around the table

We sit, drinking warm lattes, cracking sunflower seeds between front teeth, sipping sweet mint tea and talking about the men we like. They look around, darting furtive glances at one another and then someone raises her head revealing a sly smile, as if taking out from a breast pocket the courage to ask if we like ‘black guys’, “Have you’ze ever been with one...” she pauses “…you know?” As if somehow the tag on the end is meant to justify the question, it’s nearly embarrassing. There is a general agreement around the table that Asian guys are not attractive, but someone feels offended, “What about South East Asian guys? "Hey I’m South East Asian!” “Ah!” there is a sigh of agreement, some girls scrunch up their nose and others blush. The topic turns to ‘white guys’, opinions around the table are divided 50/50. Some say they will never even go near one; a few of the others would like to sleep with one, just to try it or maybe just to defy their parents. They turn to me, with a blank stare I tell them that I like people, that I am fascinated by them, that I love them all and that’s all there is to say. They roll their eyes and go back to chewing their gum, checking their phones, staring at their manicured nails or fixing their hijab. These are not friends, these are novelty stickers.

#writing #shortstory #contemporarywriting #contemporaryliterature #fiction #girls #maybeethnic #nonnecessarilyarab #conversation #youngwomen