Maleah looked away. “I… I kissed a girl today.” She told her Mom.

Bette’s eyes grew big. “Why?” She asked.

“I like her. Mamma, when my friends talk about boys they all began to giggle and talk about how handsome and cool they are but I don’t feel the same. I don’t think boys are handsome. I like to have fun with them and I like them as friends but that’s everything. When my friends look at boys, I look at their sisters or girlfriends.” Maleah told her mother. Bette laid her arm around her daughters shoulder.

“Can I ask you if you have ever kissed a boy before?” She asked her daughter.

“Yeah, I have. I kissed two boys but I never liked it. With April, it felt different. Mamma, I know I’m only ten and stuff but I feel like I know and feel I’m different.” Maleah said.

“If you think that you are gay, then that’s okay but I really wouldn’t like it if you felt pressured to be gay because Mommy, I and most of our friends are.”

“I don’t Mamma.”

“And you are still young. I’m not saying you aren’t gay or not but you don’t have to ‘label’ yourself just yet. You are 10; I can’t remember having boy or girlfriends at that age.”

Maleah rolled her eyes. “Mamma, we are. It’s not 1800 anymore.” She told Bette and then chuckled.

“Oh, I’m not that old!” Bette chuckled.

When they stopped chuckling Bette decided to ask some questions about the girl her daughter had kissed. “So, do you want to tell me a little about that girl?”

Maleah blushed a little. “Her name is April. She’s 11 almost 12. She has long, dark brown hair that kind of looks like yours but a little less curly. She has a lighter skin than me and brown eyes. She’s a little taller than I am. She plays basketball and does Kung-Fu, which is very awesome. She has a great sense of humor; she dares a lot and has the style that kind of looks like Papi’s, Tasha’s best friend. I like her a lot…” Maleah had a goofy grin on her face and Bette asked herself if her daughter was really only 10.