“Hey everybody?" the Lissome brunette asked hesitantly, but strongly enough so that everyone stopped and looked at her.

“I have a favor to ask."

I bit my Lip and squeezed Naimh's hand, willing her to understand I'd tell everyone just as soon as Zofi was done with her favor. But I never expected Zofi to say what she said next.

"I want Matty to be my boyfriend."

All hell didn't break loose or anything, but there was some confused initial squawking.

Alice shrieked, “WHAT?”

Naimh exclaimed, "I already called dibs!"

Sam called for order, "Hey, let her finish!"

Mari elbowed Belle and asked, "What the heck is going on?"

Zofi gestured with her hands for everyone to calm down. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I should've explained that in a different order."

Sam gave her a ‘well, duh’ Look. Zofi blushed nervously, looked down at the table, and took a deep breath. Then she turned to look at me. "You remember after the whole thing with Holly when we sorta agreed you'd be the BTC's ‘boyfriend’? You said specifically that you wouldn't mind if

I told my Mom that you're my boyfriend to get her off my back about me not dating."

I furrowed my eyebrows, didn't recall the exact conversation, but nodded, saying, "That sounds about right. I wouldn't mind."

“Well, I actually did. I mean, I told my parents that I had a boyfriend. Not you, specifically. I just told them I'd started dating a guy, didn't even give him a name. I even went out to visit Sam on some

Saturday nights and told them I was going out on dates with my boyfriend. Mom would ask me why he never picked me up from the house, and I told her we were still really casual and I wasn't ready for him to meet the parents. But she's still suspicious that I'm not actually dating anyone even though they want me to."

Naimh chuckled. "They actually WANT you dating? Can we trade parents?

My dad would be thrilled if I stayed home and promised to join a nunnery after graduation."

Zofi winced. "Uh... well... It's a Little complicated."

Belle shrugged.

“It always is."

Zofi looked at Sam for reassurance, and Sam squeezed her best friend's hand. Zofi looked up at us and said quietly, “So my parents are super conservative. Annnnd my mom caught me Looking at lesbian pics on the internet. I tried to tell her I'm not a dyke. I mean, I LIKE guys, and

I especially like what we do, Matty."

She looked at me and gave me a shy smile. I smiled back at her encouragingly.

"I just... I mean..." she began hesitantly, as if she couldn't even admit the next part to herself.

“I just get turned on by girls too, that's all."