Since things were shaping up for the better, that naturally meant something had to go wrong.

It all started Tuesday morning when Genesis was leaving her Homeroom class with Mr. Aaron and heading to her Physics class. She was passing some of the lockers when she saw Ramona and Modesty being approached by a boy. At first Genesis didn't recognize him, but then she realized it was Adam Severson-the guy who'd snuck that note into Genesis' underwear drawer during Ramona's party! She involuntarily glared at him, wishing she could go up and punch him.

On the cusp of living authentically, Allison Szymanski hopes for one final quiet New Year's Eve with family. But the best laid plans of mice and trans women...

Treehouse
By Marissa Lynn

New Year's Eve

Allison pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her eyes. She zipped up her jacket, glancing at the walls, grateful that the steps to the old treehouse still held.

A brutal man learns the folly of his ways.

Chapter 3

Cyril told her that it would be our pleasure to be close to the project until we had installed competent workers who could carry on. He even offered to alternate with me, as I had so many other sites around the country that I was needed at. That was a revelation, as he had become office-bound lately. We discussed what the contract between us should look like, and Janet walked us to our car.

“Bryan, where’s Martin?” Wendy said as he entered. They twins hugged one another.

“I can’t stay long. We broke up.”

“Really? W–?” Marisol said, also giving her brother-in-law a hug.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Bro.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it. We disagreed about something and neither of us were willing to change our positions. It was a mutual understanding that we’d grown apart.”

“You were together for five years.”

Minsha and I returned to the Queen’s Spire, leaving the fleet behind. The urgency of the battlefield was replaced by a different mission - a personal one. It was time for a crucial conversation with Maninor, the Tragnor leader. The Tragnor home world awaited a unique tradition, the hunt, which would symbolize not just our union but the unity between our peoples.

December 28

It was three days after Christmas. I’d sent all the thank-you letters and finished all the left-overs. So now I could relax for a few days before the New Year’s Eve binge with my drinking mates.

And that thought set me thinking about the New Year and, for some odd reason, New Year resolutions, things I’ve never really given any consideration to, but perhaps I should. So for the first time, I did, doing a rapid assessment of how my life was going. Were there any facets of it that could do with improvement?