New Rules

The following Monday Riley and I had to sit through an assembly on tolerance of others, and some of the new polices that had been put in place. When I had told Adam that we were going to have to sit through this assembly, he said that we should pay attention so that we knew exactly what Mrs. Young didn't want happening in her school. That logic made sense and Riley and I walked into the auditorium together and sat near the front. Mrs. Young walked in and smiled at us. She walked up on the stage and a spotlight lit her up. The room fell silent.

"Good Morning, Memorial Middle School." She said, cheerfully. She got a variety of mumbled 'good mornings' in response. "I'm sure that everyone is wondering why we are having this assembly..." I looked around to see quite a few students nodding, not understanding why this assembly was taking place.

"There have been a few incidents in recent days with a student that has a medical condition being picked on by members of both the staff and the student body. It ends today... There have been some changes that have come down from the school board because of this. Any student, or staff member that is caught harassing a student that is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender will be suspended. If there is a physical altercation between a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender student and any other student, the party that starts the altercation will be suspended, and possibly expelled. I'm sure that we have all four types of students in the school, I know of at least one student that falls under the protected group, and I'm pretty sure that others will make them selves known as time goes on. This policy is not just in effect here. It has been enacted across the district." She paused to let that sink in. "Yes, that means that any siblings that you have anywhere in the district will be hearing this as well. Also, just in case anyone thinks that we're joking, three staff members and four students have already been suspended from these new polices. I have a feeling that more heads will roll before this is done. That's all I have, Everyone get back to class..." Mrs. Young walked off the stage, and the teachers started to round up their classes and herd them back to the rooms.

#
Riley and I walked into the cafeteria and sat at a table. The general buzz around the room was that there had been a student that was gay, lesbian, bi or transgender that had been attacked in the high school and that was what prompted the changes. I wasn't about to tell them that the student was me...

"Zoe," Megan said suddenly. "You seem distracted."

"Huh?" I glanced at Megan. I hadn't even realized she had sat down. Megan giggled.

"Told you she wasn't paying attention." Megan said to Riley, who leaned over so she could whisper in my ear.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. I'm just wondering how many people know..."

"Know what?"

"That I'm the reason for the assembly..." Riley smiled at me and give me a kiss on the cheek.

"That's irrelevant." Riley said, causing me to look at her.

"How do you figure?"

"Because you're not the only student in the district that is protected, I can assure you of that." If Megan had been a cat, her ears would have perked up.

"Zoe's protected?'" She said in a stage whisper. "How?" I must have looked horrified. "It's ok, Zoe." She placed her right hand on my left from across the table. I glanced around the cafeteria.

"Not here..." I whispered back. "Too many ears that shouldn't hear." Megan nodded and then smiled. I knew that I could trust her with the secret.

#
Megan lived a few streets over from Riley, and somehow rode a differnet bus. Today, Riley's mom was picking us up from school, and Megan would ride home with us. This would give me a chance to explain to Megan where we wouldn't be overheard by someone that shouldn't hear this. I suspected that Megan partially knew what was up, but hadn't had a chance to either say something in private or in a place where the time was right... Riley's mom pulled into the driveway and the three of us got out and went into the house. After we had all grabbed drinks, we ended up in the dining room around the table, homework spread out so that we could combine three rather smart minds.

"So, Zoe," Megan started quietly, not knowing that Riley's parents knew everything. "How are you protected by the new policies?" Riley smiled at me, and then squeezed my hand.

"I'm transgender." I said at normal volume. Megan looked shocked, but I'm not sure if it was the revelation of my condition or me speaking at normal volume. I would find out in a second though.

"You're what?" She asked.

"Transgender." I replied.

"What exactly does that mean?" Riley looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and then looked at Megan.

"You know how you were born a girl, and in your mind, you're also a girl?" I asked her. She nodded. "Ok, that means that you are what is known as a cisgender person. Your biological and mental gender match. I'm Transgender, which means that my biological gender and my mental gender are the opposite. Most people are cisgender." She looked even more confused...

"What?" she chuckled. "Try that one more time."

"Essentially, I'm a girl trapped in a boys body." Riley leaned close to my ear.

"I think the simple answers work best..."

"Oh. Ok. I get it." Megan said. I briefly wondered if I shouldn't switch my blond hair for Megan's curly blonde. I looked at Megan, trying to picture her with my hair. "What?" I shook my head, knocking the cobwebs out.

"I was trying to picture you with my hair and failing." Megan looked confused. "Some times you act more like a blonde than I do..." I said, and I watched the lightbulb click on over her head.

"Oh..." She replied and then realized what I had said and stuck her tongue out at me. The three of us giggled. "I do not act like a blonde, but when you start throwing words I've never heard at me, I get confused."

"Sure." I said with a smile, and then went back to working on my algebra homework. "That's what I say too..." I crumpled a piece of paper and tossed at her.

#
I had just finished my homework when my phone rang.I pulled it out and looked at it. Mom was calling me, which meant that she was home.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, I'm home and you're not. Where are you?"

"I'm at Riley's we were working on homework."

"Ok. When are you going to be home?"

"Well, we just finished the homework that we had, so I was getting ready to come home anyway. I'll be home in five minutes."

"Ok. I'm tracking you." Mom hung up the phone and I looked at Riley.

"That was mom. I have to go." Riley smiled and then looked from me to Megan.

"Ok. I have an idea for tomorrow though..." Riley said, her eyes sparkling.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Megan, you have the outfit that Zoe wore on her first day of school, don't you?" Megan nodded.

"Mine's green."

"Ok, Zoe, lets wear red tomorrow, and Megan can wear the green and then the three of us will look like sisters..." Megan and I looked at each other and then smiled.

"Ok. Riley I'll see you in the morning, it's my dad's turn to take us, and Megan, I'll see you in first period." I gave Riley a kiss on the cheek and hefted my bag up over my shoulder. Really need to get a new bag, Maybe a messenger style like Riley's...I thought as I walked down the street toward my house.