A Feminine Look

Chapter Three: The Graduation Ceremony

It felt like being tied to the railroad tracks watching a train coming in the distance. Sure, I wasn't screwed now, but regardless of what I did – at least according to Chris – Scotty Allen would find out it was actually a boy he was checking out, and not a girl.

What certainly didn't help either is the fact that Chris's cousin, Juan, had now twice mentioned Scotty's fascination with that 'girl' he saw. How was I supposed to get out of this one? I must've been an absolute mess the next hour or so hanging out with him.

Enough is enough. I had to tell him. I paused our game and put down the controller.

"Dude! I was winning!" he yelled, quickly changing his tone when he saw my face. "Okay, seriously, what's up?"

"I have something to confess..." I said solemnly.

"Oh no... don't tell me you have a crush on Annie. I can't handle friend drama right now, I just can't."

"What? No! Nothing like that!" I shouted back. Chris was always bad at reading the room. "Look, the girl that Scotty Allen saw... It was me."

He stared at me blankly for a second. Then another second. And as rudely as I would have predicted, Chris started laughing in my face.

"Oh my God no WAY!" Chris was in stitches, rolling on the bed. "The hair! Holy crap it makes perfect sense! Dude, you got the eye of the most popular freshman at East!" Chris couldn't contain himself. He could barely breathe.

But I was starting to get mad. "This is serious, man! There's a popular boy who, if he finds out that it was a boy he was making googly eyes at, he's gonna flip out and end high school for me before I know it! Do you not understand the stakes here??"

Chris was only starting to come down from his immense laugh attack. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just so f-u-n-n-y..."

I let him cool down for the next 5 minutes. But each time he said he was done laughing, he'd restart.

Finally, Chris was ready to talk about this like a normal person. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. So because of your hair, he thought you were a girl. Is that basically it?"

"I think so. There's not really a reason for Scotty to think that otherwise."

"Well..." Chris began.

He clearly wanted to say something. "Well...what?" I prodded.

"You're, uh – and I don't mean this in a bad way – not exactly the most manly guy in general, right? I mean you gotta admit that."

As much as I didn't love admitting he was right, he was right. "I know. I'm small, short, I always hear I have 'delicate features', and of course...the hair."

Chris nodded. While I was an anxious mess, he had a refreshingly calm, curious demeanor. He didn't have a quick solution. Nobody did. But I strangely trusted his instincts.

"Give me until graduation," he said. "We'll think of something."

========

Lots of people like to hate on middle schools and elementary schools for having graduation ceremonies. "It's not a real graduation!" they'll say. But there's something to be said for closing a loop on a significant period of your life – even if it's just the early tween years.

Much like the Toned concert (and so many other school events), the graduation was held in our gymnasium. Parents and students alike filled the gym, impressed by the decor and grandeur of the space. Students were seated in folding chairs, and parents and other family were seated in the bleachers behind. My perpetually out-of-town parents even showed up!