Some girls do

Chapter 24: Kazuha

"She called you an experiment?" Yunjin all but shrieks midbite into her chicken tender.

We're all at the diner—might as well call it an unofficial Pride Club meeting at this point—and Yeji and Yunjin have been nice enough not to pry about why I showed up sniffling and tearstained, even though I'm sure they can guess after last night.

It's taken me an hour to work up the courage to fill everyone else in.

"Seriously?" Yeji asks. "That seems ridiculous even for her."

"She didn't use the word, but that was the gist. She said she wanted to 'try something' and then went to kiss me." I grab a soggy french fry. "After seeing her and Sunghoon last night, even if she says nothing happened . . ."

"Yeah, she can go 'try something' with someone else," Yunjin says.

"Dude, what if it just came out wrong?" Sunoo asks, and I snap my head toward him.

"You're standing up for her?"

"What, because she's your neighbor, you're going to take her side now?" Yeji snorts.

"You're her neighbor?" I practically shriek. Sure, I've never been to Sunoo's house, but still, this feels like crucial information.

"Yep," he says, popping the p like it's no big deal. "And look, if I'm sticking up for her, it's only a little. I'm just saying, I did a lot of messed-up things when I was working through my identity stuff too. I was clumsy as hell about it. I'm not saying she's not a megabitch or that you have to be the one to put up with it, but it sounds like she's legitimately floundering. And her mom is just . . ."

"What?" I ask. Chaewon's mother has always been a bit of a question mark to me.

Sunoo looks uncomfortable. "I don't want to seem like I'm talking shit, but you hear a lot when you're living as close together as we are. Let's just say our upbringings couldn't be more different. We were actually really close once, but when I came out as trans, her mom stopped letting me over. She didn't want 'that stuff' around her kid."

"Wow," Seungmin says.

"They have a weird relationship. Her mom's super controlling and closed-minded. I don't know what Chaewon's doing, but if she is part of our team, it can't be easy in that house. I'm sure that's constantly in her head."

"Wow," Yeji says.

Sunoo slides the chicken tenders closer to me. "Not everybody's journey from A to B can be as clear-cut as yours was, Kazuha."

"Clear-cut?" I snap. "I had to switch schools in the middle of my senior year! None of my old friends will talk to me! I can't even run track right now! I took a chance on owning who I am, and I could lose everything for it. How can you possibly say it was easy!"

"I didn't say it was easy," Sunoo says. "I said it was clear-cut. And it was, because you know who you are and what you want. You have parents who are behind you, a brother who lets you stay with him, and"—he gestures around the table—"new friends who will always have your back. I got really lucky too; my parents are the most supportive and open-minded people in the universe! When I told them I was gay, my mom literally ordered a bunch of blankets and ornaments and everything she could find with the word GAY on it. She even wanted to have one of those stupid reveal parties to announce it to the extended family—you know, the ones where all the balloons shoot out? Luckily, I squashed it."

"God, I love your mom," Seungmin says.

"Me too," he says. "But we need to remember that not everybody has that, especially not from the jump. I mean, our end-of-the-year Pride Club project is literally a food and clothing drive because so many kids get kicked out of their houses for this shit."