Science and Calculus Never Taught Me How To Fight

Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Whores

7: 30. First day of school and I already hate it. I haul myself out of bed, groping around blindly for my bracelets. I find my glasses, slip them on, and make my way slowly to the bathroom. "Zee, if you're in there get out! I need to do my hair!" I shout, pounding on the door. A minute passes and my lovely brother Zee stomps out with his hair curled, a pink hairbow in his bangs, makeup all done and now hairless legs covered gracefully with a pink skirt. "Mom is still refusing, isn't she?" A grunt escaping his red painted lips confirm my suspicions and I snag my pink bow from the bathroom. "Well then, looks like I'm joining you today." He looks at it and smiles a little, the worry lines on his pale forehead dissipating. He lets me strut into the bathroom as I begin my morning ritual that I had done months before and perfected years ago.

"Don't forget to wear something incredibly girly!" Zee says, snickering. My phone chimes, my friend's lovely face flashing on the screen.

Andii: Hey boo, I'm
here. Hurry up!!! :)

I finish my hair and makeup, sliding the bow into my soft curls. "Zee, where are you?" Loud thuds come down the stairs, Mom hugging me tightly. "Come downstairs, you jerk! Andii's here and getting impatient!" I hear Zee let out a squawk, throwing his messenger bag down the stairs at me. "Bye Mamma, love you!" I call, seeing my brother make a mad dash for the door and then the car. Mamma waves back, handing me two pastel lunchboxes.

"Hey losers!" Andii chirps, her older brother waving to us. "I see that Mamma Stone absolutely refuses to let Zacky dress how he wants?" Zee shakes his head and huffs as he picks at his skirt. "I brought extra clothes, that is, if you want to change..." I look at the back seat and attempt to change the topic by handing Zee a pale blue lunchbox with rocketships and stars. "That's adorable. Did your mommy pack your lunch?" My brother smiles and lets out a cheer seconds after popping open the tab. "Let me guess, apple slices and gummy bears?"

"And a salad with raspberry vinaigrette!" Zee says excitedly. "Drew, hold my bag." The elder does as he's asked, watching Zee in adoration as he changes out of the feminine outfit. I hear rustling and Zee letting out a sigh as the car settles. "Thank you." A buzz breaks the comfortable silence that settles over the car, Zee sighing heavily as he reaches for the device and lets out a squeak.

Jam: Dude-time is a
go, Bro!

We arrive at the school a few minutes later, singing along to the songs on the radio at the tops of our voices, and Drew steps out of the car first. "I'll see you lovely people later, and Andii, I'll see you in class." I look at the school, the steps littered with students all staring at Zee and I as we walk up. A group in particular starts walking up to us, menacing looks on their faces. One steps forward, a white cross dangling from a metal chain wrapped around their neck. The rest of the group tries to hold them back as they stomp towards me, their fist raised high. The next thing I see is the ground, and then everything goes black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh my god ,are you okay?!" a voice shouts. I wince and raise a hand in self defense. "Too loud, or should I back away?" A feeble 'both' slips, the voice getting significantly softer and farther away. "Sorry, are you okay though? Sorry about my friend, they don't like new people..." I tilt my head, my blue eyes holding a confused look. "Jam, they don't like people all too much. They're just a sour person." I nod, feeling my phone buzz.

Andii: Jam's in w/the
principal. Suspension
TBA 4 them... O.O

I gasp, and the person in front of me looks at my body in confusion. "Jam's in the principal's office. I mean, I don't know who Jam is, but-"

"No, they're the one who punched you!" the-girl?- in front of me exclaims and I cringe again. "Oops, sorry. I'm Kedlynn by the way, but the teachers here are forced by my father to call me Matt." I nod, looking at her in awe. Her hair passed well below her chest, curling gently. Her eyes were a dark mocha, still grasping onto childhood innocence and always smiling. Radiant smiles were thrown around every time I've looked at her face, and they were beamed at the nurse until a familiar voice to mine roars through the silence.

"Ji, what am I going to do with you?" I hear Mom say. I look at her and the disappointed look on her face grows significantly. "Why can't you be like your sister? She co-operates with me when I dress her..."

"Mamma, you need to understand this; Zacky doesn't want to be a girl!" I nearly shout. "He hates it when you call him Zoey, and he tells me that he wishes that you would at least consider calling him by the name he feels most comfortable with." Mom raises her eyebrow, skeptical. "It's an asinine remark to disregard your son's gender and go on to call him your daughter. It's disrespectful and you of all people should know that!" I start to fume, seeing the look in her eyes. Zee makes his way into the nurse's office, Kedlynn ushering him out when Mom stops her.

"Now Mister Brisbane, I don't see why your father would let you out of the house wearing that monstrosity. It's a disgrace, and how would he like it if he found out that his precious little boy was dressing like a whore just to get attention?" Surely my daughters wouldn't disreg- Zoey, why on earth are you wearing that? I never gave you permission to-"

"Mamma, I'm 18. Surely I can figure out my gender identity if I'm forced to choose a career path in high school. It's simple, actually so simple that you of all dense-minded people should know that." Mom goes to open her mouth but Zee stops her. "No. Don't tell me that I am incapable of choosing a gender, or that I'm just confused. I'm a boy, I just happened to be born as a girl, and there's nothing you can do about my choice. All you have to do it accept me, and that's all I want from you." Kedlynn starts up about Jam, and I sit up. "You don't have to go home, Jinxx. Jam's not going to hurt you again. They didn't know that we were a twin set-" Kedlynn breaks off into a rant about how she didn't know that we were twins and Zee giggles. "As I said, you don't have to leave, just like Mom doesn't have the right to blatantly disregard the fact that I'm a boy. Please don't leave." I smile, grab my bag, and walk out the door. "Bye Mom, see you after school!" Zee races after me, a big smile on his face. I look at the group patiently waiting for me outside, one standing in the back with a sad look on their face. Kedlynn looks at them menacingly, her eyes narrowed. "Jam, do you have anything to say to my sister?" I see his icy blue eyes narrow at me, making me smile nervously. "Well?"

"Pronouns?" I tilt my head , not quite hearing what they said. "Nevermind. You probably don't identify-wait, girl?" I nod slowly, and they continue. "So miss, I'm so sorry that I punched you. I'm not that good with meeting new people and kind of freaked out. It was completely out of my will to harm you, I'm just a sour person." Kedlynn give me an I-told-you-so look, making them stare her down. "Kay, what did you tell her?" Kedlynn defends herself, smiling as always and I feared that she would be hurt. "Fine, but you owe me. I hate the lectures that Perez gives, they're sooo boring!" They smile at me, pearly whites flashed in my direction and blue eyes sparkling. And to think I was the childish one here...

Jay: They don't mean
any harm, they just
don't like people...

"Who's Jay, and why do they have my number?" I ask. A shorter boy walks up to me with a slight raise of their hand, their hair spiked up. "Thanks man."

"I'm Jay. Preferred pronouns are zie and zir." I smile at zir, zir dark eyes sparkling. "I'm agender, but I look like a boy. Don't worry if you mess up the pronouns, it took the teachers weeks to get mine right." I giggle softly at zir comments, Jam laughing with me. "See, Jam doesn't mean any harm! They're as calm as anything!"