It was my last day of work at Tenpins, the only bowling alley in my tiny college town. Working there had been pretty boring since most of the students at my college left to visit family during the summer. Sadly, I had to stay in town to keep my cozy apartment, and I needed to find a job to pay rent. Thankfully this place was looking for an extra hand to watch the counter while the owner went on an all summer vacation. I was my own boss at least. I spent pretty much all day writing. English major in college and especially excited for this semesters poetry course, I couldn't get enough practice.

 

As I sat at the counter I hardly even heard the quiet, "Excuse me," I looked up to find a very attractive guy. He was tall, with softly tanned skin and jet black hair with a short style that pointed up in the front. He had a soft but firm face, with warm brown eyes covered by thick rimmed square glasses. He was wearing an orange and red plaid shirt with gray jeans and orange Converse. He smiled at me, but sort of looked down in a shy manner, "Yo, um, one please," he said to me awkwardly. I asked his shoe size and handed him a pair. As he took them off the counter I noticed he had extremely toned arms and there was a hint of muscle shifting under his shirt. "Thanks man," he said before walking to alley number five. I groaned in embarrassment.

 

I wasn't surprised that he thought I was a guy…I mean I really did look like one. I usually had short hair, and during the summer I cropped it even shorter because of the heat...I usually just asked my barber for the standard boy cut. On top of that most of my wardrobe was on the tomboyish side…Lots of hoodies, baggy jeans, and sweatpants. I never saw the point and dressing to impress… If my writing didn't impress you there was no reason for us to have contact. On top of all that I'm an Asian chick…Which, not to be racist, means that my s are pretty much not there at all. All perfectly good reasons for him to have assumed I'm a guy. Well, maybe he hadn't assumed I was a guy, sometimes guys refer to girls by saying 'man' right? Maybe I was just misunderstanding.

 

After an hour of watching the guy play alone I awkwardly got up and pretended to do inventory on the bowling balls. There was really no need to, I literally had three customers that summer including that guy. The place really booms when school is in session, but otherwise is like an abandoned lot. I reached where he was playing...It looked like he had been doing pretty well, mostly strikes. He asked me if I want to join, I could tell it was sort of hard for him by the look on his face, so I agreed. After he rolled the ball he asked me, "So what's your name?"

 

"Ko Eun Chan," I replied nonchalantly as I punched my name into the program.

 

"Choi Han Gyul here," he said. After I joined the game he went up and rolled the ball, only two pins on the right side were left standing. He smiled really big when he knocked the other two down, "Spare!" After pumping his fist happily he pointed to me, "Bet you can't beat that, dude." I wanted to make sure he knew that I was actually a girl, but before I could say anything he started talking, "Damn, you have no idea how happy I am that a guy is running this place. My girlfriend just broke up with me and now I'm in kind of one of those 'I hate all women' moods you know?" He laughed, "If a chick was at the counter I probably would have walked out." I laughed too, but then I noticed that his smile was gone, "I knew she didn't really like me, but she left me for one of my own family members! My own flesh and blood. That's why I moved out here...I couldn't stand to be near them."

 

"That...That really man." Suddenly there was a loud crash and the overhead screen lit up with a multi colored 'STRIKE' scrolling across it. His mouth dropped, "Wait, when did you have time to- how did you?" I just smiled at him, "Enough depressing stuff! You're gonna have to work hard if you plan on beating me." One thing I had been able to do this summer was practice bowling. Every day from ten in the morning to six in the evening. Lucky for me his sense of competition kicked in and he was completely distracted from his crappy love life during our game.

 

He definitely thought I was a boy, but I never told him the truth after that. It was sort of deceptive, but he needed some comfort and I could be there for him as long as his didn't really know my gender. We played seven games and talked about all sorts of things. I found out that he was a devout gamer, just like me, and we both had the same taste in music, tv, and books. We shared a super large serving of our alley's specially, the fiesta supreme nachos and a pitcher of root beer. I'm a pretty sloppy eater, so I didn't mind him laughing at me as I shamelessly stuffed my face. I was a lot hungrier that day because I had been so engrossed in writing that I forgot to eat anything. In the end I won by a whopping five to two games. He admitted defeat gracefully about an hour before I had to close up. I had a ton of fun, even if he did think I was a guy. Honestly, it was easier this way it was a sort of no-strings-attached kind of fun. We didn't really have to worry about if we were interested in each other or not...Just two dudes with nothing better to do hanging out. Before he walked out he mentioned how fun it would be if we could do this again sometimes. I agreed; of course I never got the courage to ask for his number or anything. He gave me a high-five and a pat on the back and told me he would see me again next time. I forgot it was my last day until I was back in my apartment writing away in my journal.