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Training was fairly odd that afternoon. Holly put in almost no effort. She would frequently get distracted, her mind wandering elsewhere. How did I know? Well I actually landed a hit or two, and I walked away with way fewer bruises and scrapes than I usually do.

Truth be told, I was kind of worried about her. I wanted to ask her what was on her mind, but I didn’t know how. Usually I was afraid saying the wrong thing would end up getting me beat up. Not this time. I just… I don’t know… didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t want to make things worse.

Eventually Holly just couldn’t keep her head in the game, so we decided to end early and start walking back to my house. Holly was silent, not even making eye contact. Her face showed an expression of anger, disgust, sadness… maybe all of them at once.

As I opened the door Holly spoke up.

“Hey…” she said… “He was still there… you know.” She looked away from me, her voice much lower than the booming growl it usually was.

“He?” I asked.

“My Mom’s stupid boyfriend. He’s staying the whole damn weekend,” she said, clenching her fists so hard it looked like she might be bruising them.

“Sounds… uncomfortable…” I said. I had no idea how to approach difficult topics like this.

“And you know what sucks…” she said walking into the house and falling on the couch so hard it shifted positions. “My mom doesn’t even care?”

“She doesn’t care that he’s sleeping over?” I asked.

“No she doesn’t care about me!” Holly said, throwing her hands into the air. “She didn’t even notice I was gone last night.”

“Oh… uh… sorry…”

“That scumbag she sleeps with though certainly did. Not surprising with how he is always looking at me. He’s got a fucked up mutant kink or something. Who the hell would look at a high school student like that!”

“Uh… sorry…” I said… I felt like I was repeating myself but it was the safest thing to say.

“I told her I wasn’t standing for it. I told her I was going to stay at a friends if that asshole was going to be in the house… and you know what she did?”

“No… what?” I said meekly as a mouse.

“She laughed. In my FACE!. She laughed and said ‘you don’t have any friends!’ Can you believe here?”

I guess I could. I mean… Holly didn’t come across as the friendly type. Still... that’s not something you say to your kid.

“She gave me a ride. She thought I was genuinely just gonna camp out in the woods or something. Before I got out she said her boyfriend wasn’t going anywhere, and that I shouldn’t worry if he gives me a few looks. That it’s just normal for people to look at mutants like me that way. What bullshit!”

“Did she really say all that?”

“She IMPLIED it. You know how parents are. Lots of back speak in her mom language. Pfff. I told her to go to hell. I’m not going back until that idiot is gone.” She had gotten so angry she was gritting her teeth. It was actually… kind of strange to see her this angry. The anger she has at school feels, I don’t know, performative? This was real. I wanted to hug her, but I also thought if I said or did the wrong thing she would use my face to repave my driveway.

“I’m sorry to hear all that,” I said. “You’re always welcome here ya know. Even if my Dad’s around. I’m sure he’s too boring to want to look at you like that. Besides he’s constantly going on business trips. He’s met his fair share of mutants.”

“Hah, thanks pet. You’ve been good to me,” she said with a smirk.

“Just what any aspiring insect wants to hear,” I said with a laugh.

Holly treated my house a lot like a hotel. She went to my room, threw herself on my bed and let her suitcase splay open on the floor.

“You know, there’s extra room in the closet if you want to hang up your clothes,” I said.

“Eh, I’ll do it later. I’m kinda wiped and I don’t wanna risk you seeing my underwear,” she said, rolling over to stare at the ceiling.

“You know, not everyone’s as perverted as your mom’s asshole boyfriend,” I said. She laughed. I guess mutual hatred of that guy was something we could bond over, even though I didn’t even know him.

… also now thoughts of her underwear were stuck in my mind. SHIT!

“Hey worm,” she said sitting up. “How about we watch more episodes of that samurai cartoon ya love so much later?”

“We are all caught up,” I said. “We are current. The next episode’s coming out this Sunday.”

“Oh…” she said, more disappointed than I honestly expected.

“Uh… we could watch something else… or I could… idk… work on dinner… I could cook something… or order a pizza… or we could-“

“Do you have any money?” She asked, looking at me sideways, almost confused at the idea of ordering a pizza.

“Uh, yeah! My dad left me some just in case I needed anything.” I lifted up my collector’s edition Ayu Tokai figurine, where I kept my spare cash for a rainy day. I was pretty good at saving, so I had a decent wad that I felt almost embarrassed showing off.

“What the hell!? Is your dad a millionaire or something,” Holly said in shock.

“Nah, we are just really good at saving money. He has a good job and we don’t spend much day to day. He always leaves me a good amount whenever he travels just in case I have a medical emergency or something.”

“Well now we have an emergency,” Holly said, standing in front of me menacingly.

“Gulp… you aren’t going to put me in the hospital are you?” I asked.

“Did you… just say the word ‘gulp?’” Holly asked.

“No…” I lied.

“Whatever. The emergency is that you haven’t used this wad of cash to take me out,” she said a strange hunger in her eyes.

“WHAT! I mean… what I… I’ve never taken anyone out… I don’t… I mean… I don’t know how and-“

“It’s SUUUUPER simple worm, come on, stay with me here. We go out, eat, drink, and you pay for it. That easy. Also don’t be awkward or I’ll put you in the hospital.”

“Gulp… you just said…”

“There it is again. Why do you keep saying the word ‘gulp’ do you think it’s cute or something?”

“… no… Anyway, where do you want to go, the mall? The amusement park?”

“Ty, what do I look like, I’m 12? What’s wrong with you! We are going to go to a nice restaurant. Do you have any clothes that don’t have anime girls on them?”

“My school uniform…” I said embarrassed.

Holly rolled her eyes in annoyance. “My GOD you are a child. Look through your father’s clothes. He must have something that doesn’t scream virginity.”

My dad’s clothes didn’t fit… too well. I was a bit too short for them. But I managed to find a nice dress shirt and slacks. I considered a suit but… I was too afraid my dad was going to find out.

Meanwhile, Holly was dressed in a tight black bodycon dress and the heels I bought for her. She even had light makeup on. Frankly, it was stunning.

She looked me up and down putting a hand to her chin and folding her other pair of arms across her chest. “Acceptable,” she said. “You are putting off a young office worker vibe…” she said tugging at a too loose sleeve. “An anemic young office worker vibe.”

“Is this what passes for flattery in your language?” I asked.

“It’s what passes for begrudging approval,” she said grabbing my hand. “Now let’s go.”

What ensued was a lot of Holly bossing people around. I offered to call a rideshare but she insisted we call a taxi because she knew just where to go. We crammed in, Holly having much more space than me, as she barked orders at the driver. Even cramped up like this she looked… striking.

It was then that I realized… holy shit… this was my first date. What did this mean? Should I let everyone know that I was dating Holly? No… no she would kill me. Is this a pity date? Is it obvious that she was too good for me? Where did she get those clothes? Why did she pack those clothes if she was just trying to get out of her mom’s house? Was this all some kind of trick? Was I going to end up battered and bruised at the end of the night and-“

“Hey…” Holly said putting a heavy hand on my shoulder. “You’ve never dated a girl before, have ya?”

“Oh no, lots of girls, tons of girls, girls can’t keep their hands off me, I’m a regular chick magnet!”

“So… zero?”

“Zero…” I admitted.

“Well this dinner is going to be awkward if you keep stammering over yourself like that. Just make eye contact with me, as if we were training together. Remember when I told you to not flinch away when someone was throwing a punch at you. Just imagine me always throwing a punch at you.”

“EEEP!” I whined.

“Not like that. Like, look just treat me like a friend OK. Just don’t let your eyes bulge out or start drooling all over yourself. Look at me like you’d look at… I don’t know… Matt.”

At that second I looked around me, making ABSOLUTLEY SURE Matt wasn’t here.

“Are… you OK?” she asked.

“He’s everywhere…” I whispered.

“Ugh, hey, HEY!” Holly said snapping her fingers in front of my face. “Stay with me here.”

“Oh sorry!” I said shaking my head, “I mean… you look very beautiful tonight.”

“Well, heh, at least you have taste, worm,” she said with a smile.

A few minutes later and we arrived at a bar in an area I didn’t know. I wasn’t even sure it was in our town anymore. It looked, I don’t know, post-modern? Like a music or jazz club, filled with people way older than either of us.

“Holly…” I complained. “You know I’m not old enough to drink.”

“That’s why you are going to SHUT UP and let me do the talking,” she said in a hushed voice as she yanked me out of the car. She walked with an almost seductive gait, hips swaying back and forth, much different from the threatening stomps you usually heard when she was walking down the halls of our school.

“Well well well, good golly Miss Holly,” said the absolute mountain of a man that was the bouncer. He wore a tight black shirt and sunglasses covered his eyes. “Nice to have a tough girl like you back in this dump.”

“Hey Bruno,” Holly said giving him a slap on the back. “Missed you too and uh… sorry bout last time. We cool?”

“Of course, of course, we always get jerks in here. You did us a favor. We can always use a little bit more manpower kicking the riff raff out. Just try to keep the collateral damage to a minimum OK? We had to replace a lot of tables.” His eyes wandered to me and a big grin flashed across his faith. “I see you’re with someone tonight. Whose this little shrimp? Your little brother?”

“Actually…” Holly said with a pause, “Believe it or not he’s my date.”

Bruno was stunned in silence for a while before he burst out laughing, holding his gut as his chuckles echoed loudly throughout the establishment.

“Good one Holly, good one. We all know your type. No really. Who is he? And why’s he wearing his Dads clothes?”

“Is it that obvious?” I whispered to Holly.

“HUSH!” Holly said pushing me away, as she continued to take charge. “No Bruno, I’m serious, don’t let his looks fool ya. This guy’s as tough as they come.”

Bruno bent down to look at me. “Oh really?”

“Yep. He could take anyone here, right darling?” she said squeezing my hand so hard it could fall off, signaling me to play around.

“Y-yes dear. That’s me, Big ol’ tough guy. Loves me some rough housing.”

Both Holly and Bruno just looked at me silently for a minute.

“Don’t let his looks fool me?” Bruno said questioningly.

“Just… really try to stretch the imagination here a bit. He takes my punches like a champ!”

“Does he now? Well that certainly is impressive,” Bruno said with another too wide grin. “Well, let me tell you something short stuff, you really hit the jackpot if you could land a girl like Holly.” He gave me a wink and opened the door for us. “Come on in,” he said to Holly, “I think we have your favorite table available".