A Boy and A Girl

゜ ✭ ・. Chapter 5

Point of View: Genevieve

Ginny had stood next to River close to the back screen door, and they were chatting about some things. Somewhere along the line of the conversation, they had begun talking about River's life. Ginny learned a lot of things about them; for example, they collected glass for art projects. They also had extremely supportive parents, who were both straight and cisgender but had grown to accept that all of their children would be queer after River's oldest sibling came out as a bisexual trans man, and the queer just followed along that line.

"I mean, first Kaleb came out as trans, and they of course supported him," River said, "then Ashley told them she was a lesbian... and Paxton came out as asexual, demiromantic, panromantic, polyamorous, and a demiboy, so like... me just being trixic and non-binary was a relief. No crazy new terms to learn." They snorted. "I'm basically a non-binary lesbian, except I don't like that term. I know plenty of enbies use it, but I feel like it links me to being a woman, and I'm not."

Genevieve nodded. "Oh, yeah, that's understandable." She agreed. "It's just a personal preference. I prefer to be unlabeled, all I need to say is that I like boys and enbies."

"Oh, really? That's cool... I thought you were straight." They smiled. "I like meeting fellow non-cishets. You don't have dyed hair or anything like me." They grinned. "It's pretty telling of my gayness, but it's also because I'm an artist. My favorite color changes often, so I dye my hair every time it changes. Right now it's hot pink, as you can see, but I'm thinking my new favorite is probably gonna be seafoam green? Or maybe pale blue." They shrugged.

Ginny smiled. "I think you'd look good in either, River." She said happily, then found herself blushing for a reason she could not comprehend. She felt the need to explain herself, but the words wouldn't come out, so she just sat there, face red.

River either didn't notice or didn't want to make it worse, because they continued the conversation, taking it off of their looks. "Off-topic, but I also have a dog." River mentioned. "A chocolate lab, it's name is Chip."

"I don't mind off-topic." Genevieve smiled. She fiddled with a thread that was unraveling from her shirt, and glanced around. She saw people doing dares in the kitchen, hanging out by the TV, couples cuddling on the couch and...

Bailey.

Bailey walked in the door, and Genevieve immediately felt anxious. Anticipation gripped her like cold hands at the sight of the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy. She was surprised at his semi-formal blue and white outfit, and realized that it was probably what he was going to wear to the dance. 'Kind of wish I'd gone with him now...' She thought, then shook her head. As his eyes scanned the room and finally settled on hers, his expression changed from nervous to curious to finally protective.

The boy approached both of them and set his hand on Ginny's shoulder. "Uh- hey." He said, as though he was trying to seem confident and yet there was something off.

River didn't notice this, and smiled. "Hey there, I'm River, I go by they/them pronouns." They held out a hand for Bailey to shake, and Ginny winced as he completely ignored it and stared at their outfit. She expected the disgust to wash over his face at any moment; he had proven himself to be at least somewhat homophobic before after she made a joke about him possibly being bisexual in front of his parents, and he had replied in mortified and disgusted denial. However, the disgust never came this time. Instead, it was something else, closer to innocent curiosity.

"Er... Bailey. I'm... a normal boy?" He shrugged.

Ginny pressed her face into her hands. That was not how she wanted it to go... however, it wasn't all that bad. Bailey motioned for the three of them to go sit on the couch, which was now free of Allen and Daisy, so at least he was still interested in talking with River.

All of them sat down. "So, you're Bailey- as in, Genevieve's boyfriend, that Bailey?" River asked, running their gloved hands through their hot pink hair. Bailey nodded.

"That's cool. Relationships are an interesting concept to me, but I've never been in one." This fact shocked Genevieve; River seemed so cool, it was surprising they hadn't ever managed to get a girlfriend.

River must have noticed her expression, because they added, "By choice. I want to know more about relationships before I get a girlfriend." They smiled.

"Girlfriend?" Bailey questioned. "So you like girls? Are you like... a lesbian or... a straight guy who just looks funny?"

"Oh my god Bailey!" Ginny interrupted. "Are you serious, they're non-binary!" She groaned.

Bailey seemed confused, but at least it seemed genuine, rather than him intentionally being rude. "Uh... sorry..." he rubbed the back of his neck and stared at his feet. "I dunno, I've just never heard of any of this stuff." He glanced at River and gave them an apologetic frown.

"It's fine." River nodded, cheerful as ever. "Can't expect people to automatically understand- I can explain."

She smiled, relieved. The two continued talking, and they were discussing transgender people. Bailey seemed... very interested. She couldn't let that bother her for too long though.

"So Genevieve... do you have any siblings?" River asked curiously, ruffling their fluffy, bright hair again. It seemed to be a subconscious habit of theirs, like Bailey rubbing the back of his neck and Ginny picking at her nails.

Genevieve shook her head. "I'm an only child. Bailey has a little sister though!" The blond girl glanced at Bailey and smiled, trying to allow him to be a part of the conversation.

Bailey smiled shyly. "Ah- yeah, I do, Amelia. She's really little. My parents never intended on having any more kids, but they had her and I think it's safe to say our lives are better because of it." He explained.

"Really?" River frowned. "But aren't babies a lot of work? I wouldn't know since I'm the youngest, but I've been told I was a lot to handle when I was little."

"Ohhhh yeah." Bailey chuckled. "They are a lot of work, and that's me speaking from the point of view of Amy's older brother and not even her mom. No sleep at night, having to stay up when she cries, feeding her when she doesn't want to be fed but we all know she's hungry..." he trailed off, but had a cheerful expression on his face. "It's all worth it though. I love Amelia, and I wouldn't trade her for the world."

Genevieve was surprised at everything Bailey had said. 'Will that be the theme of tonight?' She wondered to herself. 'Being surprised at Bailey? Surprised that he's maybe not homophobic, surprised that he isn't being overprotective, surprised that he actually struggles with being an older brother... he's just full of surprises tonight.' She snorted softly to herself as she listened to River and Bailey talk, mostly about the different challenges they face as older and younger siblings.

Ginny leaned back so that she was resting against Bailey, who didn't seem to mind. She lay her head on the couch and closed her eyes. 'I'm not going to sleep...' she thought as her breathing slowed. 'Just gonna rest my eyes for a minute...'

Within seconds, she was fast asleep as the two others continued their conversation.

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A/N: 1290 words! I know, I know, it's not that many. But we did get deeper into the plot with this chapter, didn't we? We've learned more about Bailey, dug into River's past, and determined that Genevieve is just as confused about everything as the rest of you are. Keep reading for more of the story! Love you guys!