Take a Break [DISCONTINUED]

-4-

Why do I always miss 666 reads???

[Official publish date May 5th]

John's POV
"I guess those testosterone pills aren't working after all!" I heard Jefferson shout. I looked over and saw a flustered Lexi running to the bathroom, hoodie held down over the seat of his pants.

I glared at Jefferson and followed Alex to the bathroom. I walked in and heard the faint sniffles of someone who had just had his spirit crushed for the day.

I knew he would be better tomorrow, but as of right now, he's so upset and sad. "Alex, are you okay?" I asked through the stall door.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just mortified. Hope could Jefferson do that to me? Why was he even looking there in the first place?" He asked a ton of questions to no one in particular.

"I can 100% say that this has never happened to my friends, in this case boyfriend, that I know of and I don't  know what I can do to help, but I'm always here. I'll listen to what you have to say, I'll get whatever you need, just ask." I told him.

"John, I don't think I've ever met a more caring asshat." He chuckled. "I love you."

"I love you too, Lexi."

"Do you even know what happened? Because knowing you, you weren't paying attention because you were eating."

I let out a giggle, "All I know is you're upset. I don't need to know anything else." I said. "Knowing that you are anything other than happy is enough to find your and comfort you." Alex opened the bathroom stall and hugged me. I hugged back as tenderly as I could. "Many of our encounters at school happen in this bathroom I've noticed."

"Maybe you should call it 'Toilet Talk with your Turtle Loving Laurens.' It would probably be a huge hit." He joked. I giggled.

"Well, at least you're feeling a bit better. Do you need anything?" I asked lightly.

"Yeah, I need a, uh, I need a girl product." He said quietly, embarrassedly. Suddenly everything clicked. Jefferson made fun of him for being on his period.

"Oh! Uh, yeah, definitely! I can get you that! Uh, pad? Tampon? Uh, w-whatcha need?" I asked, trying to make him feel
Okay.

"Pad, please." He said. I smiled, I'm glad he's okay talking about this.

"You got it." I walked out of the bathroom to find either Eliza or Peggy. I spot them walking to the garbage can. "Guys, do either of you have a, um, a pad? For Alex." I asked.

They understandingly handed me a cylinder wrapped in plastic. I looked at them questioningly and I guessed that they just didn't have a pad. I ran back to the bathroom and slip the tampon under the stall. "John I asked for a pad, not a tampon."

"Sorry but I'm a little bit awkward when asking for things, so the Schuyler's gave me that." I said somewhat sassily.

He was silent the whole time, all you could hear was the unwrapping and the toilet paper. God, this was awkward. He slammed the door open and glared at me. "I've never used one and it will be stuck in me forever and I will get TSS because of you." I shrank back, feeling bad.

I walked him to his next class after lunch in silence. No hand holding, no arm wrapping, just walking in silence.

We reached his class and I leaned on a locker. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you something different. I hope it's not too uncomfortable."

He was silent for a few seconds, and then he spoke. "Buy me a new charging cord after school and call it even." He smiled mischievously.

I giggled, "Sounds like a fair deal to me." I kissed him on the cheek and walked to my class.

In English, we were doing our senior project. The project was not necessarily to do anything other than write a paper about a modern social issue. I chose to write about the lack of acceptance of non-cis citizens in a nation that is constantly changing. You'd think that someone would understand the changes of what is socially acceptable, but alas, there are some who are biased against anything but straight, cis gender, white people.

I titled it "Change: A National Challenge". At that point, it was difficult to write, since I myself lived a life of bias from my father. He's harassed and damaged my viewpoint and made it hard for me to accept who I was. Now, it's easier. I have Alex and James and Herc and Lafayette.

English went by in a flash, and before I knew it, I was walking to Alex's locker to walk him to his sixth hour. While he had some sort of advanced class, I had study hall, which I could have done, but I wanted a free hour. Kind of like Angelica last year.

The rules of study hall were no eating and no yelling. That left a lot of freedom for the people there. They went on their phones, they fell asleep, some actually did their homework. Meanwhile I worked on a card for Alex. A "I'm sorry about Jefferson being a dumbass" card. That's when my phone buzzed.

Martha: Hey