“What?”

“What was that phrase she used?" Zofi screwed up her face and looked up to the right, as if scanning through her memory banks.

“Oh, it was about Belle. Sam said something along the lines of, ‘He told me he's in love with me. If I reject him now, it's gonna undermine his faith in me to the point that if we go to Berkeley as ‘just friends’, he's gonna end up meeting some greedy bitch who's gonna take him away from me just like Belle's afraid of."

My frown deepened. "Wait, so Sam doesn't actually want to date me, and in fact would be happier with the status quo. But she's afraid that if she doesn't lock me down as her official boyfriend then that leaves open the door for someone else to come and take me away?"

Zofi eyes got big, a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face. "Uh... well..."

“So it's not that she's super in love with me and can't stand the idea of not letting our love bloom," I reasoned. "But rather, this is a calculated chess move to take me off the market.”

Zofi blanched, now wincing as if realizing she'd unwittingly betrayed her bestie's secrets. "Uh, well... I don't really think you're seeing it the same way that Sam--"

“No, no, don't get me wrong,” I cut her off.

“I'm not upset at Sam for this. I mean, this course of action actually makes more Logical sense than my declaration of love suddenly washing away everything Sam had been saying for months now about how important her goals were to her and that she wouldn't be ready to date me until after college."

Zofi's eyes narrowed.

“You're not upset?"

“I don't think Sam and I are ready to be a couple. If we continue on this track, I WILL want to be a primary priority in her life and have certain expectations of her time commitment to me. I wouldn't even do it intentionally, but I'd want that from a committed girlfriend, and I seriously don't want to do that to her right now."

“But you love her. And she loves you."

"I know, I know. But I think things would be better if she and I had the space to continue growing closer without the expectations of a committed relationship. As you would say, ‘We're not there yet, darling. *"

Zofi blushed momentarily, but she raised her eyebrows and pointed out,

“You've already agreed to become her boyfriend."

“I'm not going to reject her if she wants to stay this course. But I want us to be on the same page, that's all. If she's looking for Prince

Charming to come sweep her off her feet and carry her away to a castle in the sky where she can be pampered for the rest of her life - unlikely as that may be - I need to know. If she wants me to suddenly become her committed monogamous partner in Life -- hopefully not -- I need to know that too. If she actually wants to keep the status quo, albeit with a ceremonial boyfriend title to keep the greedy bitches away, I think THAT'S more what I'm leaning towards if she's like-minded."

“She is. That Last option," Zofi confirmed.

I sighed with obvious relief.

“Or at least, that's what her head wants," Zofi hedged.

I frowned and my eyes narrowed. "You're implying that her heart wants something different. Something more.”

“Isn't in obvious?"

I sighed. "How MUCH more does she want?"

Zofi mimed zipping her lip.