Zora

Chapter Eleven

Spencer walked into the cafeteria with his sister and her friends, laughing as they strolled toward the lunch line. His eyes scanned the room, and the moment they spotted the noteworthy blue hair of Zora, his smile faltered. Sitting at a table alone with Tyler, she twirled her blue locks around her finger as she giggled at whatever he said.

It was difficult to admit how sweet they looked together. Every word that spewed from Zora's mouth Tyler hung on to. The man even went so far as to hold her hand gently in his own, to which she intertwined their fingers together. A blush coated her cheeks as she ducked her head, prompting him to lift her chin to gaze to stare into his gleaming eyes.

A pang struck Spencer's heart. Despite how painful it was to watch, he could not look away.

Kendall spotted what Spencer was staring at, and she crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. "Those two need to get a room."

"I know you're bitter, but you don't have to be rude," Cassidy scolded.

"No, I agree with Kendall," Spencer said, and the two high fived without looking away from the pair.

Rolling her eyes, Denise and Cassidy dragged them into the lunch line. "I don't get what you are so worried about," Denise said. "They're only friends. Anyone can see that."

"They were holding hands," Spencer argued.

"They were flirting," Kendall added. "He even did the same thing to you. Remember that? He just blatantly flirted with you and then with two other people the next day. Zora deserves better than that."

"Oh, please," Cassidy scoffed. "Tyler acts like that with all the girls who have low self-esteem." Everyone stared at her in concern, but she merely shrugged at her friends. "What? I may love myself now, but I didn't for quite some time. He helped me. He made me see the beauty in myself.

"After all the bullying Zora had to go through in Georgia, why wouldn't she feel insecure? I mean, the bathroom girl and then the locker room debacle. There is quite the possibility that she may not feel very welcomed here. Even if it isn't as bad as it was back at her old school, it's still bad in its own way. She may desperately need some encouragement and support from someone who knows how to make a woman feel special and good about herself. I don't see anything wrong with that," she explained as she pointed at the two, and everyone watch them.

Zora continued to twirl her hair around her finger and giggle with Tyler. "This feels so surreal."

"Why's that?"

"I couldn't even do something as simple as this in Georgia," she replied as she held their hands up. "No one wanted to touch me. They were afraid they would catch the contagious disease of being transgender.

"I couldn't even twirl my hair like this if I wanted to," she added as she dropped her finger. "Someone would always be waiting nearby to spill a sticky drink on my head, and I couldn't even use the women's bathroom to wash off. And since no men wanted me in their bathroom, not that I wanted to go in there anyway, I would have to go to the sinks outside by the baseball field. It sucked on particularly windy days."

"Then keep twirling your hair," he encouraged as he lifted Zora's hand up to her hair, and she began to play with her blue locks again. "I want you to feel comfortable around me. You can do what you want or need to do, and I will not judge you. If someone makes fun of you for being yourself, I'll make sure they regret it."

"Everyone has been saying that lately."

"If you're going to be a dick to someone, they should expect to be treated that way right back at them."

Giggling softly at his words, Zora stared up at him from under her eyelashes. "I'm glad we're partners. But what exactly do I have to do? I mean, are we allowed to compete with me being trans?"