Becoming Her (Trans)

Chapter 4

The answer is apparently a no.

I'm in front of the large campus of Fife High School with a large backpack and a larger amount of anxiety coursing through my veins. New sophomores give me odd looks as they pass by and try to find their classrooms before the day starts. Honestly, they could've waited until after the  Welcome Back Assembly; WBA's one of the traditions the school has.

All the kids (separated by grade) are crammed in gyms and have a pep assembly about what the staff should expect from the kids for the year. After about 45 minutes, they let us out to our classes for about 20 minutes each, probably to have us know where we're supposed to go.

A smack on the shoulder jolts me. "Yo, ready for the crazy bullshit?" Josh asks, a lopsided smirk on his face. He only gets like that when he sees a hot girl he wants.

"Oh God," I groan. "Who's your poor victim this time?"

"Dude, she's new here," Josh defends. "And as far as I know, she needs a guide to help her find the classes." He points at himself with his two thumbs. "I can help."

"Dude, you're not a Connector." They're basically the juniors or seniors who help the sophomores with questions or who need advice for anything. As far as I know, you have to sign up to be one. I don't pay attention to shit like this. "Besides, she's not going to accept help from a stranger."

"And that's where befriending comes in." Josh spreads his hands out as if rolling out a blueprint and smoothing out the edges. "I tell her I'm confused about where I need to go, she says the same, and we help each other out. It's genius!"

"It's desperate," I answer. "She's going to know something's up when you suddenly start talking to her." Some teachers are having kids file in the gyms. Josh and I are entering the one filled with bored juniors.

"Aw come on, Matthew." Josh gestures his whole body. "I'm good-looking. I got the brains. She'll love that!" He looks up at the bleachers behind me. "She's over there," he points. I turn to see the girl that's driving my best friend crazy.

She's not bad-looking. She's got a cute pair of glasses and dirty blonde hair in a French braid. The pink dress is faded and wrinkled, though. It doesn't really say her. Neither do the very white sandals on her feet that are propped up on a seat next to her. She's on her blue Iphone and is furiously typing. I don't know if she's mad or just that fast.

"Admit it," Josh says. "You think she's hot."

"Um," I start. I would be fine with settling for, "She's definitely someone I want to go shopping with." It's true. I can show her clothes that she can pull off. And in return, she can help me--

I realize I was digressing when Josh jabs me with a finger. "She's something," I decide to say. "Josh, I only know her by her looks. I need to get to know her in order to make a judgement."

"Dude, I only asked if she's hot," Josh says. More students are filling up the bleachers. Josh and I are in the few people still standing around. "We should probably get seats. We'll talk about this later."

We barely get the ones near the front and by the doors when the assembly starts. "Hello and welcome back to Fife High!" a girl shouts over the microphone. I assume she's the junior president. "I can tell we're going to have a fun year!"

I nudge Josh, who's busy looking at the girl and half-listening to the assembly. "How can she tell what kind of year we'll have after being here for a whopping 20 minutes?" I question. Josh nods once, and I nudge him harder.

"What?" he asks annoyed. I repeat my question. "I don't know, man. She's psychic?"

I huff. "You're some help," I mumble. I cross my arms and legs.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm awesome." Josh dismisses my irritation with a wave of his hand. 

I huff again, and try to focus on the preposterous skits the teachers are putting on right now. They're waving their arms around, pretending to be the new kids. "I don't know where to go!" one of them wails. A few kids laugh while I roll my eyes and put my head in my hands. 

I've been in the same position for a few seconds when I feel Josh poking me. "What?" I muffle in my palms.

"We're leaving," Josh declares. I'm confused, and he elaborates. "We're going to the classes now."

Sure enough, I look up to see everyone heading out the doors. "Josh, it barely started," I say.

My best friend snickers. "Yeah, 15 minutes ago. You seriously weren't paying attention to the assembly?" 

I shake my head. "I was too busy being embarrassed by the skits and shit."

"Oh. Well." Josh spreads his arms out. "Your embarrassment is over. Now come on, I want to see if the girl has the same classes as me." I only laugh a little as we get down to the ground. We exit the gym building and Josh and I go in our separate ways. The night before, we compared our schedules. We only have a couple classes near the end of the day.  

"Good luck in geometry!" I shout across the campus. 

"Shut up!" Josh yells back. The new kids giggle at the thought of a junior in sophomore math. I take it Josh doesn't like the idea about being held back a year in anything. I only shrug and keep walking to my English classroom.

The room number fazes me on the schedule, so I had no clue until now that I'm getting the same English teacher from last year. Miss Young is pretty cool, and lets us learn the boring things in the funnest way possible. Her logic was as long as we understand what we need to do for homework and tests, we can do whatever the hell we want. Speaking of Miss Young, she waves at me from her desk.

I get closer to her. "Matthew!" Miss Young exclaims. She stands up to hug me. "I was so excited when I saw your name on my roster! Let me look at you." She holds me at arm's length. "Wow, you've gotten taller over the summer." 

I smile a little. "Uh, yeah, I did." I look around for any new faces. So far, nada. What I do see are names written on pieces of paper on the desks. Disappointed teens are sitting where their names are. "You assigning seats this year?" I ask.

"Yeah, I figured I can try something new," my English teacher answers. "But hey, if it doesn't work out by the end of the month, then I'll let you guys sit where ever you want." 

I nod, and try to find my name anywhere. I find it a couple rows in front, and I dutifully sit in my chair. I only have one partner sitting to my right, a guy with his head shaved and multiple piercings. We acknowledge each other's existence by nodding once. The one on my left hasn't arrived yet. I lean over and read the name on the paper: Gwen Davis. Huh. I've never heard of her. She's probably a new student.

Minutes later, the bell rings. Almost immediately Miss Young takes attendance. When she's got the names of all the absent students, she stands in the front of the class. "Hello, and welcome to English," she greets. She then proceeds to rattle off the units we'll be covering. As she talks, the shaved head guy, who is apparently Bradley, whips out a knife and starts carving something onto the desk. Somehow, Miss Young doesn't notice.

"Now, does anyone have any questions?" she asks.

I hear a voice behind me. "Yeah, am I in the right class?" Confused, I turn around to the student that interrupted the class. My eyes widen as Josh's girl stands in one place, waiting for Miss Young's answer.