This struck me as somewhat oddly constructed. I'm sure her two friends were different from each other in a great many ways, but she settled on sex as the differ

This struck me as somewhat oddly constructed. I'm sure her two friends were different from each other in a great many ways, but she settled on sex as the differentiating factor. She goes on to say It's been a long time but I recall gender being a huge differentiating factor in many aspects of high school: many activities especially sports, fashion, and friends are the big ones. Furthermore, high school is when biological sex differences really start to manifest. So while I mostly agree with your skepticism particularly with regards to leading questions, it's really not farfetched for a high school freshman to be preoccupied with gender roles. Personally I think her comment about video games is a simplified rationalization and take it with a grain of salt. It's her opinion and has some merit but there's almost certainly more to it, both reality and her own perception of it.