Different

"Are we really doing this?" Hieu asked, his voice barely audible over the music.

"Of course!" shouted back the girl.

She grabbed his hand and headed outside. Her dark olive skin glowed as it reflected the lights of the club. It probably looks as if I'm being kidnapped, he thought to himself. A tall and beautiful girl walking confidently, dragging a wimpy looking guy behind her.

They got outside, the girl wished the doorman a lovely night and quickened her pace towards the parking lot.

She looked around excitedly. "Where's your car?" she asked.

"I... uh... I don't have a car", he muttered.

He expected a bad reaction. He didn't get one.

"So, we're walking!" she said enthusiastically.

They walked in silence for a while, on the sidewalk with the beach on their left. Hieu realized he didn't even know her name yet.

"What's your name?" he asked, tilting his face so he could face her.

"It's Sam." she said, keeping her eyes on the ground.

They took a right turn next to a closed bakery.

"Mine is Hieu." he said.

Sam turned her face towards him and nodded.

"It's not spelled like you'd expect it to be. Most people think it's H-U-G-H. It's actually H-I-E-U. It's Vietnamese. It's kind of stupid I guess..."

Sam bumped his forehead softly with her palm. "Don't say that!" she told him strictly. "Different isn't stupid. It's cool. And memorable. I like it a lot. So, nice to meet you H-I-E-U Hieu!"

He chuckled. "Thanks! Nice to meet you too S-A-M Sam! I'm assuming that's how it's spelled."

"Yup. Looks like you're good at making assumptions!" she said with a smirk.

They walked a little further past a closed cafeteria.

“Did you always live here?” Sam asked.

“No. I’m originally from Maryland, I came here for studies. Well… to be fair that’s an excuse. I mainly wanted to move out for the solitude. I enjoy being alone.”

Hieu thought he probably sounded like a loser. They walked a couple of steps further and took a left turn into a quiet street. The music from the beach-side clubs could not be heard anymore.

“Come on!” he said playfully. “You have to tell me your answer too! And then I say something back and we keep it going and we have a normal conversation. Doesn’t that sound good?”

Sam nodded apologetically. “I’m sorry, I was just thinking how similar our stories were. I also came here using my studies as an excuse. I wanted to be alone as well. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my family a lot, I still do, I just couldn’t bear to live near people who knew how I grew up. I don’t really know whether this makes sense. Everyone thought they knew the real me and tried to force it upon me, when I was, in fact, the only one who knew myself. Every neighbor, every classmate I ever had knew about a part of me that I tried so desperately to get rid of. I was trying to move forward, but the people around me kept me rooted at the same position. So, I ran away.”

She chuckled bitterly. “I probably sound like a loser right now.”

Hieu patted her shoulder softly. “No, you don’t.” he said firmly.

He didn’t really know what to say in response to her outburst.

“I’m sorry if I made you remember something unpleasant.” he said, almost whispering.

“It’s okay!” Sam replied. “Besides, rather than you apologizing to me, it should be me thanking you.”

He frowned in confusion and looked at her as if to say, “What for?”.

She looked at the ground, her face turning into a light shade of pink.

“You know…” she hesitated. “For letting me spend the night with you.”

“Oh.”

They both turned to face each other and, as soon as their eyes met, quickly turned their heads the opposite way. Hieu zipped his jacket and placed his hands in his pockets. Sam readjusted the straps of her dress and brushed her hair slowly with her fingers.

They were silent for a few more steps. Hieu noticed they passed a small barber shop.

“We’re almost there.” he noted quietly. She nodded.

“Before we arrive, I have to warn you. I don’t exactly live alone.”

“You have a roommate?” she responded quickly. “I don’t mind, I also have a roommate!”

“No, no.” he said, shaking his head. “I have a pet. A cat.”

Sam tried to keep a straight face. She placed her hand on her mouth.

“His name is Boss.” he continued.

Muffled laughter tingled Hieu’s ears.

“Oh shush!” he exclaimed, also struggling to maintain a straight face.

 “It’s serious, you could be allergic, or something!”

“You named your cat Boss?!”

She could barely control her voice.

Hieu gave in and joined her, their laughter only growing louder as they walked. They stopped in front of a tall old-looking building. Its walls were white, some of the windows still had Christmas decorations on, although it was March.

“Come on, you bully. We’re here.”

Hieu’s room looked exactly like Sam expected it to look: No wall decoration, a small bed in the corner with plain white sheets hastily thrown on it, a small black closet next to his nightstand, a big monitor with a console next to it and a huge chair with a headset thrown on it.

Of course, he is a gamer, she thought, letting out a small chuckle.

The highlight of it all, though, was for sure Boss, who was standing on the bed just like a figurine. Sam sat next to him and softly stroked his white fur, as he eventually curled up on her lap and started purring. She felt almost envious of him.

What did cats have to worry about? No one would ever tell Boss not to wear dresses. No one would ever judge him for being a cat. No one would make fun of him for the way he said his meow’s. Do cats even pay taxes?

Hieu pushed the door using his hip and entered the room with a glass in each of his hands.

“I didn’t know if you wanted water or juice, so I brought both.” he said proudly. His hair looked wet, as if he’d just styled it.

“I’ll have the water.” she replied with a smile.

“Then, I guess I’ll have the juice!”

He handed her the glass of water and used his index finger to push his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. He stepped backwards and went to sit on the chair, almost sitting on the headset.

Sam thought he was handsome, but he was such a goof.

“Why were you at the club alone?” she asked. “You don’t look like the type who’d go alone to meet people.”

She paused for a moment and quickly added, “No offense!”

Hieu gave her a small but polite smile. “I went there with my friends, Mark and Jonathan. We were supposed to celebrate Mark getting his license, so he drove us there. They told me they would be right back, and they sort of… forgot about me.”

He took a sip out of his juice. Sam looked at him with her mouth open in shock.

“They left you there?” she asked, slightly angered.

“Well, yeah.” he said in a distinctively awkward tone.

“The two of them have always been very close. It makes sense that they’d prefer to celebrate without me. It did make me a little sad that they left me there alone, but I guess it’s fine. As I told you before, I like being alone. That’s why I don’t mind it.”

Sam placed her glass on the nightstand. “Well… I think you should mind it. And I think you need better friends.”

She looked at Boss who was sleeping on her lap and back at Hieu. He shrugged and nodded. 

“What do we do now?” she asked, “Should I strip?”

Hieu choked on his juice and flinched, stunned by her question.

“I’m not sure.” he muttered.

She carefully took the left strand of her dress with her fingers and slid it slowly over her shoulder and off her arm. She proceeded to do the same with the right strand. The top part of her dress fell onto her lap, acting like a blanket for Boss. Her bra was pink, decorated with white lace flowers.

They both looked at each other, with rosy flushed cheeks. After several tense minutes, Hieu stood up and took his jacket off. He proceeded to place it over her shoulders and gave her a few stupid perky pats on the head. “This doesn’t feel right, does it?” he asked.

“No, it doesn’t.” she replied.

He opened his closet and pulled out a thick and soft blanket, which he proceeded to lay on the floor next to the bed.

“What are you doing?”, Sam asked.

“Making my bed! I’m letting you sleep on the bed.”

“You’re still letting me stay here?”

“Well, I’m just assuming you don’t want to go back home.”

“You really are good at assumptions…”

She let her cheek fall onto the pillow, keeping her lap steady, so she wouldn’t scare Boss. “You’re an angel.” she told him in a wistful voice.

Hieu threw a pillow on the blanket-on-the-floor bed he’d just made and sat cross-legged on it. “Do you want to talk a little? I’m not very sleepy.”

They started talking about music. Hieu liked Queen and Sam liked Nirvana. She teased him, calling him a “Freddie Mercury fan-girl” and he also teased her calling her “emo”. They agreed they both had very “basic” music tastes. They laughed.

Then, they talked about their futures. Hieu wanted to become a grand professor in a fancy university. He insisted that he looked much more charming when explaining chemistry than when he tried to make small talk. Sam told him she was studying to become a midwife. She explained that she thinks giving birth is a miracle, and she would love to be able to experience it through her work.

Next, they talked about movies and shows. Hieu said he liked Pulp Fiction and Breaking Bad. Sam commented how predictable his answer was. She said she liked the movie Juno and the show sense8. She said they both are centered around themes she cared about a lot.

They were all lying down by now, Sam on the bed, Hieu on the floor and Boss next to Sam’s legs.

“We both know by now that my friends are not the greatest, but how come your friends left you alone?” Hieu asked.

“I only have one friend. Her name is Anne. She’s my roommate. She kicked me out yesterday. I don’t think she wants me to be her friend anymore.”

He nodded as she talked. “I can be your replacement friend, if you want.” he offered.

Sam let out an agreeable chuckle. “I’d love that. But it still hurts, losing her, even if I can replace her. Besides, you might banish me as well, after you learn my secret.”

Hieu lifted his head. “Are you related to the mafia?” he asked in suspicion.

Sam laughed. “Yes.” she responded sarcastically.

He smiled, “What is it then, that is so bad you got kicked out for it?”

She curled up, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them. “Just don’t kick me out, please. At least not right now, I can leave in the morning.”

“Tell me already!” he requested impatiently.

Sam let out a sigh. A tear wet her cheek.

“I…” she started. She was afraid and unsure.

Hieu got up and sat next to her, brushing her arm to reassure her.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. Do you need some water?”

Sam stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders as if to keep him in place.

“I wasn’t born like this.” she told him assertively.

“You weren’t born this beautiful?” he asked with a smug smile. “Makes sense, most babies aren’t exactly beautiful, they’re kind of cute though.”

She eased her grip and laughed.

“This isn’t a joke, you goof!” she said bumping his arm softly with her fist.

She sat down next to him. “I was born… a boy.” she said reluctantly.

Hieu seemed thoughtful for a moment. “Hmm, I don’t think so.” he said.

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t think you meant that. I think what you meant to say is that you were born in a boy’s body. You have always been a girl, ever since the moment you were born. That’s what I think.”

Her tears started covering her whole face. She moved forward and pulled him in for a hug. They stayed like that for a while, until her crying settled down.

“Thank you.” she whispered as she pulled back.

He encouraged her to lie down again and went to bring her more water. Sam followed his advice and took Boss in her arms, squeezing him against her chest. Hieu came back soon after and gave her another glass of water.

“You’re an angel.” she told him once again.

“Hey, if you keep telling me, I might start believing it and become really narcissistic!”

They both giggled.

“I called you an angel, not a god! Settle down, nerd!” she said jokingly.

“Are you okay?” he asked her.

“I am. I’m very relieved. Thank you.”

“Let’s sleep now. I need my beauty sleep! You don’t really need a beauty sleep, but I can’t have a member of the mafia awake in my house while I sleep!”

She smiled. “Thank you.” she said one last time. “I’ll treat you to breakfast tomorrow! Goodnight, Hieu.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.” he said gently after tucking her in.

“Goodnight, Sam.”

“Meow” added Boss.