The take-back of Ravenshire Prep {UNDER REVISION}

chapter 4

Target sucks. You know why? The boy's section. It's all shades of the rainbow except indigo and violet. Wouldn't hurt for a little fuschia either. I often found myself looking in the girls, with the bright colors and beaded necklaces(I used to walk through the section until an employee thought I was looking at the bras and gave me the evil eye). It made me sad that for the rest of my life I would be forced to wear shades of black and grey all the time. But gender had color. And even though my private school made us wear dark brooding uniforms, I couldn't help but want a splash of magenta to my palette. But I knew what would happen. I would be laughed at and picked on and shoved against the lockers, treated like a slave or a punching bag. Why couldn't boys wear dresses? Girls could wear pants and t-shirts and sneakers and dress like boys were supposed to.

But I didn't want to dress like boys were supposed to.

So I pretend that I really like the black and green new balances and the dark blue hoodies that mom picked out that day, and keep pretending that I'm normal. That I'm a true boy who likes sports and cars and flirting with girls even though I would rather watch The Greatest Showman or Dear Evan Hansen and talk to Ruben. Avery bumped me with her shoulder gently. "You ok?" she whispered. "Yeah, I'm fine." I re-direct my attention to a girl a few rows over dressed like a punk-goth-musician with a man in a suit. "You know her?" "No." "She looks pretty." She said quietly. I wasn't looking at her because I thought she was cute(even though she probably was) but because she was adventurous with what she wore and challenged the rules of society. I wished I could be like her. What was I kidding, though? I didn't even know her. Maybe she was like me. Maybe she wasn't happy that girls were supposed to wear skirts and dresses with ribbons in their hair, and maybe she wanted to dress like a boy should. Suddenly she saw us staring at her. I wanted to instantly break eye contact but she knew we were looking so we couldn't pretend we weren't. Her big sapphire eyes behind her black glasses were full of curiousity at us. I saw her scanning me and Avery. Was she weirded out by two Scottish twins? No, she wasn't American, so she probably wouldn't pre-judge by race. Her eyes were pointy in the corners and she had dark hair so she must have been an asian. But she had blue eyes. So one of her parents must have blue eyes. Her father didn't though. He had hazel eyes and sandy hair with a muscular build and seemed like the kind of guy who dressed like a lumberjack 24/7. Mom interrupted my train of thought by tugging me by the arm to the display of under armor tees, forcing me to break eye contact with the girl. Avery followed me after sneaking one last glance at the girl. I didn't know why, but for some reason I wanted to see her again, even though I knew that wouldn't happen.

But little did I know...