The first time I met Sam the Temmie was at a Studies in Human-Monster Interrelations lecture. I was in the back of the lecture theatre, having slunk in late after a few too many drinks at the campus bar and losing track of time. I couldn't skip any more lectures – we had to submit our major essay by the end of the week and Dr. Lefler was one of those professors who refuse to record their lectures and put them up on the internet.

I'd chosen the course as my compulsory elective since I'd heard it was a breeze. All I had to do was memorise a textbook and write a bunch of essays about how diversity was great and how monsters and humans had learned to put aside their differences and blah blah blah, easy A. Instead, I was met by a constant barrage of history and politics and philology and social semiotics. Lots of people dropped out. I was on the point of dropping out, too. It wasn't that I didn't find the course interesting, it's just that I've never been particularly academically gifted and I was totally overwhelmed.

But that day, while I was trying desperately to write down everything I thought was important as Lefler rambled on and on about the establishment of Old Home and its subsequent abandonment, I noticed her in the next row.

A Temmie.

I'd heard there was a Temmie taking our class but like I said, I'd skipped a lot of lectures and she wasn't in my tute group so I'd never seen her. There were a few other monsters doing the course – bunnies and dogs, mostly, but there was also a tsunderplane I'd seen a few times. Monsters and humans, despite their differences, were starting to get along together again, and I soon learned the monsters in the course hadn't taken it as an easy option – they were genuinely interested in furthering good human-monster relations. A few of the bunnies had already got a head-start by dating human boys, but this was balanced out with the fact that the guys were soon dumped. Bunnies will be bunnies, after all.

I'd never considered dating a monster, although it was hard not to ogle the bunnies. They were all stacked and with their curvy butts squeezed into yoga-pants they had a natural and relaxed sexiness that was hard for a guy to ignore. But being Mr. Average, I never got so much as a glance from them.

So when I noticed the Temmie a few rows down, I started watching her, wondering what a Temmie was doing at college. They were, after all, one of the more unusual kinds of monsters that had been thrust back into what had previously been a purely human world. The way they talked and their bizarre, hyperactive behaviour made it difficult not to laugh at them.

The Temmie was leaning over her desk and writing madly with the crayon in her mouth. When Lefler said something, she listened intently, her pointy cat-ears tall and perky. Then she'd fall to writing, scribbling rapidly with her crayon in her notebook.

I found myself following her lead after a while. She seemed to have a good grasp on what we were supposed to be learning in this class. Well, she was writing a whole bunch of notes, at least.

I felt someone tap my shoulder and turned. It was Spence, a friend of mine – well, maybe not a friend exactly. Acquaintance, I guess you'd call him, or rather a drinking buddy. He must have snuck in without me noticing him.

The edge of his thin lips curled up in a smile and his watery blue eyes sparkled. "You've been staring at that Temmie for a while now, bro. You know her?"

I shook my head. "I just noticed she's writing a lot," I said.

Spence sucked his teeth. "Temmies can't write, dude. She's just drawing pictures." He leaned closer. "She's one of the first Temmies to get accepted at a human college, you know."

"She must be smart then," I said.

He chuckled. I didn't like the sound. "Bro, you're so naive. it's just that whole equal-opportunity thing. The university gets a bunch of money for every minority or monster they let in. Lefler will pass her even if all she hands in is a notebook full of love-hearts and rainbows."

Annoyed, I said nothing and went back to taking notes. The little Temmie was writing twice as fast now. Damn, I must have missed something important.

Suddenly her crayon snapped. She looked back and forth in a panic, then ducked her head down beside her desk and brought up a pencil case in her mouth. She placed it on her desk, grabbed the zipper in her teeth and pulled.

The case exploded. Crayons and pencils and erasers and correction tape flew everywhere.

The little creature's eyes boggled out of her head. With a cry of "UwwWa uWwa uwawaw!" she leaped out of her seat and began desperately picking up the crayons nearest to her. The whole theatre turned to watch.

Lefler had stopped talking. He was watching too, hands folded, as the Temmie, now on all fours, pursued a crayon rolling down the steps along the theatre's edge. A ripple of laughter spread through the hall, accompanied by whispers and giggles.

I glanced behind me. Spence was sniggering, but when he saw the look on my face he stopped and shrugged.

"Temmies, man. What can I say?"

I glanced back at the Temmie. She was trying to put the crayons back in her pencil case but every time she dropped a mouthful in, several would slip out and roll away. The little creature looked up, mortified, blushing right to the tips of her dog and cat ears.

It was then that I saw her face clearly for the first time. It was a Temmie face, of course, open and wide-eyed and childish, with an even more bewildered look on it than they usually have. Her cat ears pricked up at the scattered laughter and then folded back as her face fell in humiliation.

I got out of my seat and pushed my way to the edge of the theatre. "Here," I said kneeling beside her. "Let me help you with those."

The Temmie gaped up at me in alarm, but when I showed her the handful of crayons I'd already found, the shocked O became an embarrassed smile. She fumbled her pencil case open and I put the crayons inside.

We soon collected all of her scattered stationery. As she zipped up her pencil case she looked up at me, her face a mixture of relief and embarrassment. "Thanks," she whispered.

I smiled at her and stood up, towering over her. Damn, Temmies really were short. She barely came up to my chest. She was a full grown Temmie, right?

The little creature blinked up at me and I realised I was standing there staring like a moron. She gave me another awkward smile then slipped past me and climbed back into her seat.

Lefler started shuffling his notes at the lectern. "So, If I'm free to continue-"

I noticed then that everyone had turned their attention to me. Whispered laughter spread across the theatre. Humiliated, I slunk back to my seat and threw myself back into taking notes.

When the lecture finished, I grabbed my stuff and stood up, wanting to ditch Spence and get away before anyone else noticed me. I looked down to where the Temmie was sitting. She was busy shoving her notes into her backpack when she turned and saw me halfway out of my seat looking at her. Her beady little eyes went wide and she swept her backpack onto her back and bounded down the steps on all fours, her tail between her legs.

I watched her go, wandering what the hell was wrong with her. Great. I'm sure a lot of people saw that, too. Last time I bother to help a monster.

Spence placed his hand on my shoulder. "Temmies, bro. Let's go get a drink."

I needed one so I didn't say no.

As I sat there in the uni bar with some of my regular drinking buddies, I nursed my bourbon and coke and thought about what had happened. Why the hell had she run away? Just embarrassed, probably. You made a big deal about helping her. You should have just let her collect her crayons by herself.

But no… I had visions of her trying to get the crayons back into the case and fumbling them over and over again, like Sisyphus trying to push that boulder uphill only to have it roll back down. No, I'd done the right thing, even if I had ended up looking like a retard because of it.

"What's on your mind?" asked Ash. He was a friend of mine from high school. He was studying medicine and we only ever got to catch up over a quick drink in the bar. He was there with his girlfriend Hannah, who like me and Spence was also taking Studies in Human-Monster Interrelations. She hadn't been at the lecture, since every second week they clashed with her anthropology tute.

"Still thinking about that Temmie, huh?" said Spence, jogging me in the ribs as he sat down with his pretentious hand-crafted IPA bullshit beer.

"Which Temmie?" asked Ash.

Spence explained the story to everyone's amusement and my horror. I sat there and took the ribbing. Fighting back would just let them know it was bothering me.

"Oh," said Hannah, who'd been listening the whole time. "That's Sam the Temmie."

"You know him?" said Ash.

"Him?" A grin broke across Spence's face. "Wait. He's a boy Temmie?" He turned to me, his eyes gleaming, and my heart sank. "Oh man, that's just too perf-"

"Don't be dumb," said Hannah, coming to my rescue. "Sam's a girl. You've seen her wearing ribbons in her hair, right? Temmies on the Surface take human names and they sometimes don't realise they've chosen a name for the opposite sex. In their own culture they're all called Temmie, after all." She frowned. "Dr. Lefler mentioned that in last week's lecture. Were you even paying attention?"

Spence grinned and shrugged and I realised I mustn't have been paying attention at the time, either. So her name was Sam. Well, Temmie, but her human name was Sam. And Sam could be a girl's name, so it wasn't really such a bad choice at all.

Sam the Temmie. It was a cute name, actually.

"How do you know her?" I asked.

"'She's my friend Lavender's room-mate," replied Hannah.

"Lavender? That bunny-girl who works at the cafe?" said Spence, leaning across the table. "Hey, you don't think you could introduce me to her, could you?"

Hannah snorted. "You wouldn't know what to do with her." Then she smiled at me. "But maybe I will. Then you four could go on a double date."

I blinked. "What?"

"Well, Sam is single, like you."

"Oh no," I said. "No. I think I've had enough ribbing for one day." I finished my drink and wiped my mouth. "I have to go to the library. I've got an essay to research."

Hannah smiled apologetically and I left them all laughing about something else. I suppose all the humour at my and Sam's expense had been exhausted.

I wasn't just making an excuse, though. I really did need to hit the books.

I couldn't find the book I needed anywhere so I checked the catalogue. Nope, it wasn't checked out. That meant someone, somewhere had to be reading it.

I sighed and decided to go looking. I really only needed a few references from it, so hopefully whoever had it wouldn't have a problem letting me borrow it for a moment.

I was only a few minutes into my search when I stumbled upon Sam again, sitting at a desk in the corner near the periodicals. She was deep in her reading and every now and again she'd take up her crayon in her mouth, scribble some notes then go back to reading.

I remembered then what Spence had said about her drawing pictures and still being able to graduate and I frowned. But the frown didn't stay on my face long. As I approached I noticed Sam was sitting on a thick book that allowed her to lean over the desk without standing on her hind feet, much like a little kid sitting on a booster-seat at an adult table.

It was then that Sam noticed me. I was in the middle of smiling to myself about how adorable she looked when I felt her eyes flick towards me. Her expression shifted to one that can only really be described as terror: her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open, totally open, floating beneath her face as only a Temmie's mouth seems able to do. The crayon she was holding fell from her mouth, rolled across the floor and stopped at my feet.

I picked it up sheepishly. God, now she thought I was some kind of creepy stalker or something. Her expression certainly said that.

I placed the crayon on her desk and saw the book she was reading. It was the book I needed – "Challenges in Monster-Human Social Interactions: A Case Study". I felt like laughing at how suddenly appropriate the title was.

"Uh," I said, desperately wanting to be out of this situation as quickly as possible. "Hi. I was wondering if, uh, if I can borrow that book for a while."

Sam stared at me, having lost none of that deer-in-the-headlights look she had. "You… you want to borrow the book?"

It was my turn to stare. I'd expected to have to deal with Temmie-speak, but she spoke English perfectly with only a slight accent. "Uh, yeah."

"O-okay," she said. She closed the book with her nose, picked it up between her paws and offered it to me. "I was almost finished using it anyway."

I felt bad. "Hey, wait. I only need it for a few minutes. I just need to check some references."

"Oh," said Sam. She put the book back down.

I smiled at her. "I don't want to steal the book from you. You seem to be hard at work."

Sam followed my eyes and looked down at her notes. Despite writing with crayon, she wrote small and neat. They were orderly notes, completely different from my own chaotic scrawl. I thought again about what Spence had said about Sam sitting in lectures and drawing pictures. His offhand prejudice and how readily I'd believed it made me flush guiltily.

"Uh, this'll just take a moment." I said. "I'll just…" I grabbed a chair from an empty desk nearby. Sam made space for me beside her and I sat down. She still seemed very nervous. Well, she had every reason to be. I was acting like a total social reject.

I smiled at her in an attempt to reassure her. "Thanks for this. I won't take long."

"D-don't rush," she said, managing a shy smile back.

I quickly found the references I needed, wrote them down then closed the book. Sam glanced up at me from reading her own notes. "You're already finished?"

"Yeah," I said, getting up. "I really should take better notes. Lefler said he'd fail me if I didn't have a complete bibliography this time."

Sam nodded, her dog-ears flapping. "Dr. Lefler's really scary, isn't he?"

She seemed a little less freaked out now and so I decided to go while I still had some dignity. "I won't disturb you any longer. Have fun, and thanks again, Sam."

She blinked at me. "You- you know my name?"

"Of course," I said. Then the smile slipped from my face. Damn it. Now she'd really think I was stalking her! "Uh, my friend Hannah is a friend of your room-mate Lavender's. She told me your name was Sam. Your human name, I mean. She said your monster name is Temmie."

God, I was babbling like an idiot.

A quizzical look passed over Sam's face. "Yes. Temmie is my real name. All Temmies are called Temmie."

"Doesn't that get confusing?" I asked, happy for the chance to salvage the situation.

Sam brought a paw to her mouth. "Not really. We recognise each other, just like humans do. I guess we must all look the same to humans, though, right?"

"Oh, no, no," I said. "I- Well, I'd never really met a Temmie before I met you, so I don't really know."

"Oh," said Sam. "Well, it's why we take human names on the Surface. Humans sometimes find it hard to tell the difference between us. I decided on Sam."

"It's a nice name," I said.

Sam looked down at her notes. Her ears had turned pink and I realised she was trying to hide a blush. When she looked back up at me her beady little eyes were gleaming. "Thank you. I'm sure your name is nice too." She blinked. "What is your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

My name? Oh god. My stomach lurched. This whole time I'd been talking to her and I hadn't even introduced myself. I told her my name and held out my hand.

Sam stared at my hand, then with an "Oh!" of realisation she placed her paw on it. I shook it while she watched, seemingly fascinated by the whole ritual.

Her paw was warm, the pads even softer than the satin-softness of her fur. Sam smiled at me shyly and I realised I was still holding onto her paw even though we'd finished shaking hands. I let go.

"It's very nice to meet you, –" said Sam, slowly pronouncing my name as though afraid she'd get it wrong. "Did I get that right?"

I chuckled. "Yeah." I'd never thought of my name as a hard one to pronounce, but then, she was a monster and a Temmie.

"Um. I forgot something too," said Sam. "I forgot to thank you for helping me out earlier."

"Earlier?"

She looked awkward. "When I dropped my crayons?"

"Oh yeah. Don't worry about it. It was no problem," I said. "Thanks for lending me the book. I'll get out of your hair now."

Sam blinked and lifted a paw to her hair. She wore it in that slightly wavy bob that all Temmies wear.

"Uh, it's just a turn of speech," I said. "It means to stop troubling someone."

"Really?" said Temmie, her eyes brightening. "Figurative language, right?" She rummaged around in her backpack for a different notebook, opened it with her nose and snatched up her crayon in her teeth. "Let me write it down: '...to get out of someone's hair.' And it means to stop troubling someone." She stopped writing and looked up at me. "Oh, but you weren't troubling me. I'm happy I got the chance to thank you properly for earlier."

She grinned, then. It was different from her earlier nervous smiles. It was bright and huge and made her face light up as though it was a poker machine and you'd just won the jackpot. A gorgeous grin, genuine and so cheerful your heart just had to play along and overflow with happiness. It was impossible not to grin back.

Sam… actually, it wasn't just her name that was cute.

The thought jumped into my head so unexpectedly that the grin slipped from my lips. Sam cocked her head and looked at me quizzically.

I had to get out of here before I made an even bigger ass of myself by saying something irredeemably stupid. "Well, see you around," I said quickly. "At the next lecture I guess."

Sam nodded. "It's tomorrow, isn't it?"

"See you then," I said.

"Bye!" She waved a paw at me.

As I hurried from the library I noticed my heart was racing. What the hell was going on? I wasn't usually so awkward around people.

Well, for one thing, Sam wasn't a person. She was a monster. But it's not like she was a moldsmall or one of those other alien looking monsters. She was a Temmie. How could a little cat-dog person make you nervous? I really had no excuse.

But despite my lingering embarrassment, I still couldn't get the memory of that jackpot grin of hers out of my head.

I was careful not to miss the next lecture. I quickly found my seat beside Spence and Hannah.

"Here he is," said Hannah. "So you finally decided to get serious about the course?"

"Yeah," I said, glancing around the theatre at the people and monsters already seated and those still taking their seats.

"Who are you looking for?" she asked.

"No one," I said.

"Yeah," said Spence, elbowing me. "No one the Temmie."

"Oh shut up," I said.

After a while Dr. Lefler came in and I realised Sam probably wasn't coming. She didn't seem the kind to come to a lecture late. I sighed and sat back. Now I was stuck here, taking notes.

By the end of the lecture I had several pages of notes, far more than the handful I usually make. Hannah glanced across at my notebook.

"Wow. And they're actually almost legible," she said. "You must be really interested in assortativity."

"What's not to be interested in?" I said, not much enjoying her teasing. I shuffled my notes into order and stood up.

Spence put his hand on my shoulder. "Want to join us for a couple of drinks, bro?"

"Not today," I said. "I'm really behind on my essay."

I high-tailed it over to the library. Maybe I'd run into Sam there. She might have been studying and forgotten we had a lecture.

But she wasn't there either.

I did some research for my essay, but quickly tired of it. I considered going and finding Hannah and Spence and having that drink, but I didn't feel like being the butt of any more teasing right now, so I made for the cafe instead. I'd have a few coffees and work on this essay. Maybe, away from my computer and all the stuff in my apartment I'd be able to concentrate for once.

I sat down and got my notes out. Lefler had said a bunch of stuff I hadn't really understood – probably he was referring back to something he'd covered in one of those lectures I'd missed – and I was still there puzzling over them and trying to read my writing when I heard a clatter.

I looked up. A waitress had dropped something a few tables away and was bent over, picking it up. She must be pretty short, since the back of the empty chair on the other side of my table kept me from catching more than just a glimpse of her black and white uniform.

When she stood up though I knew immediately it was Sam. Even facing away from me there was no mistaking her long puffy tail and her double set of ears, the floppy dog ears and those perky cat ones. They didn't look so perky right now, though, as she struggled to replace the crockery and cutlery on her tray.

She turned around. Dressed in her waitress blacks and with her hair pulled back off her forehead in a little ponytail she looked different, but that look of bewilderment was unmistakable. Then she caught me looking at her and the bewilderment turned to shock. She almost dropped her tray again, managing to steady it, then turned and fled back into the cafe.

Awesome. Great. Nice work, you idiot. Every girl loves getting gawked at while they're feeling awkward!

But my happiness at finding her quickly overcame my embarrassment.

That was right. I was happy to see her. As I sat there, oddly nervous, watching the back of the crowded cafe for any sign of her reappearing, I realised I'd spent the entire day looking for her. I tapped my pen on my notebook and stared down at my notes, unable to read them. I'd been looking for her, and now I'd found her I was almost dizzy with happiness.

But when she didn't return, that happy warmth turned to ice in my stomach. Shit. She wasn't coming back. First the library and now this. For sure she thought I was stalking her. Damn it.

But wait, wasn't I stalking her?

No, not intentionally. Finding her in the cafe had been a coincidence. I hadn't known she worked here. But she wouldn't know that. She probably thought I'd been asking around about her, where she worked, where she lived…

I was still busy sperging out when a shadow slid across my open notebook.

I looked up, my heart racing, expecting to see Sam. Instead it was a bunny. I recognised her straight away from her pale purple fur and the huge boobs pushing out the cafe's embroidered name on the front of her black apron.

"Lavender?"

Lavender recognised me and smiled. "Oh hi! You're Hannah's friend, right? How's everything?"

"Good," I said, not really meaning it. I glanced behind her, looking for Sam. It was hard to make out anyone in the crowded cafe and I had no idea if she was even still back there. Lavender blinked at me and for a moment I was going to ask after Sam, but I decided not to. They were flatmates, right? I'd already screwed things up with Sam far enough and I didn't want to give off any more creepy vibes by asking after her.

I smiled at Lavender apologetically. "I didn't know you worked at this cafe."

Lavender snorted. "Slave, you mean. It's only work if you get paid properly." She tapped her little notepad and grinned. "So what would you like, sir?"

I ordered my usual, a tall macchiato.

"Coming right up." Lavender went to go, then turned back, glanced around, and leaned in closer to me. "Hey, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

With her ample chest plopped down in front of me it took all my willpower to keep looking into her wide violet eyes.

I swallowed. "Ask away."

"Are you single?"

My heart skipped and I told her that I was. I'd been single for a while now.

"Is that so? Interesting." She pulled her boobs away, smiling. "Your coffee will be right up."

I watched her go. Spence was not wrong, she was more than generously blessed in both the boob and butt department. But as I watched her little bob-tail wiggle away, I was reminded me of Sam's longer, puffier tail. I wondered if she ever wagged it when she was happy, like a dog did. Then I felt kind of guilty for thinking of her that way. Dr. Lefler's words echoed in my head: "Despite resembling surface animals in some outward cosmetic respects, monsters are completely genetically unrelated to them." After the lecture I'd read up a little bit about it. Apparently their appearance was due to something called 'convergent evolution', so it really was just a coincidence that the bunnies looked liked bunnies and acted like bunnies. I couldn't really get my head around it. But then, every kind of monster used the names humans had given them before the war, when we'd all lived on the Surface together. It was pretty confusing. Maybe it'd be better if they used their native names instead.

I started scribbling down my thoughts. Some of this stuff might come in useful for my essay.

I was still scribbling when I heard a clatter of crockery and glanced across to see a tray with a tall glass on it hovering near my table.

"Your tall macchiato, sir."

It wasn't Lavender's voice. I looked properly, then. Sam was holding the tray above her head, a nervous smile on her face.

She took hold of the glass with a paw and despite looking like she'd drop it from her nervousness, with my help she somehow got it onto the table without spilling anything.

"Sorry," she said. "Holding glasses can be a bit tricky at times. Mugs and cups are easier, but..." Her voice trailed off.

"Thanks," I said, feeling as awkward as she had when she'd handled the glass. "So, uh… I guess you missed the lecture today, right?"

Sam nodded. "I was offered an extra shift here at the cafe and I kind of need the money."

"Tell me about it," I said. I thought back to how much money I'd blown last week, which meant I'd be eating instant ramen for the rest of the month. This coffee was going to be the last luxury for a little while. "Hey, since you missed the lecture, maybe you'd like to borrow my notes?"

Sam's shy smile burst into a cheerful beam and she nodded her head up and down, her floppy ears flapping. She glanced down at my open notebook. "Oh, is that what you're working on?"

"What? Nah," I replied. "This is that essay we have to do on Pre-New Home Conceptualisations of SAVE."

"Oh," said Sam, frowning. "But isn't that due this Thursday?"

"Yeah," I said, looking sheepish. "I guess I just let all my work pile up on me."

Sam looked down at the empty tray she was now holding flat against her apron. "Um, if you like, I can help you with it. Your essay, I mean. You know, to pay you back… for borrowing your notes."

I was about to reply that she didn't need to and that I was happy to lend them to her, but I really did need help with that damn essay. "That would be great," I said.

Again she beamed that jackpot smile at me. "Great!" she echoed. "You'll have to let me know when you're free and I'll-" A bell chimed from the cafe and she gave a little gasp. "Oh! I have to go. I have orders waiting for me."

She bustled away.

As I finished my coffee I watched Sam tend the tables. She was a hard worker, that was for sure, the exact opposite of me, and she seemed to take a lot of pride in her work.

When I went to pay for my coffee, though, I found Lavender manning the counter.

"Sam's busy, so she asked me to give you this," she said, handing me a piece of paper with my change. On it was a cell-phone number, written in crayon.

I looked around. Sam was busy clearing a table. I wanted to say goodbye to her but that would have meant hanging around and looking weird, so I waved to her instead. She smiled and went to wave back, but in doing so a glass slipped off her tray. She gasped and lunged for it, her foreleg stretching out like rubber as her paw darted down, turned 90 degrees and snatched the glass out of the air just before it hit the ground. Blushing, she replaced the glass and finished waving goodbye to me.

Hiding my shock as best I could, I grabbed up my notes and got the hell out of there.

As I sat by the fountain on the main avenue of the campus I stared at the number. What the hell was I doing? Sam was a Temmie. She wasn't a bunny who, for all their incidental cosmetic differences as Dr. Lefler would say, more or less resembled a human. Sam was little over half my height and when she wasn't carrying anything she ran around on all fours. When her jaw dropped or her face fell, it literally did, right off her head. And those arms and legs of hers could stretch out at incredible distances at will, a fact I'd just been reminded of.

She was a Temmie, and Temmies were weird.

But why, then, this strange tightness in my chest whenever I thought of her?

Dude, get a grip. You're just going to study with her. It's not like you're going to sleep with her or anything.

Sleeping with Sam. How the hell would that work, exactly? I was pretty sure she had all the parts of a female mammal, but she was so small. She'd have to be on top, probably, or maybe doggy style would work. Her pouffy tail might get in the way, though.

Jesus. I shook my head. I really did need to meet someone if I was getting worked up thinking about such weird stuff. I looked at the number again and sighed, wishing it was Lavender's instead.

I waited a few hours before I messaged Sam. I didn't want her to think she'd freaked me out, even if she had. I told her when I was free and asked her when she'd like to meet up.

"How about tomorrow afternoon?" came her response. It was liberally peppered with emojis, like a teenage girl's text, and I smiled to myself. It was pretty cute, actually.

"It's a date," I typed and sent the message off without thinking. After a while I got a message back.

"A date?" followed by a bunch of quizzical dog and cat emoji.

Oh shit. I should have known better than to use figurative language with someone for who English wasn't their first language!

"Haha, sorry," I quickly messaged back. "Just another figure of speech."

I didn't get a response back for a while, but then I got a cat smiley face so I knew everything was fine.

The next afternoon I turned up at the library around ten minutes before we were scheduled to meet. Sam was already there, taking notes from a book. She looked a bit different and as I walked up to her I looked her over trying to figure out what it was.

Oh yeah. She had ribbons in her hair. Hadn't Hannah said something about that before? She was dressed differently, too. She wasn't wearing that striped t-shirt which seemed to be the uniform of Temmies everywhere, and was Instead wearing a dress, though it sported the same yellow and blue stripes as her usual t-shirt. She must have just come from lunch with friends or something.

Sam spotted me and her face lit up. She waved and I waved back.

"Sorry I'm late," I said. Then I remembered I was ten minutes early and stood there stupidly wondering what you say to excuse yourself when you make this sort of mistake, but nothing came.

Sam looked suddenly shy. "I- I got off my shift early," she replied to a question I hadn't asked. It really was like we were having two different conversations that were only tangentially related. But before I could dwell on it too much, she touched the cuff of my shirt with her paw. "I found some really good books for your essay. They're in the reference section."

Sam really knew her way around the library. She'd made a little list of the call numbers of the books she thought might be useful and had no trouble finding them. Some were on high shelves though, and when we came up to one the first time, I moved to get it for her, mindful of how short she was. But Sam just laughed and reached out with her paw, stretching it all the way up to the top shelf.

I stood there, mouth agape, as her paw retracted. Even after seeing her do something similar at the cafe it was still amazing.

"Wow," I said, articulate as always. I took the book from her.

Sam smiled sheepishly. "Oh, it's nothing special. All Temmies can do it."

"Does it hurt?"

Sam shook her head. "Oh no. I guess…. I guess it just feels like what you feel when you stretch out your arm to get something."

Magic. It was a hell of a thing. "I'm envious," I said.

Sam looked up at me and blinked. "Oh, but you're so tall you mustn't have any trouble reaching things."

"I'm not that tall," I replied with a laugh. "I'm pretty average for a human, actually."

Sam nodded, and again flashed me that shy smile of hers.

When we arrived at the study area I thumped the big pile of books down on an empty desk. On top of each other they were taller than Sam was.

I sat down. Just how tall was Sam? When she was on her hind legs, around four foot, maybe?

Sam lifted one of the bigger books we'd borrowed, placed it on the chair, puffing, and climbed on top of it so that she was level with the desk.

"I found some really good information on culturemes in here," she said, pulling another book to her and flipping through the pages until she found the place she wanted.

I sat down beside her.

After a while I noticed she was squinting at the page. She brought her face closer and muttered to herself, but then she sighed and turned to reach into her backpack.

"Please don't laugh," she said, her face serious. She took out some glasses – thick ones with black rims – and put them on.

I have to admit I stared. Resting on her little button nose, they made her dark, liquid eyes look huge. She actually looked pretty cute in them.

Sam met my gaze, but quickly looked away. "I know. They make me look like a nerd, right?"

"What? No, they totally suit you."

She glanced back at me. "You really think so?"

I nodded. "I didn't know you wore glasses."

"Just when I'm reading. I'm a bit long-sighted."

"Oh." So Temmies have the same kind of problems we have. I was already learning stuff. Dr. Lefler would've been proud.

We got down to work. Sam was a great help with my essay. She helped me to structure it properly and gave me some pointers about supporting my thesis with stronger evidence. With her help I ended up scribbling down more than a dozen pages of notes.

"You know, you really should be a tutor," I said to her. "This is the first time any of this stuff has made sense to me."

Sam blushed. "Oh, I guess I'm just interested in the subject. I've always been interested in humans, ever since I was a puppy."

"That so?" I sat back in my chair. "You guys were still really afraid of humans until Frisk came, right?

She blinked at me. "Frisk? Oh, that's the Royal Ambassador's name, isn't it?" She nodded, her ears flopping up and down. "Oh yes. My mom and dad used to tell me stories about humans, about how scary and dangerous they were. We were all really afraid. So when we came up onto the Surface, a lot of us expected to find horrifying creatures waiting for us." She smiled. "It seems really silly now."

I shook my head. "I don't think you were silly at all. We drove you guys underground and locked you up, don't forget. Humans are capable of some pretty terrible things."

"Monsters have done bad things too," said Sam.

"Yeah," I sighed. "But that's all in the past now, isn't it? I think we all get along fine now. I mean, look at the two of us."

Sam glanced up at me. Her black eyes glistened and she smiled and nodded. She reached out a paw and placed it on my hand.

I looked down at it. It was only the second time she'd touched me. The pads of her paw were as warm and soft as I remembered. Sure, it was a paw, but it was paw belonging to a kind, cute girl. It didn't make any difference that she was a monster, did it?

"The differences really don't matter, do they?" said Sam shyly, echoing my thoughts. "We can all be friends if only we-"

"Look at you two study-buddies!" came a disturbingly familiar voice.

I wheeled around to see Spence and Hannah appear from behind a nearby aisle. Spence came up and slapped me on the shoulder and turned his usual annoying grin in Sam's direction. Sam glanced at me and smiled nervously.

Spence leaned over and whispered in my ear. "Doing your part for human-monster relations, huh?"

I shrugged, not wanting to give him any ammunition for his teasing, especially with Sam close by.

Sam, seeking out a friendly face, had turned to Hannah. "Y- you're Hannah, right? Lavender's friend?"

Hannah smiled at her. "I am. You're Sam, right? I'm sorry I haven't said hi before."

"Wait," said Spence. "You know Lavender, don't you Sam?"

The use of her name seemed to alarm the little creature. "O-oh. Yes. Lavender and I are r-room-ma-"

"She's single, right?"

Sam frowned. "Oh, I don't know if-"

"Well, put in a good word for me, okay? I'd love to meet her." And with that Spence reached over and patted Sam on the head.

The gesture was subconscious on Spence's part, I think, like when you pat a kid on the head, but Sam's eyes went wide with alarm. She slammed her book shut, slipped it into her backpack and hopped off her chair.

"I- I have to go."

"Hey wait," said Spence, stealing my line. "Don't you want to come and get a drink with us?"

"I'm sorry, I- I just have to go." Sam swung her backpack over her shoulder and scampered away on all fours.

I turned on Spence. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

He blinked. "What do you mean?

"Patting Sam on the head like that?"

"She's not a kid, Spence." said Hannah, almost as annoyed as I was. "Temmies are sensitive about stuff like that."

"Shit. Well, I guess I wasn't thinking," said Spence with a shrug. "Her head was just on the perfect level for patting. And she kind of does look a dog."

I slammed my own book shut and bit back my anger. "I'm going to go find her," I said. "She looked pretty upset."

"Aw c'mon dude," said Spence. "Really? I'm sure she's fine. Just come grab a drink with us."

"I'll see you guys later," I said. I stuffed my notes into my bag, tossed the books on the reshelving caddy nearby and left the two of them staring at my back as I left.

I didn't find Sam anywhere. I wondered whether I should go and see Lavender, but I decided not to. Lavender had seemed to get the wrong idea last time I was at the cafe and I didn't want to further fuel her confusion.

It was all my fault, really. I'd sat there like an idiot and done nothing while Spence humiliated her. What the hell was wrong with me?

Truth was, I was worried what the others would say about me. I didn't want to become known as the guy with a thing for Temmies. Now, if Sam was a bunny, that would have made things a lot easier. No one looked down at you for being seen with a bunny.

Guilt iced my stomach. Shit. Was I really that worried about my reputation? Of course I was. How the hell was I going to meet someone and get out of this bachelor rut if I became a laughing stock?

Still, dude, you should have defended her. She was upset.

I was halfway to the cafe before I decided against it, for good this time. If I was Sam, I wouldn't want to see me right now.

Damn. I'd managed to make a friend and straight away screwed it all up. Who the hell cared what Spence or anyone else thought?

I took out my phone. Of course. Sam's number.

I decided to message her.

"Hey, sorry about earlier. Spence does stupid stuff like that all the time. Hope you weren't too upset. Thanks again for helping me out. I really appreciate it. Let me know if you want to study together again some time."

I looked it over. It sounded a bit awkward, but I had to send something. I hit send and waited.

I kept checking my phone the rest of the day, but Sam didn't reply. Had I actually sent it?

Yeah, I'd sent it.

Of course she wasn't going to reply to it. She was angry and humiliated. She probably hated me. Nice. I'd managed to make myself not just unpopular with human girls, but monster girls as well.

I lay on my bed in my apartment and stared at the ceiling, willing my phone to chirp that happy sound which would mean a new message.

Chirp, damn you chirp!

Silence. I nodded off.

I woke up. It was dark. The phone had chirped. I snatched it up, my thumbs slipping over the touch screen.

One new message. From Spence.

"Hey dude, so are we meeting up for drinks tonight or what?"

I thumbed some bullshit excuse and slumped back onto the bed.

After a while I began to feel lonely. I hated the feeling. The darkness and cold of my apartment made it worse. But I didn't feel like getting up and switching on the light, so I lay there, feeling sorry for myself.

I glanced across at my desk. In the spreading darkness all the colour had drained from it and it was slowly losing its shape as well. There was a pile of white squares on it, gradually turning more ghostly. My essay. I should really get up and finish it. After all, I'd used it as an excuse to get out of going out with Spence and the others tonight.

I willed myself out of bed, switched on the light and sat down at my desk. I rifled through the papers, reading my intro. Damn, it was actually pretty good. Sam was a great tutor.

The thought of her made me frown, and I threw myself back into reading over my notes.

Huh. There was an extra sheet at the bottom. I must have snatched it up without thinking. There was writing on it: neat writing, feminine, in crayon.

Huh. Sam must have left some of her notes in her rush to get out of there.

I read through them. She really did have lovely handwriting, especially for someone who wrote with her mouth.

There was more writing on the back, and when I turned it over I noticed there was a drawing, too. It was a drawing of a Temmie, with a human standing beside her.

Wait. Was that... was that supposed to be me?

I remembered ducking away once to go to the bathroom and leaving Sam there at the desk alone. She must have drawn it then. It was a pretty childish drawing, but far better than anything I could've drawn. Cute, though, in a cartoony way. My eyes were huge, like an manga character's, and I towered over the cute little Temmie standing on all-fours beside me. I guess that was meant to be Sam herself.

Why was she drawing pictures of me, I wondered? I separated the paper from the rest of my notes. I'd have to return it to her.

Wait, she might be embarrassed by it. Girls are usually embarrassed when you stumble upon things like this, right? No matter how good a drawing it was. I'd just slip it into her notes next time I got a chance. That was, if I ever got another chance.

I picked up my phone. Damn. C'mon Sam, throw me a bone or something.

But I was left waiting all night for a message that never came.