I knew that I didn’t want to go back to being just friends and watch Luke chase after every cute liftie who landed in town on a work visa. The desire I felt for him now was both reassuringly comfortable and thrillingly new at once: it was intoxicating. And I definitely knew that I didn’t appreciate him treating me like a buddy when we were around other people. But what I couldn’t quite explain to Penny and Emily was that it felt a little unfair to expect him to make the leap on his own. All these years, especially with Luke, I’d never wanted to be treated like a girl, and now I suddenly did.

“Time for a DTR,” Emily said.

“A what now?”

Penny and Emily both groaned and laughed.

“You’re hopeless.” Penny sighed. “It means define the relationship. What are you to each other? Friends with benefits or boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“And what if we have different answers to that question?”

“Nope!” Emily said.

“Either get on the same page or be done with it, go back to being just friends. I know how close you guys are,” Penny said. “It’s not worth it unless he’s serious about you.” I was moved to know that Penny still felt a little protective of me; she’d always claimed to find my friendship with Luke weird.

“Exactly,” Emily jumped in. “There’re other boys you can mess around with down there.”

“DTR,” Penny said. “Do it. And report back.”

Liz Is a Tiger

CALI, THE beautiful teaching assistant, has become like a celebrity in my mind, and so I can’t help taking her up on the invitation to Red Door, however casually she’d thrown it out. She’s behind the bar when I show up around nine on Wednesday.

“Oh hey,” she says, putting down the glass she’s polishing. The place is almost empty. “Nice to see you, Liz.”

“Hey, Cali.” I feel my cheeks burning; I wonder if my loneliness is obvious.

“What can I get you?”

I pull myself up onto a stool. I’m wearing my now-uniform of T-shirt and jeans. I’ve chosen a T-shirt with a V-neck, trying to appreciate my new body as best I can. It’s worked maybe a little too well; I felt the eyes of every man I passed between the Subte stop and the bar. I’ve noticed that men are more open with their admiration here than in the States. A woman brings a kind of disruptive energy when she walks down the street: it’s uncomfortable and, if I’m being honest, a little thrilling.

“What’s popular here?”

Cali considers. “Fernet and Coke, do you want to try one?”

“I’ve never had Fernet.”

“It’s bitter. Kind of like Campari.”

My tastes when it comes to cocktails are hopelessly unsophisticated; I’ve only ever been into beer and wine.