Can She Ever Stop?

We hang out, we mess around, we play-fight, we swear, we do domestic duties. My friend and I have been hanging out the last couple days and just doing the normal weekend kind of thing. She's a girl, I'm a gay boy... what can I say - it's a natural synergy.

There's a snag. I'm in a hall, staying in large building where I have to live with a lot of straight guys. Straight girls really don't mind a fag in their midst - it's just one more person to advise them on what to wear to the club tonight. Straight boys however feel threatened. So when we're watching the Lord of the Rings and we see Merry and Pippin hugging on screen, it's not really that great for me when she declares to the room, "Oh my god, they're almost as gay as Patrick!"

Really, it just isn't funny.

I don't want to have to tell her to cut it, but to be honest, she doesn't get it. Being a boy means that you have to pay unbelievably close attention to the moods of those around, even if you pretend to not be aware, and this is where most attempted tom-boys fall down; they don't watch. When the guys wriggle and squirm at the thought that there's a boy who does other boys sitting next to them, she doesn't stop talking but just laughs louder. I smile and don't say anything because what can I say, she's a friend but she's not helping me. That is not friendly.