When the narrator tries to teach his dull self to orgasm, a childhood friend introduces her "girl friend" to him. The girl is a tomboy, but she takes good care of her, and she and the narrator don't feel as though they are "the opposite sex" because she is "reliable when it came to it" . The narrator asks the friend if she is troubled by the situation, and the friend says that she is, and that she will lend her an ear if she needs it. The friend asks the narrator if he wants to discuss the matter with the girl, and he says that he is troubled because they are going to discover that he has a girl friend, but he is serious, and says that they are just going to "show off" like him, and they will pretend to be his and her lovers