Genesis' first day at the internship was Monday, January 22, 2024. After school got out, Ramona gave her a lift right from the school to the Pride Laboratories building. The building was located at the edge of the city, right where the freeway went out into the countryside. It was two stories high, with two smokestacks sticking out of the top and a billboard sign with a big rainbow on it.

"Wow," Genesis said when she saw it. "That's...some building."

"Yeah," Ramona agreed.

Genesis looked at the big billboard sign. "'Pride' Laboratories..." she said. "You think they have some kind of LGBTQ thing going on?"

"Maybe," said Ramona. She looked at her stepsister supportively and said "You got this, Genesis."

"Yep," Genesis said, exhaling deeply. "Thanks for the ride. I'll see you tonight."

Genesis got out of Ramona's car and went up to the front of the lab. She knocked on the door, and it was answered by a man in a white lab coat. "Good afternoon," the man said. "Are you Miss Rookwood?"

"I am," Genesis answered.

"Excellent. I'll show you to your work."

Genesis followed the man as he led her inside and down a corridor. The corridor quickly led to a research room full of microscopes, computers, test tubes, computers, cold storage containers, and more computers. Scientists were milling all about the room, working on studying DNA samples and entering information into their computers. There were also a few people around Genesis' age, too-presumably more interns.

"So this is one of our research labs," the scientist said. "What we do here is research the genomes of animals and compare them to the human genome."

"So we work on genetics here?" Genesis asked.

"Yes," said the scientist. "I'll have Jesse here explain it."

Right on cue, one of the interns came up to them. He looked to be about Genesis' age. He stood a couple inches taller than her, and he had curly blonde hair and a couple acne scars on his face. "Hey there," the guy said. "My name's Jesse Pindle. And Mr. Jacobson assigned you to work with me in the lab."

"Okay then," said Genesis. "So...what are you gonna have me do?"

"Come on, I'll show you." Jesse led Genesis to a table full of DNA samples that were being examined under microscopes. "You see, what we have here are some samples of human's and animals' DNA. Our job is to examine them and find any similarities that we can. Our goal is to figure out a way to make the animal DNA compatible with that of a human's. Mr. Jacobson's goal is to create a serum that, when injected into a human's bloodstream, will alter their DNA and give them certain traits that an animal has."

Genesis made no effort to hide how weirded out she was. "You mean...he wants to give people...I don't know...bird's wings? Or bear's fur?"

"No," said Jesse. "Did you notice the name of our company? Pride Laboratories? Or that there was a rainbow billboard outside?"

"Yes."

"That's because Lucas Jacobson wants to aid the LGBTQ community," Jesse explained.

"How is giving people animal DNA going to help the LGBTQ community?"

"Let me give you a hint," said Jesse. "The DNA we're studying is from clownfish. Does that help?"

Genesis thought for a moment. She thought back to Fifth Grade, where there was a unit where she (or, since this was when she was Gene, he) and his classmates had to do a report on a sea creature of their choosing. And one of Gene's classmates had chosen the clownfish. "Is it about the gender-changing thing?"

"Yep," said Jesse. "Clownfish are sequential hermaphrodites. Basically, all clownfish are born male, but they will become female as they mature."

"They don't show you that stuff in Finding Nemo," Genesis said with a smirk. "Or Finding Dory."

"I know," said Jesse. "The question is, why doesn't Pixar make a Finding Marlin? Where Marlin goes through some kind of gender crisis when he has to become female?"

"That would be pretty interesting," said Genesis. "Better than making another Toy Story."

"They should've ended it at 3," said a scientist that was walking by.

"No, 4 was good," said Jesse. He turned back to Genesis and said "I'm sorry, what were we talking about?"

"You were telling me about clownfish DNA," said Genesis.

"Right," said Jesse. "What we're developing is a serum that gives a person the ability to change their gender. Mr. Jacobson's hope is that, by studying the DNA of clownfish, we can discover the DNA coding that allows for the hermaphroditism and figure out how to insert it into the human genome. If successful, this serum will be beneficial for trans women or men who want to physically transition to the other gender."

"So, like, a full physical gender change," said Genesis. "Like, giving them...everything, if you know what I mean." She almost said like what happened to me, but that was out of the question.

"That's the hope," said Jesse. "Now, let's get started, shall we?"

***

Genesis was kind of excited at first, but studying the DNA genomes turned out to be kind of boring. They were just sort of scanning in the DNA helixes and then examining them for long stretches. Jesse taught her a lot of the basics of DNA studies, but even then, Genesis felt kind of overwhelmed. If this was what being a scientist was like, then she probably wouldn't want to pursue it as a career.

Fortunately, they got a break after a couple hours. Once she'd reached a good stopping point, Genesis went down to the employee break area and sat down with the sandwich she'd brought for herself. When she was halfway through it, Jesse came in and sat down next to her.

"You tired?" Jesse asked.

Genesis nodded as she chewed her sandwich.

"Me too," said Jesse. "Studying DNA can be tedious."

"How long have you been here?" Genesis asked.

"Almost two years," Jesse answered.

"Two years?" Genesis asked.

"Yeah," said Jesse. "Ever since I started high school, I've been doing a lot of work and volunteer stuff."

"Oh, really? You trying to get into Harvard?"

Jesse laughed. "Yes, I do want to look good when I apply for college," he said. "That is part of it."

"What's the other part of it?" Genesis blurted out. But when she saw Jesse's smile fade, she immediately regretted it.

"It's...kind of personal," said Jesse.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay," said Jesse. But from the paid in his eyes, it did not seem okay.

Genesis hesitated before speaking again. "I know you just met me," she said, "But you can trust me."

"Really?"

"Yes. I have my secrets, too."

Jesse sighed. "Well, when I was a kid, I had a friend named Randy," he said. "He and I were really tight. We first met in third grade, and we hung out every week all the way through middle school. But then, in Seventh Grade, he died."

"Oh..."

"Or so I thought."

"Huh?"

"Right after Randy died, a girl named Rachel showed up at my school," Jesse explained. "She acted really weird around me, like she knew me even though I didn't know her. But then she told me that she was actually Randy. A witch had found him after his family died in the fire and turned him into a girl so he could be enlisted in her all-girls foster home."

"Really?" Genesis asked.

"I know, it's crazy," said Jesse. "When she told me who she really was, I was so angry. I'd thought Randy was dead, and I was really torn up about it. I even spoke at a memorial that was held at school for him. But then it turned out Rachel was lying to me the whole time."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. When she opened up to me, I flipped out at her. I...said some things...that I really regret. We fell out, and we did not get better. Then she ended up leaving the city when the whole Pretty And Pink thing fell apart."

"Wait. Rachel, Pretty And Pink...are you talking about Rachel Miller?"

Jesse nodded.

"Oh my gosh," Genesis gasped. "You actually knew Rachel Miller!"

"Yeah, I did," said Jesse. "After we fell out, I thought I could find new friends. But I didn't. I started to feel really lonely at school. And I realized that, since Rachel was still trying to adjust to her new life, she'd probably been trying to reconnect with someone from her old life to help her. But I pushed her away. And, since she went to a different high school from me after we graduated middle school-and my family and I moved to Virginia after my Freshman year-I never even got the chance to apologize to her. It made me feel even more guilty."

"That's why I started getting involved with so many volunteer and extracurricular programs," said Jesse. "I wanted to try to distract myself from the pain. It does keep me busy-and, like you said, it's definitely gonna look good on my college applications. But there are still times when I feel kind of lonely."

Seeing Jesse so sad and wrapped up in his painful memories moved something inside of Genesis. She'd been a man before, and she knew firsthand how vulnerable men could really be on the inside. Many of them tried to act strong and hardworking, but it was really just a front to hide their insecurities. "I'm so sorry," said Genesis. "But you know, it's not too late to try to make up with Rachel."

"How? She lives in a totally different state. And she's practically a celebrity now. Who knows if she even remembers me?"

"You never know," said Genesis.

Jesse sighed. "I wish I could go up to her and tell her how sorry I am," he said. "But I can't. At least, not right now..."

Genesis nodded understandingly. "Well, if you ever need someone, I'm right here," she said. Just to emphasize her point, she hugged Jesse.

"Thanks, Genesis," said Jesse. "I'm glad Mr. Jacobson assigned you to work with me."

"Me too," said Genesis. "He seems like a good man."

If only Genesis knew how badly that assumption would come back to haunt her.

To be continued...