a boy gives me a key

him: why do you have a key around your neck?
i wonder if he sees the fleeting look of panic in my eyes. i pause for a nanosecond before the practiced words arrive on my lips, and i silently congratulate myself for having thought ahead and prepared for this moment.
me: uh, i was tidying up the other day and i found it- i wasn't quite sure where to put it.

her: what's the key for?
me: i uhhh... i just found it the other day. i'm not sure where to keep it.
her: what's it for?
me: uhhh. a case, i think.
she nods and i realise that i have been holding my breath. i exhale slowly. this is getting easier.

him: you know you have a key around your neck, right?
me: uhhh... yeah.
him: i just thought i'd check.
whereas before the conversation has moved on easily, this time it doesn't. i've forgotten my lines. i am at work, and he is a work colleague. i stand awkwardly, wondering whether it is politer to fill the silence for the sake of filling it, or to save him the embarrassment and suffer the awkwardness. in my self-conscious mind, the noislessness stretches on and on, a weight of expectation upon me.
he is waiting for me to say something.
it is my turn to talk.
i panic.
i feel the truth, unsettled, bubbling inside of me.
i stutter.
i adopt a light, nonchalant tone.
me: yeah, a boy i'm seeing likes to keep his dick in a cage and he gave me the key. and really, what on earth is a girl supposed to do with such a thing?!