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But first she said food.

All right. I’ll play along with this shit. I did bring it on myself.

“A slice of New York pizza, folded in half, eaten right out on the street.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere. What’s your favorite color?”

This one I put some thought into before saying, “Cloud.”

“Cloud is not a color. It’s an object.”

“It’s both.” I almost tell her to look it up but…I’m sure she’ll figure it out eventually.

“What’s your favorite memory?”

“I’m not telling you that.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll make fun of me.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

“Making banana bread with you,” I finally admit.

“Really?” Thankfully, her tone doesn’t hold an ounce of mockery.

“Yeah. I liked that night.”

“Did you make some while I was traveling? I swear the house smelled like it when I came back.”

“I might’ve,” I say vaguely.

“And you didn’t save any for me?”

“I will next time.”

“O-kay. What’s your worst memory?”

“Worst? Right after the best?”

“This is how you get to know someone.”

When I don’t answer right away, she says, “I know Guy’s.”

“Well… I don’t…” Fuck! “Fine. Whatever. When I was like five or six, whatever age kindergarten is, my dad took me to Chuck E. Cheese and told me the mice on stage were Mickey Mouse and, you know, his friends or whatever.”

Kota’s lips turn down, revealing her clenched teeth.

I swallow before continuing, “That memory isn’t actually that bad, because I believed him and I had a pretty good time, but then when I told my class the next day that I went to Disney and described everything, that was…”

Now Kota’s entire face is in a grimace, her secondhand embarrassment palpable. Jesus Christ, why did I pick the single most humiliating moment of my life to share? She’s never gonna want to fuck me now.

I shake my head. I should’ve lied.

“After that, I stopped sharing parts of my life with other people.” No one ever understands the way my dad operates. He’s always provided for me, not in the most upstanding ways, but he’s never abandoned me, even when he could’ve. Even when he should’ve.

“I’m sorry. I thought it was going to be about your mom.”