Cinderfella

Chapter Nine

"So Alice and Maddy are nice," Ethan told Mikey as they walked out of the school.

Mikey nodded. "I've been friends with Maddy for years. Had I not been held back last year, we'd be in the same classes again."

"That sucks that you got held back. I bet you used to have a bunch of friends and people that'd hang out with you."

"I was never really popular," Mikey replied. "Most of my friend's were from the basketball team. I live too far away for people to come over regularly or have neighborhood friends."

Mikey looked around at the kids walking out of the school before standing on his toes and whispering into Ethan's ear. "Tyler and I used to be friends."

Ethan stopped walking and pulled Mikey to a stop. "You were friends with Tyler? Like, math class Tyler? The one who constantly harasses you and-"

Ethan was cut off by a car horn. He turned to see Hank waiting impatiently in the circle drive. He set his hands on Mikey's shoulders. "Stay here, I'll be back in a second."

Ethan ran to his dad's car and stuck his head in the window. "Dad, Mikey is trying to tell me something important. Can you please wait for five minutes, not even that long probably?" Ethan asked.

Hank shook his head. "Sorry kid, I need to get to the grocery store and I want your help. You can see him tomorrow."

Ethan pulled out the pamphlet from his back pocket. "I went to the club, so now I get some guy clothes, remember? Can he come with to help me pick out clothes?"

Hank took the pamphlet and set it on the dashboard. "Have him get in the back. I'll drop you two off at a second hand store by the grocery store."

Ethan ran back to Mikey, who stood awkwardly away from the crowd, and grabbed his arm. "I'm getting some new clothes, and my Dad said you can come with, and maybe you could stay for dinner. Tell me everything once we get out of the car and away from my dad."

Mikey nodded and ran to catch up to Ethan's speed. "O-okay, but I need to be home by seven, so can't stay too long."

Ethan held open the back door to the car and let Mikey crawl inside before him. Once both boys were in and buckled, Hank turned around and offered his hand in greeting.

"Nice to meet you, Mikey. I'm Makenzie's dad. She's told us a lot about you."

Ethan winched as his father introduced himself. Mikey looked taken aback, and nervously turned to Ethan. Ethan silently looked away and down, a signal to Mikey that he hadn't been told everything.

"Oh, right. That's so nice. Usually I'm forgotten," Mikey whispered as Hank pulled out and drove down the street.

Hank rambled on about nothing, leaving Ethan and Mikey silently playing with their hands. Mikey looked up occasionally, always ready to ask a question but deciding not to at the last second. Ethan felt sick. He'd been prepared to be alone, with no friends or allies because of his parents. But seeing Mikey, and getting to know him, he couldn't stand the thought of losing what had become his best friend. He'd lost a few friends after he'd come out as gay, and later as pan, and most recently, as male. He refused to lose Mikey.

Hank stopped the car in front of a thrift store. "Alright, you two go in and start shopping, and I'll come back and pay. The total can't be over one hundred, and I'll let you keep the change, Mac."

Ethan mumbled a thank you and crawled out of the car. Mikey followed behind silently, barely out and onto the pavement before Hank began driving off. Mikey rubbed his arms nervously.

"Ethan, can we talk about what happened?" Mikey asked.

Ethan nodded and walked to the store's entrance. "Mikey, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just wanted... I didn't want people to think of me as-"

Mikey set a hand on Ethan's shoulder. "No, no no no, don't apologize. A bit of a heads up would have been nice." Mikey slapped his forehead. "Oh gosh, I sound like a pretentious jerk. I'm not trying to blame you Ethan, you didn't do anything wrong. And the first thing you said to me shouldn't have been that you were trans. I honestly don't care, I just wanted to ask about your parents."

Ethan shrugged. "Really homophobic. My dad never really cared, but my mom is super religious. So when you're around them, just call me Mac, so I don't get in trouble."

Mikey nodded. "I will, but please know I wouldn't do it otherwise." He smiled. "You present well as a guy. I had no idea, and neither does anyone else."

Ethan smiled. The sick feeling in his stomach went away and was replaced by a warm, soaring feeling. He let out a sigh of relief and pulled Mikey into a hug. "You have no idea how many friends I lost when I was coming out. Thank you so much."

Mikey tucked his head under Ethan's chin. "I could say the same for me. You have nothing to worry about, I'll always be your friend, Ethan."

Ethan released Mikey, who whined at the loss of physical contact. "Come on, I want to find a suit in here for the party. Care to help me?"

Mikey followed him into the store. Clothes were hanging up along the walls or sitting in bins, only divided by color. Mikey pulled him over to the green section, already pulling out clothes and holding them up against Ethan.

"I always think people look nice in green, and I get a lot of my clothes from this store. All the boy's clothes are on top, so start going through them."

Mikey began looking over the clothes. He immediately went past anything that didn't fit or didn't look nice. The clothes he did keep, he set over his right arm, and Ethan had to admit everything he pulled out looked nice enough. Figuring Mikey could get through the green section quickly, Ethan moved over a few paces and began going through the blues.

Following Mikey's lead, he only checked the top, quickly shuffling through clothes and only taking the ones he loved. "So," Ethan started, "you and Tyler were friends. What about that?"

Mikey dropped the shirt he was holding at Tyler's name. "Oh, right, I forgot I told you about that." Mikey pulled at the ends of his hair. "Yeah, we used to be friends. He, Maddy, Liam, we were all friends, grade school through middle school. But then, Tyler found out, and told everyone at the school, and he said he'd never want to be friends with someone like me. Maddy told him he could rot in hell, and stood with me. She came out a few months later at softball camp, and even got a girlfriend."

Ethan look up surprised. "She has a girlfriend?"

Mikey nodded. "She's a freshman in college, and I kept trying to tell Maddy she'll cheat on her, but she's actually really nice, and she calls her so often that we all doubt she'd do that. She's the one who'll take us to the dance Saturday."

"Oh," Ethan whispered. "Do you think I could find a decent tux here for cheap?"

Mikey shrugged. "Probably."

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Written 10 minutes before school, which is hell. Enough said, vote, comment, cheers!