"Thanks for coming with me, tonight," Steph said, sliding into her seat in the booth across from you. "It really means a lot."
"Hey, any time," you said, settling down opposite her. The two of you had been inseparable since middle school, best friends without even a hint of romance, despite what people sometimes thought since she was a girl and you were a guy. Though part of the explanation for that was that Steph didn't even like guys; she'd come out as a lesbian in high school, though you'd kind of suspected it for a while. She was tall for a girl, with long brown hair she usually wore in a ponytail and an athletic build - she'd played soccer in high school, and though she hadn't continued it at university, she still stayed in shape. You always felt kind of plain and awkward in comparison, but the two of you had lived near each other and had a lot of similar tastes in books, movies and gaming, so it'd been natural you'd fall together.
And that's why, when Steph broke up with her girlfriend earlier in the week, she'd called you up as a shoulder to cry on. You weren't all that good at this sort of emotional stuff, but for your best friend, you could be there.
"So, what is this place, anyway?" you ask, looking around. You'd never heard of Liz's, but it was fairly busy this evening- the clientele seemed to be mostly women, so you felt kind of out-of-place, though not as much as if you'd not been with Steph, and some of them seemed to be making out rather intensely in their booths. "Do you like to come here with..." Dammit, she'd broken up. Right. Probably didn't want to talk about it. Foot in mouth.
"With Cara?" Steph asked; luckily she didn't look too upset. "Yeah. We came here sometimes. It's a hot spot for... you know... our scene. But the food's good and the drinks are better, and that's what I care about." She picked up her menu and glanced over. "But let's not talk about me. I've been in my own head too much lately, and it's not been fun after I got dumped. Damn Cara, anyway. Least she could've done is tell me in person instead of sending me a text. Why do I always have the worst luck with women?" She looked you up and down wistfully, and muttered something under breath that sound like "why couldn't you be a girl?" Then she added, "But, anyway, how's classes going?"
Glad to change the uncomfortable subject, you launched into an update on your studies while Steph listen halfheartedly and a waitress came over to take your drinks. You were starting to feel a strange tingling in your scalp; that was weird, you hadn't even had anything yet. Suddenly...