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 19

*Jessie…………

They drove listening to the tunes to his house with after a little while Donnie and Nick sitting up a bit more to check out Jessie’s neighborhood.

“Nice area.” Donnie commented as they pulled up.

“It’s pleasant looking but full of busy bodies and trumped up little gnomes.”

“Gn..gnomes?”

Jessie grinned. “Well it’s too nice a neighborhood for trolls but we have no shortage of these neighbours that sort of creep around and check everything that you say and do and who might be around just to make sure you fit in the rules. I went with gnomes after dad and I watched one of our neighbours sneak into our yard like at one in the morning to measure out flower beds.”

Donnie looked at him like he was crazy. “Wait…he snuck onto your property to measure the flower beds…did you shoot him?”

Jess shook his head and grinned. “No dad was having too much fun recording him on the video recorder and then making a You Tube video about the nightly habits of the suburban house gnomes.”

Nick grinned and said. “S..so..it runs in the f..ff.Family?”

Jessie nodded. “Recording stuff’s just a good idea sometimes regardless of who or where. I’ve seen nasty people with assault rifles back down because a reporter doesn’t just have a camera filming them.”

Both the guys nodded and nick gets this wicked gleam in his eyes. “Y..you want to have some ff..fun?”

Jessie nodded looking at Donnie. “I could use a laugh right about now. “ Donnie said.

“G...gg..give Jessie and m..me two of your sk..skater hoodies.”

Jess just grinned and they put on the hoodies all big and baggy and street looking and jess adjusted the radio in the car to a rap station off one of the satellite radio channels and turned up the volume.

It was first just the one neighbour watching and then another and then another as the three ganged up looking hoodlums were bringing stuff into the house of those trouble making neighbours from god only knows where.

They broke into laughter each time they brought a load into the house or into the garage.

Tilt.

*Kenyon…………

He was setting things up in the kid’s den or the play room ever since he had gotten out of the shower and had that scary and oddly funny talk with his mom.

It was actually the old garage that was built onto the house when his folks bought the house. When his dad’s business took off her changed it over for a place for the kids and he built himself a bigger and more professional garage for himself that double as his office.

So the kid’s den was pretty old and it hadn’t been used a whole lot since his brother moved out so there was some junk in it and he’d cleaned it out and asked his mom what was still good and what could be tossed and couldn’t and he swept down and swiffered the walls and ran the vacuum cleaner with some of the carpet cleaner and good smelling stuff and had just started to think about where to put stuff and set things up when he got the text saying what happened at Donnie’s.

Then he got the calls and stuff from the other people that were coming and the head count between the gamers and the LGBT kids and just some of the other kids was getting up there.

He went into the kitchen. “Uhm Mom? Are you sure that this is okay? I mean I’ve never had a party and this is kind of getting pretty big.”

She smiled at him. “Of course it is honey it’s actually great that all these kids are coming over…it’ll help settle your dad.”

“Really?”

“Look he might be shocked when he learns that we’ve a gay son but he’ll be over the moon that you’re that well thought of.”

“But most of them really don’t know me the whole thing just kind of snowballed.”

“Well then it’s a perfect chance then isn’t it honey. You wanted to be popular this year.”

“Yeah but…”

She leaned over sideways looking at him in a weird way. “Yes honey your butt looks fine in those jeans.”

“Mom!”

She snickered and giggled into her hand then passed him a list and some money. “Here go to the store and get these things we’ll likely need extras.”

*Johnny…………

She looked at her phone and frowned at the updates and what had happened to Donnie. She didn’t know how in the hell…we’ll she did but she just didn’t figure that it was going to happen like that to Donnie.

But you just can’t tell someone’s home life.

Actually Donnie was sort of a mini-mystery for her, he hid himself really well in his skater clothes and the attitude and stuff but there was something there that was kind of…not off but sort of femme hidden there.

Not trans, she was pretty sure she’d have clocked that if he was but something different. There was something sweet and something pretty in his face even…nice eyes and an almost cute nose.

Right there though that’d be enough to brand him part of the otherwise and the odd and give him trouble.

She shook her head and called Lindsey and Honey in a group call to talk about clothes and outfits for the party and how they should dress. She was already done and had been expecting to be there early and help with the party until all of this happened.

Then Honey asked if she should bring over the karaoke machine.

“Oh definitely, definitely yes!”

She almost snickered at the way that Lindsey groaned. “Karaoke…just shoot me now please.”

“Hey…My father bought it. My parents like it.” Honey said.

Lindsey huffed from her line. “See I rest my case.”

“It’ll be fun!” Johnny insisted.

“No, no it won’t karaoke is like fondue and disco best left in the past and other countries.” Johnny could practically see Lindsey on speaker arms crossed and frowning at the phone. She really couldn’t help herself.

“Oooh! Fondue that’d be cool too I’ve never done that before.”

Honey added in. “It’s actually pretty good we’ve done it before. They actually have it in restaurants.”

“Ick….Cheese.”

Honey asked. “What’s wrong with cheese, I like cheese.”

“Nothing but its like smelly cheese isn’t it?” Lindsey asked.

“ABBA! We can play and sing ABBA tunes!” Johnny added gleefully.

“No! Please god no…we’re not making this a stereotype party guys please Kenyon’s going to have a hard enough time with this stuff as it is without beating the whole gay thing to death with a stick.”

It was Honey that cracked. “Uhm…no…That BDSM Lindsey…totally different.”

Johnny snerked then valley girled. “Totally.”

Honey likewise did the same. “Totally.”

Lindsey “Arrghed” over the phone. “Stop it, stop talking like that!”

Johnny giggled. “Like uhm like what?”

“Like Them….” Lindsey hissed over the phone.

Honey and Johnny giggled together some more and Johnny agreed. “Okay, okay point taken we’ll stop.”

“Good, now…god…I need help.” Lindsey breathed with some relief mixed with a little pleading.

Johnny asked. “With what?”

“I have no idea of what to wear to this thing.”

Honey said. “See we told you you’re a girl.”

Johnny thought about it for a few minutes. “We’ll be right over Linds; Jess can pick us all up there. Honey you ready to get picked up?”

“Yup, I’m good.”

“Daddy and I’ll be right over.”

She hung up and went to go look for her Dad who was in the garage working on something her was building. He’d sort of taken up carpentry lately and what he had looked like a cabinet or something.

“Daddy? Can you drive me to get Honey and then over to Lindsey’s place?”

“Sure pumpkin what happened to Jessie?”

“He got delayed helping a friend and Honey and I have to help Lindsey outfit up.”

“Okay…well let’s go.” He went and grabbed his keys and jacket and headed for the car.

*Lindsey…………

She stared at her phone and there was the slight feeling of something kind of like dread setting in. Johnny was coming over with Honey…

And her Mom was home…

“Oh dammit I’m surrounded.”

She opened her closet and all the places she had clothes and she stuck her head out of her room door. “Mom… Johnny’s coming over with Honey!”

There was a way to cheerful. “Okay! I’ll get snacks and drinks ready!”

She waited and fretted and paced and chewed on her thumb until she heard an unfamiliar engine outside and she rushed out of her room and down the stairs. She did not beat her mom to the doorbell.

“Hi…..” Her mom stopped and blinked, looked around and even outside. “So which one of you girls is Honey?”

Honey smiles looking confused. “Uhm that’d be me…?”

Lindsey stepped in. “Mom…this is honey and this is Johnny.”

Her mom blinked a bit. “Oh you’re that girl.”

Lindsey almost thumped her head on the doorframe. “Mom….”

Johnny smiled a little taken aback. “That girl ma’am?’

Her mom looked like she just clued in on what she said.

“Oh! Oh no! I didn’t mean like that it’s just that Lindsey mentioned a girl like you at her school and I just never put two and two together with it being you! I mean you’re beautiful you were really, really never meant to be a boy at all were you? But why Johnny? I mean not that there’s anything wrong with that but I thought that most girls like you would’ve had a more femme name.”

And yes, it was all run on like this as Lindsey’s mom had a habit of happy and cheerfully rapid fire talked to people.

Honey was blinking at the barrage and Johnny smiled wanly at her mom and had a wicked gleam in her eye looking at Lindsey while she said.

“Why thank you I really try hard to look the way that I feel and it’s definitely a compliment coming from such a beautiful woman such as you Mrs. McKinnon.”

“Oh I’m not a McKinnon, That’s Lindsey’s last name I’m a Jameson.”

“Related to James Jonah?”

“Uhm…nope never heard of him.”

Johnny smiled. “I’m keeping my birth name for now since the last time I went with a femme name I got into a lot of trouble being bullied and while I was out of school I saw another girl like me with her own web stuff and everything who went by her first name and it didn’t seem to matter…I thought it fit since I wasn’t going to hide anymore and try my hardest to be me.”

Lindsey’s mom smiled and hugged Johnny and pulled both the girls into the house. “That’s so awesome I wish we had people as brave as you girls when I went to school….oh…what’s that?” she asked Honey who was carrying a great big sealed case with both hands.

Honey smiled. “My dad’s karaoke machine we’re going to take it to the party.”

“Oh that’s so fun!”

Lindsey face palmed and then looked at her mom. “We should get upstairs and get something picked out for me to wear.”

She braced herself for the squee that never came instead she opened on eye and saw her mom bouncing literally on the balls of her feet causing her other parts to do the same and she looked like she was so happy she’d bust and at the same time…very, very sad hopeful doggy.

(Sigh.) “Mom, you want to come up and help out with your opinion?”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Definitely, definitely just let me get the drinks and the snacks and the camera!” She gave Lindsey a huge breasty squeezy hug and ran off literally.

Johnny watched her go and turned and gave Lindsey this look and slowly raised her eyebrows. “Okay what gives you live with her and you haven’t osmosized any of this stuff? And what’s the deal with the last names?”

Lindsey got this pursed look on her face cloudy and still hurting.

“My birth parents live elsewhere in the city and mom and dad here are really my Aunt and Uncle. My birth folks got into this huge divorce and they got to be…well they literally turned into these self absorbed hateful assholes and dad, my dad here actually came and got me out of there between them when the custody fight was really bad.”

They nodded and Johnny reached over and rubbed Lindsey’s side.

“We tried me going home a few times but everytime it was only a couple of hours before they were telling me this and that and ranting and stuff and putting me in the middle again. So I stayed and they fought and took custody of me from them…so they’re my real parents.”

Honey nodded and hugged her and so did Johnny. “That explains a lot, but it’s really cool what they did then.”

Lindsey nodded and sniffled. “Yeah…” she wiped at her eyes a little too. “They went really broke fighting for custody too and now with everything with stuff being so tight with jobs and…I feel just…”

Lindsey’s mom came over and she hugged all three girls but she looked Lindsey in the eyes.

“Look kiddo, money doesn’t mean a thing not when it compares to my girls and you’ve been mine ever since I made your first birthday cake here.”

Lindsey looked at her and with her friends there and Honey and Johnny both crying good tears she couldn’t help her own from happening and her lip from trembling. She sniffle cried and hugged her mom hard.

Johnny said fondly. “See you’re a girl.”

There was some crying and laughing as they headed upstairs letting Lindsey’s mom in on their joke.

*Dan…………

He frowned at the texts he was getting with what he had heard happened with Donnie. It was just beyond the whole thing he knew as what family should be all about.

His own wasn’t perfect there was a gap of sorts with him and his siblings who were older than him and a bigger one between him and his folks but not matter the stuff that happened family was family and you had each other’s back.

Or should.

He did wonder about how his family would take Johnny or Kenyon or even himself.

Yeah he was just as confused sometimes with the whole thing like everyone else was. Well at least he could admit it.

Like meeting Johnny was awesome and so was meeting Jessie and becoming friends with them but it also had woke up some of those weird fantasies he had about what if’s…

And his family being Catholics he wondered. Mind you they weren’t hard core with the religion thing but still it was there and gay stuff did sort of have a bad rep as far as that went sometimes in the church’s ideas.

That being said his family was as non-standard as they were standard.

He shrugged it off letting it just be whatever it was going to be because if he “brained” on it for too long then he’d just get headaches from thinking too hard on some of it and that would go hand in hand with not being able to turn his brain off and getting slammed with his arch nemesis…Insomnia.

That as far as he knew was a family thing; several members of his family were sort of prone to that from what his dad had told him along with other things like migraines.

He had to give credit to his dad for that as much as he didn’t get Dan and his games or his books, comics and his long hair or now the dyed hair he was really cool about the not being able to sleep thing and the migraines.

He packed his books and dice and all the character sheets that he had and he took a long shower and got dressed with the extra time that he had and he went with a nice pair of dress pants and one of his Batman t-shirts and put a bit of cologne on to say he wasn’t completely geeky and added his little extras like his pocket watch and his sonic screw driver key-chain-flash drive and headed downstairs to wait.

His mom was starting supper so he gave her a hand peeling her potatoes for her for the stew that she was making and his dad came in from work and looked at him and his stuff.

“Game…” He knew his dad didn’t like the fact that gaming wasn’t something sporty and rough and tumble but he asked anyway…well asked and stared again at his hair and almost sighed.

“Maybe, we’re going to try but I’m going to a party.”

His dad’s eyebrows rose. “Party?”

“Uhm…yeah it’s…it’s actually a coming out party for a friend of mine.”

“Coming out party?”

“He’s gay dad.”

“And you’re celebrating this?”

“Dad…there’s nothing wrong with being gay but this is sort of us all being there as he breaks it to his folks.”

His dad set his stuff down and went to the fridge and got himself a beer and he took a few drinks. It wasn’t that boozer sort of thing but doing something he did anyway while he was processing it and chewing on his words.

“Well…I’m not fond of people getting involved in family business. But seeing how more and more kids are open about this and too many families are turning back on their own because of it then I’m going to have to say that it’s…it’s worth at least a try.”

Danny actually felt like hugging him then he was that sort of proud of him. he bit his lip though and asked before he thought too much about it. “So you’re okay with gays and stuff?”

His dad looked at him. “Are you?”

“Me…Not that I know of?”

His dad looked at him again. “Okay…” he sat down at the kitchen table. “The bible says a lot of stuff about a lot of things and it says that we should be against it…but it says we shouldn’t do or do a lot of stuff that doesn’t make sense now a days. I just see it like this…Judge not lest ye be judged…meaning it’s not my place to judge people really. And it say’s love the sinner and hate the sin.”

“So…?”

“So…despite what people want to tell me what someone does or it isn’t my business if they’re a decent person then I’ll be decent to them.”

“But the bible says.”

“I told you Danny there’s a lot there that’s good and bad and that’s up to each person to decide.”

“Okay how about transgendered people.”

“What’s that?”

“People born in the wrong gendered bodies and are trying to change it. There’s kids at school that are against the girl we have there that’s like that.”

His dad killed his beer and took another one from Dan’s mom and he shook his head. “I’m not in that person’s head, I can’t feel what they feel and they can’t help being born the way that they are.”

“Really?”

“Danny, I’ve been around a lot longer than you and there’s kids born different all the time…god doesn’t make mistakes…well maybe not its how you look at it and it’s what we’ve done too. It’s right back to not judging.”

“What we’ve done?’

“God didn’t make crack babies or fetal alcohol syndrome and thalidomide kids that was man.”

“Uhm okay…” He had no idea what thalidomide kids were but he was going to go with it.

His dad looked at him and actually smiled a bit. “Danny…as long as you’re a good kid we’ll love you and as long as you’re friends are good kids then we’re okay with them. I might not like some of the stuff you kids do but that’s because I’m old and I think it’s stupid…but I’m not going to come down hard on you kids for it.”

Danny’s mom nodded and kissed his dad’s cheek. “Right because our parents were so understanding of us when we were his age.”

“Exactly.”

Danny smiled. “Thanks you guys I was kind of scared to talk about this stuff y’know with you guys.’

His dad nodded. “Understandable just know that you can. No booze or drugs though right?”

“No sir, we won’t Kenyon’s folks are going to be there.”

“Good, I want the phone number on the fridge before you go and go and get a case of pop to take with you, Reilly’s don’t show empty handed to a party.”

“Okay…uhm Jessie’s having a BBQ tomorrow and his folks wanted all of us to come over. I told you that right?”

“We’ll be there, I like Jessie’s family already, parents should get to know each other like they used to.”

Danny nodded and smiled and jotted down Kenyon’s number and went to the back porch to get a case of Crush Cream Soda and he just came out when he saw Jessie pulling in with his car.

He kissed them both on the cheek and grabbed his stuff and headed outside to the car feeling a lot lighter for getting all of this out in the open…he knew that he was lucky to have folks that even if they didn’t get it or agreed…that they would still be there and that they’d try.

Jess opened the trunk and looked at Danny. “Good mood?”

“Yeah, I think I seriously underestimated the parental units. They’re actually cool with all of this.”

He took shotgun and grinned at the guys and they pulled out and honked a few times and waved to his house as they left.

*Brian…………

The afternoon hadn’t been any nicer than it had been yesterday with Britney showing back up and her and her friends and his old friends just being assholes and he was getting the whispers and the dirty looks and called fag and fruit and all of the lovely stuff that they thought was going to get to him.

Practice was tense with him getting kind of shunned by about half of the team and even the sort of neutral ones were keeping their distance too.

Lee was having a field day with the whole thing and was a complete dick when he thought he could get away with it.

Lee Davis was the center for the senior’s basketball team and self appointed god of the school next to prom king Bradley Tower…Brad was the captain of the hockey team which only marginally edged out the basketball team in the biggest and best of the popular sports. Brad was king of the school and a right royal asshole but he was sort of too big to be bothered by people…

Lee…Lee was Prince John though…his family came from cash heavy stuff like owning a whole bunch of car lots and car wash places and stuff like that and they were one of the biggest boosters for the school.

And Lee had no problem in fouling him…and doing it hard when the coach wasn’t looking.

And Britney was there too…

Cheering for Lee.

Who she was aiming for and pissing Courtney off who was Lee’s girlfriend…or not…it would be an assholish thing to say but while Courtney was great looking Brit was better looking and it seemed that Lee was at least partway thinking of switching up.

There was a whole pecking infighting order thing going on since he wasn’t there in the mix now…but he was what they were trying to score points on by hurting and messing with.

And the wannabees…they were very good at distracting the faculty when Lee wanted them too.

He loved being an asshole…it was actually Lee’s old man that hired the lawyers and stuff to get on the case of the school with keeping cameras out of here… rumor had it that Lee was almost caught sexually assaulting someone…and that’s why…

There wasn’t more than a rumor of it but he didn’t doubt it and he did know from experience and seeing it that Lee…he loved being a bully and getting away with treating people like shit.

Brad and them were effing snobs too but he wasn’t riding his ass like Lee was and he was sure that…he was sure that if he hit back after the fifth foul without being called and getting a nice set of bruises to go along with this lovely hardwood burn…he’d be jumped for sure by a suddenly aware or made aware member of the faculty.

Possible suspension…and even off the team maybe…which they’d love.

He almost exploded in the showers.

The coach was in there and he was pissed off because they hadn’t done well and that was mostly because of them using it as a chance to harass him rather than actually play in practice hard and they left him alone then but someone…just before he slipped into the shower stall had…

Had copped a feel of his ass…and he heard several… “Oooh…the faggot liked it...”

He was shocked and freaked out and honestly he felt sort of violated….that they’d.

He saw Lee and his buddies all grinning at him and making kissy faces and were trying to push him.

Push him into doing something stupid or quitting.

He was really close to lashing out and getting into a huge fight and…or…quitting.

He knew half of these guys since junior high/middle school and not one of them had stepped up.

He hunched and he hated it but he was barely dry and he was the first one out of there and headed off to get out of there.

Thankfully no one had touched his ride and there was one of the security guys actually walking around outside this time.

That was good, they were learning maybe or the guard didn’t want even more stuff to happen on his watch.

It really was one of the smaller good things that had happened all afternoon.

Though he was still that angry and hurt from the grope that he took another shower as soon as he got home.

How…how the hell did people…did girls cope with this bullshit?

He hated the tears and the way that they had made him feel so much that he went straight to his punching bag in his room after slipping on some shorts and punched until his hands hurt more than the way he was hurting inside.

It took awhile before he was calmed down enough to get ready for the party at Kenyon’s.

Kenyon…Jessie…Johnny…

If they were messing with him like that who the hell knows what they’d end up doing to them with Britney getting together with Lee.

“Oh…oh hell no, not on my watch.”

He pulled off the shirt he was going to wear and he put on one of his team jerseys and he grabbed his varsity jacket too. He was going to the party and he was going as a member of the basketball team…whether they liked it or not.

***……………… Jessie and the Danny and Johnny and the girls along with Donnie and Nick arrived together in an overpacked car with lots of laughing at just everyone trying to fit together.

Kenyon smiled at them as they half fell over each other and smiled as they started bringing boxes and bags into the den where the party was going to be and they offered to help set up stuff there and decorate and get things set up in the back yard too.

His mother was quick to greet the kids as they were arriving and she put Danny and Jessie to work along with Kenyon and Donnie in getting some of the lawn future set up and lights outside…she actually had them basement dive for a set of old electric patio lanterns.

Johnny went into the kitchen to help her cook and get things ready for the cake with Honey helping and dragging a poor Lindsey along too. Honestly shocked at Johnny’s.

“Hey Mrs. McLean can we use your kitchen to bake Kenyon’s big gay cake?”

“Sure! What do you need?”

“We’re good I brought everything I think we need.”

Lindsey looked at Johnny. “You actually did it…you actually invaded someone’s home and came to bake a cake…”

Honey was giggling and hugged Lindsey around the arms. “I think it’s cool and that it’s cool that she’s letting us.”

They got to work and Kenyon’s mom had been baking and making things already but she showed the girls where things were and while Honey was actually making the cake Johnny was making the icing.

Lindsey shuddered as she felt the egg separating in her fingers. “Eeeew…this is sick…why do we have to use our hands to do this?”

Johnny smiled. “Because it’s the way my mom taught me so we don’t get the yolk caught on the shells and into the egg whites.”

“Okay are we making a meringue?”

“Nope but boiled frosting.”

“What’s that?”

Kenyon’s mom beamed at them. “It’s a heck of a lot of work but its Kenyon’s dad’s favorite icing.”

Honey nodded “It’s sooo good.”

Lindsey huffed. “Well this part is pretty gross.”

They worked until they got the cake well cakes into the oven and Johnny had made a very rich small chocolate cake just for Kenyon’s dad with lot’s and lots of the icing on it and the words.

“Hi dad, your son is gay, sorry we’re saying it this way but at least you got a cake out of it.”

The cake for the party was a white cake filled with rainbow chips and had two layers one of marshmallows melted down to homemade fluff and another of dolce de leche before getting slathered with a thick layer of icing and decorated with all the glitter sugar and had big letters saying Happy Gay Day!

As semi-mortified as Kenyon was at the blatant gay stuff and stereotype surfing that they were doing he still had enough wherewithal to snag the bowl for the icing and the beaters and spoons.

It helped and it didn’t help as Jessie at one point was helping Nick set up Honey’s karaoke machine and had been sucking on one of the wooden spoons covered in the boiled frosting.

He actually stopped what he was doing and just stared at Jessie and his icing specked lips.

Brian arrived and had been helping out and quiet until some of the other kids arrived from the LGBT crowd showed up for the party and had heard about some of what they knew had gone on in practice.

Johnny gave him a hug around his arm and when he looked down at her she offered him her spatula with some of the icing on it.

It was so unlike all of “Them” it made him smile a little.

“Share?” He said.

“People will talk.” She said looking him in the eyes.

“They already are.”

“You really want to do this; I mean you do know how I am right?”

“Yes I want to do this and no…I don’t know you Johnny but I’d like to try.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re a nice person and I need that.”

She smiled and blushed and then nodded a little. “Okay…I…I can get that….here…” she reached over and fed him some of the icing.

Yes there were looks and Brian didn’t really care because not all of them were bad.

*Kenyon…………

Everything was starting out really well and…god everytime he though about Jessie and that spoon he got painfully excited…he wanted so badly to be the spoon…to kiss with Jessie and suck the sticky white icing off Jess’s lips.

That aside people were arriving and there was him trying to sort of co host with his mom and stuff and at the same time kind of keep an eye of Donnie and Brian who had had really shitty days.

Danny was hanging with Donnie and Nick and he was doing something that was making then laugh and smile at least.

And Johnny was talking close to Brian and headed to find a place to sit down and he was looking for Jessie when he heard his dad’s engine even over the noise of the party.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit he thought.

He went to the front of the house and saw his dad coming out of the truck and headed into the house and he looked around at all the people here at the kids den and in the backyard and then to his son.

“What’s going on?”

“Uhm my friends are throwing me a party….”

“You’ve made that many friends already it’s just the first week of school?” he didn’t sound upset but rather surprised and kind of happy.

“Uhm…yeah…dad…”

His dad looked at him. “Okay…spill.”

“It’s my….it’s my coming out party.”

“Out of what?”

“Out of the closet…..”

“You’re….”

Kenyon just nodded getting scared and choked up.

“And you though this would keep me from losing my shit about it?”

“It…it wasn’t my idea…I…I just had no idea how to tell you.”

His dad nodded and he looked around and started walking into the house and stopped beside him and looked at him. He wrapped his arm around Kenyon’s shoulder.

“So first party of the year huh?”

“Uhm…what?”

“This is the first party of your year and the word on Facebook that it’s the first time there’s been a party like this.”

“You…?”

“Your mother called me as soon as you and she were done your heart to heart.”

“And you’re okay with it?’

“It doesn’t change a thing about you Kenyon, well nothing that really matters to me.”

“Dad…”

He hugged his dad which he hadn’t done for awhile and his dad seemed to puff up a bit more at that and grinned.

“I still want my cake though.”

(Sniffle.) “Okay…”

“And I want to meet this guy you like if he’s here.”

“Dad…yeah he’s here.”

“Is he cute?”

“Dad!” Okay Kenyon was honestly shocked.

His dad just smiled and still hugging him around the shoulders led him into the house.

*Yasmine…………

It was a really long day and a scary one that had set her on edge and had shown her some of the stuff that she had been scared of and a few moments of kindness and understanding that she honestly never thought she’d have gotten here after the early start of the day.

She was careful as she walked to the bus stop and she kept an eye out for some of the people that might have caused her trouble from earlier.

Thankfully they seemed to be off doing whatever it was that they did…

The few other kids there that used the city bus to get around to and from school were either ignoring her or they were engrossed in their own stuff. Not really hard considering the way that people here seemed to fall into the trances of texting or being on the phone or shutting out the world once they put their headphones on.

It was kind of rude for people to do that since she didn’t see that too often in the places she lived. Well except for when she was over in England, which was just as afflicted with self absorption as it was over here.

She still had the hoody that the black boy had left with her to use to cover up with after the whole thing that had happened at lunch and she ended up staring at it as she took the bus home and made her way into her home and she made some tea and took a shower to get clean…she had to get clean just because of what had happened at lunch.

Didn’t they get it?

Doing that to a girl like her it…it was a violation…not just a religious thing as much as it was one it was part of the way that she saw herself, how she could relate to the world and still show that she was trying to be a good woman.

Oh she wasn’t perfect, she had a temper and she had angry moments and she had thoughts that well…she knew that she shouldn’t have sometimes but Yasmine was enough of a realist to know that it was okay…she was a human as anyone else and well okay in her opinion she might be a little more damaged that some or more screwed up than others but…

But she was trying.

All of this, the new school and living here and moving it was all trying.

She just wished that it was a lot less scary and that she was a lot stronger than she felt she was to deal with it.

She talked herself through the shower saying some prayers for peace while the water washed some of the stress tears away and she felt better for it and calmer after that and actually having a real good shampoo.

She honestly didn’t know if it was a mental thing from wearing her hijab but a really good shampoo just made her feel better. The combination of the smell being like aroma therapy just went so nicely with that feeling when she rinsed that she was washing other things out of her head along with the shampoo.

She slid out of the shower and she took some time with her hair preferring to towel dry in mostly before taking her time to really brush it out before putting it up again.

She slid on one of her favorite long sleeved shirts that used to belong to her dad and some pyjama bottoms and while really not the way she should be dressed according to some people she was in her own home and she wasn’t really planning on going anywhere.

She poured herself a cup of tea and she started looking through things in the house to make supper. Her mother was working and she wouldn’t be home for awhile yet. She put some ground beef in a frying pan and started in on making tacos. The beef was from a proper market just to be sure but everything else was fine and taco done right was really good.

She made it pretty spicy but that was a family choice with a strong liking of chilies that they actually got into while in England more that the middle east and she took some Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and added some mint and grated a cucumber.

The cucumber had a trick in her opinion she grated the cucumber but where it was so watery you really needed to strain it so she’d put a pasta strainer in the sink and added a coffee filter, her trick was to give it a good squeeze of lemon juice and a toss.

Not to be wasteful she made a small sauce pan of rice and squeezed the rest of the lemon into the rice and grated a lot of the peeling too so they’d have some lemon rice as a side. Her mother came in from work looking tired from her day too and smiled as they shared a tea together before her mother went to get washed and cleaner up as well.

It was good to be as clean before supper and they took the time to pray before eating. It’s a whole lot different praying at home. In the mosque is good but home you can be yourself, dress comfortably, feel safe and just be open…each rise and fall dropping the weight off your shoulders almost to His feet.

Yasmine thought it made supper so much the better.

Dishes started her mother came into the kitchen from doing the laundry. “Who’s is this?” She asked as she was folding the hoody.

Yasmine lowered her eyes. “It’s a boy’s.”

“I can see that you’d be swimming in this. Why do you have it?”

“Some bad kids, bullies took my hijab. He gave me that to cover while he and his friends went and got it back.”

Her mother pulled the plug on the sink and made some more tea and they talked all about everything that happened during the day between Johnny, Jessie, Donnie and the kids and what she’d seen with the students and the teachers.

Her mother drank tea and listened, held her hand sometimes and nodded by the time Yasmine was done and then she looked at the clock. “You have the Facebook yes, you talk to Jessie and you go and take this Donnie back his shirt and you invite him over for supper sometime, Jessie and this boy.”

Yasmine blinked. “Mother?”

“Yes, we will try having people over. These people don’t seem like some of the others like before. You need friends Yasmine, life…life is too hard to go through alone.”

“But…”

“Allah praise be unto him…I believe he wants us to be happy here, it’s a better chance.”

She nodded a little unsure of just what to say her mother was always a bit different like marrying her father…and standing by him when he didn’t convert to Islam…moving instead of taking the rules of the family but still abiding by Islam in her own way.

Her mom sent her to her computer and she went to look up Jessie on Facebook and saw the letter to all these people in her e-mail box and her breath caught reading it. It was someone, someone brave enough to step up and issue this like a teenage fatwa to the evils in their lives.

She looked up a little. “You’re trying to tell me something?”

“Is this the right place?”

“Dad….?”

She sniffled and rubbed at her eyes and sent Jessie a PM and waited but she didn’t get a reply. He might not live in his phone like so many of the other kids so she waited and then went through his profile finding Donnie in his friends list and then checked Donnie’s about part and it had his address.

“Okay…Okay I’ll go…it’s just dropping off the hoody.”

She got dressed again but more for going outside on a evening than school. She learned a bit in the UK and there were people over there that’d cause you trouble just for being a girl and not being muslim but there still was that.

Plain black Hijab and she added a few extra pins to feel better about it being securely on and one on her favorite sweaters which was sort of goth actually wit the clingy high neck but the long sleeves with the gloves built into it. She wore some leggings with a skirt and added a sweatshirt with a hood and a zipper front and her grey denim jacket and her shoulder bag with her stuff from her purse including some pepper spray.

It was Chicago after all.

She kissed her mother on the cheek and more than nervous about bringing him his hoody and the invitations for them to come her mothers supper she would likely be planning.

She took a couple of busses to get there and she was a bit nervous walking from the bus stop through what was a definitely African American neighborhood she found the address went up the steps stopping when she was getting glared at by this older African American man who looked to be on his way to being drunk.

“What do you want?”

Yasmine bit her lip before asking. “Uhm I’m looking for D..Donnie sir.”

“Oh really, first he’s with those faggots and now you? I fuckin knew he was a no good little freak, now he’s fucking some little jihaddy-ho. He‘s no son of mine.”

Yasmine took a couple of steps backwards. “I’m sorry…”

He got up fast and went to grab her. She squeaked and kicked him in his crotch making him roar and double over and he tried to hit her. “Y’little cunt! I’ll get you and that little faggit!”

She jumped the three steps down to the sidewalk and pulled her pepper spray. He threw his beer can at her and she batted it away…somehow more angry than scared.

“You…you are wrong about Donnie, he was brave and he was an honorable man for me today when I was being bullied.”

“Lying little cunt…you think you people can just kill people because you love your Alli-baba more than god…blowin shit up an comin over here t try and twist up our kids inta being Mulems…” He tried coming down the stoop but his crotch pain made him lean over the side and retch.

She was shaking with anger… “You…you aren’t half the man your son is! You are what’s wrong with this planet….you…you…you ignorant….asshole!”

She didn’t swear, she didn’t but she never liked drunks and she was really, really mad at….this man was a father and he was here alive and hurting his son…a good boy and spewing his filth…literally.

He slobbered. “Cunt…” And he lunged again only to have a couple of rough looking black men catch him and throw him backwards on the steps. There was a older teen with them with a kufi on. He looked at her and the hoody she was carrying.

“His son moved out and away from his abuse sister he left with a boy named Jessie.”

“Oh…I didn’t know…”

“It was not long ago.”

“Oh..thank you brother…?”

“J’mal and you are?”

She was shy because of all these men but didn’t move away. “Yasmine sir.”

He smiled and he did have a nice friendly smile. “You should head away now, a young lady should not be here for the discussion of how to be a good neighbor.”

She nodded and surprised herself by saying. “And a decent father too might help too.”

Her eyes widened and she ducked her head and blushed and nodded and moved on down the side walk after J’mal did this gesture like he had just opened a door for her with another kind smile.

It didn’t take her long to get out of there and the bus was going to be awhile…once she saw the schedule at the stop. She shifted back and forth a lot then she bit her lip again and took out her phone and she tried texting Jessie through his e-mail listed on his Facebook page.

[Jessie…are you busy? It’s Yasmine.]

[What’s wrong?]

[I…I need a drive, I’m over near Donnie’s]

[You okay?]

[For now, I’m starting to shake though.]

[I’ll be right there.]

She stayed in the bus shelter and sure enough she started shaking and felt the tears threatening to come as she waited…and waited and she was sure…sure that they had sped because as long as it felt she was pretty sure that they made in here in just under twenty minutes.

Jessie got out along with Johnny and Donnie and all three came over to her and she tried to smile at these kids that came here…actually came here just because she called and she ended up doing the one thing she didn’t want to and started to break down and cry.

All three of them hugged her for awhile then…then Donnie lifted her up and carried her to the car. And settled into the back seat with care.

Like her dad when he carried her to bed when she was little.

Like some knight and her a princess…?