Free Kendall

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I hate misgendering

Ari's POV

I got into the car with my friends, still fuming.
What is wrong with people these days?

Nikolai rubs my shoulder with platonic affection.

"What exactly did he say again?" Hazel asks.
He sits in the back of the car.

"He misgendered me and used he/him pronouns," I reply bitterly.

"Did you tell him the right pronouns before?" Jonas asks, turning to face me from the passenger seat. 
"Afterwards." 
I cross my arms like a child.

Nikolai sighs.
"There's your problem right there, Ari. You are presenting male today, and it is a very good presentation of male clothing, I have to admit."
Diana smacks him upside the head.

"I see what Nik means," Ian says, turning the car into the Chick-fil-a parking lot. "Try talking to him again."

"I will not," I counter stubbornly. "Not unless he apologises."

Everyone groans.

"You are the stubbornest person I have ever met," Nikolai mutters.
"But you loveeee meee," I reply, elongating my vowels on purpose.

"What do y'all want to eat?" Ian replies, driving through the drive-thru.

"Macaroni & Cheese," Jonas says.
"The #1 with no pickles," Hazel and I add.
"Nuggets with Polynesian sauce," Diana adds quietly, while Nikolai shrugs.

"Just get me a salad, please."

Ian orders and we watch the workers make our food with hateful glares. They look at us with a cautious eye.

Chick-fil-a still sends some money to Anti-LGBTQIA+ societies, so we like to call them out when we can.

(A/N- No hate towards that fast-food chain, I just wish their financial choices had changed for people like us.)

***

We reach the campus again, carrying our food into the room we always go to.
As we walk in, I see Kendall sitting there with Tate, Quinn and Rayssa.

"New boy," Hazel whispers into Jonas's ear.
Jonas nods and starts pushing some desks into each other to form groups to match the others.

I sit the farthest away from Kendall, pulling out my sandwich and fries, passing the other food out to my friends.
Nikolai starts talking to Rayssa, and Tate walks over to me.

I scoop her into a hug, and she giggles.
"How's my favourite girl doing?"

"I'm good," She replies. "How are you?"
"I've been better," I say.
I hand over some waffle fries to her and she skips over to Quinn.

"Have you guys met Kendall yet?" Rayssa asks.
"Not yet," Diana said, sitting down next to him. "Ari is the only one who has."
She looks at Kendall.
"All good things, of course."

I scoff under my breath, earning a jab in the ribs from Nikolai.

"It's nice to meet you all," Kendall says, smiling.
He runs a hand through his black curly hair.

Hazel smiles, and he eats a french fry.

"Did you guys hear about the fight?" Rayssa asks.
I shake my head.
"Who fought?"

"Alessio and Jordan," Quinn replies. 
Xe pull out xyr cell phone and show us the video.

Alessio had walked up to Jordan, a well-known bad boy on campus, and told them to stop hitting on his girlfriend Daisy. Jordan had told him to fuck off. Then, of course, Alessio punched Jordan and a fight broke out.

"Whoa," We all say.

"Daisy's got herself into a hell of trouble," Diana mutters.
I nod.
"Does anyone know if she is cheating on Alessio or broke up with him?"

Nikolai shrugs.

"I know what happened!" Tate interrupts, sitting up on her knees.
"What happened?" Kendall asks, probably feeling out of place.

"Okayyy," Tate says. She starts to ramble on.
"Daisy was with Jordan as class partners back then, and a few weeks later the two of them became friends, confidants, and she told them everything. Then Daisy began to have a crush on Jordan."
Tate wiggles her eyebrows.
"Rumour has it that they did the deed too and Alessio found out."

Ian spits out the lemonade they were drinking, coughing.
Jonas pats their back, helping them.

"Damnnn," I mutter. "Are you going to help her?"
I look in Diana's direction.

She nods.
"Yup, Dais will need all the help she can get."

"What do you think, newbie?" I ask in my coldest tone, looking at Kendall.

He watches me carefully.
"I think that this will be an interesting school year."