"God, Sawyer... you have her eyes..."
I ran as far as my legs would carry me. Almost as soon as art class ended, I signed myself out of school and sent a frantic text to my mother explaining the events that had transpired. I also sent texts to Maddie, letting her know not to worry, the boys back home letting them know what happened, and Dylan asking if she was free, which she was.
I sprinted to the park, where I stopped into a saunter and headed for a picnic table. Only moments later did a slim, feminine figure atop a small motor cycle start toward me- the helmet covering her face and a leather jacket and skinny jeans covering her arms. I saw the worn shoes and tan hands, and she took off the helmet. Dylan smiled, but it was forced through the look of concern she wore over it. As she approached the table, we sat down simultaneously at the table. She sighed and we both sat in silence, not knowing what to say for a few moments.
I was the first to speak up, "Thank you for meeting me here, Dylan."
She grinned, "Of course. I'm glad you reached out to me rather than sulking by yourself. I hate that you have to go through this, but I'd hate it worse if you were going through it alone."
She leaned across the table and ruffled my hair and I chuckled before telling her the full story of my morning, quick not to leave out any details. She sat attentively, hanging onto every word and giving me her undivided attention. Neither she nor I paid any mind to the world around us as I relayed everything. She was quick to elaborate on her distaste for Kayley- something that apparently was building up even from her relationship with Maddie.
"She and Kayley just constantly clash," she groaned, running a hand through her thick hair frustratedly. "I know the girl that you knew way back when was sweet, you know, going off of what Mads had told me, but she's changed, Sawyer. Honestly-"
"She's a bitch," the raspy voice of Maddie Ramos finished. Dylan's face broke out into a wide smile and she jumped from her seat to throw her arms around the taller, paler girl. I looked up into my old friend's face, which was graced with a blush and a shit-eating grin as she returned her girlfriend's bear hug. She placed a swift, chaste kiss to tanned lips, before joining us on the bench. She reached over and patted me on the shoulder. "Hey, how are you holding up, Crosby?"
I sighed, "Fine, I guess. I just got freaked when Riley mentioned something to me right after your fight with Kayley. What are you doing here anyways?"
"I ditched the rest of the day after I found out my girlfriend and old friend were going to be in the same place. And I wouldn't call that a fight. A real fight would be me bitch-slapping that hoe across the face... which I would love to do by the way-"
"But you won't," Dylan murmured before burying her face in the crook of the paler girl's neck. "Because you promised me that you'd stay out of physical altercations."
"And I intend to keep that promise, baby," Maddie replied sweetly, before turning to place a kiss to Dylan's forehead. She turned to me and cleared her throat, her eyes hardening a tad. "But anyways... Kayley's turned into a completely different girl since you knew her, Saws. She's a lot colder. And I don't want to say it's because of when you left, but when you did a lot of things changed, and Riley became more weak, when Kayley became angrier. And she dropped you for a while, you know, and I think that was for mine and Riley's sakes since we took you leaving pretty hard, and I think how hard we took it pissed her off too. It made her feel less important.
"But she always wanted to find you. I don't think it was ever for the right reasons, and I still don't, but she always wanted to hunt you down... to find you. She left it alone again, and then you, Sawyer... you came back, and you brought it all back to her. I don't know if she's going to stop this time," she continued, a dark expression gracing her features. Dylan looked at me solemnly, almost in silent agreement. "She's not gonna be nice if she figures it out. She's been a complete hard-ass with me for the longest since you've left, and for the most part left Riley out of her personality change, but I promise you that if she finds out about you, she'll be ruthless-"
"Be careful," Dylan begged softly. "But you're not alone. We're here, your other friends are here, and Mason and Dash are here too. So if this becomes a bigger concern, we'll stand by you."
I avoided their eyes and let out a shaky breath, "Thank you."
When I looked up, they were impossibly closer and I couldn't help but smile through the ache in my chest. To see their happiness was almost bringing me my own. Almost.
I felt more panic than I could help. I felt alone. And I kept thinking back to Riley's face when she told me that I had... well... my eyes. The silent heartbreak. What scared me more was that I almost wanted to tell her that it was me. That I'm alright and alive and that I always wanted her and always wanted to be close to her- something that she didn't know before. I never told her of my true feelings, and I wanted to so many times, but let's face it... it wouldn't have ended well for me.
"A part of me wants to tell her," I whispered, and the two girls across from me's eyes shot up in shock.
"Kayley?!" Maddie yelled, and Dylan softly gave her arm a slap and a shushing gesture. "Are you crazy, Sawyer?!"
"No no no! Riley! Not Kayley, I'm not crazy."
"Also not a good idea," Mads quipped, sinking back into her seat.
Dylan nodded, "I hate to agree, because I've heard how much she means to you, and meant to you back then, but that could be more disastrous than it would be good. I mean, she could end up telling everyone, she could shut you out completely, she could hurt you-"
"Point taken," I grumbled, laying my head down on the table dejectedly. I checked my phone, where my mom left a message asking me to come home and looked up at the parking lot. Maddie's coupe sat in the spot next to her girlfriend's bike, since it had just gotten out of the shop. "Mads, would you mind giving me a lift back to my truck? My mom wants me home."
"Of course."
The two lovebirds said their goodbyes as I walked silently to the raven-haired girl's car. Seeing Maddie happy was like a breath of fresh air, but I could see the storm clouds brewing over in my atmosphere.
YOU ARE READING
Transition
Narrativa generaleSawyer Crosby has a secret, and one he isn't too keen on sharing with anyone. But when he moves back into the old town he had grown up in for his senior year, a girl from his past ends up making his secret much harder to keep. Transgender characte...