Frances fidgeted in front of the doorway, a rare hesitation in his movements.
Alexa frowned. She had agreed to come with him to the GSA meeting because she wanted to see what it was all about but she thought he was entirely sure about being here.
‘What’s the matter?’ she asked him, leaning over to whisper into his ear, her hand a reassuring presence on his upper arm.
‘Nothing,’ he replied, quickly. ‘Just...Wendy’s there. And Riley.’
‘So? You know Wendy. And Riley shouldn’t have people staying away from him forever, you know. All he does is soccer and after the car accident, he’s shut himself off from people. This’ll be a good chance to hang out with him. You guys got along last year,’ reminded Alexa.
‘Yeah, well that was last year. This is this year and he’s just...different,’ ended Frances lamely, his cheeks pinking with colour. The red clashed with the magenta shade his hair had been dyed for the past week.
Alexa sighed and pushed past him to enter into the room, snagging his hand as she did so. Frances shuffled in after her, his fingers gripping hers tightly. She didn’t have time to wonder what his problem was now that he was here as Wendy came forward, smiling at them both.
‘Hey! Hey, you guys made it! Thanks tons...I’m trying to get more students involved but you’d think I was asking them to strip naked or something.’ She shook her head, irritably, and the feathers tied in her hair tickled her nose.
Wendy sneezed and Alexa laughed, feeling more at ease. ‘Strip naked? Heaven forbid. I’m here because I’m at least an ally.’
Wendy raised her eyebrows. ‘At least?’ she asked, her tone delicate.
It was Alexa’s turn to hesitate and Frances who squeezed her hand in support. ‘At least,’ she repeated, firmly. ‘I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t thought about girls and that it doesn’t have me wonder if I’m as straight as I thought I used to be. I figure I can learn more about myself here. Without feeling pressured and getting accurate information.’
Wendy grinned at her and Alexa felt her stomach tingle in a ‘check her out’ sort of way. ‘You’ve come to the right place, then. I have tons of info for you and some pamphlets and everything. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask or if you want to talk to an adult, I can refer you to someone, ok? Totally no pressure on you. Welcome. I’m glad you’re here.’
Alexa’s shoulders relaxed and she felt the tension in Frances drop as well. ‘I feel welcome. Thanks,’ she said.
Frances wandered around the room. It was one of the classrooms that was being used for the GSA meeting and he stopped at the table that held all sorts of information. There was information for parents and for people who thought they might be gay or bisexual or lesbian. There was information on gender neutral identification. There was sex education brochures and some low cost clinics who provided free or next to free birth control had their cards available for pick up.
Frances liked the variety of information and he picked up a flyer that had transexual identity as the title. There was a slight sound to his right, and Riley was beside him, in his wheelchair, looking at the flyer in Frances’ hands.
‘Hey...Riley,’ said Frances. He nodded at him and then opened up the flyer. ‘This is good stuff. I don’t know a whole lot about transexuality or transitioning from one sex to the other. I’d rather know than say something stupid.’
Riley raised his eyebrows up at him. ‘You? I’d think you wouldn’t give a damn one way or another.’
‘Yeah. You’d think, wouldn’t you?’ said Frances. He tucked the flyer into his backpack and walked away.
Alexa was talking to Wendy, still. Next to Wendy stood a young woman with inky black hair and dark brown eyes. She was paying attention to Alexa and if Frances’ intuition was right, was interested in more than what Alexa was talking about.
Miriam walked into the room and headed straight towards Frances once she saw he was there. ‘I’m glad you’re here,’ she said to him. ‘Are you OK?’
Frances shrugged. ‘Not like I want to announce my sexuality right away but yeah...I’m OK. They have some good info here. And Alexa’s happy.’ He glanced over to see Alexa turn to talk to the girl who became more animated once Alexa’s attention was on her.
‘Uh oh. Looks like someone has a crush on Alexa,’ observed Miriam. She smiled at Frances’ sigh. Poor Frances.
‘Maybe. She’s got good taste, anyway. How about you? Are you going to say anything?’ asked Frances.
Miriam shrugged one shoulder. ‘Maybe. I know I like girls and boys. And I know that the people I’m interested in dating will know that, too. I’m not sure it’s anyone’s business. But I’m not afraid to be ‘out.’ I’m more worried about my family,’ she confessed.
‘I get that. My mom wouldn’t give a damn. She says I act effeminate all ready. I ought to be one of those ‘fucking fags’ as she puts it. She says she wouldn’t be surprised if I were gay,’ said Frances, his voice flat.
‘Oh...oh, that’s a horrible thing to say to you. Frances...I’m sorry,’ said Miriam gently.
‘It’s not like she hasn’t said stuff like that before. Get a couple of after dinner drinks in my mom and she opens right up. Says whatever she has been holding in the whole day, being Ms. Proper and all. Whatever. I don’t even listen anymore.’
Miriam didn’t say anything but put her arm around Frances’ waist and squeezed. He leaned against her briefly before straightening up as Riley wheeled over.
‘Hey...sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you with my comments,’ said Riley quietly, his eyes on Frances’ feet.
‘It’s OK. You didn’t. This is something that I want to know about. I don’t want to sound like a dumb ass. I might want to date someone who is transgender and I want to know what to say and all that,’ said Frances.
‘You would really date someone transgender?’ asked Riley.
‘I don’t see why not. A person’s a person, right? It shouldn’t matter. And I don’t give a damn about what’s in their pants or not. That’s just stupid. I want to date someone because I think they’re hot and they’re cool. And I like them. That’s what counts. Or at least, it should,’ muttered Frances.
Riley smiled at Frances then, and his face changed from surly to gorgeous, dimples peeking out at the corners of his mouth and one in his left cheek. ‘You know what, Frances? I’ve totally misjudged you. Fuck, I’m an idiot. Give me another chance?’
Frances grinned back at Riley, his grey eyes dancing as he took Riley’s offered hand and held it firmly. ‘Hey, I fool everyone. I’m still an asshole,’ he added.
Riley laughed. ‘Who isn’t?’
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