This was written for the Two for Tuesday Challenge #7. Prompt: write a story from the first person point of view (i.e. I did this, I saw that) featuring a protagonist who is the opposite of your own gender, in over 200 words.

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Why do some people feel entitled to be liked by everyone they meet? It’s something you have to earn. You can’t expect to look at a stranger, smile, and have them smile back, instantly forming some sort of superficial kinship.

I admit, I was shocked when I realized I hadn’t woken up in my room, but rather in some sort of cave. I pushed myself against the wall into a standing position, waiting for my brain to regain its usual faculties. There were lit torches set at regular intervals, and some sort of crude carvings on the wall. I became engrossed in the markings, trying to decipher their meaning, when the girl took my hand and started tugging at me. I let her lead the way, which she did with an urgency that I only understood once the first of our pursuers started giving chase. That was my only mistake. I helped steer our way, since her sense of direction was abysmal, and eventually we made it to safety.

Standing outside, enjoying the bright, moonlit grasslands, I was hoping she would let go of my hand, but I wasn’t so lucky. Instead, she smiled at me. I didn’t want to push her aside, but she showed no signs of letting go. She might have been thinking that there was something tying us together, now that we had survived such a traumatic experience. Before any recriminatory words had time to fully form, my face betrayed my dislike of her attention-seeking ways. She silenced whatever foolish statement she had prepared and let go of my hand, her eyes downcast.

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Word count: 267