Jess Stone had breasts. He had been like this his entire teen life not quite fitting in anywhere that he had lived and at the same time he hadn’t really had the chance to. His folks moved around a lot with his dad being a hydrological engineer but they were slightly afraid of what might happen to Jess if he attended school. Some people just didn’t get it or wanted too. Jess was now attending a new school when he decided to change things...

Only it was everyone else that was getting changed!

 

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Image Credit: anime couple

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Squires 22

*Yasmine…………

She wasn’t as nervous now at the end of the night when Jessie went and got their car and drove her home. Donnie went with then and they…they actually sort of held hands. Daniel and the tall slender girl Lindsey took a ride with them but asked to be let out part way.

Jessie asked. “Are you sure guys it’s late.”

Daniel nodded. “I’ll give you a call if I need a ride but this is Lindsey’s street and we’re just going to walk and talk the rest of the way.”

He nodded and they let them out at the four way stop.

They drove the rest of the way to her home and Jessie got out with them and she blinked at both boys. Donnie smiled at her but he had that head sort of tilted down blushing thing too. “Jess thought it’d be good manners for us to introduce ourselves to your mother.”

“Oh…yes I think even with the hour that she’d like that. But I...I should go in first so she’s presentable…”

Jessie nodded. “Of course we’ll wait here by the car.”

She blushed and headed into the house and she saw her mother there looking out their kitchen window. “How was the party?”

“It…it was good, there were lots of kids there and they…Mom they had a table set up with stuff that I or any of the other Muslim kids could eat.”

“There were other muslin kids there?”

“Not that I could tell some looked mixed and there wasn’t anyone there dressed Muslim but they still tried.”

“That’s very nice of them I will have to thank them.”

“Uhm…Jessie and Donnie are here waiting.”

“Waiting for?”

“They wanted to be polite and introduce themselves to you.”

“And they are the one’s that defended you?”

“Yes…both of them.”

“Invite them in I will get dressed and we’ll have coffee if they drink it seeing how late it is.”

“Okay…living room?”

“That’s fine.”

Her mother got up to go and change but stopped in the kitchen doorway. “Yas.”

“Yes mom?”

“I’m really glad that you had a good time.”

“Me too mom I’m glad that I went, I was pretty scared moving here with what we heard and everything.”

“See it’s not that bad.”

“No…mom it is that bad but on the other hand its way better than I ever could’ve hoped for really.”

Her mother smiled and headed upstairs and she went out to where the guys were sitting on the front of Jessie’s car and just talking. She sort of liked how despite Jessie owning a sort of classic car that it was just something he owned and he treated it like that. She actually had seen people sit on their car hoods in TV and movies never actually in real life.

“My mother said that she’d like to meet you guys and told me to ask you to come in for coffee. She looked at them both, I mean if you drink coffee we have tea and cocoa as well I mean.”

Donnie smiled at her…maybe even for her a little. “Coffee’s fine…I don’t drink it too much but its cool.”

Jess nodded. “Coffee would be a good idea.”

They headed inside and Jessie and Donnie both stopped on the porch and too off their shoes. Donnie looked a little confused but she took their shoes and set them on the boot rest. Not all families did this but Jess must have seen that they did and it was nice that he did and that Donnie did too…she was kind of thinking that she…it would be a good thing for her mother to see how nice that both of them were.

She actually sort of smiled and bit her lower lip while putting their shoes up. I have nice friends.

Then of course…Wait…I…I actually have friends. Yasmine blushed even if at the moment that it was only herself there. It had been a long time since she had friends and even though she had just met these people there’s times where the lines are pretty well defined.

Actually she mused she hadn’t really had that either, honesty in friendships. Well the last time she’s really had honesty in her friendships she was a little kid.

She saw her mother come down in a skirt and a cardigan over her shirt she was wearing and her hijab on again and slippers to meet the men at the door.

Men…she really wasn’t sure suddenly how her mother would treat Jessie since Jessie’s top didn’t really hide his breasts but her mom never missed a beat except to smile when Jessie thanked her for her hospitality in Arabic and asked her where he and Donnie could wash up.

She went into the kitchen with her mother to help.

The coffee wasn’t anything special just Folgers since her mother liked that deep voiced country guy and it was on sale. A lot of non-middle easterners think that they drink tons of coffee in the Middle East when tea is by far the first choice of things brewed and served.

But a lot of house holds did pride themselves on their hospitality so her mother shooed her off to be there when the men were done cleaning up. She saw her mother take out some of the tins from the pantry closet and she took them from her to help and let her mother bring in the coffee.

She was still sort of nervous in setting the things out an her mother was actually being very nice to the men and pouring coffee while Yasmine set out squares of halva on a dishes with some apricot filled pastries and some pistachio creame iced shortbreads.

She had to admit even though they did eat sweets a lot her mother was a great baker.

Her mother looked at the boys once everything was settled and sat politely. “Is everything okay boys?”

“It’s very good Ma’am.” Donnie says but he’s on his second piece of halva. Then looking at it. “I don’t have a clue what this is but it’s really good.”

Jessie nods. “Really good, all of it ladies. I should take the moment to ask if you’d both be willing to come to my parent’s home for a barbeque and to take the time to discus the parent teachers meeting on Monday night.”

Yasmine’s mother sat up looking interested. “If this is to help protect Yasmine and the other children then I will be honored to go.” She smiled and poured more coffee for Jessie when she offered and herself after Donnie shook his head no.

“Good, we’ll be sure to have an inclusive amount of food too.”

“Yasmine mentioned the efforts at the party tonight. It’s very good of you but if you would not mind I could help.”

“Anything would be great.”

“Good, then Yasmine and I will come over early then?”

“I’ll have my parents call you in the morning with the details?”

“Yes, I would like very much to talk to your parents. I would like to invite you two gentlemen and your friend Daniel here and the others as a way of thanks.”

She looked at Donnie. “I will understand your father being absent. Your mother?”

“She’s not with us anymore Ma’am.”

“I’m sorry; can I assume you’ll be with Jessie’s household?”

He looked at Jessie who nodded. “If that’s okay?”

She nodded and looked at Yasmine. “Sometimes you have to choose your family.”

Yasmine looked at her, she had chosen her and here and taking this chance over all of their strict relatives and their ideas of what was right for them. She bit her lip and smiled a little and saw Donnie smiling at her a little too.

Jessie enjoyed another few bits of sweets before offering a slip of paper. “My information ma’am.”

“Oh?”

“I noticed you don’t have a car.”

“Ah no, I’m in process of getting my license.”

“Well until then please call if you need a drive and I can do my best to help out.”

“That’s a big offer Jessie but why? I mean no offense but you don’t know us.”

“Because I can ma’am.”

She smiled and nodded like she was doing one of those old styled nod bows of respect that Yasmine’s mother’s generation did once in awhile. Yasmine sort of smiled because as subtle as it was that was a big gesture.

It also meant that she approved of her friends.

They talked awhile longer mostly about the school and stuff of which Donnie being the local kid was filling them in on the things like the sort of hierarchy and the way that that things have been.

Until now.

*Donnie…………

He took a third piece of that really good fudge and took a sip of his cold half cup of coffee. Not that he couldn’t have more it’s just really he wasn’t a coffee drinker, not like Jessie.

They wanted him to explain things the way that they were at the school sort of…and since he was local and went to the junior high in the immediate area instead of getting shipped in the high school thing was sort of just and extension of what he had left back then.

“Okay…first thing is I’m not big on the whole stuff with the homecoming court except the new kids like Brian and Britney, they’re in our year. The ones ahead of us I only know about a few of them.”

“The homecoming court though they’re pretty much the leader of The Alpha’s.”

Yasmine’s mother asked. “Who are the Alphas?”

Jessie looked at her. “They’re the kids that have set the tone for the school; they’re the rich kids and the popular ones. And they want to stay on top and they use every rule and law and prejudice people have to keep things that way.”

Yasmine’s mother frowned but nodded and took another sip to listen.

“The Alpha’s are just the jocks but they are the rich kids or the well off ones that get away with stuff because their parents or their families even are tight with people connected to the school or school board and stuff and they donate a lot of money to the school.”

“Lee Davis is a great example, he’s right there in the middle with a year to go after this. It’s his dad that pushed to get the camera idea banned at schools in the district. Lee’s not just wealthy with his old man owning a bunch of car dealerships and carwashes and a bunch of other things but his dad pretty much foots the bills for the gear and uniforms for the cheer squads and the baseball and wrestling team. Lee’s on both those teams but he’s still a bully and an ass….sorry ladies. He’s rich and entitled and to make things worse he was junior prom king last year.”

Jessie nodded. “We haven’t had the pleasure yet have we?”

“Nope, he’s too busy so far kissing Brad Towers butt.”

Yasmine. “Who’s Brad Tower?”

“Last year’s Prom king and he’s the total jock package. Good looking and he knows it and he’s well off coming from like old money or something and They donate stuff to the school like money for prom and yearbook the student paper and just about everything. He’s on the student council and he plays sports like outside of the big ones at school and here he’s on the karate team.”

Jessie looked at him. “Karate’s popular here?”

“Nope, wasn’t until Bradley got into it and suddenly they were flush for funding and stuff.”

Jessie. “But none of the jock sports.”

“Nope, he’s friends with them all though and they kiss his ass for team money and stuff and their scared of him because he’s a black belt and stuff.”

Jessie. “And he’s another one we haven’t met yet.”

Donnie nodded. “Brad’s the black haired big guy that you see sitting at the far back of where The Alpha’s sit. They sort of put all their followers and butt-kissers out on the edges the closest that you are to the back wall where the pep rally banners go up the higher you are in the social rankings.”

Yasmine’s mother. “And the boys that took Yasmine’s Hijab?”

Jessie. “Pretty close to the front, but that was like they were showing off for the others.”

Donnie. “Definitely, they’re like a gang almost you show how much better you are than everyone else by the stuff you can do and get away with mixed with the people that think that what you did was cool…they keep track too.”

Yasmine ducked her head her cheeks still burning from what had happened earlier…it…it was just something in her world that you just didn’t do. (Sniffle.) “Still thank you both for standing up to them for me and… (Looks at Donnie.)…and for letting me use your hoodie.”

Donnie blushed. “Yasmine it…it was just the right thing to do. I mean I don’t know anything about the whole Muslim thing but I do know that it’s a smack against your religion. I mean you should thank Jessie because he was the first guy up and he washed it for you.”

Yasmine’s mother looked at Jessie. He shrugged. “Because we could ma’am.”

Donnie nodded. “Standing by and watching stuff’s almost as bad as doing it yourself.”

Yasmine’s mother smiled at both of them. “Here I send my daughter to a school full of boys and girls her age to learn and now she has introduced me to two fine young men.”

Donnie blushed some more he had been pretty odd sort of like Jessie in a different way but he’d been odd enough that getting treated like a good guy was…it was rare. Usually the most he could hope for was being ignored or just a sort of don’t care neutrality he got from his skate friends and some of the gamers like Dan and them.

Jessie was nodding. “I suppose we’ll see just who’s who and such when Monday night comes.”

It’s Yasmine’s mother that nodded this time. “Yes if these Alpha’s do not show in force then you will likely see their parents.”

Donnie added. “Or their lawyers or all of it.”

Jessie nodded. “We upset the apple cart and all the rotten ones are exposed now and they want to cover those up before people see how bad it is.”

Yasmine. “How bad is it?”

Jessie looked at her and her mother. “Honestly it’s almost as bad here as some of the worst schools around here with gang violence. People might not see it because they can’t but the bullying, the verbal and emotional terrorism it kills…and those it doesn’t kill it maims, scars people for life. And when you look at how many people come out of it with problems when this should be a place where they can learn and become who they should be…its bad Yasmine. I’m going to have a rough enough time just being me without all of them trying to make it worse…and I’m just me. There’s a lot more people out there that needs someone to do something and if no one else will do it…?”

Donnie nodded and bumped fists with Jessie. “Yeah, because we can.”

Jessie nodded. “Because we can.”

Yasmine bit her lip and she leaned in sort of scared but she did look the boys in the eyes. “Because we can.” And she bumped her fist in with theirs.

Yasmine’s mother smiled and after a drink of her coffee said. “So say we all.”

Yasmine looked at her. “Mom…?”

“What? It is a very good show.”

………………………………….Donnie liked the woman and she was as smart as her daughter he found and had a nice sense of humor and even better she had sent the boys off with the tins of the things that she had baked for Jessie’s house and even better still.

Yasmine had gave him a hug before they left…it was tentative and stuff but he could also tell that it was different than the hug that she had given Jessie.

Man he really wanted to kiss her.

They drove back to Kenyon’s place to see about drives and helping with the cleaning up and stuff.

*Kenyon…………

Even as some people were leaving and it being sort of late it was still blowing his mind what had happened.

He didn’t just finally realized that he was gay and instead of trying to hide it he just…well he met Jessie and there really wasn’t a whole lot of choice in staying in the closet after that. He just liked Jessie a whole lot more than being in the closet and being out…well it wasn’t nearly as bad as he thought it was.

Jessie and the rest of his friends though were highly responsible for this.

His phone kept blowing up (That’s ringing slang.) and he had to go and shut it off from all of the updates to his FB page and the personal messages that he was getting…and…wow…there were some messages that were pretty racy and some that were date offers.

Then there was this whole host thing that he had combined with hugs and shaking hands sometimes and giving away leftovers for people to take with them. There were a lot of people there that he had no clue who they were and some of them were so “alternative” they made the drama clubbers and the goth types look pretty normal

“How in heck can I be this popular as a gay guy versus a straight guy?”

Nick looked at him from where he was sitting behind his ever present laptop. “Y..you..you don’t ll..llook gay…you’re ra..ra..regular guy.”

“So breaking the stereotype?”

Nick nodded.

“But I’m kinda a jock.”

Nick did that so-so hand gesture.

Well he was right, he actually hadn’t made a team yet and while he had worked out really hard to look good it was still mostly for basketball more than that.

Nick did this all around them hand gesture then a thumbs up.

“It was a good party wasn’t it?”

Nick nodded had a look then he typed into his phone and it said. “Yes…and the first party of the year and the very first LGBT party in the history of the school.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really…Sam told me. Right now you’re like gay royalty.”

Kenyon laughed. “Great I’m a queen already.”

Both snickered and instead of just the handshakes and hugs and stuff he was doing to the people leaving as host he introduced then to Nick and Sam. Sam was very good at being the cheerful deaf person and he even could talk pretty well as long as you didn’t judge and took the time to listen.

And he was funny too with lots of jokes and even some really filthy ones.

Nick was blushing a lot and actually would’ve been hunkered down behind his computer if Sam would have let him.

But his friends…they were all here helping to clean up except for Jessie who was running Yasmine home and Dan who’d left with Lindsey who had gotten tired of being fresh ground girl-burger for the hungry lesbians.

Brian and Johnny where going around with garbage bags doing the recycling and having a mini-date thing kinda sort of.

And his dad…his dad had been great and he even stayed out of the drinks. Not that he was a drunk but he went dry tonight so he could do what he was doing now and offering bunches of the kids that came here drives home from the party.

He could tell that having a parent that wasn’t all judgy and stuff was a kind of new thing to some of these kids.

He smiled and went over to cut some more cake and wrap them up in cling wrap and saw the blonde Asian girl there trying a piece.

“You’re Selina…right?”

*Selina…………

She had come back here almost two weeks ago and she had pretty much on purpose stayed away from her old life and her old haunts. Last year everything inside had come to a head and she couldn’t fake it anymore.

She’d been dating Paul Reed a handsome guy and the right winger for the hockey team. Decent looking and tall…really tall and a good player and pretty well off too with his dad a bank guy he was a package and with them going and taking State that year in varsity hockey for their schools ranking he was just about perfect.

Just about.

And her life was all about perfect.

Like a lot of Asian kids even the ones that were mixed race there was this whole thing of needing to be “perfect.” Her mother was Dominican and her dad was Korean and local Korean and they had a pretty good family history of success…but when her dad got her mom pregnant and then actually married her he’d disgraced them and him so it was sort of this huge pressure thing to get back into the family good graces. Heck she wasn’t even the first kid that they had there was five of them and she was the baby…and all of the Huang kids were good at something and she had sibs in both medical and law school.

So the pressure was on and she had to start in school…Cheer and yearbook, choir and track then the “good boyfriend” and then to become prom queen which she did and they both had won…but Paul was one of those guys and he wanted her all the time and she had evaded the whole thing about them having sex the whole year.

She had given him hand jobs and blow jobs that made her sick afterwards and…well honestly Johnny started it…

Johnny Douglas the first transgendered…strike that the first openly transgendered girl in their school and when Johnny had transferred in Selina had tried her damnedest to dislike her, to hate on her like the rest of the “In crowd” but it didn’t take her heart wasn’t into it.

Mostly because Johnny just existing sparked this to herself little bedroom fantasy than had he fingers busy and wandering down…and lots of times with her face in her pillow.

Not that she was brave enough to ever say a single word to Johnny though…she’d been so scared of what she was feeling…and then when her dreams went from Johnny to a fully functional girl…and after that Courtney Long one of her friends in the group she was completely horrified she was gay.

And shame kept her in the closet until prom night.

When Paul had taken her to the after party and she had been drunk and so had a lot of the other girls and she had been that drunk that she hit that wall of self reservation and stuff that usually keeps you from doing something dumb and she kissed Courtney…in the kitchen by the fridge and with people there doing the stuff with the kegs and watching…

It’d been a really good kiss though.

She supposed that at first Court was all lets do the “hot” thing in front of the guys and all of that and then when hands started to roam.

It was Heather Sweet the homecoming princess that said. “Holy fuck guys…Look…Sel’s a dyke.”

She’d been that hammered, just…so…she had her hand on Courtney’s crotch and after Heather said that there was this look in her eyes like…like she hated her and bit her just a little in the kiss before pulling away and yelling at her.

“Eeew Fuck! She had her hand on my cooch!”

It all just blew up after that and there was verbal stuff and shoves and Paul threw her out of his house physically and she fell in the pool and she had to swim to the other side while he screamed and berated her for leading him on and stuff.

She’d quit school after that just unable to face them and the rest and she had to give back the crown and they gave it to Heather.

And from what she heard heather landed Bradley Tower after that and Courtney became Princess and was dating Paul…

In less than a week.

By the end of that week she was rushed to the hospital after taking an overdose.

To be fair…though her family surprised her by not dumping her. Oh her grandparents her Korean ones were a bit surprised but they were okay with it or her grandmother was saying to her grandfather that “This is America. Our children should be free.”

Apparently she had a cousin that went through hell as a lesbian back then who just shut up and put up with being in an arranged marriage and popping out kids until she couldn’t take it any more and left in the middle of the night and just went to the train tracks and laid there until the train came.

It was a sad thing to here.

And it turned out that she wasn’t the first gay or lesbian grandchild in the family there were like three cousins that had come out too that she never heard about and that helped soften the blow.

And now she was back after being away for the summer.

She had gone to her cousin Peter’s place in Orlando and he was one of the gay kids older than her with his own place and she stayed down there getting some perspective…finding out just who Selina really was and even hooked up and had a girlfriend…well more of a first hook up and a steady for the last few weeks but it was her first embracing of herself.

And now she was back and getting moved back into her parents house but a new room in the back of the house that had been a boarding room of sorts from when the family that sold it to them lived there.

New hair, some piercings and she had even gotten some ink too while she was away. A peach orchid a medium sized one just under her navel to go along with her navel piercing.

She knew things were going to be totally different but she hadn’t expected this.

Misha Brooks or “Monk” one of her FB friends had sent her the addy for the party here and it was an LGBT party? She met up with her sort of punker friend and they came here and was a little stunned at the scene and at the fact she recognized at least some of the kids here.

Monk took off to hit on some really cute thin looking semi-butch girl and she wandered until she found the whole karaoke set up.

She still loved singing and choir was something she had been good at and she took her turn and then she met….

Honey…

She was pretty sure that the girl had never danced with another girl before but she had been here at this party and she seemed both shy and open and sweet but funny too all at the same time.

And she was really beautiful.

Which said a lot since being down in the LGBT scene in Florida she’d seen lots of great looking girls and she was one of them when she was in the “in” crowd her too back then but she’d never ran into a girl like Honey.

Selina moved to one of the tables where there was still some food and she got a piece of cake while she was still sort of flush from the happy yay sort of feeling she had from dancing with the girl.

The host was there talking to people and giving out stuff to the kids that were leaving and stuff.

“Great party, I hope you didn’t mind me crashing it.”

He looked at her. “Not at all, it was one of those things that just kind of snowballed so the more the merrier.”

“I get the snowball thing, glad it didn’t go the wrong direction.”

“Me too. I’m Kenyon.”

She took his hand when he offered it and they shook. He didn’t fit the gay boy trope. Cute looking but not overly handsome, not all femmy or even all metrosexualized. There was a lot of that in the gay community guys that were way too much into the whole cosmetics and getting plucked and pampered and sort of came across after awhile like they were something…well queer kind of fit really well.

He looked pretty Joe average cute.

“I’m Selina.”

“Oh I know people have been talking about you since you showed up.”

“Sorry.” She took a mouthful of cake but sort of mournfully.

He turned to sort of lean on the table but beside her. “Hey not a big deal, not like some of them are making it out to be.”

“I wasn’t a nice person Kenyon I was a cunt to a lot of people back then.”

“Yep, I heard that too but I only know the girl here eating cake and watching one of my friends helping to clean up.”

“Honey’s really nice.”

“She’s been through some stuff; she’s been on the receiving end of some of the whole Alpha bullshit.”

“Alpha’s?”

“It’s our word for the whole popular crowd you used to run with.”

“Oh…I kind of get that too, with them thinking that they’re better than everyone else.”

“Yeah…they like to think that but too bad reality doesn’t agree with them.”

“Really?”

“Yep, there’s a lot of people tired of taking their shit so we’re not.”

“You know they won’t stand for that right?”

“Oh I know and it’s not going to matter Selina.”

“Why not?”

“See they’re bullies, and just like bullies everywhere they don’t do so well when people won’t take it and even less when there’s witnesses. They’re really brave when no one can prove that they’re really the assholes they really are.”

“You guys are with that website thing I heard about?”

“Not really but I use it. If I see someone being a douche then I’ll get it on phone of I’m not there in the middle of it.”

“In the middle of it?”

“Yeah, they’re not as scary as they think they are.”

“And what if they outnumber you guys?”

“Well we try and not let that happen, the buddy system helps a lot but it also helps that we’re smarter than them.”

“Smarter?”

“Smarter.” That came from someone walking up.

She saw this cute girl? Come over and get a pop and smile at him and they hugged in a way that…she did a double take and those boobs looked as real as hers and while the guy was sort of baby faced her was definitely still a guy…there was no tucking there.

“Hi…I’m Selina.” She stuck her fork in her cake and offered her hand. They took it and shook her hand and smiled. It was sort of a sexy kind of smile…that little bit quirky and sideways kind. “Jessie Stone.”

“Nice to meet you but smarter?”

“Numbers but we’re going to go with some other stuff too besides the camera phone thing.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve been thinking about strategy.”

“Strategy?”

“Bullying is a lot like any other assault, one I think that we should get whistles like rape whistles when something fishy starts going on we don’t wait…blow it and get the attention of people and the security guys will come running.”

“They could buy them too.”

“True but it’ll still work and the super macho assholes won’t use them.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that there’s no way some of those guys will do anything to injure their he-man status.”

“Exactly it’s a weapon most of them won’t use.”

“So what else?”

“Parents.”

“Parents won’t do much most don’t care or they’re on the side of the Alpha’s.”

“Well that’s kind of true there are good parents out there too but a lot of kids don’t say stuff to them. I’m of the opinion that we make it the business of the parents whether they like it or not.”

“Huh?” That was from her and Kenyon.

“I have the school mailing and contact lists.”

She looked at Jessie. “You’ll be in trouble if you’re caught with that.”

“I know but it’s worth it.”

“So what will you do with that?”

“Send them e-mails and letters. When stuff is going on that’s really douchey and looks like it’s going to get avoided or swept under we use a computer somewhere else and we send letters and stuff to them about it. Sooner or later it’ll be that parents are going to get pissed off that this is happening and even the ones that are too self involved to do stuff for their kids will get involved because we’re sticking the bullshit in their faces.”

Selina laughed. “So they’ll get pissed and involved just to get us off their backs in a way.”

“Exactly and then you have the parents that went through the same shit when they were in school getting reminded and then there’s the good parents getting even more pissed and you’ll get some involved simply because of peer pressure from the other parents.”

She looked at him. “You’re waging a war?”

He looked at her so intensely he gave her chills. “We’re the ones that have been taking the casualties Selena.”

He was right…

She was on the other side of this and he was right.

She set her cake aside and offered her hand again. “Can I help?”

He shook her hand again and looked her in the eyes. “Welcome to the rebel forces.”

She looked back at him and smiled. “It’s going to be a memorable year.”

*Honey…………

She couldn’t help but to listen to Kenyon talking to Selina and then Jessie and she smiled and at the same time just hearing about that stuff had her pulse beating.

Casualties.

When he said that she got the Jessie chills.

Like how he’d been when he carried her from the parking lot.

It wasn’t anywhere near a sexual thing either it was just Jessie just came out with stuff and said things as they were or at least as he saw them and a lot of the time he was right.

She was one of those casualties. She had the scars and hurts inside to prove it too and so did a lot of people too and she had almost been one of the more permanent victims too…if Jessie hadn’t been such a good driver she might have…

And then there was being here at this party they had set up and the look on some of the people here at just this party even happening.

She knew there were places the kids went to sometimes and that there were some of those places that were pretty bad news too with booze and drugs and stuff too. Having a normal and safe place to dance and have a party had been pretty big and combine that with Kenyon’s coming out and his folks being publically good with all of this and the kids seeing it.

She got why her mom was a nurse now. It was so not the money thing but getting involved and helping people.

Having actually been part of something.

She looked over at Selina.

She was very surprised at the way that she made her feel. Honestly she would have said even with all the touching and the hugs and the dancing with other girls she’d done tonight if she was going to feel something she would have.

And she wasn’t freaked out too much from the female attention either from some of the more forward girls.

But when she saw Selina there and the way she looked was pretty exotic and stuff she had to admit that she was very attractive.

And when she sang though…

Soft and sweet and powerful all at the same time and it made her feel flushed just watching her.

She just had to ask her to sing it again.

And then…after when Selina asked her to dance.

She didn’t get the lesbian thing or she didn’t think that she did. But she felt very pretty and very girl while they were dancing…like when she was dancing with Brian and she felt that zip of dancing with a hot buff straight guy…yes she could definitely like him but Johnny had dibbed his heart she was pretty sure but….

To have another girl give her that zip feeling.

And the way she was with Jessie, she was…

“You like?”

She jumped and eeped and turned and it was Johnny.

“Uhm…”

“You’ve been seriously staring at her.”

“I know…god. Johnny I think I’m gay for her.”

“Gay for her?”

“Well I still like guys…I mean Brian’s…” She just gestured where he was tying off bags of the recycling.

Johnny looked over and had this look on her face and this silly and very girly smile. “Yeah…he is…”

“Johnny she’s the same way.”

“Same way?”

“Uh-huh…there’s just this zip there.”

“Oh…well zip’s important.”

Honey nodded and snuck another look at her and bit her lower lip. “Johnny I don’t know what to do?”

“How much zip?”

“How much?”

“Yeah from like a scale of one to ten.”

She looked at Johnny. “I was actually thinking she’s kind of like Sailor Venus.”

“Oh…that’s kind of…are you dressing her up in that costume?!”

Honey blushed really badly. “Maybe.”

*Johnny…………

It had really been one of the best nights in her life.

Definitely her life.

God when Brian danced with her and then when he flirted and then all the drama in the bathroom.

She was never so sure about her feelings and her choice.

Yes she was making a choice and it kind of got her miffed at the people that think that people with GID just make the decision out of the blue or something equally stupid. Truth was there were days that she didn’t feel all that girly.

She usually hated those days since they seriously messed with her head unless it was one of those get away days. When John would make the rare appearance and she would just be sort of not really recognizable by the kids around and she could just be unnoticed and not be Johnny the tranny.

Brian tonight though and no offence to Dan who she to be honest still liked too but tonight Brian being so much a real stand up guy and handsome and caring and tolerant.

He made her feel her baby parts.

And yes girls like her felt stuff like that every bit as much as regular girls did.

Even just helping to clean up after the party was awesome. Just sort of wandering around and she took the blue bag and he had the green one since it could be yicky and they just talked.

“Brian thanks.”

“Okay, for?”

“Going in there to the bathroom and coming after me.”

“I thought I was supposed to.”

“Well yeah I’m a girl…we all want the guy to come after us.”

He rolled his eyes. “Well at least you admit it.”

She smiled and hip bumped him casually making him miss a reach for a paper plate with stuff on it. “Well you’re supposed to know this stuff.”

He laughed. “Hmmm yeah so says the media and pop culture but y’know we’re not telepaths.”

“Brian how many romantic comedies have you seen.”

“Too many.”

“And you haven’t clued in that you always go after the girl.”

“No because they’re movies and not real life Johnny.”

“They’re dreams Bri, just like the old fairy tale stories and the damsel in distress stuff it’s part of girl culture just like a lot of other things and I don’t care if some girls won’t admit to it we all sort of want that.”

“But it’s sooo commercial!” He sort of whined it out but in a funny way.

“So? There’s a lot of stuff like that you men have it too.”

“I know and it’s just as dumb to me?’

She grinned. “That’s one of the things I like about you Brian.”

He smiled and blushed a little but looked her in the eyes still. “Well it’s one of the things that I like about you too Johnny.”

Little chill bumps of yayness went up and down her spine. She knew her name and the fact that she wasn’t going by a femme name any more was freaking a lot of people out but this…this was one of the reasons why.

Just the way his voice lightly rested on the syllables of her name and said it like she was a girl.

Sound strange maybe but try just saying it like that. Saying Johnny like you’d softly say Cassandra…and it makes you feel like a girl when he says it.

Definitely a sign.

“There’s definitely a lot of stuff that I’m liking about you too Bri.”

“Good…so tell me some.”

She burst out laughing because she was caught off guard by that. He laughed too and wrapped his hands around her waist and spun her around lifting her right off the ground making her laugh all the more. “Gotcha! You really don’t know that much about me do you!?”

(Laugh-squeal.) “Okay no but I want to!”

He stopped and looked at her and he kissed her.

One of those definitely a guy stepping up and kissing you hard and make your brain go all foggy on you kisses. He broke the kiss and she swore she felt her heart go flutter from that and the way his eyes were fixed on her…it was like they were alone.

“You’re the only girl that’s ever actually said that y’know.”

“Well I’m not Britney.”

“Definitely not.” He got closer.

“So what am I too you?”

He got closer. “Honest.”

“Worth getting to know better?”

“Definitely.” He kissed her again this time slower and really…really good.

“Thank you.” She said after they broke the kiss.

“For?”

“Being so amazing.”

“I’m not that amazing Johnny…not really.” He was blushing again.

She reached up and she kissed him lightly and sweetly but this time it was definitely her kissing him.

“You’re a nice guy Brian and you’re not afraid to be one. You’re kind and you’re honest and you’re tolerant and open to people and at the same time you stand for stuff too.”

“Johnny…” Oh he said it like that again…like she was taking His breath away.

“Bri…I don’t know if she ever told you stuff like that but it’s true.”

He shook his head no and swallowed and even tried to look away because there was the hint of tears there.

She hung onto him and just sort of leaned on him and didn’t push.

Even just settled in and rested her head on his shoulder.

She couldn’t help think.

God Britney you’re…you’re an idiot.

*Brian…………

Johnny…wow what a girl.

It had felt like it had been forever that he was talking to a girl that liked him for him and not because he was popular or good at sports or anything like that but just actually liked him.

Challenged him just by being herself into being a better person.

He liked feeling like he was a better person than he was even just a while ago.

Sweet and caring and honest and frustrating but in this really good way.

Her biology?

Honestly he didn’t care, not anymore it just really mattered to him like it was the least important thing about her.

She gave him such a hard on too.

Yeah…

And it was all her, not her looks which were actually pretty but it was the way she looked at him and talked to him and just.

And sitting there her holding him and leaning on him and after the way they had just…talked…talked who would believe that talking was that…amazing.

Yeah…getting that touched and moved and stuff he couldn’t help from getting…and she smelled good too.

Then…

“Oh…”

“Oh?” He asked and tried to keep his voice from being all hoarse from the whole thing where she nearly made him tear up.

“Is that for me?”

Johnny sort of pressed her hip into his boner. “Oh god…I’m sorry…”

“Hey, it’s okay.”

“It’s not like that.”

“It’s not?”

She was looking at him and he was blushing so hard he could feel the heat in his cheeks.

“N..no…it’s not a I want to have sex with you boner.”

She snerked. “You said boner.” And tickled him.

That made him smile since no girl that he’d ever know would’ve been like that about that or been like this about it.

“Yes dammit I said boner… (Blush.)…look it’s not I want to do you boner it’s an I really like you boner.”

“So it’s an emotional boner then?”

(Blush.) “Yes dammit.”

She giggled and smiled at him and it was just one of those wow moments.

“Johnny it’s not funny to laugh at a guy’s boner.”

She giggled again. “Boner.”

He rolled his eyes. “Jezzus…will you behave?”

“Nope.” She smiled and kissed him. “But I’m going to go have a chat with my girlfriend over there and give you a chance to calm down.”

“Johnny…”

She gave him another light kiss. “You give my heart a boner too.”

“Johnny…”

She started to pull away and he pulled her back and stared at her a second before kissing her.

God he liked kissing her.

Maybe because she was so real, that it felt like he was actually kissing someone for a change?

He let her go and she started walking backwards from him.

“Hey Johnny?”

“Mmmmm?”

“You ever play Mario?”

“Yeah….?” She gave him this odd look.

“Yeah well you’re the invincible star.”

She blinked the blushed and then smiled and turned and skipped off to Honey who was doing some of the other clean up.

Hell yeah she was…she made him feel like that…Like he shot up and grabbed that star.

*Lindsey…………

She was glad to get out of there and leave the party and she didn’t mind the idea that Dan had of them getting out close to her place but long enough for a decent walk home too. She thanked Jess for the lift and just sort of waved to Yasmine who shyly waved back and Donnie too and got out with Danny.

She stretched and sighed. “This was a good idea, the party was fun but I was starting to feel sort of really odd there.”

“Good, I kinda noticed. I guess after being sort of visible being suddenly visible to a bunch of people was a bit freaky.” He did that sort of non-chalant slide his hands into his from pockets.

She started walking and looked at him as they did. “I just don’t get it?”

“What?”

“Being someone that people see as attractive?”

He was looking at her. “Honestly Lindsey you are attractive.”

“Well I don’t feel like it.”

“I can get that, honestly it’s pretty rare that I meet someone that gets passed enough of me to really end up liking me and everytime there’s this little voice in my head going me? Really?”

She nodded and she looked him over this time. “Short has to suck sometimes.”

“It kind of does and it kind of doesn’t I’m used to that besides there’s lots of girls shorter than me so it’s not a really big deal.”

“Most guys wouldn’t say that.”

“Oh well I’m definitely not most guys.”

“That’s true. You’re kinda better.”

“Better?”

“Yeah, honestly I have a hard time relating to guys.”

“Uhm…Linds…you’re a girl.”

“Not usually, I told you I don’t really feel like a girl either. Female yeah I mean I can’t really help that but as far as actually being a girl and getting my heard around that stuff nope and it’s kinda gross.”

“Gross? I actually find it kind of neat.”

“Gross like a huge amount of the guys I’ve seen or TV or have met seen to giant assholes.”

“Uhm…hey…speaking from the male side of things there’s a very large over supply of assholes here.”

She nodded. “You said that sometimes you don’t get it either.”

He shrugged. “It’s not so much that but honestly I’d be likely just as good being born a girl.”

“Really?”

“Really, there’s nothing I’m really into that a girl couldn’t be into either. Dani Reilly would be just as much a geekette as I would be.”

“I just want something to change Danny, y’know something to happen that I get it or something that I feel comfortable in my own skin instead of feeling like I’m just sort of observing people all of the time.”

“Peeper.” He snerked.

She punched him in the shoulder. “Ow…spousal abuse!” he shouted out loud to anyone that would be able to hear.

“Danny!” She swatted at him again and he snickered and let her hit him.

“Thug.” He smirked at her.

“Jerk.” He gave her a thumbs up.

She stepped forward and hugged him.

“Nope…no problem with being short.” He said face buried into her cleavage…it wasn’t ample but it was still there.

She laughed. “Thanks Danny.”

“Mmmm…boobies.”

“Danny…”

“No problem, seriously Linds. You’re not crazy.”

“I’m not?”

“Nope, you just need to try stuff until something clicks or a lot of things click.”

“Oh great like how many things?”

They got to her place and sort of stood on the stoop of the building.

“Hey…chill so you got to look, so do a lot of us and the thing I believe is that we’re all meant to Linds. Some of the Alpha’s they don’t they’re into that whole cookie cutter life and stuff, they don’t want to know that stuff.”

“Well I’m already sick of not fitting in.” she started to open the door.

“Hey…” He said as he was walking down the steps.

“Yeah?”

“What if instead of trying so hard to fit in Lindsey that you let stuff in?”

“Huh?”

“What if instead of you struggling to fit into life maybe it’s life that should fit in you.”

She looked at him…. Then she rolled her eyes. “Jesus Danny you sound like a fortune cookie.”

“So if you ate me you’d want more twenty minutes later?”

“Night Danny!”

“Night! And think about what I said!”

“Yeah, yeah!............................love you goofball!”

“Love you too!”

*Danny…………

He liked talking to Lindsey…she was nice and she was sort of coming out of her shell but with her it was like watching something coming out of it’s cocoon. He wasn’t sure where she’d be going when she did but it was fun to watch and she made him think about himself.

And less about himself too.

That was always a good thing. Sometimes he’d go places that were well…

Not advisable unmedicated.

But just the way that she was with him made him smile pretty big. Lindsey was likely his first actual girl that was his friend. Oh he liked Johnny and she was all kinds of awesome and stuff but Lindsey and him sort of had this balance where you could just feel that they could be caring and loving and tease and insult each other all at the same time.

And she made him think.

A girl that didn’t mind her biology it was just the rest of the stuff.

Now it sort of sounded like she was some sort of FTM or a sort of gender queer version of it as much as he hated to put labels on it but…turning it over in his head he sort of mused if she might be the opposite of him.

Yeah he wasn’t pretending when he said that he’d be okay with being okay if he’d been born a girl and stuff. He liked girls, he found some guys sort of interesting too but he like girls also in that way he found their lives interesting, what they did and how they lived interesting and a lot of typical guy behavior never really clicked with him.

So sort of he was kind of a male that didn’t mind the male thing so bad but wasn’t really a guy in his heart either or at least sometimes he wasn’t.

He…they we’re Danny or even Danni sometimes.

He sighed.

Yes it felt very confusing and schizophrenic sometimes. No wonder he got headaches sometimes

“Now if I was only as good at taking my advice as giving it.”

He heard a car engine rev and he looked up to see an older red Mustang drive past slowly and he recognized the car.

Keith and his two buddies.

They saw him too and they screeched to a halt and the car sped in reverse squealing the tires. He could hear them with the windows down. “It’s that tranny asshole’s little boyfriend!”

“Let’s get him!”

“We’re so going to fuck him up!”

He turned and he ran and they spun the car around and drove after him giving chase and he went across a few yard spots and curbs they were still in hot pursuit and he ran down an alley and sprinted dodging the stuff there and he came out in the middle of the next street over and slammed into the side of a car.

It was a sky blue older painted Camero.

Only he recognized this car too.

Fuck….

Andy Parsons…. Andy had been that kid in the ninth grade that had been that much of a misanthrope that they held him back a few grades and he had a car in the ninth grade.

He had also been the school…not the class but the school’s professional bully and had made Dan’s life a living hell along with several of the other kids that they had gone to school with.

Andy had actually left school after wrecking the very car he was driving while he was impaired it’d been a year and a half since he’d seen him and now it was kind of like seeing the jaws shark again after being attacked by it already.

The car window powered down and Dan tensed.

Double Fuck…

It was him.

“Hey Danny?”

Keith’s Mustang rounded the curb.

“Oh I really don’t need this…” He was trying to catch his breath but he was not the most athletic guy around and it had been a lot of running.

The Mustang pulled up and Keith and his two buddies got out of the car.

Dan backed away looking for a weapon.

Andy got out of the car.

Shit…he was even bigger…like he really needed to be bigger.

He took out his phone and dialed Jess on speed dial.

It was till running when Keith and them charge him.