# Chapter 3: My First Outing with Emma

We were sitting in a small restaurant, face to face. Emma was talking a lot.

"Why aren’t you saying anything?" she asked, looking me straight in the eyes.

"Caël told me it’s frustrating to talk to you because you don’t speak much to anyone except your close friends," she added.

"Really?" I said, without really knowing how to respond.

"Oh my God… I’m going to kill Tania and Caël. I can’t believe they introduced me to someone like you!" She shook her head, clearly annoyed, then laughed nervously.

"I only came because Caël asked me to. If you want, I can leave," I offered.

"No, wait. I at least want to finish my coffee," she replied, turning her eyes away.

I usually didn’t get along with girls like her. They talked too much. Once she finished her coffee, we left the restaurant.

"Well, see you around," she said with a vague smile.

I sighed internally. Why did you drag me into this, Caël?

But just as I thought it was over, Emma suddenly turned back toward me.

"Want to go to karaoke?"

"Huh?" I replied, surprised.

"Since you paid for the coffee, I guess I can hang out a bit more with you," she said, shrugging.

"Wait, I thought you didn’t like me."

"That’s true."

"What?"

"Think of it as your chance to make up for being boring earlier. Come on!" she said with a teasing smile.

We walked toward the karaoke bar. She kept talking non-stop.

"I just broke up with my ex," she said suddenly. "I need to let it out with some sad songs."

I didn’t understand why she wanted to do this with me. Surely she had other friends for this kind of thing. Time went by quickly. And as we headed back, she continued to open up.

"I’m tired of putting so much effort into relationships that never work," she confessed. "No matter how much I give, it always ends badly. Now, I just want something simple. A quiet, comfortable relationship."

"Alright…" I murmured, not really caring.

We walked in silence for a while, though she kept talking. Once we reached a crossing, she smiled gently at me.

"Thanks for listening to me today. Get home safe."

"Yeah… later," I replied simply.

All she did was talk about her ex for half the time. I wondered how a girl our age could already have so much romantic experience. She really bored me. I didn’t think a girl like her could talk so much. And what 

was Caël’s goal in all this? I should probably ask him.