“I hate school,” I said to Rhea as we walked into the bathroom following the last bell. “It’s worse than I remembered.”

“It’s not that bad,” Rhea rolled her eyes and leaned against one of the sinks, her body toward mine. “Fix your lipstick, it looks terrible.”

In all of the lessons Angela had given me on makeup, I’d never managed to get liquid lipstick right, ever. I’d get one side straight, then I’d try to fix up the other, overcompensate, and suddenly, I’d look like a clown. I hated the new lipstick that Rhea had gotten for me, on that note. She’d insisted on getting me this sparkly pink stuff that looked so…juvenile. It was to blend in, I guess, but god damn, teenage girls have horrible taste.

“As long as we aren’t going to start going to church,” I said, looking in the mirror and pressing the lipstick applicator to my lips. “I don’t need to learn about Jesus.”

“That’s an interesting story actually,” She continued to watch me apply the lipstick, silently judging me, or so I thought. “Jesus was a more of a…freedom fighter. A highway man. Broderick met him. He was um…he went around Judea trying to raise an army, had these twelve guys, convinced them to just give up their jobs and, you know, join up with him. It all ended in a battle at this place called Gethsemane, I hear it was beautiful.”

“How did that end?” I asked, genuinely curious as I placed the cap back on my lipstick and checked it in the mirror.

“You ever read the Bible? Anyway, let’s get home,” She placed her hand against the mirror, and just like that, she was gone.

“Hey wait!” I protested just as she vanished. I couldn’t use the mirror, Broderick told me that they could track me if I used the mirror. Did this bitch really just abandon me at the school? Yeah, of course she did. I slapped the sink with my open palm and turned toward the bathroom door. The house was a few miles from the school, it probably wouldn’t be a horrible walk but I really wasn’t looking forward to it.

As I walked out of the bathroom I noticed massive OLED wall across from the bathroom; that definitely hadn’t been here when I’d attended the first time. I’d seen quite a few video walls since I’d left Angela’s house, this one was just advertising school events. Ticket prices for an upcoming football game, tryouts for the girl’s volleyball team, a presentation of Phantom of the Opera by the first grade elementary school class, boring stuff really. I turned from the display and made my way toward the front door, dodging a few stragglers, the sounds of students fading as I slung my purple backpack over my shoulder. The noise in the hallway grew quieter,more and more of them vanished from the front doors grew nearer. As I rounded the corner, finally, I saw Ashleigh standing there, beside the wall heater, staring intently at her phone.

“Hey!” I said kind of cheerfully, or at least I think it was cheerfully. Faking emotions – not really my thing. Her emotions, however were transparent; she was pretty happy to see me.

“Oh hey,” She smiled. “Jasmine, I totally remember you from the office the other day.”

“And the ice cream shop,” I reminded her. “You work in both places?”

“Yeah, I’m trying to save up money for a trip to Europe, I want to study abroad, you know, experience another culture, get an education, the whole shebang.”

“That’s exciting,” I nodded. “I guess I’m pretty boring by comparison…”

“You don’t SEEM boring,” She cocked her head at me. I frowned.

“I don’t?”

“Really, you don’t, there’s something off about you, and hopefully I’m not offending you, but you know, I sat in on a few classes, being a student teacher and all, and you…you seem different. Really different. You’re not intimidated by the other kids, even if they pick on you, you finish your work fast, it’s like you’ve done this before, it’s like…you’re detached.”

“People can pick on me all I want,” I shrugged. “Once they graduate they’ll live miserable lives and work dead end jobs.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” She studied me a bit closer. “You seem like you’re way above all this and not in an arrogant way, it’s like just…a fact.”

“Yeah?” I said. “What else can you tell about me?”

“You’re like me, a lot like me. You don’t want to be here, you’re longing for something.”

“Well, right now I’m longing for a ride home,” I joked. “Know where I can get one of those?”

“Well you just missed the busses,” She glanced out the front door, peering through the smudged plate glass that overlooked the front parking lot. “And technically I’m not allowed to drive you in my car…”

“But you’re going to, right?”

“Yeah,” She nodded. “Just don’t tell anyone, alright?”

“Promise,” I confirmed as she tucked her phone into her purse and pulled out a set of car keys.

“Mine is the blue one, over there,” She pointed as we stepped into the airlock and then out into the sun. It was stupidly hot out here; I could feel the heat reflecting off the windows, another great memory of this school from back in the day. It was nice to see almost nothing had changed in two decades. As we walked I couldn’t help but notice how cut her outfit was; it was this blue cami underneath a lighter blue flannel top, fitted and showing her outline. A pair of jeans completed the ensemble and I couldn’t but sit there and ask myself why I couldn’t have bee that brave back when I was her age. Eighteen or nineteen, whatever she was. 2019 had been a completely different world, I guess things were starting to look up for trans people, at least in Ypsilanti. “Hey, you going to stare at my butt or get in the car?”

“Oh, um,” I stuttered. “I was just…sorry I was looking at your outfit.”

“It’s pretty cute, right?” She grinned. “I love layering, it takes attention away from…other things, you know?”

There was a click as the car doors unlocked. I pulled the handle and climbed in, immediately noticing that her car was really, really high tech for a student teacher who worked at an ice cream shop.

“Wow,” I remarked. “Your car has a touchscreen on the dash? Oh my god, the speedometer is reflected on the windshield? That’s…that looks really expensive.”

“Jasmine, are you on pot? Serious inquiry. Every car has this stuff.”

Right, the years was 2035, cars were probably one of the more advanced pieces of tech right now, even if everything else had stagnated. Then again this probably wasn’t even high tech for the time period. God, I apparently missed a lot while I was playing maid for Angela. Then I probably missed even more while I was living in her house. Sixteen years went by so fast, yet, here I was, still a kid. Life is just weird sometimes.

“Yeah uh…well…yeah,” I laughed, trying to change the subject, or at least divert it away from my obvious ignorance.

“Heh, whatever,” She laughed. “Hey, I have to stop by my house, I forgot my work uniform and I’m staying at a friend’s house tonight.”

“Oh, uh, sure,” I said. “I can wait in the car.”

“Don’t be stupid,” She waved her hand as we took a turn onto a residential street. “I’m not going to make you wait in a hot car.”

“Oh, okay,” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. She pulled into a driveway, directly in front of a one story house affixed to a white garage door. Immediately, she turned off the car which had been riding a lot quieter than I thought, and stepped out. I followed her into the house; the wind was beginning to pick up a bit and I found myself doing my best to keep my hair out of my face as it plastered to my lip gloss. I got a reprieve from the elements when we stepped into the house and the door was shut. We stood just inside an entryway, the open concept of the home granting us a clear view of the kitchen and living room beyond.

“Hey, Shelley?” Ashleigh called out as a tall blonde girl poked her head out from the kitchen. “This is Jasmine, she’s just here while I grab my work uniform.”

The girl, Shelley, looked at me with what I think might have been an expression of disgust but it was kind of subtle. I immediately became wary.

“You need to tell us when you’re bringing people over,” Shelley said, placing her hands on her hips. “You pay rent, but this is still our house. Adam was pissed last time.”

“Oh, I’m…really sorry,” Ashleigh smiled a bit, though I could tell she was a little stressed. Maybe a lot stressed. “I thought it would be okay, she was only here for an hour-“

“Our house, our rules. Also, you left your cup in the sink again, you know how we feel about that.”

“You know what, you’re right,” Ashleigh nodded. “I’ll try to be more careful.”

“I don’t know if I can believe you anymore,” Shelley said, walking back into the kitchen. “It’s the third time.”

“Come on,” Ashleigh smiled to me. “Let’s go get my work uniform.”

Casting a wary look toward the kitchen, I returned my attention to Ashleigh and followed her through a brief hall, into a room that was so incredibly girly. Pink walls, a pink bed with a pink metal headboard. It was kind of how my room would have looked at Angela’s house if I’d been allowed to have a room.

“This is so cute!” I exclaimed, doing a kind of spin as I took in the space. “I love the theme you have going on here!”

“Yeah, I was thinking about doing a theme change though, maybe something a darker pink instead of a baby pink.”

“Yeah, theme changes are fun,” I watched her take the work uniform from her closet and stare at it for a minute. I bit my lower lip and sighed. “Hey Ashleigh?”

“Yeah?” She turned to look at me.

“It’s not always going to be like this,” I said, trying to be reassuring. “It won’t hurt forever.”

Maybe what I said sounded crazy, but I could see the glint of recognition in her eyes. It was a pain I’d experienced so many times in my life, before Angela. I’d though that there was no hope, I thought I’d live as a boy forever. Ashleigh had done really well, but deep down she still had to feel the pain and I knew how hopeless she felt. God I wish I could tell her more.

“I think we should get going,” She stared at me, probably thought I was crazy. Just as I began to speak, I felt a buzzing in my shallow pocket. As, yes, the phone that Broderick had given me. I reached in and gripped the casing, pulling it out into the palm of my hand to see a group text from Broderick.

Got a lead on the fucking body. Get Jasmine over here now.

“Well, duty calls,” I muttered.