Cracked Up

Ace

"Nothing personal, just, get the fuck away from me."

The blonde backs up and has a terrified look sewn onto her face.

I roll my eyes and continue to make my way to English. Once I'm in the cold yet comforting room, I throw myself in a seat and bury my face in my hands. Mrs. Crew walks in the class and sees me.

"Ace Williams, how are you?"

Bored.

"Horrible. People are horrible, and I need to write. I have a deadline to meet." I rant. Mrs. Crew knows about my novel I'm writing. Its a long process, and a lonely one. I don't mind it as much as I used to.

Mrs. Crew smiles. "We all have deadlines. For everything. Life has a deadline."

"Literally." I rub my forehead. Mrs. Crew smiles at me and shakes her head.

"You'll be fine, Ace. I'm just worried that your only friends are me and your computer."

***
I'm so bored.

It's not true. I have friends. There's... Um... Fuck. OK, Mrs. Crew was right. I surrender. I need friends, but more urgently, I need editors. Friends can wait after I debut my first novel.

Right?

***
There's an odd girl in my seat. Her hair is choppy and short, her eyes flitting around the room as if she expects to be shot. She's drumming her fingers against the wood of the desk in a familiar rhythm. She's not anything remarkable. Nothing too beautiful. She's just interesting. Mostly, because unlike every other female in this hell, she doesn't have long hair. She also isn't wearing earnings. Literally every girl at this school wears earnings but her.

Intriguing.

"You're in my seat." I say.

Her head snaps up so fast, I wince. "Sorry." She gets up and moves on seat over. I sit down and peer at her from the corner of my eye.

"Um, I'm Connor Hearst." She says. Her voice is lower than most girls.

"Nice to meet you, Connor."

"What pronouns?" She asks, holding out he hand.

I'm slightly taken aback, but take her hand and shake it. "He, him, his. You?"

She looks like she's going to melt. "Um, he, him, his."

My jaw drops. "But-you're not-"

'Connor' shakes 'his' head. "I'm trans. I don't have boy-short hair because I can't afford a haircut."

I nod. "Oh okay then."

Connor looks almost relieved when I went from aghast to casual in seconds.

I turn towards the front. Connor makes me feel uneasy. Not because he's trans.

But because he snapped me out of my constant boredom.