Actually...

Just as I was convincing myself to push on, a muffled voice from the room gave me a mighty jump scare.

"Are you there, person?" It was the girl, apparently hiding against the one wall I couldn't see without actually sticking my head all the way through the window.

I almost didn't respond. Perhaps if no one replied, she would assume she hallucinated it? But instead, in the heat of the moment, I responded.

"Uh, yes?"

A moment's pause hung in the air before I could hear her inquire, "Are you a boy? Like, you can claim girls?"

Utterly baffled by this turn of events, I responded with the obvious truth. "Yeah? At least I think I can."

"Then I want to make a deal," she said, stepping away from the wall and turning to face me through the window glass.

I wasn't sure I had heard her correctly at first, but then she laid out her offer.