Her voice sounded suspicious, hard. Oskar hurriedly said: “Maybe you already have a guy at your school.” “No, I don’t . . . but Oskar, I can’t. I’m not a girl.” Oskar snorted. “What do you mean? You’re a guy?” “No, no.” “Then what are you?” “Nothing.” “What do you mean, ‘nothing’?” “I’m nothing. Not a child. Not old. Not a boy. Not a girl. Nothing.” Oskar pulled his finger down the spine of The Rats, pinched his lips together and shook his head. “Will you go out with me or not?”
