“Okay, wait. I get it now!” Sable shouted.
“Not so loud!” I looked around again, making sure nobody showed up. “Can we go somewhere else first, though? I don’t want anyone else to see me like this.”
“Yes, of course.” Sable took my hand and started walking. “Here, follow me.”
We hadn’t walked that far when she stopped in front of one of the classrooms. “Nobody should be here around this time,” she explained, opening the door to the art room.
It was truly empty, aside from the peering eyes from a few busts and portraits.
Once inside, she closed the door and looked at me, hands on her hips. “So… I guess I should start by saying that I support you one-hundred percent, and don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about this.”
“Uh, thanks,” I replied, rubbing my arm.
Sable nodded. “Totally get it, and seriously, it all makes sense now.”
I raised an eyebrow. “It does?”
“Yeah!” Sable paused and gave me a cautious look. “Do let me know if I’m prying too much, but I’m guessing Ryan found out recently, too.”
My heart skipped a beat. Sable seemed distracted most of the time, so I didn’t think she’d guess something like that. Part of me wanted to tell her that, yes, she was prying too much, but the truth was that I wanted to vent about it, and she already knew enough about the situation.
I pressed my lips and nodded.
“Yeah, I figured,” she commented, crossing her arms. “I guess that what I said earlier hit a bit too close to home.”
My vision got blurry. “He’s accepting, of course, but…”
Shit…
Did I just out him?
“He doesn’t feel that attraction anymore,” Sable said when my silence went for too long.
“Y-yeah…” I looked at the floor. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Sable placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile. “As I said earlier, I get that we haven’t known each other for long, but I want you to know that I’m not one to snitch on my friends. Nothing you say leaves this room.”
“Th-thanks…”
“Don’t mention it.” She paused. “Still, what caused him to disappear like that?”
I grimaced at the memory. “I… I messed up…”
“How so?”
“I, uh… I—” I took a deep breath. “I went to his house yesterday, and before I left I… I kissed him.”
Sable gasped and covered her mouth. “Okay, yeah, I can see why he’s like that then.”
“I’m such an idiot!” The tears were now flowing freely. “We’ve known each other for so long… I can’t imagine life without him.”
“Can I hug you?”
A nervous laugh escaped through my nose. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
The next moment, she wrapped her arms around me, and I returned the hug. I couldn’t tell if the warmth that followed came from her or the spell.
“Just give him time,” she said, backing away a little. “Things might not be the same as they were before, but I’m sure you two will remain good friends. You’ll see.”
“I hope so…”
“Does your family know?” she asked.
“That I’m trans?” I chuckled. “Yeah, my mom knew even before I did. Andrew does, too.” My smile vanished. “My dad, though…”
Sable made a silent ‘Oh’. “So he’s one of those.”
“Those?”
“A bigot,” she said flatly.
“Uh, yeah, I guess he really is,” I admitted. “He has all of these expectations for me, and seeing that I’m not following that path has him in a terrible mood.”
“He doesn’t know I’m trans,” I clarified. “But if he’s already like this, I can’t imagine how much worse he’ll be if he finds out.”
Sable sighed. “Sadly, I don’t really have any advice for that. More importantly, there’s a more pressing issue we need to solve.” She pointed at my chest. “We need to hide that. I don’t even get how you’ve gotten away with it so far.”
My eyes widened. “Is it that obvious?”
“Well, clearly not,” she pointed out. “At least to me, it wasn’t. For gym class, though? Do you change somewhere private?”
“Oh, yeah. Coach Sievert is arranging something.” I laughed. “He just thinks I’m a boy with boobs.”
Sable laughed as well. “Guess you’ve got all fronts covered, huh. Oh wait, we were talking about keeping your secret.”
“Oh, right…”
“So, I have an idea for that.” She smiled and said, “We can just trade.”
“Uhm, trade?”
Sable nodded. “Yeah. We are about the same size, so I can lend you my t-shirt, and you give me your blouse. This thing is still a female cut, but I doubt anyone will notice.”
“What about my boobs?” I asked.
She hummed for a moment. “I think I have a spare sports bra in my locker. We could try and see if that does the trick. Be right back.”
Sable walked out of the classroom, leaving me alone with my hoodie. My legs finally gave out, barely giving me time to find a chair to sit on.
A couple of minutes later, the door opened. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
I stood up to greet Sable, only to stop dead in my tracks. A guy walked in instead. He was as tall as Ryan, though, unlike my friend, he clearly worked out. His face looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.
His eyes landed on me, and he stopped as well. After a moment, he smiled at me. “Hey there.”
“Uh, hi,” I responded with a weak wave.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” he said, walking to me. “I’m Hayden.” He stretched his hand to me.
His name also sounds familiar…
“Vera,” I blurted out as I shook his hand.
I only realised after I said it.
Roll with it.
It works.
“Vera,” he echoed. “Nice to meet a fellow artist.” He looked around the room and asked, “Are any of these yours?”
I shook my head. “I’m not really an artist,” I explained. “I’m just waiting for a friend.”
“A friend?”
“Mike!” Sable called from the doorway. “Try this on and…” She stood like a deer in headlights.
“Mike?” Hayden frowned and turned around. “Oh, Sable!”
Sable quickly hid the bag containing the bra and gave him an exaggerated smile. “Hayden! What a surprise to see you here!”
“We literally see each other every day,” he corrected. “Who’s Mike?”
Somehow, her eyes went even wider. “Did I say, Mike?” She laughed. “I’m so sorry, I meant to say Mica!”
Oh no…
“I thought your name was Vera,” Hayden said, facing me once more.
Sable looked at me, mouth agape.
Hayden’s gaze kept shifting between Sable and me. “Does anyone care to explain what’s going on?”
Sable remained stunned.
You know what… Screw it!
“My name is Vera. I’m a trans girl. Mike, or rather, Michael is my deadname. Sable didn’t know my actual name, so she came up with Mica. Any questions?”
“Uh, yeah,” Sable said, raising her hand. “What the fuck?”
“Something tells me that I’m not the only one who is confused,” Hayden commented.
“Yeah, that seems to be the case,” Sable agreed. “Care to explain it to me, Vera?”
“I don’t know what needs explaining,” I said honestly.
“How about the part about you being a trans girl and not a trans guy?”
I frowned at her. “I thought it was obvious.”
“No, it isn’t,” Hayden quickly responded.
“How is it obvious?” she shouted. “You look—Wait, no, sorry! I mean—But Ryan… Oh…” She narrowed her eyes. “Wait, but you said your dad doesn’t know you’re trans.”
“He doesn’t.”
“Is he blind?!” Hayden and Sable asked in unison.
I snorted. “Very.”
“Seriously,” Sable continued. “I mean, look at you! You’re so pretty!”
“Yeah!” Hayden nodded.
That was enough for Sable’s gaze to finally leave me. “Oh?”
He looked away and scratched at the back of his head. “Uh, I mean… Heh.”
I imagined my face had an interesting shade of red at that moment, and the spell agreed.
The bell rang, announcing the end of our lunch break.
Sable ran at me and shoved the bra into my hands. “Quick, we need to change now. Hayden, can you keep watch and prevent anyone from coming in?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah, sure.”
“Wait!”
Hayden was already running to the door when I shouted. He stopped and turned to look at me.
I smiled and returned the bag to Sable. “It’s okay,” I explained. “I’m heading out like this.”
Sable took it into her hands and stared at it before meeting my eyes. “Are you sure?”
“No,” I replied. “I’m obviously scared, but I don’t think I can keep on fooling everyone for that much longer, can I?”
“Fair,” Sable responded. “Don’t worry, I got your back.”
“Me too,” Hayden said as he walked back to us. “I know we’re not exactly friends yet, but I have a trans cousin, and I know people can be assholes. Anyone gives you trouble, you let me know, okay?”
Tears threatened to come out again. “Thanks, you two.”
---<>----------<>----------<>---
Sable and Hayden escorted me through the hallways, only making a quick stop by the girls’ locker room, so she could store the bra and my hoodie, which she insisted on washing as an apology. This story is hosted at g.com.
I looked around me as we walked, searching for any sign of people noticing. Nobody did. They just kept walking, minding their own business.
Upon reaching our classroom, Hayden waved us goodbye and ran back to his own.
Despite our best efforts, we were already late to class.
“Ready?” Sable asked, placing her hand on the handle.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
Sable opened the door, drawing everyone’s attention to us, including the professor. Everyone but Ryan, who was too busy looking out the window.
Noticing the silence, he turned around and made a double take upon seeing me.
Professor Clark, our math teacher, gave us that ugly stare of disapproval. “You two are late,” he said. “Roll call’s over, so you’ll be marked as absent today. Take a seat, please.”
That’s it?
Does he not recognise me?
We both nodded and walked to our spots as he resumed his lecture. While the teacher seemed oblivious to what was happening, I could feel the stares from all my classmates drilling into my soul.
I really hope Sable’s plan works…
“What are you doing?” Ryan whispered as soon as I sat down.
“I’m done hiding,” I whispered back.
“I see that. Why?”
“My hoodie got stained and started smelling.”
“What?!”
“Mr. Carter,” Professor Clark called. “Is there something you don’t understand?”
“Uh, yeah,” Ryan responded. “When we eliminate that four from the left side of the equation, do we need to divide the entire right side by four?”
The professor frowned. “You should remember this from last year, but yes. What would the equation look like then?”
“Uh… x plus two equals ten minus x.”
The professor nodded. “Good job, Mr. Carter. Next time you have a question, please, raise your hand instead of yelling.”
Laughter echoed in the classroom.
“Yeah, sorry.” Ryan shrank into his seat.
We remained quiet for the rest of the lecture.
Once the class ended, Ryan turned to me to resume his questioning, but he was interrupted by a crowd of students surrounding my seat.
“Why do you have boobs?” “Are you actually a girl?” “Are you Mike’s twin sister?” “Are you trans?” “Why did you pretend to be a guy?” “Are you gay?”
A loud whistle ripped through the classroom, revealing Sable behind the flock of vultures.
“I know you all have questions, but you’re scaring Vera,” she explained, then winked at me. “One at a time please, we only have ten minutes before the next class, so make it count.”
One of the girls raised her hand first.
Sable pointed at her. “Go ahead, Jane.”
“Vera, right?” Jane asked, smiling.
“Y-yeah.”
“Wh—”
“Okay, next!” Sable interrupted.
More hands went up.
“Sable, what the hell?!” Jane complained.
“It’s one question per person,” Sable shrugged. “Next, Shaun!”
“Why did you pretend to be a guy?” he asked.
I didn’t like that question. It was not that easy to answer without lying. After all, who would believe that I only learned who I was this same week when looking at me?
“I was… hoping to start school as Vera, but I couldn’t for… personal reasons.”
Sable pointed to the next person. “Audrey.”
“Are you trans then?”
I nodded. “I was born male, but I wasn’t really happy that way.”
“Anyone else?” Sable asked, looking around. It seemed like that was enough for most people.
One more hand went up.
“Yes, Peter?”
“Does that mean you like guys?”
“No comment.”