After watching a few more acts at the open mic night, Lisa and I slipped outside of the auditorium and ended up sitting together on a bench just off of the walkway around the building. It was an incredibly beautiful night, the sky clear, the stars visible. It was still warm, as mid-September often was, but there was a nice cooling breeze in the air coming off the thin river that ran alongside the auditorium. I sat upright on the bench, with an arm slung over the back, while Lisa leaned against the metal arm rest and her legs, covered in light blue denim, hung over my own legs. It all felt just right.

“So it wasn’t that bad, right?” asked Lisa, smiling at me as we relaxed together into the bench.

“It was great,” I said. “I mean, I’m just so impressed that you could get up there and do that.”

“But was it funny?” she said with a hopeful look.

“I’m not the best judge of that,” I said, trying to avoid giving her a definite answer. “Everybody was laughing, though!”

Reaching out, Lisa pinched my side causing me to squirm and smack at her hands.

“Cut it out!” I exclaimed. “C’mon!” I continued smacking at her as she continued trying to pinch me.

“You didn’t think I was funny!” she said with mock-anger. I could tell that she didn’t really care what I actually thought of her performance, but the game we were playing was that she did care. “You thought it was dumb!”

“No!” I protested, beginning to laugh now as she relentlessly tried to pinch my side. Lisa was sitting upright now on the bench, propping herself up with one arm around my shoulders and the other digging into my side as we continued the game.

“Just admit it!” she said.

“Okay, okay,” I said. “Fine. I admit it!”

“Bah,” she said, leaning back from me and putting on a grumpy face.

“Don’t blame me!” I said. “C’mon, Lisa. This is just how I am.”

“How are you?” she asked with interest.

“Just kinda… even,” I said, sighing, feeling a bit anxious about revealing feelings. “You know, I don’t express much. It’s hard for me to express.”

“I see,” she said, crossing her arms as though she were prompting me to continue. Or that’s how I felt, at least.