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My New Friend

I like boys. I understand them. A lot of this has to do with the fact that I come from a family with a lot of boys. They just make sense to me.

Last weekend I met the most beautiful, intelligent pre-teen girl. Our initial interaction involved me telling her in Portuguese how much I liked her alternating pink and blue nail polish. She's very shy, and I noticed that she tends to sit back and take in her environment before jumping in. Fortunately, I'm good at respecting that.

We eventually bonded, though, through our walking tour of touristy Orlando and a few comments about the frigid air. The 8 year old girl who traveled with us eventually complained, "You keep holding hands and hugging each other."

Yep. We did.

We talked in Portuguese about the rides and rated the roller coasters. We discussed the fact that her uncle is one of her favorite people and which American music she liked. We smiled and laughed and I felt such a protective instinct about her that I gave her my raincoat to keep her dry on Jurassic Park and shielded her from the water.

At one point, as we walked hand in hand, she looked up at me and said, "[My brother] goes with [my uncle], and I go with you."

Are you smiling yet?

The Brazilian and I even taught her our silly English game, and we walked out of Hulk shouting, "I vas verrry scarrred on dot rrrride." We left the ride arm in arm...the Brazilian linked to one side of me, and his niece on the other.

I told her later that night how much I liked her, and she enthusiastically responded with a smile and "me tambem." When I told her mother how much I liked the girl, she smiled and said that the feeling was mutual. "You both are like one."

We exchanged email addresses, and I hope that we are able to continue this relationship. I'm a bit excited to watch her grow. She will, I'm sure, continue to be amazing.

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