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Andrew was late, and that was the only reason he came to school this way. He knew that Tim and Dave Brooks could be waiting for him somewhere on the way to school, but he hoped that they might be in school already. For some reason, Andrew had become their favorite target.

He was the smallest kid in his class, and the Brooks twins were the worst bullies in school. It was rumored that they had put six kids in the hospital, but no one seemed to care. Andrew had several bruises from being pushed into walls and lockers.

It seemed that everyone wanted to pick on him. They called him gay, they spit on him, and all because he was small. Even some of the girls in his class teased him. Andrew just wanted to get to school safely. If he could just get to class, he might not be safe, but it would be much better than being outside, with no witnesses or teachers to protect him.

“Hi, little homo! I’ve been looking for ya!”

Oh no! Dave Brooks! That meant that Tim would be here, somewhere. They were never very far apart. Andrew looked around for an escape route, or for someone who might see them. He might have a chance in the woods, but that was risky. If they caught him in the woods, he might not get out, or it might be a lot harder to get help. His only chance was to run.

He faked a turn to the left and ran to the right as fast as he could. He made it to the schoolyard and ran into the building. He hoped to be in his homeroom, in his seat by the time the twins got to school. As he settled into his seat, he saw the twins, panting to catch their breaths, come into his classroom. They saw Andrew in his seat, and the teacher, Mrs. Taylor, at her desk, so they left for their own homeroom. Well, so far, so good.

“Hi, Andy.” Robin Ames said, as she took her seat on his right side, her long blonde hair shining. Andrew had always had a terrible crush on her. “Hiding again?”

Her friend, Tina Green sat behind her. “Are the big bad bullies picking on little Andwoo again?”

Jenny Rieber, the tallest girl in school, sitting a couple of desks behind Andrew, snickered loudly, and there were a few other chuckles and giggles at his expense

Andrew did his best to ignore them. It seemed that everyone was always picking on him. Why couldn’t they just leave him alone?

  

  

His day went by slowly, and as soon as school was out, he ran home as quickly as he could. This time he stayed on the sidewalks near the main roads, where the police occasionally patrolled, and a good Samaritan might see it if the twins tried to catch him. It meant a few extra blocks to get home, but if he was lucky, he’d get home without bruises, and that was worth the trouble.

There was a note from his mom on the table. It said that she wouldn’t be home until late, and that she would eat at work. There was a TV dinner in the freezer that he could microwave, or there was lunch meat for a sandwich, and some chips. It seemed like it might be a good time to have some fun.

He had been saving his money that he made doing odd jobs, even baby-sitting occasionally. Without saying anything to his mother, he had bought several pieces of girls clothing from yard sales, dollar stores, even the re-sale shops. There was quite a collection in his secret box, the one hidden in the basement. He went down, chose a few things and then went to his room.

He had chosen a simple white blouse with “skinny” jeans and a pink sweater. He put a pink headband in his blonde shoulder length hair, and clipped on some cheap but classically simple ear jewelry, and some white ankle socks with lace at the tops. He was just going to watch some TV, and have his dinner. He wished he had a friend who he could be himself with.

He knew he had a problem. He believed he was supposed to have been a girl. He knew he was slowly going crazy, that kind of thing didn’t really happen. He’d hoped that he would grow out of it, but it only seemed to be getting worse. He wondered how long it would be until his mom had to put him into a crazy house, an asylum. Would she want to visit him when he went completely crazy? It was his biggest fear, and he had tried to be more of a boy, but it just didn’t work.

Whenever he wore the “special clothes” from his secret box, he felt more relaxed, more comfortable. When he looked in a mirror, it felt so good to see who he really was. Tears ran down his face. He had heard the stories about how God hated queers and gays, how they would go to hell. He knew he would someday go to hell, and see the devil, and his soul would burn forever. They said God loved kids, and he forgave sinners, but it didn’t work for queers and other crazy people, did it? Why did he have to be crazy? Why didn’t Jesus love him? He hated himself.

  

  

Walking home from Tina’s house, Robin wished she had a flashlight. It got dark very early in the winter, but she only had to go a little further. She was surprised by some movement from the house where Andrew and his Mom lived. Looking in, she saw a pretty girl, sitting in the front room watching TV. Curious, she snuck up closer, and after a few minutes, realized the small, pretty girl was Andrew, himself. She giggled, but when she looked closer, she saw that he was crying, trying to wipe away the tears, but not succeeding.

In truth, Robin liked Andrew, a lot. He was so smart, it was almost scary. He never tried to hurt anybody, but everyone teased him, including her. Was she part of the reason he was crying?

It hurt. She felt so guilty; she ran all of the rest of the way home, crying. How could she be such a bitch? She barely even spoke to her mother or father. She couldn’t tell them what she had seen, or what she had done. She was so mean, so evil, and she hadn’t even cared! How could she be like that? She cried herself to sleep, hating herself.

  

  

Tina and Jenny met her on the way to school. She did little more than mumble a weak hello, and then sunk deep into thought. How could she apologize? He would never believe that she was sincere. She had been so mean, for so long.

By the time they got to school, both Tina and Jenny and were becoming worried. Robin was a chatterbox, and for her to walk to school in near silence, something must be very, very wrong. As she opened her locker, Tina said something smartass to one of the other girls, and it made Robin want to scream.

“Shut up!” Robin growled. “How can you say something mean like that? What did she do to you?”

“Robin? “ She frightened Tina, the look in her eyes was so angry. It wasn’t until then that they noticed she had been crying. “Girl, what happened? Are you okay?”

“No, I’m an evil bitch!” She fell to the floor and cried. “I don’t deserve to ever be happy again!”

“What happened?” Jenny said, holding her. “Talk to us! We’re here for you, sweetie.”

In between jagged breaths, she told them how she saw Andrew crying, and how she realized what she had done. What they had all done.

“Umm, I think might you have a point, honey.” Jenny admitted. “Andrew doesn’t have a friend in the world. He’s down, and we stepped on him. I feel like a shit.”

“But we always . . . I mean . . . oh, my god, I am an evil bitch!”Tina said, quietly. “We have to apologize.”

“He won’t believe us.” Robin said. “Why would he?”

“Good question.”

They looked up, and saw the substitute Math teacher, Mr. Gabriel. He was a handsome Hispanic man, with very gentle eyes. He helped Robin off the floor, and asked the girls to come into his classroom, where they could have some privacy. Before they started, he called their homeroom teacher, told her where the girls were, and that there was a minor crisis that he was helping them with.

“It’s great that you’ve realized you’ve been insensitive, but it’s very hard to say you’re sorry to someone you’ve really hurt, isn’t it?”

“Mr. Gabriel, if you know a secret about someone, something that they really could be hurt by, how can you help them?”

“Ah, you mean young Mr. Mason. Or should it be Miss?

Robin jerked at that. How could he know!?

“Yes, Robin, I was out last night, and I saw you looking into the window, and I saw her, too.”

Oh, Mr. Gabriel, you can’t say anything! Andrew has never hurt anyone! He’s so smart, and he always tries to help people, and I. . .”

“He doesn’t know you like him, does he?”

The man knew everything! She shook her head, sadly.

“What are you talking about? He, her, Andrew, what the heck?” Tina was very confused.

“You’ve got to swear to me that you won’t ever-ever!-say anything, okay?” Robin pleaded. Both girls gave their most solemn vow.

“Are you sure they can be trusted, Robin? This is not just a secret-this is much more serious. You may be holding a person’s life in your hands.”

Both of the girls’ jaws dropped, but they swore they would never say anything to anyone.

“Andrew. . . has, well, he has a problem.” Robin began.

“Is he going to die?” Jenny asked, tears in her eyes. She liked Andrew, too.

“Yes-but probably not for a very long time.” Mr. Gabriel smiled. “Andrew is a transgendered person. He is a boy, with the mind of a girl. In some cultures, he would have been considered a holy person, thanks to being “dual-natured”, which means being part of both sexes. It happens sometimes, and there is very little he or she can do about it.”

“How long has he known?” Tina asked, amazed.

“I’ll tell you a secret. He doesn’t know. He thinks he is crazy, a bad person, and he thinks he is going to die and go to hell.”

Robin jumped up. “No! Andrew is a gentle, wonderful person who would never hurt anyone! He is a sweet and gentle soul, and . . .”

“Oh, I’m sure he is destined for a much better place than he imagines, but that is what HE believes.”

Robin thought about what Andrew must feel like, and tears began to flow again.

Jenny looked at Mr. Gabriel. “He must hurt, so much. I am so ashamed of myself.”

“I don’t care if he is a girl or a boy.” Tina said. “I’ll be his friend!”

“Yeah.”

“Me, too.”

“Well, it seems that you really are good girls, but how will you convince him of that?”

“Uhm. . .”

“You’re also now bearers of his secret. Transgendered boys and girls have been hurt, even killed by people who don’t understand them or just hate them. Even as grown-ups, they often are not safe. It can be a very hard life for people like Andrew. It is a holy duty you have now, and it is important that you remember that.”

“I shouldn’t have told you, girls. I’m sorry.” Robin said. She could feel the responsibility on her, but she knew she could bear it.

“No, Robin, it will be all right. I know you will become great friends with Andrew. It may not seem like it now, but this is a good thing. Trust me.”

“Did you have a transgendered friend, Mr. Gabriel?”

“I have many transgendered friends, and they are wonderful people. I would bet you will never regret being Andrew’s friends.”

They smiled. It sounded nice.

“You will have to get to class now. Try to remember what I have said.”

“Mr. Gabriel, I think I’ll always remember this.” Robin said, and the other girls agreed.

  

  

The day flew by for Robin and the girls. They were nice to Andrew, and he was confused by it. Something weird was going on. Tina and Jenny looked at him sort of funny a couple of times, but they always smiled at him in a very friendly way. It was too much to hope for, though.

As usual, as soon as school was over, Andrew grabbed his bag and started to run home. At least he was developing strong legs!

Robin and the girls decided to go to Andrew’s house and to try and apologize for being so mean to him. Maybe he would believe them. Tina felt they had to try.

As they walked toward his house, they saw Andrew get hit by Dave Brooks, while his brother, Tim stood behind Andrew, and pushed him back towards Dave. Robin and the other girls began to run and shout, telling the boys to leave him alone. Tina stopped and grabbed her cell phone to dial 911. Robin was the first to reach the boys, and she jumped in front of Andrew.

“Leave him alone!” Robin screamed. Dave just reached out and flung her to the side. She landed hard on the sidewalk, and broke her forearm, causing her to scream. Jenny angrily swung her heavy purse at Dave’s head, but missed and hit his brother. Tim slapped her, hard, with the bony back of his hand, while Dave hit Andrew again. Tina jumped on Dave’s back and bit his ear. He reached back and hit her in the nose, which caused her to let go in pain.

“Stupid bitch! I’m going to. . .”

“No, you’re not!” Mr. Gabriel said, as he grabbed both boys and dragged them to the ground. Somehow he was able to hold onto them until a Police car arrived and the officers took the boys into custody.

One of the officers had requested an ambulance as they pulled up, and after the twins were secured, they and Mr. Gabriel attended to the other kids until it arrived. Robin and Andrew had been hurt the most severely, but all four children were taken to the hospital. On the way, Andrew asked why they had tried to help him.

Tina was the first to answer. “Andrew, we know you probably can’t forgive us, but we all want to apologize for being such jerks. We are so sorry, and we honestly want to be your friends.

Robin hurt every time the ambulance hit any kind of bump, but she added her apologies to Tina’s.

“We were such evil bitches, and we know it. I wish I had been better to you all along. I really want to be your friend.”

Jenny’s jaw hurt, but she mumbled something that sounded like “What she said!”

Andrew was astonished. Not one, but three pretty girls had apologized and had tried to help him. “Of course I forgive you! You were wonderful!”

The Ambulance hit a slightly larger bump, and Robin let out a small scream of pain. As she got it somewhat under control, she smiled and said “Wonderful is NOT how I feel right now!”

Tina and Andrew smiled and laughed a bit. Jenny tried, but it hurt too much.

  

  

They arrived at the hospital, which soon seemed to be full of concerned and angry parents. Most of the injuries were actually very minor, but everyone jumped when the Doctor set Robin’s arm. Even though they had nearly knocked her out with pain medication, she had still had the energy to scream.

Everyone went home that night, but the next morning was Saturday, and there was no school. When the doorbell rang the next morning, Andrew opened the door to find Tina and Jenny waiting.

“We’re going over to Robin’s, please say you’ll come with us?”

Andrew had never been so happy in his life. They walked to Robin’s house joking about the twins who had been arraigned the night before. According to the news the night before, they had been expelled from their school, and their parents, facing several threatened lawsuits, were keeping the boys on house arrest.

Robin was feeling much better when they got to her house, until her Mom left the room. Andrew knew she was hiding something. When he asked her, she admitted that she thought she deserved what she got. Andrew was insistent that she was forgiven, but she told him that she had much more to be sorry for.

“No, Robin, we are good. You did your best to save me, which proves you are really my friends.”

“We are your friends; you have to believe that, Andrew. But there is something we have to talk about, and you need to sit down for it. This might scare you at first, but there is really nothing bad, just promise you will listen to me? Please?”

Worried and a bit nervous, he found a seat on the floor and listened to her. She had said it was nothing really bad, right?

“Andrew, I don’t know how to say this without scaring you, so I want you to remember we ARE your friends, and always will be, no matter what. Okay?

He nodded.

“Andrew, we know your secret.” He nearly jumped out of his skin. “We have all promised to never tell anyone, unless you say so. We will never try to hurt you with it, or make you feel bad or dirty about it. We have all taken a vow that we will protect you if we can, and we will always be your friends. There is one other person who knows, and he has also sworn to never try to hurt you with it.”

“Wh-Who is that?” He was shaking inside, but they seemed to be okay with this?

“Mr. Gabriel knows. He is the one who made sure we knew that we had a holy duty to protect you. He told us a lot about you, and he told us things that he said you don’t even know.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t know, either, but he told us that you are what is called a transgender. You have a girl’s brain in a boy’s body. It’s not madness, and you will NOT go to hell for it. In some places, people like you are very special, because you are what he called ‘dual natured’, having both male and female parts. You aren’t a pervert, and there is no ‘cure’ for it. I looked it up last night on the internet, and I printed up a bunch of stuff for you so that you will understand it better.”

“The most important part,” Tina said, “is that we all know, so you have three friends that will always accept you, whoever you want to be, Andy or Candy!”

Andrew almost shook with relief. He had friends who accepted him! It was too much and he started to faint. All three girls rushed to him, lightly slapping his face to wake him up. When he realized what was going on, he knew it was true. The three girls were worried about him - about their friend! He wanted to shout for joy!

They spent hours going over the information that Robin had printed out, until Robin’s mother told them she needed to rest. They agreed to meet at school on Monday. They only had a two half days to go before the winter holiday break, and those were pretty much going to be easy days. Andrew, Jenny and Tina headed to his house, and they gave him their phone numbers. After a cheery good bye, Andrew went in to talk to his mother. He had promised he would tell her everything, and he had all of Robin’s printouts to help him explain.

  

  

It was a different Andrew who came to school on Monday. He had walked in with his friends, and he had a huge smile. His mother had understood! She had been worrying about him all along, but didn’t know how to bring it up! She was making arrangements to see a Doctor, not because he was crazy, but so that they could help him to understand what he wanted. They had gone on a small shopping spree to get clothes he felt comfortable in, but he had to continue to be Andrew at school. Candy was waiting for him at home, though!

They went to find Mr. Gabriel, so that they could thank him and let him know what happened, but the School Secretary said he had gone home, and had left no forwarding address. He had left a Christmas card, though, and it wasn’t until he saw the signature that Andrew and the Girls realized where he had gone home to. The card had an angel on the front with a horn, and was signed by Mr. Angel Gabriel.