"Why is that boy wearing a skirt, mommy?" Sean overheard a young boy ask over the sound of his headphones. "Because he's a faggot, I dont ever want you to be like that when you grow up."
Sean couldn't help but move to the back of the not so busy public bus. He sat where nobody else was, to avoid hate. He loved his outfit, he was always one for dressing up. He thought he looked cute. But his confidence gets crushed everyday when arrogant people judge him for having painted nails, or wearing feminine clothing.
He began to cry silently, the bus came to a stop, but not his stop. His tears rolled down his nose onto his black skirt, which went perfectly with his black nails, and black shirt that said "No" in white letters across it, and his army green bomber jacket.
He silently tried to wipe away his tears as he heard a voice speak to him. "Excuse me, but is this seat taken?" He looked up and saw a guy, not to much older than him, with black and red hair, and a black T-shirt with retro jeans and a denim jacket.
"Um, no, go ahead" he faked a smile, and put his head back down. The guy sat down and took notice to Sean's state of tears.
"Hey," he said quietly. "You alright?" His voice was soft, only audible to Sean. Sean nodded his head and wiped away his last tears. "Yeah, um, just not the best day, is all."
The woman who told her boy about Sean wasn't the worst thing to happen that day. On the college campus, he was harassed by a teacher, and pushed against the wall by a group of three guys who where just plain dicks.
"Look, I know we just met, and what I say will probably mean absolutely nothing to you, but I know things get hard, and I dont know what you're going through, but I know you'll make it." Sean smiled a little bit. "It means a lot actually. I needed that today. Thank you" he smiled.
"I'm, uh, Mark by the way." He held out his hand. Sean shook his hand. "I'm Sean." They both smiled at each other.
"I think you look very pretty, by the way." Sean smiled softly, blushing and looking down at his lap. "You're the first one to tell me." He twiddled his thumbs and kept his eyes fixed downward.
Mark seemed surprised. "No way." Sean looked up, and shook his head, "everyone else just calls me names." He looked back down. "Well, I dont think you should listen to them. Because they are wrong about you. They dont know you."
Sean giggled lightly and rolled his eyes. "Neither do you." He said, fixing his hair a bit. "I guess you're right." Mark agreed. "So, how about you tell me something about yourself?" He said. Wanting to know Sean more.
"Well, I'm Irish, I'm 22, and I like to play videogames." He said, with a smile at the last one.
"Nice. I'm 23, I'm American, but my background is German and Korean, and I also like videogames." Said Mark.
"Have any pets?" Sean asked.
"Yeah, I have a dog named Chica."
"Cool. I used to have a dog when I lived with my parents, but now I'm on my own." He said, shaking his head a bit. They talked for a whole half an hour about everything, and nothing at the same time, just to enjoy each other's company.
"Hey, when's your stop?" Mark asked, just curious as to where.
"About 10 blocks ago." Sean smiled, staying intentionally so he could get to know this guy.
Mark just smiled and laughed, looking down and shaking his head.
"Here, lemme see your phone." Sean said, holding out his hand.
Mark handed it to his, and Sean began to type in his number.
He pulled the chord to alert the driver to stop at the next stop, and hands mark his phone back.
"Call me." He said, waving.
Mark smiled, with an open mouth. He couldn't believe what just happened, but he's glad it did.
His day got better.
