[right][color=lightgray][sub][b]TIMESTAMP:[/b] Sometime after the game
[color=cb5a5a][b]Andrew[/b][/color] & [color=d9274c][b]Amy[/b][/color]
[@Hey Im Jordan] & [@Fabricant451]
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[img]https://i.imgur.com/B1lgg81.png[/img]
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By the time his mother had answered the phone, Andy was already locked into the backseat of the car he’d arrived in. The window between himself and the driver was closed, and Andy held his head in his hands as he spoke in a miserable tone. [color=#cb5a5a]“Mom? I think I screwed up.”[/color] Andy had never even had a truly one-on-one conversation with a girl before, let alone horrendously fucked one up. He just didn’t have the sauce of his brother or father, and now that it had gone this bad? He was already planning to make sure he never had a solo bolo conversation with a girl again.

Knowing that he needed to provide context, before she got concerned, Andy launched into a rant. [color=#cb5a5a]“I took a girl to the game. She found me while I was practicing in the music room, and then I sang a Limp Bizkit song to her. With the acoustic guitar, y’know? Then, E came in and she got mad and left. But then we texted later and she wanted to go to the game and eat funnel cake… so, I said yes and then we had funnel cake but THEN, she got mad at me. So I kissed her. And I don’t think she liked that. And then her friend — well, used to be friend, I guess she got dumped by her friends. Is that a thing girl friends do? Because that’s what it sounds like happened — showed up and talked a lot and she got all teary eyed and then she left.”[/color] He let out a big breath and lifted his head from his hands, instead resting it against the black tinted windows. [color=#cb5a5a]“I’m not cut out for this. Girls are hard. Are they even worth it!?”[/color]

He stopped. And then he started again, cutting her off and hoping to make the conversation as productive as possible. [color=#cb5a5a]“I smoked weed for the first time.”[/color]

Japan was beautiful this time of year, though truth be told it was beautiful every time of year - and [url=https://i.imgur.com/AmiFA2o.jpeg]Alicia Green[/url] would know. Her parents had assumed she would eventually grow out of her weird phase of life where she watched anime obsessively, but then the worst possible outcome happened: she met someone who loved it when she talked about her obsession - especially when he could listen from behind while she watched a show. Alicia had been to Japan more times than most people had been to their favorite restaurant. She never needed a reason, sometimes it was to buy a collectible that was only going to be on sale in the country, other times it was just because there was a long weekend coming up. She loved the country and, unlike most who obsess over anime, she learned the language and respected the customs. Every time she came home, she came back with another physical anime blu ray or a statue of some character that frequently included a busty female character or a robot, and things meant only for Henry’s eyes. 

Alicia never felt homesick when she was abroad, but when the phone rang before noon (in Japan time, of course), she initially assumed the worst. Had Henry burned down the house? Had Ethan gotten someone pregnant? Seeing that it was Andy who called, Alicia didn’t know what to expect. He was the quiet one. The ‘nice’ one. She didn’t have favorites but Andy’s rather drama free filled life made it far easier to trust him. By the time he finished speaking - before Alicia could even say hello - she still didn’t know why he was calling.

[color=#e32e30]“You’re going to have to slow down there, Andrew.” [/color]She always called him Andrew. It was only when she said his full name that he ever had to worry. [color=#e32e30]“You went on a date?” [/color]Her brain was still stuck on the ‘took a girl to the game’ part of the call; the other part of her brain was busy looking through the selections of a doujinshi section at a manga store. She would no doubt have to take the call outside shortly and put her perusal on pause to head towards the door. [color=#e32e30]“Who’s the girl? Do I know her? What’s she like?”[/color]

Andy felt like half of what he’d said wasn’t even being responded to, but he couldn’t blame his mother. When Andy called Alicia, it was usually to make travel plans. Andy traveled a lot. It happened when his grandmother was parading him around to show off her little prodigy to all her rich and curmudgeonly… acquaintances. ‘Friends’ was the more natural word, but in his head, Andrew could not imagine his grandmother having [i]friends[/i]. He wasn’t even sure if his grandmother considered him a friend. He’d been expected to figure out his own travel plans for the past few years. The first time, he had reached out to his father.

Bless his heart, Henry Green was not equipped to do things like ‘planning,’ on his own. In fact, he had his own personal assistant that typically handled things like that. That didn’t stop him from trying for his son though! One solo plane ride (first class!) to the wrong country with no hotel to stay in later, and Andy learned that his mother was the planner in the family. Now, Andy traveled in a private plane, arrived to a driver, and was driven to a hotel where he was taken care of and able to ‘focus on the music.’ (his mother’s words, not his)

This call, however, was not to plan travel. This was the first time in his life that Andy had reached out to his mother first, but he felt his father would be as equally unequipped to handle a woman who didn’t do everything he said as he was to help him plan a weekend trip. Andy adjusted his glasses. [color=#cb5a5a]“Yes, I went on a date. Her name is Amy Kwon. I don’t think you know her, Ethan doesn’t like her.”[/color] Though Andy didn’t realize it in the moment, ‘Ethan doesn’t like her’ would either be a winning endorsement, or turn his mother against the girl before he even managed to fully make her his. [color=#cb5a5a]“What’s she like?”[/color] That was hard. His experiences with Amy were confusing. They were encouraging and dismissive at the same time. He didn’t know what he was doing - but he had a suspicion that maybe, just maybe, neither did she.

[color=#cb5a5a]“She’s… difficult to understand. People at school bullied her a lot, she used to be like… a princess. Now, she’s more of an ice queen.” [/color]Andy was grasping at straws with his limited understanding of the school’s hierarchy, but he was hopeful he made sense to his mother. [color=#cb5a5a]“Tonight… she was more like a princess than an ice queen, at least for a little while. I just want her to be like that more often. It seems like she likes me sometimes, but then… Poof! It all goes away and she’s calling me ‘Little Green’ again or something. Girls are hard. Are boys this hard?”[/color] Andy had never thought about that.

[color=#e32e30]“She used to be a princess?” [/color]Alicia repeated the statement, on the other end of the phone Andy would no doubt be able to hear the eyebrow of his mother raise in curiosity. In her experience, posturing like that was never genuine; this Amy Kwon was probably still a princess somewhere, but was going through a phase. Of course, she didn’t know the girl personally but she had her own experiences with princess types and the key to their heart was strawberries. It probably wasn’t universal, though. [color=#e32e30]“You’ve got a Taiga Aisaka on your hands.” [/color]Everything in life, according to Alicia, could be broken down into anime terms. What was the point of still being an obsessed anime watcher if she didn’t apply life lessons to her family from them? Whenever Ethan or Andy had said they didn’t want to study for a test, Alicia made sure to remind them that Naruto didn’t beat Neji in the Chunin exams by not studying his opponent. 

[color=#e32e30]“You didn’t call her an ice queen, did you? Here’s the thing, Andrew, when a girl is told by everyone around her that she is or isn’t something, eventually she starts believing it. You just have to show her that you don’t think she is what everyone says. No one goes from princess to ice queen without something major happening in their life. Girls aren’t hard, Andrew, boys are just stupid. Now, what did she say to you before leaving?”[/color]

Andy often found himself wishing he liked anime more. He knew it would help him connect with his mother better, but for the life of him he couldn’t get into it. At least not enough to know who Taiga Aisaka was, as he put his phone on speaker and Googled. God willing, there would be a thread on r/characterdiscussions about whoever the fuck this was. After seventeen years of it, the process of anime comparisons was like a walk in the park. The first Google search of ‘Taiga Aisaka’ was completed by the time Alicia was asking if Andy had called her an ice queen. He brushed those responses off, but his tone showed he was reading. [color=#cb5a5a]“No. I don’t think she’s an ice queen, I think she’s misunderstood. I want to help her.”[/color] By now, the search had been refined, and Andy found himself on the Toradora! subreddit. He scanned the words, and found that he only needed the topmost comment to make it make sense.

[hider=Toradora! spoilers? I guess?][quote=Captain Aric Deron]I make some assumptions about her, but they're based on the details we get about her. She has a complicated, broken relationship with her parents, so she struggles to feel like she can be loved. Her adaptation to that insecurity was to become the Palm-Top Tiger - to be dangerous and push people away. That also leads to her selfish behavior which is a kind of "take no guff and insist on having things your way because no one will do it for you." She's afraid of being alone, and she's afraid of being close to someone and then losing them. The anime is largely her story of working through all of those insecurities.

During Christmas time, we get a different view of Taiga - happy, selfless, thoughtful, easy-going. Very different from who we've seen her to be up to that point. My read is that that is who she is at her best - when she is feeling most secure in who she is and who she is with.[/quote][/hider]

Andy read, then re-read the text in front of him. He didn’t understand how she did it, but his mother seemed to always have an adequate comparison in the world of anime. He closed the reddit thread, and listened in on his mother’s words more closely, just in time to hear her say ‘boys are just stupid.’ He paled. [color=#cb5a5a]“She thinks I’m stupid!?”[/color] He groaned, digesting the question she’d asked. [color=#cb5a5a]“When she left? She told me not to follow her. I think she was crying. I told you! We got interrupted. But I did kiss her.”[/color] Andy was so proud of that he couldn’t help himself but brag a little bit, before he added a sensible observation. [color=#cb5a5a]“That when she was most princess like, I think. Right after I kissed her. But it went away fast and she told me I’m not a very good kisser.”[/color] Ouch. But he knew he had to be exact, or his mother wouldn't get it.

[color=#e32e30]“No one is a good kisser when they’ve never done it before. Your father wasn’t. Isn’t.” [/color]Alicia probably could’ve kept going but even though she was an anime fan, she had the social graces to know that no one wanted to hear about the physical side of her relationship, especially her children. [color=#e32e30]“She said not to follow her so I take it you didn't, which means you listened. But the fact that you’re calling me means you didn’t listen well enough.” [/color]There would be time enough for Alicia to congratulate her son on taking the step to having a normal high school experience and actually sharing a moment with a girl, but congratulations tended to come across better in person and not thousands of miles away from one another. [color=#e32e30]“If you didn’t make her cry then you don’t have anything to worry about. If you [i]did[/i] then you’re in so much trouble with her that you’d be better off taking some days off of school. But let’s assume you didn’t make her cry, then I have a question for you: Why are you talking to [i]me[/i] instead of [i]her[/i]?”[/color]

Andy stared at the phone that was sitting on his lap, still on speaker. Why was he talking to his mother instead of her? That was a ridiculous question! The answer was obvious: because he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even know if Amy wanted to hear from. Why would she? He’d dropped their funnel cake. He’d upset her. He’d kissed her without permission. What was he supposed to do? Call her? Text her? The answers were unclear, but his mother was hardly making it clear to him. [color=#cb5a5a]“I didn’t make her cry! And of course I didn’t follow her. Isn’t that like, illegal? To follow girls, I mean.” [/color]Andy asked the question, but he barely let it hang in the air before he followed up with a more important one. [color=#cb5a5a]“Should I call her or text her? I don’t want to bug her. What if she hates me?”[/color] Andy still wasn’t sure how Amy felt about him. It was hard to tell! She was tough to read on purpose, it seemed. [color=#cb5a5a]“I just didn’t want to call dad. I don’t think he’d have good advice.”[/color]

[color=#e32e30]“You really are new at this.” [/color]Alicia thought Andy was the smart one, or at least smart enough to pick up what she was putting down, but when someone was stressed enough to call their mother to discuss a bad dating experience, it was understandable that the mind wasn’t thinking fully straight. [color=#e32e30]“Andrew, if you don’t call her, talk to her, send her some kind of message, then she’s just going to think you’re like everyone else and that you don’t care about her. If you like this girl, don’t let her cry again. Just remember what Sanji said: “Men who can’t wipe away the tears from a woman’s eyes aren’t real men.”” [/color]There really was no problem that anime couldn’t help fix. 

[color=#e32e30]“So I’m gonna ask you again: why are you talking to [i]me[/i]?”[/color]

Andy knew who [i]that[/i] was. How could he not? One Piece was the anime [i]both[/i] parents liked, and Andy had fond memories of being dressed up as Chopper for Halloween. Everyone in the Green household knew about Sanji, and Alicia used him to make an expert point. Andy sighed and nodded. [color=#cb5a5a]“Alright. I love you. Thank you for your help, come back soon. Dad keeps making us watch YouTube.”[/color] 

[color=#e32e30]“Love you too. Don’t forget to eat actual meals, I know your dad would totally be fine ordering out all the time.”[/color]

Andy grimaced, and then tapped the button to hang up. He went to his contacts and scrolled until he found Amy’s.

He stared at it for a few moments. At first, he opened their text message history. He tried to type a message, but words didn’t come. Sentences didn’t form. What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to explain that he was on her side through a [i]text[/i]? Andy knew he was late, but he hoped that Amy was one of those people who believed in ‘better late than never.’ The car rolled to a stop, and his door was opened. Andy was out and walking through the halls as he called her, and pressed the phone against his ear. In his entire life, the sound of a dial tone had never sounded so… ominous. Would she even answer?

For the longest time it seemed the dial tone would last forever and the inevitable voice message tone would herald an end to the quest. Three rings turned to four then four turned to five. Twenty seconds felt like twenty hours. Midway through the sixth and final ring, though, the line picked up. Amy picked up but said nothing, no hello, no ‘what are you doing’, not even the sound of her breathing or sniffling back tears. There was simply silence. Loud, forever silence; a dial tone might well have been preferable. Someone was going to have to break the silence and it was clear that Amy wasn’t going to do it.

At least she picked up. There wasn’t any sound on the other end and at first he had to take the phone off of his ear and to make sure that the time was clicking up. Seconds passed by, but in the end Andrew at least understood his assignment. He broke the silence with measured words, [color=#cb5a5a]“hey, Amy?”[/color] A safe start, though he didn’t really wait long enough for her to acknowledge him. Something told him if he had, she simply would have said nothing or worse - hung up. [color=#cb5a5a]“Are you okay?”[/color] The question was so simple and straightforward, but Andy couldn’t think of anything better to ask her. Had anyone ever asked her that? Andy found himself biting back apologies, the urge to say ‘I’m sorry’ for how the night had gone, for being bad at kisses, for Minnie interrupting them was there, but Andy did his best to silence it. Something told him Amy didn’t need to hear apologies tonight.

[color=#d9274c]“What do you want?” [/color]Four words that combined sounded worse than any slur or swear in the dictionary, made worse by the fact that Amy’s voice wasn’t barbed or poisonous, she didn’t sound mean but [i]exhausted[/i], as if Andy’s call was an annoying interruption that she had to endure. It was difficult to tell from the voice alone, but even from that brief response, Amy sounded like she was in a cell, the slithering, seductive tones she expressed mere hours before all but gone and replaced by a hollow, monotone roboticism. Amy might not have been crying into the phone, but her voice suggested she had been up until now.

Ouch. In a way, Andy was used to being lashed out at by Amy. At least when she barked at him, it sounded like there was some fire left in her soul. This? This was different. She sounded tired. She sounded broken. Andy should have stayed on the phone longer with his mom and gotten some idea of what to say. He was late in responding again, having to dig through his mind to find the right words to string together. [color=#cb5a5a]“I want to make sure you’re okay.”[/color] He repeated himself and did his best to make sure there was no upward inflection; he didn’t want her to think he was asking permission to check on her. [color=#cb5a5a]“I didn’t want to leave you alone when you seemed sad.”[/color]

[color=#d9274c]“I’m fine.” [/color]She lied. Amy didn’t need pity. She didn’t want pity. She didn’t want to be coddled or treated like she was broken or whatever reason he was calling her. It was all hollow anyway. People pretended to care only so long as they got something at the end of it; she knew the game. Hell, she had played it herself. [color=#d9274c]“What do you want?” [/color]She repeated the question, this time hoping that her intent was clearer: what did he want at the end of this whole back and forth? Everyone wanted something. Even Little Green.

[color=#cb5a5a]“You don’t sound very fine.”[/color] His tone almost fell flat as he responded to her, frustrating mounting as she repeated herself. What was he supposed to do? Repeat himself? He barely understood the rules of the game she was playing, let alone his win conditions. For the life of him, he couldn’t decipher what she wanted to hear. Honesty was the best policy, but it didn’t seem to work. He tried again, this time being more specific. [color=#cb5a5a]“I want to help you be okay. I know I’m not very good at it, but I’m serious! I just wanted to be… helpful.”[/color] There were better words to use, but Andy was too new to relationships to know what to say.

[color=#cb5a5a]“I don’t want anything from you. But I know what I want from me. Which is to be there for you.”[/color] Honesty was the best policy. [color=#cb5a5a]“It’s okay to be sad, I promise.”[/color]

[color=#d9274c]“Stop lying.” [/color]Amy’s voice rose in volume, not to the level of shouting, but in the clarity of voice it was apparent she was speaking through still falling tears. Andy couldn’t see it, of course, but Amy’s lips were quivering every time she spoke, as if the simple act of speaking without giving away her true state of being was an Olympic level task. [color=#d9274c]“Everyone wants something. No one wants to just ‘be there’. I thought I told you to leave me alone. Go away. I don’t need your pity.”[/color]

She said hurtful things when she was upset. Andy wasn’t sure if he was going to handle it very well, but he was certainly planning on signing up for it. [color=#cb5a5a]“I’m not lying.”[/color] His voice matched her energy, raised with such an uncharacteristic sternness to it that Andy paused after, wondering if she was going to hang up over it. [color=#cb5a5a]“I’m not here to pity you. I want to take care of you! Why would I pity you? You’re cool. …I’m not good at this.”[/color] He hadn’t meant to say the last part aloud, but it slipped out. [color=#cb5a5a]“I want to be there for you. I don’t want anything for it, I just don’t want you to be sad alone. I can bring you snacks.”[/color] That’s what Sanji did, and it worked with varying levels of success. Maybe that bit of his mom’s advice would work well.

[color=#d9274c]“I told you I’m fine. I’m not sad. I don’t have anything to be sad about.” [/color]Not even Amy believed her words, but that didn’t stop her from saying them. The shield around her person was strong enough that she was retreating behind it fully. If she told herself that she was fine enough times, she’d believe it. And then nothing could ever make her sad. Or angry. Or anything. [color=#d9274c]“Just forget about me. I didn’t mean anything I said earlier. Just…leave me alone.” [/color]It was impossible not to hear the tears in her voice on that plea. 

[color=#cb5a5a]“I can’t just forget about you! I’ve only known you for a day, but it’s crazy how you made me like, full of confidence. I’ve never been able to do anything outside of the box, but I did today. Way more in one day than I’ve done in like my entire four years of high school. You’re awesome, Amy. And don’t act like I’m the only one who thinks that. Minnie was just in our faces practically begging you to be her friend again.”[/color] He paused, wondering if his own plea was too heartfelt, but he could hear tears on her voice and it pushed him to keep talking, [color=#cb5a5a]“it was my idea to go to the game. Then I pushed you to talk about something you aren’t ready to talk about. I’m sorry for that, but I really, really wanna make it better. Don’t ask me to leave you alone, tell me what you need to be better. I’ll do it or try my best. Please?”[/color] Andy threw everything he had into doing the one thing he knew he was supposed to: make sure the girl didn’t cry. For a brief moment, he wondered if his parents would be proud of him, but he decided to push that thought away until he knew how she would respond. Aggravated, she was like a snake. And Andy knew he was still in biting distance.

There was a pause on the other end after a sound that was similar to a tissue leaving a box followed by light breathing; whatever Amy was doing on her end required some small amount of effort. When she spoke next, the hint of teary eyes seemed to be little more than a distant memory. [color=#d9274c]“What, are you obsessed with me or something, [i]Little Green[/i]?” [/color]That was the voice of Amy Kwon on the other end, perhaps not quite as sharp as it was in person, but still enough to draw blood when slicing. [color=#d9274c]“Don’t fall in love with me, I’ll ruin your life.” [/color]It was like a warning sign on a tiger pit that was more of a suggestion than a hard rule. Amy knew this. It’s why she said it. 

[color=#d9274c]“You still owe me a funnel cake.”[/color]

[color=#cb5a5a]“I’m not even that little…”[/color] Andy trailed off as she accused him of being obsessed with her, but he didn’t deny it. He had called her. A lot of the groundwork, that had been him. The attraction was probably stronger his way than hers, but he didn’t see that as a [i]bad[/i] thing, necessarily. Her warning of a ruined life fell on deaf ears. Andrew Green was already so far down the path that he couldn’t have turned back if he needed to. The wondering of what could happen washed away any fears and warnings he’d heard about Amy Kwon. She liked him; he felt safe.

[color=#cb5a5a]“When and where do you want your funnel cake? Strawberries, this time.”[/color] He thought she wasn’t crying. Hoped she wasn’t. He didn’t know for sure, and wouldn’t know for sure until he saw her again. [color=#cb5a5a]“We could hang out more.”[/color] He suggested, shooting a shot aimed for the stars.

[color=#d9274c]“That remains to be seen, Little Green.” [/color]It was clear to Amy that she wasn’t specifically referring to his height in this instance. She was sure she’d figure that out eventually, but until then she could enjoy the way it seemed to needle Andrew. His mistake was letting her know it bothered him. How could she not focus on knowing it made him squirm and shudder? [color=#d9274c]“Hang out? Are you asking me out?” [/color]Amy clicked the roof of her mouth and the disappointing [i]tut tut[/i] was as if through a megaphone in Andy’s ears. [color=#d9274c]“Be direct, Andrew. What do you want?”[/color]

Familiar feelings were creeping up in Andy’s mind as Amy came to be more of herself again. He felt some relief, as if he were an anchor keeping her sane. But he couldn’t deny it was a bit frustrating she changed between a sad girl and a succubus at the drop of a hat. Was he going to tell her that? Absolutely not, Andy wasn’t stupid. He was just navigating new territory; territory that included being called [i]little[/i]. He wasn’t little! He thought about the possible answers to her question in his head, and found himself wondering why it always fell on his shoulders. Andy was never the decider, but Amy never gave him any other options.

[color=#cb5a5a]“Yes! I’m asking you out. I want you to go on a date with me. An actual one, not meeting up under the bleachers to make out. Somewhere private.”[/color] Though Andy suggested privacy because he was worried Amy might have another breakdown, it was left open-ended enough it could have been for anything. [color=#cb5a5a]“And soon. What are you doing right now?”[/color] He couldn’t help but get excited. If she said yes then she could deny it no longer: she liked him.

[color=#d9274c]“You’re going to take me somewhere fancy. And I mean actual fancy, not the second floor of the Top Shelf fancy. You’re going to wear something nice. And you’re going to order wine.” [/color]She didn’t care that they were technically not allowed to order alcohol; Andy came from money and Amy…well she wasn’t using him for his money but she wasn’t ignorant of the fact that the right dollar amount got people to overlook little things like the law. [color=#d9274c]“I’m free on weekends.” [/color]It went without saying that this weekend was off the table, but she was hopeful that Andy had a good memory. The answer to his second question came with the sound of a notification alert on Andy’s phone and with it a photo message of Amy, specifically her jaw and shoulder with a single visible strap - it could’ve been a bra, it could’ve been a cami strap, either way it was a noticeably and unusually cropped image - no doubt because her face was still puffy or something equally as damning. 

[color=#d9274c]“What does it look like I’m doing now, Little Green?” [/color]

He wasn’t really in a position to say no, but the idea of ordering wine when he was too young made his head hurt. He’d have to figure something out with his parents, maybe they could pull some strings or something. He’d figure it out, even though their ideas of a ‘date’ were different, Andy wasn’t going to complain about Amy undeniably saying yes. They had plans for the weekend, but Andy made a mental note to make sure he took her out next weekend. It was as he was writing something in his calendar that he got the photo notification from Amy.

He tapped it and wordlessly stared at it for a moment. Even with barely anything visible, Amy was so gorgeous. She was beyond him; they weren’t even in the same galaxy, let alone the same league, and yet… ultimately, [i]she[/i] had picked [i]him[/i]. Something like that did wonders to the male psyche, and Andy gave a daring answer. [color=#cb5a5a]“Thinking about me?”[/color]

[color=#d9274c]“You should be so lucky.” [/color]Amy fired back almost immediately but didn’t elaborate or explain if he was right or wrong. Keep them guessing was always the name of the game. [color=#d9274c]“But I know you’re thinking about me. It’s okay. I want you to. You have my permission to…[i]think[/i] about me.” [/color]On the other end of the line, Amy was winking, though part of her wondered if Andy even realized what her entendre was implying. He probably thought that was a sin or something.

There was a sharp inhale of breath from Andy’s end of the line, and Andy’s eyes went wide. He understood what she was suggesting, but it seemed the idea of it had sent a plethora of nerves through his body. How was he even supposed to respond? What was he supposed to do? Chills. Did he have goosebumps? Maybe. They weren’t even in person! What was wrong with him?

Fifteen seconds passed before he replied in soft tones. [color=#cb5a5a]“I don’t really… I’ve never done…”[/color] He was shy and so nervous it felt like it took his breath away. Andy’s voice didn’t shake like it had the first time he’d spoken to her; maybe it was hearing her cry, maybe it was just the simple fact she’d picked up after telling him to leave her alone… but Andrew was at least confident enough now that he wasn’t [i]afraid[/i] of her. He took a deep breath, and steadied himself. [color=#cb5a5a]“You have soft lips.”[/color] It wasn’t much, but it was the best he could do. Most importantly, Andy wasn’t completely locked up. At least not yet.

[color=#d9274c]“I have soft [i]everything.[/i]” [/color]Somehow, Amy managed to make the word have six syllables the way she said it, like she was speaking in slow motion, using language specifically targeted to drive Andy wild. She wanted him to think on that, to keep it in his mind so he laid awake at night with it, the way awkward memories or panicked thoughts did. She even sealed the sentence with a bubbling titter - for the briefest of moments that laugh flashed of the before times; in that moment she laughed like a cheerleader. 

And then it was gone.

[color=#d9274c]“What do you mean you’ve never done…you’re a boy aren’t you? Do I have to do everything for you, [i]Little Green[/i]? Well, just remember my soft lips, hips, stomach…for when you have one of those…restless nights.”[/color]

Did she just laugh at him? He felt a rush of emotions. Embarrassment was the chief one, but there was some pride in being able to make her giggle like that. For a brief moment, Amy sounded like the princess he knew she was. [color=#cb5a5a]“I meant on the phone with someone else!”[/color] Andy spoke in a muffled voice with his face buried in the pillow in shame. She couldn’t see it, but it was almost possible to [i]hear[/i] the bright pink blush that had exploded onto his cheeks.  [color=#cb5a5a]“I need more hands-on experience with how soft you are. So I can remember it better,”[/color] he explained as he pulled his head from the pillow. [color=#cb5a5a]“I’m [i]not[/i] little.”[/color] He protested, but at this point Andy almost felt like the ‘Little Green’ nickname was a game between them. It needled at him, but Amy put so much emphasis on it that he felt like there was a reason behind it.

[color=#cb5a5a]“...couldn’t we just have a restless night together?”[/color]

Perhaps there was a man to be made of the boy after all. His line was so unexpected that Amy initially assumed he was getting it fed to him, but it was better for the ego to believe that she was just bringing the best out of him - even if the best would turn him very quickly into the worst. [color=#d9274c]“We could, but you can’t know how soft I am over the phone. Are you trying to come over, Little Green? To prove how you’re not so…[i]l i t t l e?[/i]” [/color]Amy made sure every single letter in the word was pronounced. It was like she had a superpower to make the most innocuous words sound like the most sensual, delectable aphrodisiac possible.

Andy felt like he’d won a battle he hadn’t known he’d been fighting when she didn’t reply. He wasn’t a very good flirter, and the small victories that he got over Amy felt like winning the lottery. Even getting her to catch herself and [i]think[/i] about what she said was exhilarating. Did Andy have rizz? Maybe not earlier that day, but by the end of his first night as Amy Kwon’s personal little rockstar, he was starting to get it. Unfortunately, as she purred every individual letter of the word ‘little’ into his ear, Andy felt his heart rate elevate. He couldn’t even string a sentence together well enough to offer his normal defense of ‘I’m not little!’

[color=#cb5a5a]“I want to feel how soft your entire body is.”[/color] He was again letting thought spill past his lips, the words escaping before he even had a chance to think about what he was saying. [color=#cb5a5a]“I can prove it.”[/color] Pride. Confidence. These were new, but Andy was sitting up as he spoke. His head flew through scenarios as he tried to think about how he could get to her house.

He needed to calm down, he needed to [i]think[/i]. His mind was rushing through scenarios and not considering possible outcomes, and eventually it landed on a bad ending. One where Amy used this night to tell him that he didn’t care about her, and had always wanted her just for her body. He thought about that, wondered how it would look and if it would even be possible to talk his way out of it.

[color=#cb5a5a]“We can’t meet up like that tonight. I want to take you out first.”[/color] His words were chosen carefully, no longer filled with the bravado that Amy’s unchained sensuality had brought about just moments before.

[color=#d9274c]“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” [/color]Amy only sounded mildly disappointed that Little Green wasn’t ready and willing to live up to the boastful claim of being the opposite of little, but the best part of a slow cooked meal was the taste after the anticipation had you salivating. A good predator knew how to enjoy the hunt. How to enjoy the thrill of the kill. [color=#d9274c]“You’re taking me to the dance, of course. And then your little…party. If you’re lucky, we’ll spend seven minutes in heaven, [i]Little Green[/i].”[/color]

Andy had never felt this way about a lady before. Did his words make Amy feel special? Hers certainly worked on them. In fact, her words made him feel so special that Andy was prepared to break into her home just for the opportunity to kiss her neck. [color=#cb5a5a]“We can take one of the bedrooms upstairs for ourselves. I have the keys.”[/color] Before he could stop the word vomit, Andy asked the dreaded question.

[color=#cb5a5a]“Hey, are we dating now? Like… you’re my girlfriend?”[/color][/indent][/indent]