This morning I had a nice long chat with my mom while she was on her way to work. I miss my little family a lot, even though we didn’t spend a lot of time together to begin with.  

“Bye, I love you” I say, hanging up the phone. 

“Who was that? Your parents? I wanna see!” Sparky smiles. 

“Yeah, well just my mom.” I smile, “Here’s a picture of my mom and sister together.”  

“Wow, they are really pretty! What about your dad?” Sparky asks.  

“My dad died before I was born, I never met him, and I don’t have any pictures with me...” I explain. 

“Oh... I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have asked something like that!” Sparky frowns. 

“It’s fine. You didn’t mean to; it doesn’t really make me upset anymore.” I sigh, “What about you?” 

“Hm... I wonder about that too. I went to Talli when I was 8 years old. My life before that is really foggy, maybe I blocked it out?” Sparky thinks.  

This is awkward I should change the subject Tallius thinks to himself. 

“Do you have any pets at home Oran?” Tallius asks. 

“Oh. Um. My mom thinks pets are too messy, so I never had any.” I explain. 

“Sparky and I have a cat, his name is Tokora.” Tallius says. 

“Isn’t she the cutest?!” Sparky squeals while showing me several pictures of a cute black cat, “I wanted to get Tokora a friend, but he doesn’t get along well with other animals. What about friends? Do you have friends back at home?” 

“No... Not really. I do have a few pen pals I keep in touch with every now and then.” I smile, “When I was in kindergarten, I had no friends. I was basically mute and other kids thought that was weird and bullied me for it. Even the teachers were freaked out by me... But things got better once I switched to homeschooling. In middle school I made friends with the local library technician. We were close until he got a new part time job...” 

Flashback to Oran in 7th grade – 12 years old 

The library technician was in high school, he was very smart and very kind. I looked up to him like a mentor or older brother. He was the first person outside my family to treat me with kindness and respect. Every day when I finished my homework, I would rush over on my bike to go and see him. I would sit at his desk and talk his ears off about the book I just finished, and he would recommend me another one. The library was small and mostly locals came so it wasn’t very busy, when customers came, I would keep quiet so that he could do his job. At this age I had never had a crush before, and I didn’t really understand what I was feeling. I had just started reading a romance novel he recommended when I realized that I wasn’t normal. It’s ironic that the book he recommended would be the book that made me realize I was in love with him. As the main character fell in love, I felt myself relating to her, relating to how her heart raced when she saw him and how she looked forward to seeing him every day. At first, I felt a sense of relief that I had figured myself out, but as soon as that feeling left, I was left with a feeling of disgust. I was already embarrassed to be reading such a girly book, but now I am even more embarrassed that I see myself in the main character. She is a girl, she is allowed to love him, she is allowed to marry him and have children with him. I will never be able to do that with another male. I skipped out on going to the library so often and stopped talking to the tech as much. Not only is he a boy, but he is in high school, much older than me, and handsome. I’m sure he has many girls who like him at his school, maybe he even has a girlfriend, I never asked. After a few weeks I went to return some books to him, and his face lit up with joy. He was happy to see me, well I thought that was why. The real reason why is that he was excited to tell me that he got a new part time job at a bookstore. I pretended to be happy for him and told him I would go and visit him there often. I tried to visit the bookstore several times but stopped myself. This was the perfect way to break this relationship off, I was probably annoying him anyway. I missed him, I cried, and my heart ached as I thought about his future with a girl I don’t know exists or not.  

End of flashback 

“I really miss him. I wonder how he is now... It’s been years since then.” I sigh. 

“Well, you’re making lots of new friends here!” Sparky smiles, “Tallius has no friends basically and he’s just fine! I have many friends, but no girlfriend. Have you had a girlfriend Oran?” 

“N-No! Never!” I exclaim. 

“Haha! Really? Tallius neither, he has been given phone numbers before, but he just ignores them! What a waste! I guess none of them are his type. He likes a difficult type maybe?” Sparky laughs, “I think he has a thing for the cute shy type, but he scares those kinds of people away.” 

Ah... The girl talk. I must go along with it, or they might think I’m weird. The cute shy type of girl... Tallius is scary at first, but I am sure he can find a girl like that easily with his looks.  

“I don’t really have a type; I like all kinds of people! What about you Ori?” Sparky smiles. 

“A-Ah... I like the cool and strong type... well types don’t really matter to me either.” I laugh. 

I hope that wasn’t too suspicious... Girls can be cool and strong too!  

“Eeh? Really?! You don’t seem like that would be your type. You should date Talli’s little sister! She is kind of that type!” Sparky laughs. 

“Nice try but she is off limits. She isn’t focusing on dating, she is studying.” Tallius interrupts. 

“Haha! What you think Ori is gonna steal her away? She would kill him!” Sparky laughs some more. 

“I have no intention of dating anyone right now so no worries.” I smile.