“It's here!”

  “Let’s check the prices…”

  In front of us was a huge restaurant with beautiful decor and an impressive aesthetic. We hadn't even gone inside yet, but we could already imagine what it would be like to eat there.

  We came here because we wanted to know how the food was. And because apparently a few of our classmates consider this place a very good one.

  “It has a website, right?”

  “Of course… Why didn't we check before coming...?”

  “Everything is funnier with surprises.”

  Judging by how it looked, I was sure the prices would be a bit high. But we had enough money to pay for a meal of up to thirty dollars between the two of us… Damn it, now I'm counting everything in dollars too…

  “Hmm…”

  “What’s wrong, Aisha?”

  “The prices…”

  I looked at Aisha’s phone, and the prices I saw were above anything we could pay. The prices didn't exceed one hundred, but it was too close... Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure the classmates who came here talked about saving money for months.

  “... We can’t afford this…”

  “I can… But even in my case, it’s too expensive…”

  “Wanna go somewhere else?”

  “We're already here, right?”

  “But what are we supposed to do?”

  We could go in for a drink of water, but that's not what we should be doing in a place like this, so it would be best to leave and find something cheap to eat.

  “... Huh?”

  “What?”

  “Look.”

  Aisha pointed to the top of the website, and the words I saw were a little confusing.

  Discount for couples

  Yes, a discount is always welcome, but why would she show me a discount we can't use?

  "It says here that the owners are celebrating their anniversary, so they did this..."

  "That's very cute."

  "This is very convenient..."

  “Hmm... I don’t get it.”

  “Do you want to eat here?”

  “Yeah, that would be great. But we need more money for that. Maybe we can save money and try again next month.”

  “...”

  Without saying anything else, Aisha grabbed my hand and went into the restaurant.

  “Aisha?!”

  “Please be quiet…”

  “... And you call me the mistress…”

  I think I can understand her idea… But it can’t be that… I mean, she’s kind, but not that much…

  “Where can I sit with my girlfriend?”

  Her words were like a knife to my ear. I don't hate her or have any negative thoughts about her, but she can't do this to me!

  “Thanks.”

  “...”

  I didn’t say anything while Aisha dragged me to our table. I was too shocked to even react to that.

  The thing that made me react was Aisha’s finger poking my face.

  “Huh?”

  “Lusia, are you okay?”

  “Y-Yeah.”

  “You look a little worried."

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “It’s just… I didn’t know you could do something like this…”

  “You wanted to eat here…”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “...”

  “... It’s nothing. Just, I hope no one discovers our lie.”

  "They shouldn't. It's not that uncommon to see a girl dating another girl."

  "If someone notices it, we're dead..."

  “We should do couple things to maintain appearances?"

  “Please don’t say that with your usual expression, it feels weird.”

  The way she said something like that without showing any emotion was funny. If it weren't for the context, I would’ve laughed.

  “What do you want…?”

  “Let me see the menu.”

  If I think too much about this I will end up really bad, so I tried to focus on choosing something to eat. But I immediately noticed something: There’s no menu.

  “Where is it?”

  “There’s a QR in this corner of the table…”

  “... Is that kind of restaurant…?”

  I can perfectly understand why some restaurants choose to use QRs to show their menus. And I can see the benefits this has for the world. But this is very inconvenient for people without a modern phone. Like me.

  “I can’t use that.”

  “Hmm…”

  Aisha was clearly thinking of a solution. Considering what her last solution was, I don't think I want to trust her with this.

  “Okay.”

  “Huh?”

  Carefully, Aisha moved her seat until she was at my side. I could say a lot of things, but what I was thinking the most was our size difference.

  “We should put some pillows on your seat?”

  “I’m okay with this…”

  “No one would believe that you have big muscles.”

  “Look at my phone.”

  Slowly, Aisha swiped through the menu, showing me all the options we could choose.

  At first I thought I would feel uncomfortable about the situation, but when Aisha does this kind of thing and then talks with me like nothing, I only feel like my best friend is mocking me… And that feels good...

  “What do you prefer…?”

  “Apparently the meat is pretty good.”

  “Then we could try two cheap steaks…”

  “You’re not gonna try something different?”

  “I’m okay eating the same.”

  “Then let’s ask if we can put tomatoes.”

  “...”

  “Tomatoes aren't that bad.”

  "It's not that... I think I'm physically incapable of eating tomatoes..."

  "How does that work?"

  "... Bad memories..."

  In the end, we ordered steak with Parisian-style potatoes and fried pork with rice. While we waited, Aisha talked about her tragic story involving tomatoes.

  “And then I bit it.”

  “You thought it wasn’t raw?”

  “I saw a lot of tomatoes on the table, but I picked the one my dad was supposed to eat…”

  “Raw tomatoes aren’t that bad.”

  “When I tasted it... it was so disgusting... Since then, I can't bite into a tomato without thinking about that flavor... I'm pretty sure my body developed some mechanism to avoid tomatoes...”

  “What about ketchup?”

  “... Are you really asking that question…?”

  “... No, sorry.”

  Just thinking about it made her look away, so it must be a really bad memory. It was quite surprising that she could feel such a strong aversion to something. The way her eyebrows were moving could have made anyone think she was talking about some rotten food.

  “No more tomato talking then.”

  “Thanks…”

  “Speaking of tomatoes, I think that's our food.”

  “...”

  “I was joking.”

  Someone was approaching with our food, so Aisha was finally free from tomato jokes.

  “It's here…”

  “Awesome! We can finally-”

  When the plates with the food touched the tables, I saw how my steak had a heart shape, making me sweat a little.

  “...”

  “The one who did that has great skills…”

  “...”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Why is your food normal…?”

  “Your steak is one big piece, mine is a bunch of chunks of meat with rice. I guess the one you chose was easier to cut.”

  “...”

  “Is it difficult to eat?”

  “No, it’s just… Can we eat already?”

  “Sure…”

  I put a piece of the steak on my mouth… And it was delicious… Meanwhile, Aisha was picking her pieces of pork and then combining them with rice. That way she would enjoy even more every single bite.

  “Hmm…”

  Since we came in here, I haven't been in a very good mood, mainly because of what Aisha did. But also because I've been mulling things over since yesterday.

  What she says and does, her trust in me... but it also makes me suspect she might be thinking about something else. Even being so honest, I can't guess what she's thinking unless she intends to tell me.

  “Hey Aisha.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well… It’s just…”

  “There’s something wrong with the food?”

  “No, It’s delicious.”

  I know what I want to say, but I don’t know what words could express it without any other interpretation.

  “...”

  “Ah, I’m too quiet?”

  “Yeah, what’s wrong?”

  “Well…”

  “... I did something wrong trying to act like your girlfriend?”

  “... Ah.”

  Her gestures showed regret, as if she'd done something wrong. That made me realize how rude I'd been… Am I really being this careful with her now…? I don't want her to feel like I'm upset…

  “Sorry. If you had the initiative to do this, then you really wanted to do it, right?”

  “I saw you wanted to eat here, and I just wanted to grant you that wish…”

  “I’m grateful for that, and impressed for your methods.”

  “I used the most direct approach.”

  “And it wasn’t wrong, it’s just… I’m thinking.”

  “On what?”

  Thinking was only complicating everything, so just for this time, I didn’t think in my words two times before talking.

  "I know you see me as your friend, but...”

  “Yes?”

  “Well… How do you think I see you?”

  “Why do you want to know that…?”

  “I’m curious.”

  “Well…”

  She stopped blinking, so she was thinking deeply about her answer. Whatever she said could make me feel anything. And yet…her answer was exactly what I needed to hear.

  “That weird thing that is now my friend?”

  “That’s just your opinion about yourself!”

  “And I’m wrong?”

  “I mean, I have my own opinions, but you aren’t weird!”

  “...”

  “... Okay, maybe I think you are a little weird, but in a good way!”

  “...”

  “Yeah! I have some bad opinions, but only from specific moments!”

  “...”

  “Stop looking at me like that!”

  Her eyes and inexpressive look were killing me, but at the same time, I was only able to smile while complaining.

  “I cannot be angry with you.”

  “Thanks…”

  "Still, I'm not satisfied with that opinion."

  "Really?"

  “I guess I will do my best to make you notice how much I appreciate you!”

  “Thanks for that…”

  “So, where do you wanna go after this?”

  “What about a store with cellphones?”

  “I have no money. Even less after this.”

  “We can see the models, in case you finally wanna upgrade.”

  “Well, it wouldn’t be different from having fantasies with expensive things.”

  “People do that?”

  “The masochism and the material wishes surpass the logic.”

  “I think I can understand it…”

  For Aisha, I’m her friend, and I see her as a friend. I feel good about that, after all, I appreciate her. Even when she’s weird, even when we appreciate each other more and more, we are friends.

  If this happiness comes from these thoughts, I don't need to know what she thinks, I don't need any change, I don't need anything more than to know that this makes me... no, it makes us happy.

  After all, right now, we are friends.