X-Why-Me…Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Oh she really knew she shouldn’t be laughing. If she was smart she’d just leave Kira to twist in the wind.

But she just couldn’t do that. She wasn’t like that and not only wouldn’t do that she really never’d do that to Kira.

She ate the sushi.

And she was thinking more and more that she might like Sushi too.

She admired her. Chic, unconcernedly styling, Cool, Calm…Mrs. O never even phased her in the slightest and she wasn’t even bothered by the peer pressure thing. It’s like Kira was rewriting how the world worked around her. It was damned amazing and thrilling and it was going to bring down the wrath of the locals and the sheeple with a fury.

They will not like her being that cool and a lesbian or Pansexual?…she’d never heard the term before but here it won’t matter there’s straight and there’s the people that are “Goin t’hell.”

Just thinking of it she looked over to (Snerk) where the popular kids were usually seated and they were together talking closely bent over their tables leaning in and babbling and talking fast and excited.

They reminded her of a bunch of chickens, especially those hens from like the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons…just like them all chicken gossiping.

But past them she saw more hateful looks coming from the straight laced, sweaters and long shirts, dress shirts and ties from the Christian kids…or the god-squad as some called them.

Now the majority of the kids here went to church and they were Christian in the average way that most people are sort of all Jesus-lite until they feel all threatened by something. But these kids were the hardcore Church nutters like the crowd that hung around Mandy Moore in the movie “Saved.”

Yes she said and thought nutters…Emily had enough in her life with some of the towns so called Christians when she was younger. When her Dad left and things had been happening then she remembered the way that her mother was treated by the people in the church when her Dad had left and when her Mom was treated while pregnant with her little sister.

“Looks like you made the God-Squad angry.”

“I thought that I would.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, unfortunately I’ve kind of stereotyped the place after googling it.”

“That was a good idea.”

“What stereotyping?”

“No, googling a place you were moving to.”

“Yeah I had a feeling.”

“They’d hate you on general principle you’re from LA, don’t you know California’s nothing but the land of sinners and heathens.”

“Well they’re kind of right on some places but I liked living in California, there’s a lot of really awesome stuff there I’ve never gotten to see.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you never think of the stuff you want to see in your home state.”

Emily nodded, that was pretty much true though she really couldn’t think of anything she’d really want to see that badly here in Wyoming.

The bell rang and they headed to homeroom for afternoon registration.

“They take afternoon attendance?”

“Yeah, it’s this post columbine head count deal and a way to see what kids are skipping classes of the last half of school.”

“Oh weird, but I get it. We had campus security and metal detectors at my school.”

“Jeez, I thought you went to like a good school?”

“I did but there was a lot more kids and the cliques were really bad there and they were experts at making people feel like shit enough to do something stupid.”

“Like?”

“School shootings but suicide’s not to uncommon….we lost three in my class in like two years and there was likely a half dozen more attempts.”

“Shit, I thought things were bad here.”

“Likely are too.” Kira actually sighed and got her books and the two girls left to head their separate ways.

The rumor mill kept buzzing.

Kira brought drugs to school.
Kira was a lesbian.
Kira was here because she was arrested for being a hooker.
Emily was a lesbian.

That one was getting started since lunch and the fact she wasn’t a curvy girl and had been closer to being one of the skinny athletic girls that are apparently all lesbians. What she heard wasn’t as vitriolic as the way they were talking about Kira but more along the lines of…. “Ohhh, see we knew it.”

And Kira was still breaking the rules. She’d signed up for both woodworking and auto shop and that had apparently caused a big stink with the shop teachers saying that she’d get hurt or cause people to get hurt?

Something like that…?

No, while the school was open in who could take what legally there wasn’t anyone that bucked tradition and crossed the gender lines. Gay kids that had come out even ended up transferring usually or just stayed in hiding.

Boys didn’t take home ec. Not straight ones and Apparently not Kira either who said she didn’t think that class could teach her anything.

Word actually was she said she was a good cook and that she knew all she needed to know about the rest of the stuff.

Apparently she said to the home ec. Teacher she’d just buy her clothes and get the ones she needed fixed by the repair service offered by most drycleaners.

And there was the hint that she said that wouldn’t it be unpatriotic of her to deny the drycleaners her future business.

They had some pretty old fashioned teachers here but the actual faculty was pretty good.

But it was pretty clear that she wasn’t putting up with getting put in a box by anyone. Not the shop teachers or the Home ec. Teacher. Apparently the autoshop teacher had come around once Kira had started talking cars and that she wanted to restore them and even te woodshop teacher stopped grumbling too much when she explained she wanted to learn how to help her folks in renovating the Diner and the farmhouse.

But Mrs. Warren and Mrs. O were not Kira’s biggest fans.

And apparently Kira not towing the party line with how things “Have always been.” was really so much less than popular with the kids. They were getting stares while waiting for the bus and her sister was keeping her distance with her own circle of friends.

Damn and they’d just sort of started to get along too.

There was a yell from somewhere. “Hey fucking Dyke!”

They were looking around when a football came in out of nowhere, well there was one of the crowds where you couldn’t tell who through it. It was coming right at Kira’s head.

And she caught it.

Silence…she caught it pretty good too not like her trying to girl scared catch it but like it wasn’t a big deal. Kira held it up. “Who’s ball!?” she called out.

More silence….

“Okay! Thanks!”

And Emily almost lost it again as Kira took the football and with a big smile put it in her schoolbag.

Everyone looked shocked first by the catch and then she kept the ball! Some people might have tossed it aside or something like that but no one had thought that she’d keep it.

She had never seen the after school crowd that quiet before it was like this was so left field that they just didn’t know how to react and no one had claimed it and they couldn’t really without having to own up to what they did.

But not everyone was hating this happening either. The fringe kids, the ones that didn’t fit into the popularity models….Emily saw some smiles here and there. And before the idiots could get brave enough for something else they were all getting onto the bus.

It was a quiet bus ride and Emily and Kira talked about some of their classes and the teachers. Apparently they did try to get her to take “Hoe ec.” And the shop teachers weren’t so much trying to keep her out of their classes as trying not to snub another teacher but the woodshop teacher had been a lot more non-plussed to her being in his class because he’d said.

“Boys grow up around tools, especially power tools and a girl might get scared and be too timid to use a tool properly and get herself hurt.”

Kira passed Emily some gum.

“So what’d you do?”

Kira chewed. “I agreed, but I asked him isn’t what these classes are for? And I asked him that if I never had a husband or a boyfriend and needed some work done how would I know what I needed? How would I know that the contractor wasn’t ripping me off? Or what permits I’d need since a lot of contractors won’t bother.”

“And he said okay?”

“Yeah, he even said that they’d never covered permits before and a lot of home maintenance stuff.”

“So the autoshop teacher?”

“Pretty much the same thing, they were pretty open about the idea of girls actually at least knowing enough not to get screwed over.”

“But Mrs. Warren?”

“Oh apparently it’s my duty to cook and clean and sew and make a ever so perfect 1950’s home.”

“You said that?”

“Pretty much and I pretty much meant all the stuff I said too. She didn’t like me asking what kinds of cooking we were going to learn. Apparently she teaches “American cooking.” What do people honestly not get that this is a country of nothing but immigrants?”

“The Indians aren’t immigrants.”

“Okay but you think she’d teach Native American foods?”

“Not a chance, that much I know.”

Kira grinned. “Still not a bad first day. I eve got a new football out of it.”

Emily giggled. “Oh you made some enemies with that one.”

“Yeah.”

“It was still awesome though.”

“Hey, if they want it back they can just ask.”

“There might be some trouble.”

“Really?”

“Really, not yet you’ve still got them on the defensive but they’ll want to put you in your place too…they’re already trying it with me.”

“You’re catching flak?”

“They’re trying to start a lesbian rumor and they’re keeping it light so if I stop being your friend it might stop too.”

“Oh…”

“Well fuck them…they can say what they want. Nobody says who I’m friends with. I’ll never be one of those girls.”

“Em….thanks.”

It got to Kira’s stop and they shared a large hug before Kira got off the bus and even waved as the bus left again.

Emily waved back and smiled.

Her sister though looked less than happy all the way home.