I hand each of the new Pinks a brochure on the way out. MOST won’t need them—not in Pink house; at least not the girls… Mummy has offered free counseling to anyone that is uncomfortable with their score—and assignment. It certainly will come as a shock to many. Depending on the demand for counseling, she has some other counselors lined up that have agreed to volunteer their time.

Jonathan gives me an evil look as he takes the brochure and crumbles it up. He throws the crumpled ball on the floor in front of my feet and storms out. Even Greg looks embarrassed. He takes the brochure and says, “Look, Paige. I don’t know what to think about all of this…but I will give it a try. I need the grade…”

I nod and say, “OK, Greg—just let me know how I can help. OK? And…try and calm down Jonathan?”

He nods and hurries off after him. I sigh as the last of the group files out. Tomorrow should be interesting.

I get out of Mummy’s Porsche and am a bit surprised when she gets out, as well. She smiles and says, “I have several counseling appointments this morning. I had ten text requests before I went to bed last night—and three more this morning.”

I nod and we walk towards the building together. I look around and there is a subtle difference to the normal routine. There are different groupings of kids—people talking to each other that you normally don’t see together. Some animated, some more subdued.

There are also differences in some of the clothing choices. I had made a special effort to be in ‘Pink’ mode this morning—although, I am not wearing one stitch of pink clothing. That is just to make a point. I unconsciously play with my ‘green’ bracelet and take in the new ‘styles’. While, the groups are not totally by house—and the clothing is not always plainly indicative of the house—the prevailing ‘style’ seems to be to have a color-theme that goes with the assigned house.

I shake my head and say to Mummy, “I’m SO glad I didn’t wear pink today!”

She giggles and says, “They will get it after a while—at least most seem to be trying to engage the spirit of the houses.”

I nod and say, “I guess… Good luck with the counseling sessions. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”

Mummy hugs me and goes to the front office. I go towards my first class. Molly, a new Pink comes up to me—bathed in pink—and smiles brightly. She says, “Hi Paige! I…hope this is OK?”

I smile and say, “Hi Molly. You look cute! But remember—being a Pink is not JUST about the color. It’s about being FEMININE! See? Not a stitch of pink on me today—but I’m most certainly a Pink!”

Her face falls a bit and I smile at her. “I didn’t mean to make out like there is anything WRONG with Pink, Molly! I wear it a lot…and you DO look feminine! Very much so, in fact,” I mollify her.

Her smile comes back and she giggles. She says, “Thanks! So do you! See you in Home Pink after last class?”

I nod and she scurries off to her class.

I run into several more of mostly the same encounters before I get to class. When I get there, I almost giggle. Greg is wearing a pink shirt and is trying his best to act girly. Before I can actually enter the room, though, Jonathan corners me in the hallway. He pushes me up against the wall.

He growls, “How COULD you give my score to my PARENTS?”

I shrug and say, “*I* didn’t give anything to anyone, Jonathan.”

He has a furious look on his face—but the look in his eyes is…haunted, maybe even scared.

He says, “Whatever. Now they know…they are forcing me to go to the counseling session. Now, they give me these…looks… They are blaming the school… They’re talking to their lawyer today…”

I look at him curiously when it really hits me what he just said—not about the lawyers. I ask, “What do you mean, ‘now they know’?”

He shakes his head and just says, “Look! Leave me alone, OK? You and your damned ‘experiment’ have ruined my life—even more than it already WAS!”

He rushes off. I stand there…totally confused.

I break free of my confused reverie as the bell rings and go into the class and to my seat. Greg gives me a curious look, but there is no time to say anything before Mr. Sorenson comes in.

Greg comes over right after the bell rings and corrals me in a corner. He asks, “What was going on before class, Paige? I saw you with Jonny…”

I shrug and tell him what happened. Frankly, I am surprised that Greg is even talking to me.

He gets a pained look on his face and says, “Look, Paige. This has all opened up a can of worms for Jonny and me. I…will be able to handle it…I think. It’s immensely more complicated for Jonny.”

The blank look on my face clearly conveys my confusion. I ask, “What do you mean, Greg? I don’t understand. What can of worms?”

Greg sighs and says, “That test was totally right to put us in your house… Both Jonny and I ARE TG—there is no doubt. But, there was no way he could EVER tell his parents…now, that cat is out of the bag and he will have to face the consequences. He can’t pretend the scores don’t mean anything—his parents are too savvy for that.”

I pale—not knowing what that actually meant—but, it didn’t sound good. Before I can pry more into it, he continues.

He sighs, “As for me. Well, my parents are more tolerant…but, I just didn’t have the guts to come out. This has forced it… I guess I SHOULD be thankful…but I have seen what YOU have been going through…I don’t really WANT to go through that my last two years of school…”

I shake my head and say, “Look, Greg. I am not TG—not in that sense. So, I can’t say that I FULLY know what you’re feeling. What I CAN say is that it will eat at you more and more if you don’t face the fact that you’re a girl. That IS what you’re telling me, right?”

He bites his lower lip and nods.

I give him…her…a hug and ask, “Have you set up an appointment with Mummy?”

He shakes his head. I pull out my phone and send her a text. I get a response back in about a minute. I smile at Greg and say, “You have now. Be at the nurse’s office at ten. They will give you a pass once you’re there. So, do you like have a girl name you go by?”

He…she…smiles and says, ‘Well, I sorta like Emily…but just between us, for now, OK? Jonny is the only other person that knows…”

I nod solemnly and say, “Nice to meet you, Emily—and, of course! Don’t forget…ten o’clock!”

I hurry off to my next class.

Classes go by fairly well during the morning. I get SOME ‘f-u’ looks, some confused looks, even some worried ones. Other than Jonathan, no one outright accosts me, though—not until lunch, anyway.

I am sitting with some of the new Pinks and we are talking ‘girl stuff’, when a rather sullen-looking group—five in all—comes towards the table. I see them and whisper to the girls at the table to remain calm. Phillip Morris seems to be the leader of the group.

He looks at me with a seething grimace. He finally says, “I hope you’re HAPPY, freak. My parents are ready to throw me out…” There are mumbles of agreement across the group—this seems to be the common issue with the group.

I carefully touch the little icon on my phone and look at Phillip. I ask, “What do you mean, Phillip? You’re in Green, why would they be bothered by that?”

He looks at me—the look on his face is bordering on hateful. He spits, “That means I’m not ‘MAN’ enough for my Dad and—if anything—not GIRLY enough for my Mom…”

Randal Jones speaks up and says, “My Dad just calls me a fruit, now. Your little test may SAY I’m gay—or bi—or whatever, but I’m NOT! I don’t have ANY interest in guys—not THAT way! You’ve ruined my life!”

Amanda Grey says, “What am *I* supposed to do? My parents think I want to be a GUY!”

Randal looks over at her and asks, “SO? DON’T you?”

Amanda pales, then blushes.

At that moment, Ronnie and Mummy show up—summoned by the special ‘911’ app on my phone.

Ronnie asks, “What’s going on here? Let’s take this to the office, NOW!”

The group of five, Ronnie, Mummy, and I go to the front office and into Ronnie’s conference room. I sit down next to Mummy—away from the group. My heart goes out to them, but it is still pumping from fear.

The group is still sullen and quiet, now. Ronnie and Mummy quickly pull out what their issues are and Mummy sets up five more sessions with them, while Ronnie contacts their parents for a mandatory meeting. She sighs, that makes thirty-eight of those, so far.

The tension over the week gets better in some circles and worse in others. Some students—and parents—engage the month’s activities as intended: An opportunity to grow and learn. Unfortunately, that is the minority—although only a slim one. There is another fairly large group where the students embrace the houses, but the parents are, well, less than happy. Surprisingly, there is a group of parents that think it is great, but not the students. Then, of course, there is the group where both the students AND the parents are dead-set against it.

Mummy, Ronnie, and I are debriefing the week after class on Friday. Ronnie sighs and says, “Well, we ARE being sued. That isn’t REALLY a surprise, I guess. I have conferred with our legal team—again—and they’re still confident we can prevail, since it technically isn’t a requirement—and no one is forced to STAY in a particular house.”

Mummy nods and says, “It seems that about 85% of the kids have either decided the house they are in fits—or it’s too much of a bother to justify a change. The other 15% want to change—but not all the way you might think… Some of the changes stay fully in the spectrum—it isn’t like all the boys are gunning for blue, for example.”

I nod and say, “And some of the kids are really trying. Some of the Pink projects are really cool—Emily seems to be adjusting fine—even coming out in class. Her parents are more open to it than she feared and now she is kicking herself for not doing it earlier.”

Mummy sighs and says, “I wish the news was as good for Jonathan. He still refuses to open up—and his parents are real pains about it.”

Ronnie nods and says, “Yep—they are the ones that filed the suit.”

Mummy says, “Well, you can lead a horse to water… We can only hope that at some point, Jonathan’s thirst gets strong enough that he will drink. His score and results didn’t flat out show suicidal tendencies, but they didn’t rule them out, either.”

I sigh and look at my watch. I say, “I have to run—cheer practice.”

Ronnie smiles and says, “How is it coming? You really think you can get the girls to go for State in the Spring?”

I nod and say, “I’m almost certain of it!”

Ronnie gives me a hug and says, “Well, go get ’em tigress!”

The second week of Houses starts pretty close the same as the first. I get out of Mummy’s pink Porsche and we walk up the steps together. The groupings are now more…normal…in that they lasted through the week and are what I am starting to expect. The fashions have solidified a bit, in that each house has sort of settled on a style of its own.

I’m not accosted as much. I do still get some angry stares from the anti-house group, but mostly, everyone has settled in enough to know that they can get through it and there is no need to take it out on me. Ronnie has made it very clear that she won’t tolerate that.

I start into my class and Emily is standing at the door. It seems she is waiting on me. She says, “Hi Paige. Umm…can we talk…after school?”

I nod and say, “Sure! There is no practice today. Want to go to Starbucks? I have to wait on Mummy to get through some end-of-day sessions.”

She nods and we go in together. Class starts a couple of minutes later and I don’t have time to think about it until much later in the day.

I look at the clock during last class and sigh—there is still a half hour left. I remember the coffee ‘date’ and smile, though. I am so glad that Emily came out…she seems happier with herself. I have no idea what she wants from me, though.

I meet up with her thirty-five minutes later. I had texted Mummy what my plans were and she just had wished us fun. We walk the three blocks to the Starbucks and find a seat after getting one of the sinfully sweet concoctions each.

We are in a secluded corner and Emily timidly sips on the hot liquid—intermittently blowing on it and sending a cloud of steam in my direction. I quietly wait—this is her gig.

Finally, she says, “I…I…I want to thank you, Paige—for forcing this, I mean. I know you’re catching heck from a lot of people about it. But…it is working out OK for me. My parents are…adjusting. It was a shock to them, but they are really trying to understand.”

I smile genuinely at her and say, “I’m SO glad, Emily!”

She smiles shyly and seems to gather her courage. Finally, she asks, “I was wondering if maybe you want to go to the mall one evening—or this weekend… You know to…shop?”

I giggle and say, “I would LOVE to! Just the two of us?”

Emily says, “Well, I don’t have any friends—not the kind that would want to go on something like this…”

The smile on my face falls a bit. I say, “I’m sorry about Jonathan—I had hoped…”

She shrugs and says, “It is her loss that she won’t stand up to her parents…”

I force a smile and say, “Anyway, I’m sure that we can get a fun group together. Just leave it to me!”

We finish our coffee and talk for a while. It is clear that Emily needs practice—but it is also clear that she really IS a girl. How did I miss that all of this time?

As it turns out, Penny, Amanda, and I don’t have practice on Wednesday night—well, none of us do, but the two of them want to go to the mall with me…and Emily.

Emily is SO excited when we get into Penny’s car after school and she drives us to the mall. On the way, Amanda asks, “So, how are you holding up, Emily? I know you’re catching SOME flack.”

She plays with the green bracelet on her arm—the one with REAL stones, like mine, signifying her as certified TG. She says, “Overall, it’s OK. Thankfully, Paige paved the way for some of the issues—at least there is some clarity as to expectations. Other than that, yeah, I catch the same shit that Paige does.”

Penny pulls into a parking spot and says, “Well, I think this house thing IS helping. I know it has opened up a BUNCH of cans of worms, but that really is taking the spotlight off of us and putting it back on those that thought they were above it all.”

I nod and say, “Yes. It will be interesting to see who switches next week—and to where…”

We all get out of the car and I ask, “So, anywhere in particular you want to go, Em? Anything special you want?”

She blushes and pulls a paper out of her purse and says, “I got my Mom to sign this permission slip…would you girls mind going to Claire’s with me? I want to get my ears pierced!”

We all scream in excitement and give her a big hug—and walk in unison towards the door.