other issues when they are on their period. Yosefin got snappy most of the time. Sometimes she would get passive-aggressive with me but I knew not to take them seriously since she wasn¡¯t acting out of anger.


    ¡°How bad is it?¡± I said. I rubbed my index knuckle on the side of her thigh to judge what I could do next once she reacted to it. Her leg moved away from it. It was only an inch but it was all I needed.


    ¡°I¡¯m good, for now.¡±


    ¡°Let me know if it gets annoying. I can rush down to the RX wing.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d do that for me?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so sweet of you,¡± she said before giving me a tight lip smile. She gently grabbed my hand and pressed it down on her thigh with both hands. ¡°Hey, what are your plans during spring break?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said, mumbling my words. I was so busy looking at her hands that I didn¡¯t hear a single word she said. My mind was shooting with excitement to see her grab me after she denied my touch. ¡°Wait,¡± I said to cut her off from speaking without knowing I wasn¡¯t listening. ¡°Please, start from the beginning. My mind was somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sure thing. My cousin is getting married during spring break.¡±


    ¡°Nice!¡±


    ¡°My family and I are going. And she¡¯s allowing the families to bring an extra.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± I said before I had one of the biggest mild heart attacks sink into my stomach. ¡°I see where this is going. Sadly I¡ª¡±


    ¡°Damnit!¡± She said before I could finish my sentence. ¡°What¡¯s the excuse now, dude?¡±


    ¡°No excuse. I just need a suit.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± She said, cupping her mouth. ¡°Sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to cut you off and snap like that.¡± Her words spoke with care. She got close so no one would hear her.


    ¡°I know,¡± I said, keeping my voice down. ¡°So, do I need to wear anything special?¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± she said, moving closer. ¡°But could you wear a vest and tie?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°Perfect!¡±


    Two days into spring break, I got a text from Yosefin saying that her family was heading out to the wedding. We left at the same time but she had a head start. The drive took two hours to get there. Her cousin chose a non-traditional spot out in the country. The building was a barn made out of stone. Behind it, I could see where everyone would take their seats for the actual wedding.


    I parked on the grass and texted Yosefin I made it. She told me she was waiting at the entrance. All I had to do was find the ¡°pretty tatted girl¡± awkwardly standing by herself. I saw her messing with her fingers when I was a few yards away. Her beauty stopped me in my tracks. She looked stunning in a navy blue dress. It stopped above the middle of her thigh. Her legs had on dark nylon leggings. She had a small white purse strapped over her left shoulder that matched the color of her high heels.


    ¡°Yosefin!¡± I said. She slightly jumped.


    ¡°Josh!¡± Yosefin said, opening her arms out. ¡°You look handsome! I love it!¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± After we hugged, I kissed her without warning. ¡°You look so beautiful, Yosefin. My heart is pounding.¡± Her makeup choice was perfect. She had on a different nose ring. It was silver like her dangling earring orbs. And her lips shined with some sort of mild glitter gloss. They smelled like bubblegum.


    ¡°Come here,¡± she said, closed her eyes, and lept her lips back to mine for two extra kisses. ¡°Was the drive here okay?¡±


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    ¡°Long and boring.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Hopefully, my cousin¡¯s wedding will uplift your spirits.¡±


    Yosefin took me by the hand to head inside. It was rowdy. There were a lot of people standing in groups, talking and drinking. We walked into a line to grab some snacks and something to drink before the wedding began. Their food wasn¡¯t anything special. I got a couple of blueberry muffins and an iced cola.


    ¡°God, I¡¯m gonna get fat off this stuff,¡± Yosefin said as she chewed on a donut. She grabbed two more donuts before we took our seats with her family.


    ¡°Hello, Joshua,¡± Mrs. B said. ¡°You¡¯re looking good, dear.¡± Mr. B gave me a nod of approval. He was sipping on steaming coffee when he saw me.


    ¡°He would look way better if he let his hair down.¡± She reached for my hairband but she was out of reach. ¡°Hierher kommen.¡± (Come here.) Her fingers kept curling in and out. ¡°Kommt, kommt.¡± (Come, come.) I leaned over to let her take it off.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said. My hair was long enough to go behind my back. ¡°I might cut it all off.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± She cried playfully, gripping my hand and putting it over her heart. ¡°Don¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°Honey, it¡¯s his hair,¡± Mr B said.


    ¡°But, I love it the way it is!¡± Mrs. B shook her head and laughed under her breath. ¡°It¡¯s so cute,¡± she whispered facing me using the half-eaten donut to cover the side of her face from her parents.


    ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Joshy,¡± she said without speaking it.


    The people in charge of the wedding made everyone step outside to get ready for the bride. Once the music came through the loudspeakers, everyone stood up to witness the bride coming down the walkway. Teagan looked wonderful in her wedding dress. I couldn¡¯t help but think about seeing Yosefin wearing one. After she talked about having children and being married after we got into a relationship, I kind of wanted to pick her brains to visualize that life with her. I didn¡¯t pursue it until after the whole event died down. We were snacking on leftover sweets after the establishment served us dinner when I mentioned what she said to me.


    ¡°Teagan looks nice in that dress, yeah?¡± I said.


    ¡°Mhmm,¡± Yosefin said.


    ¡°If I were to ask you to marry right now, would you say yes?¡±


    ¡°Hmm!?¡± She said with her mouth stuffed. She quickly chewed her food and swallowed it. ¡°Hell yes! Do you got a ring?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I said a bazillion times. ¡°I¡¯m just wondering.¡±


    ¡°Dude,¡± she said with her hand over her heart. ¡°You scared me. I thought you were going to drop on one knee.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re crazy,¡± I said somewhat scoffing. ¡°We¡¯re too young in this relationship to consider that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have money for this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. It cost nothing to have a wife.¡± The sheer amount of cuteness from her statement was awe-inspiring. ¡°I¡¯m cheap.¡±


    ¡°You are something else, Yosefin.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± she said, resting her head on the side of my shoulder with her phone up to her face. ¡°Hey, my dad said Teagan is looking for me.¡± Teagan walked by us the moment Yosefin spoke. ¡°Teagan!¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± Teagan said. She looked at Yosefin like she was confused. Her head was tilted and she wasn¡¯t smiling. ¡°Can I help you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s me, cousin!¡±


    ¡°Yose?¡±


    ¡°Congratulations! I hope you and your husband have a wonderful life.¡±


    ¡°Thanks...¡± Something felt off about the way Teagan kept looking at her. She looked like she was unsure of what she was seeing. I don¡¯t think Yosefin saw what I noticed. She was smiling while Teagan wasn¡¯t. ¡°What happened to you?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You look like a woman!¡± Yosefin¡¯s smile went away faster than I could blink. ¡°I heard something strange happened to you years ago. Was it this?¡±


    ¡°Um... y-yes.¡±


    ¡°Wow!¡± Her eyes blew open. She slapped her hands on the side of her face hard enough to make them clap. ¡°Wait... You didn¡¯t go through any medical procedures, right?¡± Yosefin said no. ¡°So,¡± she said with her hand waving around Yosefin¡¯s crotch. ¡°Is it still there?¡±


    ¡°Of course it is,¡± Yosefin said after gasping. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡±


    ¡°And your voice. How do you not sound like a guy?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± She began to raise her voice. ¡°It all ended when I was sixteen.¡±


    ¡°Are those real?¡±


    Teagan pointed at Yosefin¡¯s boobs. I could see Yosefin was slowly getting agitated. Before she spoke, she would breathe in and hold her breath for a moment. She never smiled while she was drilled with personal questions about her body. It got worse when Teagan involved her parents and other family members in the conversation. They were shocked by the unnatural transformations that Yosefin had to undergo. Their questions had no regard for privacy or respect. She answered them as best she could. I wanted to tell her she didn¡¯t have to, but I wasn¡¯t brave enough to stop their interests. I didn¡¯t find the courage to pull her out until I heard Tegan¡¯s dad talk to Mr. B behind Yosefin¡¯s back criticizing him for not stepping in to stop the mutations.


    ¡°Yosefin, I think we¡¯re done here,¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Yosefin said. I took her hand and hurried out of the building.


    ¡°Yose,¡± Teagan said, jogging up to us. ¡°Wait a sec! You didn¡¯t introduce me to your friend!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not my friend!¡± Yosefin said. She stopped while I was moving.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me, are y¡¯all together? Did he know about this?¡± Again, she waved her hand as a means to point out all the specifics of Yosefin¡¯s mutations.


    ¡°Yosefin,¡± I whispered out of earshot from Teagan. ¡°Let¡¯s go. You don¡¯t have to answer her.¡± I took out my hand for her to grab. She took it and walked with me after answering Teagan¡¯s question with a great response.


    ¡°Yes, and he doesn¡¯t care.¡±


    Yosefin decided I should be the one to drive home. I gladly accepted that response. After that shocking charades of inappropriate comments, it was best she stayed clear from her family. I drove half an hour in silence. Every few minutes or so, I would check to see if she was okay by looking at her body language. She never looked at me. Most of the time she looked out the window or had her eyes closed.


    ¡°Yosefin,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes?¡± She said, looking at me.


    ¡°Wanna get a shake?¡±


    ¡°I had too many sweets today. I don¡¯t wanna get any fatter.¡± We didn¡¯t speak again until some time later.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± All she gave me was a sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t let them get in your head.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard not to after all of that shit.¡± I raced to figure out how to leave her in high spirits. There were arcades, museums, and parks I saw on the way to the wedding we could visit. I asked if she wanted to go to one, but she declined.


    ¡°I can¡¯t bring you home like this.¡±


    ¡°You might have to.¡±


    More and more options left the table the closer we got home. I couldn¡¯t cheer her up with food, small talk, or staying quiet. There was one option I thought would piss her off if I tried to use it as a way to make her happy. I didn¡¯t ask it until I drove into her neighborhood.


    ¡°Would you like to use me as a means to rant?¡± I said. Her mouth shifted to the left side of her face for a second. She moved it down then to the right. When it came back to the middle, she tried not to smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    I didn¡¯t wait for an answer. The second I walked into her room, I stripped naked and waited on the bed. My boldness worked in the end. She locked the door, threw off her dress, slipped off her panties, and sat in my lap to make out. Her parents came home an hour later. They wanted to speak with her, but she told them off.


    ¡°Leave us alone,¡± Yosefin said.


    We stayed locked in the room for the entire evening and a few hours into the morning, feeding off snacks and sodas. Before I left, she asked if she could sleep over my house for the night. She didn¡¯t want to sleep by herself or be around her parents after the day she had. I brought her to my home without my family knowing until the next morning when we were making breakfast.


    ¡°Hello, Mr. McEwan,¡± Yosefin said. I had my back to them when my dad came through the door. My heart rate shot up. I thought he would ask why she was here. To make the matter more scary, she was wearing a tank top. Her tattoos were exposed.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± my dad said. ¡°What y¡¯all cooking?¡±


    ¡°Eggs, bacon, and against my better judgment, muffins.¡±


    ¡°Do you not like muffins?¡±


    ¡°She had some yesterday,¡± I said.


    ¡°Your son is going to make me fat at the end of this month.¡±


    I screamed in my head. Why would she say that?


    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t overeat what you usually eat, you¡¯ll be fine,¡± he said and walked off after making coffee.


    ¡°Ou! I wonder what he drinks?¡± She said. She opened the hatch of the coffee maker to see what pod my dad used. ¡°Yuck, mocha. Smells good though. Taste like dirt, unfortunately.¡±


    ¡°You seem happy now,¡± I said.


    ¡°I am,¡± she said, smirking. ¡°Thanks.¡± Her smirk didn¡¯t last long as I would like it. I didn¡¯t want to nag her with questions to make sure she was truly fine. If she needed me with anything, I was available twenty-four-seven.

 Confusion

    On my day off, Kaga surprised me with a phone call. She wanted to hang out in a place of my choosing. I intended to spend the day by myself, but if Yosefin wanted me or needed anything, I¡¯d answer the call.


    Kaga and I spent a few hours of the afternoon at her house, catching up on the last time we saw each other.


    ¡°How did things go with you and Yosefin?¡± Kaga said. ¡°I hope you two are still friends.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t judge me,¡± I said. ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s your girlfriend. Good.¡±


    ¡°Good?¡± I said after nearly choking on my spit I gulped.


    ¡°You heard me. It¡¯s good you¡¯re together.¡± I didn¡¯t understand what she meant until she broke it down layer by layer of what she saw in Yosefin and me. ¡°You guys were way too close to not be. What made you resist her?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t feel like I was a worthy pick,¡± I said.


    ¡°How did you become worth it in the end?¡±


    ¡°She,¡± I said, elongating the word to prepare myself for the truth. ¡°She reminded me of how much I adored her.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all it took?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it took a while.¡±


    ¡°I hope you are happy.¡± Happy was a weak word to describe. I felt at ease, content, glad, and filled with intense emotion for love. Never in my life would I think boring me could have a chance at getting a girlfriend.


    ¡°I am.¡±


    Later that day, I had urges to talk to Yosefin. I tried keeping my mind occupied by going through my gallery with tons of pictures of us. Unfortunately, it fueled the urges. I hid my phone under blankets to get away. The decision lasted a minute. I called.


    ¡°Hey, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about you. How was work?¡± I said. The first noise that came out of her mouth was a sigh followed by two sniffs. ¡°I¡¯m coming over.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°I was just about to come see you.¡±


    Yosefin came earlier than I expected. Either she was on the move or drove fast. She was wearing her uniform apron and cap. Her eyes, nose, and parts of her face were red. She wasn¡¯t wearing any piercings or makeup. I immediately took her by the hand to my room. Her grip was tight. She didn¡¯t let me go until we sat on the bed.


    ¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± I said.


    One hour after Yosefin finished working, she had a half-hour argument with Teagan over Yosefin¡¯s mutations. Teagan couldn¡¯t understand why Yosefin chose not to take medical steps to prevent her body from changing. Yosefin told her she wasn¡¯t sure how far the mutations would go. Her doctors didn¡¯t know what to say or do at the time during the years. She accepted her new appearance once she figured it wasn¡¯t bad. Teagan thought acceptance was a stupid decision. According to her absurd way of thinking, Yosefin should take all the offers from her personal and surgical doctors to remove all traces of the mutations. During those phases, she quoted how Yosefin was scared of what was happening to her. Then, she asked her if she had thoughts of living a life without them.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± I said.


    ¡°I did,¡± Yosefin said. ¡°Quite a lot.¡± Last year before I asked her, she wondered what would happen if she reverted to her original appearance. She shortened her hair in part because of it. It didn¡¯t disrupt her beautiful appearance to me, but it gave her a glimpse of what could be. ¡°Josh, I feel so conflicted.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be. Your cousin is tripping.¡±


    ¡°Is she?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said and took off her uniform. ¡°You made something beautiful out of your mutations. Look at your arms.¡± She gazed up and down, checking each tattoo on each arm. I pulled back on her pants where her ass crack was and said, ¡°Don¡¯t forget this one.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, cracking a smile. ¡°My thorny rose.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget your style and interests.¡± She began to blush. When I slapped her ass, her face got redder. I did it again but gripped it to pull her to me.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Jesus, Josh,¡± she said nearly laughing. Her smile wasn¡¯t big enough for my liking. I grabbed the other asscheek with my other hand. ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you?¡± The question came with laughter and hands lightly gripping my chest. She didn¡¯t give me a chance to explain myself. Her lips suddenly came to me. Once I got to say something, I didn¡¯t. ¡°I like how more touchy you¡¯re becoming.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said like it was a sigh. ¡°It can be so therapeutic when I¡¯m sad.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said then twirled my gaming chair with her knee. ¡°You should read Konishi Sanako¡¯s Passion and Etiquette book.¡±


    ¡°That white book?¡± I said once I recognized the name. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯ll make you more romantic,¡± she said, looking at me over her shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s a few chapters for guys you can read about.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll give it a read.¡±


    ¡°Awesome. Remind me this weekend to give it to you. I need some time to mentally cool off after what my cousin said.¡±


    Yosefin left after I made sure she was in good spirits. Days went by. I didn¡¯t see any alarming trouble when we were in class or at work. Once the weekend came, she handed me Konishi¡¯s book after I got out of work. I noticed extra colorful tabs were poking from the right side of the book.


    ¡°What do you got there?¡±


    ¡°Important parts,¡± Yosefin said, punching the letter P. ¡°As my boyfriend, you gotta learn some of these parts I highlighted.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better if I learned everything?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but these are my favorites.¡± I glimpsed through the pages without thoroughly reading the sentences. One highlighted paragraph caught my attention when I saw the words French kissing. I looked at her and the words several times before stopping on her.


    ¡°I see,¡± I said, holding in my smile. ¡°I will read it all and make sure I remember what you want me to know.¡±


    It took me a few hours to read the pages. The page that had French kissing gave a brief explanation of its history and how to use it properly in the modern world. There were sketches of a man and a woman performing the kiss. The book said it should be brief. One page after the French kissing chapter talked about where and when to use fragrance. Just like the chapter before, it had sketches. All of the highlighted tabs were mostly self-improvement to enhance my attraction.


    I headed to Yosefin¡¯s house to bring her book back. For the first time in months, someone else opened the door. Her father let me in. When I got close to the corner entrance of the hallway where her room was, I heard her voice through the door. I cracked the door open enough to push the book through.


    ¡°Josh?¡± Yosefin said.


    ¡°I finished the book,¡± I said, keeping my voice down. ¡°I just wanted to drop it off.¡± I put it on the corner of her desk and headed out.


    ¡°Josh... Wait! Come inside.¡± She opened the door with her foot. She had her phone against her hand and had her finger over her lips. ¡± Nein. Ich werde Sie nicht mit ihm sprechen lassen. (No. I¡¯m not going to let you speak with him.)¡± She continued talking for another minute. Halfway through, she became agitated. She held her forehead up with the knuckles of her right hand. Her eyes were shut and she kept scratching her eyebrow with her thumb. The longer the conversation went, the more she rubbed. Then she suddenly ended the call, jumped off her chair, and looked around with her phone cocked back behind her head.


    ¡°Whoa, whoa,¡± I said.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± She lightly threw the phone on the bed. ¡°I should have never answered!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    I didn¡¯t get my answer straight away. Yosefin was fuming over what Teagan told her. It took her over two minutes to settle down. Teagan double-downed on suggesting Yosefin should go get ¡°help.¡± The life Yosefin lived was too ¡°risky¡± and it ¡°wasn¡¯t normal¡± to be what she shouldn¡¯t be.


    ¡°Guess what she told me before I hung up?¡± Yosefin said.


    ¡°Something not good,¡± I said.


    ¡°You¡¯re not a woman. Stop living like one.¡± I couldn¡¯t believe my ears that someone would say something so rude. ¡°And the funny thing about that,¡± she said and paused. ¡°She¡¯s... right.¡±


    ¡°Yosefin... no...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± she said, weeping. She nearly broke down crying once the tears from her eyes fell down her face. ¡°It¡¯s true and you know it. I¡¯m not one. I thought what I did made sense.¡±


    ¡°It does. Don¡¯t listen to her. She doesn¡¯t understand your dilemma.¡±


    ¡°Yet, she¡¯s making sense. Josh, I could¡¯ve stopped.¡± She began to break down. ¡°I could¡¯ve stopped this. What the hell is wrong with me?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± I said, holding her waist from the front. My touch didn¡¯t alter her mood. I thought about shushing her but I feared she would get mad or cry more. An idea came when I glanced at the book on her desk. I remembered one of the highlighted areas she wanted to hear me say. It was a chapter of various nicknames I could call her. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with you, babe,¡± I said. She stopped like as if I shut off a feature within her mind. She gazed into my eyes and slightly tilted her head. ¡°She¡¯s screwing with your mind.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so confused. Have I been living my life all wrong?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I said, holding her drenched face in the palm of my hands. ¡°There is nothing wrong with what you¡¯ve done.¡± The tears kept coming. I directed her attention to the book in hopes it would get her mind off Tegan and her stupid thoughts. ¡°The book was good. And I like what you chose for me.¡±


    ¡°Did... did you read all the ones I highlighted?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°What do you think about them?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re useful. That French kissing was...¡± I walked away, putting my back to her to create suspense. ¡°That was...¡±


    ¡°Was what?¡± She pulled on my shirt and jumped in front of me.


    ¡°That was interesting. I like how you¡¯re teaching me new things.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, blushing. She tapped her index fingers together, looked at her right, and said, ¡°I want you to be the best man you can be.¡±


    ¡°Now I got to reciprocate.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± she said, blushing more as she smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve read enough books to know what a man wants.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re taking being my girlfriend seriously.¡± She snickered before tightly hugging my waist. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go do something nice.¡±


    ¡°Okay! Like what?¡±


    ¡°Drink some shakes.¡±


    ¡°You really want me fat.¡±

 Devils Advocate

    ¡°Alrighty class. Time for a group activity,¡± my professor said. He pointed at random people on the right side of the class to get into a group. ¡°You two,¡± he said to Misty and Shannon. ¡°Turn around to them.¡± Misty looked at Shannon before glancing over her shoulder to see Yosefin. They slowly turned towards each other to face us.


    ¡°Hello again,¡± Misty said, giving Yosefin and me an awkward wave. Shannon waved once and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we spoke.¡±


    ¡°We did?¡± Yosefin said.


    ¡°Well... we didn¡¯t speak. I asked if I could smell his cologne.¡±


    ¡°Oh... You still wanna smell him?¡± Misty looked scared. She nervously laughed and shook her head, no. ¡°I¡¯m just playing.¡± She leaned her face into my arm with the top of her nose pressing into it. ¡°She wants a whiff,¡± she said so quietly that I almost couldn¡¯t hear it.


    The professor instructed us to create a 3D model of one of the people in our groups. I chose Shannon as our model. She wanted to pick Yosefin. Misty agreed and gave us reasons why. She said Yosefin was the only person in our group who had tattoos, short hair, and a nose ring.


    ¡°Why not pick him,¡± Yosefin said, pointing her thumb at me. ¡°He¡¯s generic,¡± she said with a snicker. ¡°He¡¯ll be easy to create.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    ¡°But, I¡¯m not that good-looking compared to you.¡± She partly put her fingers over her mouth to cover her smile. I moved them away so I could see it. It ran away and hid in her mouth.


    ¡°I¡¯m not all that,¡± she said, looking down between us.


    ¡°Are you insane?¡± Shannon said. ¡°You are beautiful.¡±


    ¡°I second that,¡± Misty said with a raised hand. ¡°I¡¯ll say this if he hasn¡¯t said it. You¡¯re smoking hot!¡±


    Yosefin didn¡¯t have what I felt was a positive reaction. I thought she would smile or say something to acknowledge their compliments. She shrugged them off as if their words didn¡¯t mean a thing. I didn¡¯t see a genuine smile for the rest of the time we spent making a quick 3D render of her. During the second class day of the week, I saw the same thing plus an uncomfortable amount of silence. Shannon and Misty were actively speaking, whether it was to us or mumbling their thoughts as they worked. By the end of the period, we made a rough model of Yosefin.


    ¡°Good job team,¡± Misty said. ¡°We did pretty good making her.¡±


    ¡°I hope we get a good grade on it,¡± Shannon said. ¡°What do you think we¡¯ll get, Joshua?¡±


    ¡°An A,¡± I said and leaned in my chair. I looked at Yosefin when my knee accidentally touched her when I spread my legs apart. She was nibbling on her index fingernail without putting her teeth on it. ¡°Hey,¡± I said and touched her shoulder.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Yosefin said somewhat flinching.


    ¡°Your mind seems occupied.¡± She shrugged and took her finger out of her mouth.


    ¡°Busy day,¡± she said after sighing quickly. ¡°I¡¯m ready to go home now.¡±


    ¡°Tired?¡± Misty said. Yosefin nodded but looked at me before she did it. I took it as a sign of an underlying hidden message. When everyone started to leave, she kept me seated with her hand on my lap. After the last student walked out, she said, ¡°I need to rant. Can you come over after work?¡±


    ¡°I can,¡± I said.


    I worked my shift, had my usual snack with Yosefin, and drove to her house. We went straight to her room.


    ¡°I got a serious question,¡± Yosefin said. She stripped naked without warning or any foreplay and lay on the bed with her hands interlaced over her crotch. ¡°Don¡¯t get naked,¡± she said the second I went for the buckle of my belt.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Take a look at me.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said, looking straight at her face.


    ¡°My body, dude. Look at it.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I looked at her from head to toe three times. ¡°Am I supposed to be seeing something?¡±


    ¡°Are you into this body?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I blurted and said it again in a calmer voice.


    ¡°You heard me. How much are you into this?¡± It was a weird question. I couldn¡¯t tell if she was genuine or trying to arouse me with a new kind of foreplay.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Those girls think I¡¯m beautiful,¡± she said, sitting crisscross with her hands on her knees. ¡°Do you think they would say the same thing if I told them what I am?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said at first without giving myself a chance to think carefully about the right words.


    ¡°I thought so too...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they would keep their same opinions.¡±


    ¡°I doubt it.¡± The negativity about her image began to concern me a little bit. I thought she was about to go on a rant to trash her image of what people might think of her. Then she suddenly cracked a smirk. She chuckled and then sat on the edge of the bed, looking up at me with her eyes. ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question.¡±


    ¡°You know my answer.¡±


    ¡°Then say it to me.¡± Instead of using words, I removed my pants and underwear to give physical evidence of how much I was. It took a few seconds for the example to get its point across. I was too stressed by what she said before to speed things up.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°Is that good enough?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I also want to see something else. I wanted you here so I could see your reaction too.¡±


    ¡°Reaction to what?¡±


    ¡°The way you interact with me. I just wanted to see how much you¡¯re into me.¡± I got a gut-wrenching feeling something was off. We both knew I adored her. I had enough examples she could reference yet she asked if I was interacting with her for the first time.


    ¡°What is eating at you this time?¡± I said and sat with her shoulder to shoulder. ¡°Did they say something to you?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she said, laying her head on my shoulder. ¡°I can¡¯t stop thinking what Teagan said to me.¡± She rubbed the hair on my chest while she spoke. ¡°It¡¯s eating at me like a nagging itch.¡± There were no other points of view I could say other than that she should ignore her cousin¡¯s statements, period. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I try?¡± I didn¡¯t have a good explanation. She kept rubbing my chest as she blindly stared at it. It lasted for a few seconds until I asked why she kept touching me. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten hairy.¡±


    ¡°I have?¡±


    ¡°And, you¡¯re growing facial hair. When did that start?¡±


    ¡°A few days after I asked you out.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± she snickered. ¡°That¡¯s so weird, dude. Sounds like you became more manly when you asked me out.¡±


    ¡°That sounds silly.¡±


    ¡°It does,¡± she said and laughed with me. ¡°You look even more handsome with that stubble.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to grow it out?¡±


    Instead of a simple answer, she caressed my jaw and sat up to make out with me. She threw me on my back without letting her lips break away. Her thighs gripped my waist as she lay on top of me. Her boobs pressed and rubbed my chest the more she got feisty. We kissed until we had to catch our breath. She backed away and cleaned the saliva from our mouths with a blanket.


    ¡°That was hot,¡± I said.


    ¡°I can make it hotter,¡± she said moments before sticking her tongue in my mouth. At first, she caught me by surprise. Her tongue was warm and wet. My erection peaked enough to start hurting from her sitting on my crotch. She wouldn¡¯t let up. We went on for a few more seconds before she backed up. ¡°Now that was smoking hot,¡± she said. My head was spinning and my eyes were fidgeting from how aroused I was. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you agree, Joshy?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said in a grunt.


    ¡°And it feels like you¡¯re ready for more fun.¡± She wiggled her ass to give me a hint. ¡°What do you say? I¡¯ll put it in for you.¡± She reached behind her and pushed my crotch between her cheeks. For the life of me, I couldn¡¯t say yes. The more she waited, the faster her smile went away. ¡°Seriously?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting close. Just bear with me a little longer, okay?¡±


    ¡°Take your time,¡± she said and laid me down on my back to get on top.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, hugging her tighter against me. ¡°Thanks for understanding.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said softly. I bearly heard those words.


    After we spent some time napping, I woke up in a panic from the sound of her bedroom door closing. I immediately pull the cover over my face.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Yosefin said. ¡°It¡¯s just me. I got hungry.¡± She sat on her side of the bed without locking the door. ¡°I brought some snacks.¡± In her left hand, there was a bag of jelly beans. ¡°Do you want some?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Instead of handing me the beg, she grabbed one jelly bean and put it near my mouth. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Just this once.¡± Once I got my mouth open, she dropped it in. ¡°Okay, okay. I lied. I didn¡¯t think it would be this cute to feed you.¡± As she was about to feed me another, I remembered she had an issue earlier on that we didn¡¯t get to fully flesh out.


    ¡°Hey,¡± I said, eating the jelly bean. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me exactly what was bothering you.¡± Her mouth scrunched up. She grabbed another jelly bean and put it near my mouth. ¡°Is it something specifically about your body?¡± The bean fell out of her hand moments after I asked the question. The two fingers that held it kept their position. She picked it up, wiped it on her chest, and ate it slowly.


    ¡°What would our life be if you saw me not like this?¡± She said then further explained her question when she saw me tilt my head. ¡°If my mutations didn¡¯t happen, what would our relationship be like?¡± I had to think hard about that question. One of the main reasons we were in the relationship we had was because of her drive to make me like her, her mutated appearance, and her personality. If we didn¡¯t have a strong connection from the get-go, I possibly would be in a bad relationship with Kat with a kid.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say,¡± I said.


    ¡°Is it?¡±


    ¡°You would be in a different place if nothing happened. I think your life would be less...¡±


    ¡°Depressing?¡± I nodded. ¡°Would we be friends?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡±


    ¡°Why do you say that?¡± I tried my best to break it down and give her the big picture of what her life could be. Having friends would be the biggest change. She wouldn¡¯t have much social anxiety. Her personality would be different. She agreed but asked again what we would be.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s impossible to answer.¡±


    ¡°What about if I turned back right now? What would you do?¡±


    ¡°Be upset.¡± My response left her stunned. She was about to grab another jelly bean when I answered. Her hand stayed in the bag for five seconds before she took it empty-handed.


    ¡°Oh... you wouldn¡¯t be happy for me?¡±


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t like the idea of turning back.¡±


    ¡°I,¡± she said, looking off for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m just curious what you would do if I looked more like you,¡± she said and touched my chest. ¡°Would you,¡± she said and bit the corner of her lip. ¡°Still want me?¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to honestly answer that? You should know my answer.¡±


    ¡°Can you stop suggesting I should know? Just tell me.¡±


    ¡°I love the way you look right now.¡±


    ¡°Would you break up with me?¡± That question rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like the time we spent together was enough to show her where my comfort was.


    ¡°I¡¯m not answering that,¡± I said and turned my back to her.


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Because you know the answer.¡±


    ¡°But, I don¡¯t!¡± Before I could answer, her phone beeped three times at different intervals. ¡°Damn... I gotta go.¡±


    ¡°Where to?¡±


    ¡°Doctor¡¯s appointment.¡± She threw on some clothes and quickly brushed her teeth before coming back to me. ¡°Can we finish this conversation later?¡± I didn¡¯t want to but I agreed to it since she was in a hurry. ¡°Cool. Talk to you later.¡±


    Yosefin left me confused and worried about what was going on in her head. Once I put on my clothes, I went home unhappy with our time together. Two hours later, she sent me a text message asking if I could come back. I didn¡¯t feel like driving back there so I told her if she wanted to, she could come to my place. She arrived at my place sometime after leaving the doctor¡¯s office.


    ¡°I have something to show you,¡± Yosefin said after I let her in. She carried an envelope under her right armpit. She didn¡¯t open it until we were in my room. ¡°Take a look at these and tell me what you think.¡±


    Inside the envelope were three stitched A.I. photographs of Yosefin as herself and as a man. The first set had her current age but with longer hair. She had her nose ring and earrings on. Her male counterpart almost looked identical to her. He had shorter hair with a shaved face. The second set aged her five extra years. Both of their hair were cut short but he had his beard cut low to the skin. The last stitched photograph pushed her likeness past the age of thirty-five. She looked so stunning and mature. Her lips were slightly blackened. She had loop-style earrings instead of the dangling ones I normally saw. The counterpart had chin stubble, stud earrings, and the usual nose rings she wore.


    ¡°Yose¡¯s sister is pretty hot,¡± I said. ¡°I wonder if he¡¯ll give me her number.¡±


    ¡°Josh,¡± she said nearly laughing. She hid her smile with her hand and said, ¡°Let¡¯s be serious. What do you think of how I am supposed to be?¡±


    ¡°Well...¡± I had a tough time focusing on her male image. It felt wrong to imagine her like that. ¡°It¡¯s weird to see you like this.¡±


    ¡°Right?¡± She laughed. ¡°I look so good!¡± I tried to make sure I seemed happy. But, the more I watched her drool over her male A.I. look alike, it worried me that she would want to become it.


    ¡°Why¡¯d you go visit your doctor?¡± I said.


    ¡°To see what I¡¯d look like without my mutations,¡± she said, holding the first word longer than the rest. I took her answer despite wanting to pressure her for a better reason than curiosity. I didn¡¯t want to ruin the mood.


    ¡°Is that all? Should I be worried about anything else?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Are you sick?¡±


    ¡°Josh,¡± she said, giggling through her nose. She hugged me and said, ¡°I¡¯m fine. You don¡¯t need to worry about anything. I¡¯m good.¡±


    Yosefin¡¯s reassurance didn¡¯t help distract me from worrying. Doctors are meant to help the body, not create photographs. Whoever she went to, she didn¡¯t want me to know.

 Family Pressure

    ¡°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.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°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¡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.

 Conflicted

    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.


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    ¡°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 w¨¹rde.¡± (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¡ª¡±


    ¡°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.¡±

 Lab Rat

    I spent the night at Yosefin¡¯s house after she invited me inside to do what I wanted. Just like before, she stood naked for me to gaze at. But, there were some special changes. I couldn¡¯t look at her while I was clothed. She presented herself as normal. Every inch of her body was thoroughly viewed. She gave me more than what I wanted. She tried to mimic dancing erotically from an old 80s movie she saw years ago. We couldn¡¯t hold in our laughter from how badly she performed. She gave up and tried twerking. It wasn¡¯t good but the cutest thing I had seen her do. The jiggle of her ass was enough for me to enjoy.


    At the end of our unfiltered fun, we did our usual intimate closing before bed. I slept feeling optimistic about where Yosefin¡¯s mind was. Things began to feel normal. I felt like if I could keep her focusing on me and any fun intimate things we love, she could forget the troubles fucking with her mind, or at least see there was nothing wrong with the way she looked.


    The next day on a Monday morning, I woke up with her frantically rubbing my arm. I heard another voice in the room, but it came through the wall. The more I woke up, the voice became clear. It was her father. I sat up and looked around to see if he was in the room. He was on the other side of the bedroom, knocking loudly.


    ¡°Wake up,¡± Yosefin¡¯s father said several times. ¡°Hello? Can anyone hear me?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re up!¡± I said. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Your car is blocking his truck,¡± Yosefin said moments before her father said it too. I put on the bare minimum of clothing before opening the door. Nothing but my pants were on. I greeted him at the door with it cracked open and then rushed to back my car out of the way so he could head to work. When I came back to her room, she was under the blankets. Only the top of her nose upward was visible.


    ¡°Hiding?¡± I said, locking the door behind then stripping naked.


    ¡°It¡¯s six in the morning, Josh,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m naked and I¡¯m tired. We got class in a few hours.¡±


    ¡°Shit! I forgot.¡±


    ¡°Me too. Are you coming to bed?¡±


    We had two hours and thirty minutes left to catch some Zs. I went back to sleep for the remainder of what we had left. Her phone woke us up. It took two snoozes to get her out of bed. I was up, but stayed in bed, watching her routine. She tossed the clothing she wanted to wear on the bed. It was a plain pink shirt with white athletic shorts. She turned on her computer and went to her nightstand to throw a pair of old-looking black socks with the clothing. They were cut low below the ankle and came up behind the heel area.


    ¡°Are you gonna go home and get ready?¡± She said.


    ¡°Eventually,¡± I said while admiring her naked body. ¡°I just need a few more minutes to wake up.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll see you later then. I¡¯m gonna hop in the shower.¡±


    ¡°Not without giving me a kiss,¡± I said once she turned her back to me. She crawled on the bed and laid on top of me. I got more than one kiss. She made out with me and then rolled off to her side of the bed.


    ¡°Go before you get there late. We have a test today.¡± The excitement I got from those kisses left me in a state of wanting to play with her. I rushed over to the foot of the bed to give her a tender backhand to the ass. ¡°Dude!¡± She laughed. ¡°What was that for?¡±


    ¡°Can we shower together?¡±


    ¡°Josh,¡± she sighed yet grinned afterward. ¡°No. Go home.¡± I didn¡¯t want to push her buttons even though she turned her head and smiled before going into the bathroom. ¡°Leave!¡±


    ¡°Kay! I¡¯ll see you later!¡±


    Yosefin came at her usual time of being five minutes early for class. Misty was in Yosefin¡¯s seat. We were going over some issues she wanted to make sure she understood. She got it down just before Yosefin shooed her away.


    ¡°Y¡¯all got this,¡± I said. They wished me good luck. Yosefin whispered in my ear, asking me when did I became friendly with them. ¡°Yesterday, I guess,¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Mkay.¡± She hawked them like she was trying to check them out. It looked mischievous and scandalous, yet quite adorable. The last time she looked at a woman with caution was after I told her I kissed Kat.


    ¡°Ready for the test?¡± I said and poked her thigh to break her attention. ¡°Do you need any last minute help?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good. I know what I¡¯m doing,¡± she said, projecting her voice to Misty and Shannon. ¡°If one of us finishes, wait outside,¡± she said softly to me.


    An hour passed. Fortunately, we both finished about a minute from each other. She was the first out of the entire class to finish. I saw her standing near the open lounge in the middle of three hallways, scrolling through her phone. She didn¡¯t take her eyes off it even after I said hello. I peeked over her shoulder to get a glance. There were images of various women of different races in matching stylized underwear. The price fluctuated between twenty and fifty dollars. One image was eighty dollars and blurred out.


    ¡°Dude, what the hell are you looking at?¡± I said.


    ¡°Have you never seen lingerie before?¡± She said with a smirk.


    ¡°Oh!¡± I bopped my forehead after realizing it. ¡°Why are you looking at it?¡±


    ¡°Just window shopping,¡± she said and shoved her phone into her little waist purse. ¡°Anyways, do you have any other tests?¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯m free till work. You?¡±


    ¡°Same,¡± she said and looked down the hall to my right with a big smile on her face. ¡°Hey.¡± Her smile grew and broke into soft laughter. She tilted her head in my direction, followed by her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna sound boring, but wanna chill at my place before we work?¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°How would that sound boring?¡±


    ¡°Because we do it consistently.¡± That was true. It was either her house or my house. We were three months into the new year and we only went out twice. ¡°I rather go out but I¡¯m not in the mood. So, you heading there or not?¡± I thought about her offer. If I went right away, it would be less than two hours of spending time together. Two hours didn¡¯t sound enough for me. I¡¯d rather spend time after work. Since we worked part-time, we could have more time together and repeat what we did before we came to class.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come after work,¡± I said. ¡°More quality time right?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good!¡±


    Work was unusually hectic. The store I worked in had a spike in sales for a certain company¡¯s retro games. People from all over the state and some out of state came to the store to buy them up. My coworker and I had to deal with them thirty minutes after my shift ended. I was pissed. I left my coworkers to handle the mess. Yosefin sat alone at our table, sipping on her drink while messing with her phone. She bought our usual meal ten minutes before I got out.


    ¡°Busy, ja?¡± She said still looking at her phone. ¡°I thought you would never come out.¡±


    ¡°Sorry for keeping you waiting,¡± I said. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to wait for me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all good,¡± she said, putting her phone into her pocket. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to break tradition again.¡± Her commitment to stay made me smile. ¡°So,¡± she said, stretching the word.


    She didn¡¯t have to say anything else. I said I would race her to her house while going the speed limit. She drove behind me all the way there. Her mother and father were in the living room watching TV. She paid them no mind. I couldn¡¯t ignore them entirely. I said hello and gave them a quick wave. The only acknowledgment I got was from her mother. Her father just looked at me. His stare made me give him a double take.


    ¡°Yes?¡± I said.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± He said.


    ¡°She,¡± I said and paused, pointing down the hallway. ¡°Wanted me to come.¡±


    ¡°How long are you staying?¡± I felt like I was being put on the spot. My mind wanted to tell him I would leave when I felt like it, but I couldn¡¯t articulate it. Luckily, Yosefin spoke for me.


    ¡°Until he wants to leave,¡± Yosefin said and then emphasized her statement with a clarification. ¡°Will there be a problem?¡±


    ¡°We need to talk,¡± he said and looked at me for a split second. ¡°In private.¡±


    ¡°Why did you look at him like that?¡±


    ¡°Yosefin,¡± he said through his teeth. The tension between them began to make me uncomfortable. She stood, waiting for an answer with her hands gripping the shorts on her hips. ¡°Your doctor called back. He¡¯ll see you Friday.¡± I could see the stern look on her face slowly receding. Her shoulders dropped before the arms came to her side.


    ¡°Oh... Okay... Umm...¡± She turned around with her hands clasped over her crotch. ¡°Let¡¯s head into my room,¡± she said and lightly held my fingers. I walked with her. Once we got in the room, she immediately shut and locked the door. ¡°Schei?e! Jetzt wei? er es. (Fuck! Now he knows.¡°)


    ¡°That didn¡¯t sound good,¡± I said. ¡°You okay? Is there something wrong with your health?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she said and slowly turned around with her head down. Her hands went back to her crotch.


    ¡°So, what is it?¡±


    ¡°I,¡± she stuttered, twirling her thumbs. ¡°I¡¯m going to get checked.¡±


    ¡°On what?¡±


    She kept beating around the bush. The moment I told her I had given up trying to figure out what her doctor wanted, she decided to be honest. I asked her to be blunt with me. All of the evasiveness turned out to be something absolutely shocking. My heart felt like it stopped when she told me the Friday appointment her father mentioned was for a pre-examination before constructive surgery. She didn¡¯t need to tell me anything further, but she did it anyway. All I could think about was what she told me about the possibilities of reverting her mutations.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m just curious to hear what he¡¯ll say to me,¡± she said.


    ¡°I thought you were bothered by the process of changing,¡± I said.


    ¡°I was,¡± she said with her arms crossed. ¡°It kinda still does.¡±


    ¡°So, why are you going?¡± My voice cracked from how agitated I got.


    ¡°Calm down, dude,¡± she said calmly. She interlocked her fingers through my hand and put them near her breasts. ¡°I¡¯m not going to do anything.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not?¡± I said, softening my voice to her volume.


    ¡°Just looking,¡± she whispered while making me press her boobs inward. ¡°And listening.¡± She tossed her hat on her desk without breaking eye contact with me. The apron came off the same way. When she unbuttoned her jeans, I put my arms down to unbutton mine. ¡°I¡¯ll race you!¡±


    I didn¡¯t move as fast. I was trying to digest my head around what I heard. When she got down to her bra and underwear, she walked backward to the bathroom, signaling me to come with slow finger curls. Two conflicting decisions were fighting in my head. I didn¡¯t want to join her, yet I couldn¡¯t resist the urge to please her. Once I saw the bra unbuckle the second she moved out of view, I got naked and went inside without her noticing.


    ¡°Joshy, you don¡¯t mind... coming in?¡± She said quietly when she messed with the shower¡¯s turning handle. ¡°Joshy? Can you hear me?¡± She said a bit louder and then looked over her left shoulder. ¡°Looks like that answers my question.¡±


    **


    I stayed the night again and went through the same sequence of events, minus Yosefin¡¯s father waking us up. Unlike the day before when it came to admiring her beauty and her morning routine, I had a hard time enjoying what I saw. All I could think about was if she was serious about her doctor¡¯s visit. At a glance, she looked happy. The problem I had was I couldn¡¯t truly tell if she was. Last night when we showered together for the second time, she showed no signs I considered hesitant or questionable. She was like her usual self. Loving, intimate, horny, and a goofball. How long would it last? If she went through with what I feared, how long would we last as a couple? The problems she thought were an issue about herself stemmed from a rude bitch and an unsupportive father who made her feel underappreciated.


    My sulking thoughts caught her attention once I realized she asked why I looked sad. I didn¡¯t want to make her worry, so I said something gross to throw her off.


    ¡°Do roaches like to bathe?¡± I said.


    ¡°What?¡± She said. ¡°Ew!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯d probably drown.¡±


    ¡°God, I hope so,¡± she said and laid on her back. ¡°They make my skin crawl,¡± she said, holding herself with arms crossed over her chest. My diversion seemed to work. She didn¡¯t pursue me with questions or say anything for ten seconds. ¡°Josh...¡± I grunted to let her know I was listening. ¡°I know you¡¯re worried.¡±


    ¡°Worried is an understatement,¡± I said and sat up crisscrossed. She sat up too but laid on her left side with her right leg crossed over. ¡°I¡¯m more concerned with what you might do.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°After everything you told me about what you went through, and to hear that you don¡¯t like your image...¡± The words I wanted to express were hard to form. I gave up after I failed to find the words to describe what worried me.


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m wrong that I might want to look normal?¡± Before I could tell her that she was normal, she said the second I opened my mouth, ¡°Stop! I do not want to hear it!¡±


    ¡°But, it¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Others will say different.¡±


    ¡°Who the hell cares!¡±


    ¡°I do!¡± She said, pointing at herself. ¡°I do!¡± Her finger jabbed her chest several times. It was hard enough to leave a red mark. ¡°I¡¯m going to see what my doctor can do to me. That¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    One visit turned into many visits. One doctor wasn¡¯t enough to satisfy Yosefin. She went the extra mile and became their lab rat. They took her blood to study it. She let them X-ray and use an ultrasound to view her reproductive organs. Her visits were weekly. It took valuable time I wanted to have with her. I felt like the end was near and at any moment I would find out she accepted to be something she wasn¡¯t meant to be.


    One month later while I was heading back from getting groceries for dinner, Yosefin called me. Her voice sounded shaky. I could tell she was smiling by how pitched up her voice was.


    ¡°Hey, Josh,¡± she said as if it was a sigh. ¡°Are you busy at the moment?¡± My stomach turned as I prepared for the worst.


    ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m about to do it.¡±

 New Beginning

    My lips were trembling. I felt like I was about to have a panic attack. I couldn¡¯t believe it after all the attempts I tried to prevent failed. The peer pressure got to Yosefin. She was in the parking lot near the hospital when she called. Her doctor somehow found a way to reverse her mutations. The first phase of her medications involved injections that would attempt to rewrite her mutated DNA. If it became successful, she could sound different or look like her male counterpart. The next phase, if she chose, would be surgery. She didn¡¯t expound on the details but I knew the dramatic changes that might occur.


    ¡°You¡¯re really doing this?¡± I said, trying to keep myself together.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m so nervous that I can¡¯t stop smiling.¡± The fact she had a smile on her face pissed me off.


    ¡°Why... why would you do this?¡±


    ¡°Dude... you know why.¡±


    ¡°I know they¡¯re for stupid reasons,¡± I said, raising my voice. ¡°Come on, Yosefin. Don¡¯t do this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a building away from fixing myself,¡± she said like she was forcing her words through her teeth. She was silent yet understandable. It sounded like white noise mixed with the sound of crashing waves.


    ¡°To fix what¡¯s not broken.¡±


    ¡°Josh,¡± she said and went silent for a second. ¡°I¡¯m not going to argue with you.¡±


    ¡°Well, I am!¡± I argued with her as I drove home. We kept going on even after I put the groceries away. My parents were in the kitchen when they heard us talking. I had to walk down the neighborhood street to get some privacy.


    ¡°Bro! You¡¯re gonna make me late!¡±


    ¡°Good!¡± I said, screaming. I pulled the muscles inside of my neck from how loud I spoke.


    ¡°What the hell is wrong with you?¡± She said with her voice down. ¡°You¡¯re my boyfriend. You should be supporting me.¡± I nearly spiked my phone once I heard her say that stupid shit.


    ¡°I have.¡±


    ¡°Fucking when?¡±


    ¡°Ever since you began to question yourself.¡± She began to fumble and stutter on what to say. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to make you see there was nothing wrong with you.¡±


    ¡°You just don¡¯t want me to be what I am supposed to look like!¡±


    Her statement hit me hard. She revealed a part I didn¡¯t openly admit. I didn¡¯t want her appearance to change. It took me a while to come to terms with the fact of what she was. If her look switched, she might be happy, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to look at her the same way.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to look like that.¡± She was still aggravated. She asked me why I didn¡¯t want her to change despite knowing the truth. I reminded her for the last time how special she was and the drama we went through that got to the point of being in a relationship. ¡°You were fine before your cousin opened her mouth,¡± I said.


    ¡°But... my father, Josh,¡± she said, softening her voice.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t stop you from pursuing me,¡± I said then added, ¡°He didn¡¯t stop you from becoming what I got to love.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll... never let this go if I don¡¯t do something.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± We went silent. I could hear her sniffing the mucus back into her nose. ¡°Go in and do it,Yose. Goodbye.¡±


    The second I hung up, she said my name. Only the first two letters came through. I shut off my phone so I wouldn¡¯t see her call me. The heartbreak and anger I felt battled with each other. I had to do something new to keep my mind off of her. I went to my room, looking for anything and everything to distract me. When I looked around the foot of my bed, I saw my skateboard. The last time I used it was when Yosefin and I skated at the park. Vanessa came into my room right before I was about to leave with the board.


    ¡°Is everything okay with you and Yosefin?¡± Vanessa said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be home before dark,¡± I said and left.


    I drove to Maple Gardens without saying a word and no music playing inside of my car. The only few noises that filled my ears were the sounds of the tires rolling over concrete. Once I pulled into the park, the sounds of people skating came through my car. The sound amplified when I opened the door. There were tons of people out chilling, eating, lollygagging, and skating within the rink. I jumped in the rink without warming up.


    I kept my mind occupied for hours, skating as long as I could. The temperature that morning wasn¡¯t hot, yet the cloudless sky made the sun slowly cook my skin. It turned the skin on my forearm pink. A few grades darker and I would have gotten sunburned. Luckily, the park had benches with umbrellas over them, and vending machines around. I ate a small snack, drank a bottle of cold electrolights to cool off, and then sat in silence. The people around me acted like my only source of distractions. I refused to open my phone because I didn¡¯t want to be tempted to speak with Yosefin.


    ¡°Let it go,¡± I said out loud to myself over and over. ¡°She made her choice,¡± I said and looked straight ahead. Sitting on a bench without a parcel a few yards ahead was Yosefin. She had her head down into her hands. I could tell she was crying by the way her body kept shaking after she breathed in. The worry within me made me jog over to her without a second thought. ¡°Hey,¡± I said the moment I sat next to her.


    ¡°Josh?!¡± She said, looking at me with tear-filled eyes.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Her tears poured out like spilling water from a cup when she blinked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it,¡± she wept in a shakey voice. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do it!¡± I embraced her instead of asking her to clarify. She bawled loudly. Some people stared and came to see if she was okay. We had to move to the parking lot to get some privacy. ¡°I couldn¡¯t go through it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to disappoint you,¡± she said on the verge of crying again. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to lose you to some stupid shit I created!¡± Suddenly, she screamed, ¡°What the fuck is wrong with me?¡±


    ¡°Settle down,¡± I said, massaging her upper arms. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°You said my name before you hung up,¡± she wept with a turbulent frown.


    ¡°Yosefin?¡± Her frown got bigger and kept shaking.


    ¡°You called me Yose before you hung up. Why?¡±


    ¡°I thought that was what you wanted to become again.¡± She cried some more but remained quiet. The more she cried, the more she had to use her arms to clear them up. I took off my shirt and gave it to her to use.


    ¡°I regret listening to them,¡± she said with her face in my shirt.


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°The doctors! My cousin! My dad!¡± Each sentence got louder than the one before it. When she mentioned her dad, she shouted his name. ¡°Josh,¡± she said, laying the side of her face on my chest. Her face was hot and sweaty. I said we should get in my car to cool off, but she didn¡¯t want to at the moment. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for all the bullshit I said and caused.¡±


    ¡°You are a tough woman to be with,¡± I said and kissed the top of her head. ¡°What am I going to do with you?¡± She looked up at me with a worried face. Both of her eyebrows pushed inward and went inverted.


    ¡°If I were you and went through the shit you¡¯ve endured, I would find someone less problematic.¡± The suggestion to break up was something I thought about until she told me she didn¡¯t want to change. ¡°You truly deserve someone better than this emotional wreck.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to break up?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she said, quivering her lips. ¡°Do you?¡±


    ¡°I thought about it when you sought to change yourself.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± she said after letting her tears flow. ¡°I was so focused on myself that I didn¡¯t think how this would affect you.¡±


    It was good to hear Yosefin recognize my worry. I sighed with relief at the thought of the nightmare coming to an end. Later that day, she came over to my house without warning at night with two sleeping bags. She looked drained. Her face was pink, and her eyes were a bit red. My father was behind me when I opened the door. She asked my dad if she could move in after she mentioned having a big argument with her father. The details of what went down she kept herself until she and I were alone. She promised to give my parents a monthly deposit to avoid any financial expenses due to her presence. My dad didn¡¯t verbally agree. He waved his hand inward and went upstairs to his room.


    Yosefin and I organized the stuff she brought inside the guest room. She brought more than two sleeping bags. Half of her room came with her. She brought her PC, clothes, shoes, blankets, pillows, and surprisingly the dildo from her bedside. One item I didn¡¯t see was her gaming chairs. When I mentioned them, she said she was in a rush to get out. The chair required special tools to be disassembled. I offered her one of the dining chairs from downstairs to use, but she declined. She intended to get both of them the next day and asked if I wanted to come and help.


    ¡°I could use my dad¡¯s pickup to take them whole,¡± I said.


    ¡°Will he allow that?¡± Yosefin said cautiously if she was scared to speak at a normal volume. ¡°I don¡¯t want to cause problems.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good.¡±


    The next day, we took my dad¡¯s truck after Yosefin insisted she ask for his permission to take it to her home to pick up the chairs. I backed the truck down the driveway and parked it. Her father met her at the door before she could open it. He didn¡¯t say anything. They looked at each other for a moment then she offered her hand to me.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± she said. I took her hand. She interlocked her fingers between mine once I got in. ¡°I just remembered I need to get some other things,¡± she said softly with her head tucked down. ¡°Go ahead and take the chairs out.¡± She went straight to her bathroom. I grabbed the closest chair and rolled it out of the room. Her mother stopped me from heading back and asked if she could have a word with me.


    ¡°Is she moving in with you?¡± Her mother said quietly.


    ¡°She¡¯s moving in with my family,¡± I said.


    ¡°For how long?¡± I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°I apologize for all that¡¯s happening and what my husband did.¡± Her apology left me confused. She didn¡¯t do anything to cause all the turmoil Yosefin and I went through. I¡¯d rather hear from Yosefin¡¯s father¡¯s lips.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I said not knowing what else to say at the moment. ¡°My family doesn¡¯t mind taking her in.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± she said and sighed. Her husband came around the corner and all hell broke loose. ¡°Look at what you did! She¡¯s leaving because of your unacceptance!¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    I step inside Yosefin¡¯s room to get away from them. Their voices echoed within the hallway. Yosefin listened from her bathroom as they argued over her body image. She shook her head several times and kept soothing her lips. Her parents argued over the correctness of her mutated body. I heard the same talking points from her father she spoke about. Every time he talked about her, he used the words, ¡°he, him, his, Yose.¡± Her mother didn¡¯t use those words.


    ¡°See what it is like?¡± Yosefin said and then grabbed the second chair. ¡°I can¡¯t be here anymore. My existence has become an issue.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go home,¡± I said and took the chair from her. ¡°It¡¯ll never be an issue there or anywhere when I¡¯m around.¡± When I turned my back, she hugged me from behind and pulled herself into me. Her arms squeezed my stomach and chest.


    ¡°I love you,¡± she said. The volume was quiet yet louder than her parents. It sent chills up my neck and down my back.


    ¡°I love you too.¡±


    She turned me around to kiss my lips. One wasn¡¯t enough for us. We made out while her parents continued to yell at each other. Their voices began to fade out the more I focused on her. They got quiet to the point that they made me check over my shoulder. I thought they were looking at us. Fortunately, that wasn¡¯t the case.


    We left with the last chair and a bag of other items while her parents were still arguing. I lifted the chairs in the bed of the truck and took off. Yosefin never looked back. She sat tall, eyes forward, hands in her lap, and bobbed her head to the alternative rock on the radio. The only time she looked back was when she wanted to check her chairs. I had to drive slowly to keep them from rolling around. By the time she did, we were home.


    ¡°Bro,¡± Yosefin said. ¡°We should do something nice tonight.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡±


    ¡°Let me think.¡± After we got her chairs in her room, she didn¡¯t have an answer. She organized the things she brought in and had nothing to say about what she wanted to do. I thought she had forgotten until she took out a baby blue dress from the wardrobe. ¡°Let¡¯s go out to dinner.¡± She said and put the dress on the bed.


    ¡°Dinner?¡± I said, rubbing the fabric on the dress. It felt coarse yet the inside was soft. There were miniature white floral patterns throughout it. The waistline had a matching strap and the skirt had vertical creases all around it. ¡°This looks pretty.¡±


    ¡°It was cheap. I had it when I had blonde hair. It might not look good on me now.¡± She looked stunning when I imagined what she could look like. I pictured her with the dark red lips, makeup, earrings, and high heels.


    ¡°The way I see it, I think you will look stunning.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should dress me up,¡± she said, holding me from the side. ¡°Ja?¡±


    ¡°Ja.¡±


    At six o¡¯clock, I put my image on Yosefin. She improved upon what I imagined. Instead of dark red lips, she made them pink and glossy. She put on an artificial blush, darkened her lashes, and put on white high heels that elevated her height to be level with the bridge of my nose. I felt underdressed. All I had on was a nice collar shirt and a pair of navy blue jeans.


    ¡°Looking great, babe,¡± I said.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± she said, hiding her smile with her hands for a short moment. ¡°You should call me more by that name.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll add it to my New Year¡¯s resolution.¡± She shook her head as if I said something wrong yet it made her grin.


    ¡°God, you are so adorable,¡± she whispered with her fingers gently clawing my chest. ¡°After we eat, I need to rant about something to you.¡± Her touch got softer. She circled her index finger on my left nipple.


    ¡°Is it something bad?¡± I said, speaking to match her calming erotic voice.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said and bit the corner of her lip. I got an erection from thinking about what could happen once we got back. My jeans didn¡¯t have enough room to comfortably compress it. It hurt the more I flexed. I had to press it down so it wouldn¡¯t lift against the fabric. ¡°Settle down,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ll let it free later.¡± Her words didn¡¯t help the situation. After we took some quick pictures, I had to walk as relaxed as I could to the car to soften the erection.


    ¡°I should¡¯ve worn shorts.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about that. You¡¯ve made me so happy and excited.¡±


    ¡°Excited? Are you horny?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she said, rolling her eyes. ¡°But, tonight will be special. You¡¯re gonna get an award for loving me.¡±


    ¡°A reward?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said after giggling. ¡°You¡¯ve saved me.¡± Her smile went away. ¡°You know that right?¡± I turned my head away but kept direct eye contact. ¡°What?¡± She snickered. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. It¡¯s true.¡± She pointed forward to direct me to drive. Once I got out to the highway, she spoke about what she meant by I saved her. ¡°I could have been a jealous bitch if you dated Naomi.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°And I could have turned myself into a fucking dude if it weren¡¯t for you saying my name. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Now I got to thank you,¡± I said nearly choking on my words.


    We were lucky we kept steering back to each other. I could have unfriended her after she told me who she was. I could have been in a terrible sexual relationship with Kat if it weren¡¯t for Yosefin showing how stupid I was. If it weren¡¯t for her jealousy towards Naomi, I wouldn¡¯t realized I had the best girlfriend since the beginning. And lastly, if I didn¡¯t say her true name, we would be no more. After all the mess and drama we went through, I was glad it flourished into a special connection.


    ¡°Hey,¡± she said and held my hand that was resting on the center arm console. ¡°If I ever go crazy again, promise you¡¯ll slap some sense into me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re nuts,¡± I said and chuckled at the image of doing such a terrible thing. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°I hope so.¡±


    ¡°You will,¡± I said and jiggled her upper thigh. She pulled my hand back to it when I pulled away. I kept it there and occasionally massaged it until we got to the restaurant.


    **


    My parents were in their rooms once Yosefin and I got back. The only person up was my sister. Her lights were on and something loud was playing on her TV. Yosefin put her finger over her mouth and pointed her head towards her room. I had a strong gut feeling she was about to give me the reward she mentioned. Once I heard the pop of the locked door, I got undressed. She didn¡¯t take off her dress at the start. The jewelry on her body was put away first before she took off her dress. She hopped on the bed with her underwear on and sat with her back against the headboard. Her legs and arms opened out to invite me in. I let her take hold of me to whatever type of she desired.


    ¡°Tell me what you want and I will give it to you,¡± I said.


    ¡°This is your reward,¡± she said, taking off my hairband and keeping my hair back. ¡°You tell me what you want.¡±


    ¡°I want you to tell me.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± she said with a half-cocked eye roll. ¡°Take off my panties, slowly.¡± I went extra slowly to maximize my arousal. My heart rate reached full stride the second her panties were no longer in my sight. ¡°That thing is twitching. What¡¯s gotten you this hard?¡±


    ¡°I feel like doing anything you say.¡±


    ¡°You sure about that?¡± She said smirking. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re there yet, Joshy.¡±


    ¡°No, we are,¡± I said and spread her legs apart to get closer. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Her blushing face and jittering eyes showed me she knew about what I was about to suggest. I didn¡¯t have to say anything. She whispered what I wanted to do.


    ¡°I promise I won¡¯t fuss about it if you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for a promise,¡± I said slowly pushing inside of her. ¡°This time I¡¯m not bitching out.¡± She took in a lot of air from her mouth. I stopped and watched her face to make sure I wasn¡¯t hurting her. She bit down on the bottom of her lips and watched me move all the way in until I couldn¡¯t. ¡°This better show you how much I am in love with you,¡± I said, keeping my voice down. ¡°This was the ultimate nail in the coffin, yeah?¡± She bit harder on her lip before taking them out of her mouth. It was slightly wet and red around where the teeth laid their mark.


    ¡°You¡¯re so dumb,¡± she said after letting the first moan come through. I moved back and forth without making too much sound. The house was dead silent. Besides the AC fans, the subtle noise within the house was my legs smacking her. She kept her hand over her mouth to muffle her moans. ¡°Move quicker,¡± she said. The faster I thrust, the louder the contact with her skin got. Her breathing intensified. She had to brace her face to suppress all reactions. I kept going until she suddenly put her hand above my crotch. Her knees shot toward my hips. I stopped moving when I saw her body tremble.


    ¡°Oh my god,¡± I said and pulled out. ¡°Did I hurt you?¡±


    ¡°Fuck! That was an intense one!¡± She said, laughing silently. ¡°Come back. Come back. I¡¯m fine.¡± She put me back inside of her. Thirty seconds later, her body shook and her legs came in again. ¡°Oh, god,¡± she said, groaning. I saw her abdomen flex. She pulled her forearms back and pressed them against the side of her ribs.


    ¡°Yosefin? What¡¯s happening to you?¡±


    ¡°Amazing stuff! Keep going! I¡¯m loving it!¡±


    I kept going until I couldn¡¯t. It was an exhilarating, playful, and surprisingly informative time. The sex I watched in porn when I was younger wasn¡¯t drawn out in the way we did. I didn¡¯t expect we would stop fucking to watch amateur porn together to make sure we were utilizing more intimate positions. Sometimes we would talk dirty to replace our quiet rowdy moans and grunts. She had the best lines even though some were cringeful yet laughable. When we weren¡¯t having sex, we would lay together and talk about random shit out of the blue before returning.


    After we had the most vocally, spine-chilling, awkward, yet thrill-inducing time of our lives, we lay in a splotchy bed without saying a word. I was on my back and she was face down holding a pillow against her chest. I couldn¡¯t believe I willingly and continually without an ounce of control managed to have sex until I couldn¡¯t. She was right about the condom analogy. Plus, there were things I didn¡¯t know her body would do until it happened. My body didn¡¯t do the things she did. When we were watching porn together, I noticed most guys wearing condoms no matter where they went. But, there was a noticeable consistency to the ones who were doing what I could only do for her. I asked her again why I wasn¡¯t using one. She said that her mutated body produces lubrication through arousal. She mentioned women also have the same capability but it wasn¡¯t where the sun didn¡¯t shine.


    The bizarre incidents I saw at the beginning she had to explain afterward was that no one experienced the types of orgasms she had. Her body would spasm and shake when she climaxed. Sometimes she¡¯d momentarily expel whatever came out of her. It was clear, had no color or smell, and resembled nothing like what I expected. Considering all of the unnatural aspects I saw throughout our time together, I didn¡¯t think she would shock me with more surprises.


    ¡°Your tremors seemed to stop,¡± I said. ¡°How are you feeling now?¡±


    ¡°So good,¡± she said softly and then squeezed her pillow. ¡°So fucking good. How about you?¡± She asked and rolled over to see me. ¡°Did you have some fun with your girlfriend?¡±


    ¡°I did and I¡¯m mad at myself for not doing this sooner.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be,¡± she said and snuggled on top of me. ¡°You weren¡¯t into that at the time.¡± She spoke with such care. Her voice was quiet yet clear, unlike a whisper. ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve made me such a happy girl today, Joshy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that, babe.¡±


    ¡°I love it when you call me that,¡± she said and scooted up my chest to make out with me. Her tongue went into my mouth. When it touched mine, she pulled away. A line of spit connected our lips. It drooped before splitting. Some of it landed on my chest while parts of it adhered to her chin. She came back and did the same thing, but I was ready. Her tongue felt slimy and soft. I could barely match her libido. I had to turn away to catch my breath.


    ¡°Too much?¡± She said.


    ¡°A bit.¡± We tried again but slower. I could feel her face wanting to press into mine. My lips were at her mercy. She kept going for a few seconds and then pulled away.


    ¡°Okay,¡± she said and wiped the saliva off of her mouth. ¡°I¡¯m done.¡±


    ¡°Are you?¡± She hummed and looked behind her to check to see if I was hard.


    ¡°Honestly, I could use another pounding.¡±


    ¡°Why did you say it like that?¡± I said nervously laughing. ¡°Was I not rough enough?¡±


    ¡°You could¡¯ve been a lot more assertive if it was just us in the house.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that hurt you?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± she said, wagging her finger. ¡°How did it feel inside?¡±


    ¡°It was warm, tight, smooth, yet frictionless like rubbing oil between my fingers,¡± I said slowly.


    ¡°My walls are elastic.¡±


    ¡°Elastic?!¡± I scoffed. I rolled my eyes. It sounded funny yet reasonable. The more I thought about it, the condom analogy had a second meaning. Condoms had some lubrication on them. Since she created her form of lube, I didn¡¯t need it. ¡°You had this planned out from the start,¡± I said. ¡°You knew I wouldn¡¯t need a condom because of what your body did.¡± She giggled with the biggest grin. ¡°What other secrets do you have?¡±


    ¡°I can heal scarring,¡± she said with her finger pointing to the left side of her head. ¡°Remember the accident?¡± The gash was gone. There was nothing but skin left.


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Mutant powers,¡± she said in an exaggerated awe.


    ¡°You are something special.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± she said after snuggling back on me. ¡°I can also take seven inches like a champ too.¡± Her dirty remark made me laugh. ¡°Next time we should do it when no one is around.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Being quiet was hard for me.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should get a place.¡±


    ¡°Like a hotel?¡± I shook my head, no. ¡°Then what?¡±


    ¡°An apartment.¡± Her eyes opened wide.


    ¡°You,¡± she stuttered. ¡°You want me to live with you?¡±


    ¡°When I¡¯m able to afford one.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡± She said with her lips. She looked at me like I was bullshitting.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Both of the women I met had apartments. Each building looked cozy and could fit a least one other person. Naomi¡¯s looked cheaper than Kat¡¯s, but I preferred the smaller rooms. It would be perfect for Yosefin and I. She could live carefree from all the shit that tried to bring her down. The possibilities of our imagination decorating our living space gave me butterflies. I wanted to find a place sooner rather than later. When I told her how I felt, she wasn¡¯t as eager as I was.


    ¡°Take your time, dude,¡± she said, soothing the side of my face. ¡°We are young and still trying to figure our lives out,¡± she said then kissed me a few times. ¡°Plus, I just moved in. I think I got several years before your parents kicked me out.¡±


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take this slow, okay? I want these moments to last long so I can cherish them.¡±


    ¡°You got it.¡±


    A new chapter bloomed halfway through the year. Yosefin¡¯s turmoil over her image ceased. She regained the self-love she had when she accepted her mutations were a part of her life. I became more of an extrovert. We explored new thrills, vacationed to interesting places in and out of state, explored more of our intimate side together, and continued to study together.


    Yosefin¡¯s father barely spoke to her as the days went on. The only consistent contact she had with her family was through her mother. They kept tabs on each other a few days out of the week. The only time she went home was during special holidays and birthdays. Those visits didn¡¯t last more than an hour. The tension remained present but it never turned confrontational. I felt like her father understood he couldn¡¯t steer his daughter anymore to what he wanted. Plus, if it ever did, I would defend her in a heartbeat.


    I went through an emotional toxic hell with Yosefin. It tested my patience thoroughly. I could have given up on many occasions, but thank god I didn¡¯t. We were an unlikely couple. Normal people would¡¯ve separated to find more easy-going matches. Thankfully, it was the opposite for us. Thankfully, we kept coming back.