I'm Not A Girl, I Swear [Discontinued]

XX

"So, I'm guessing your costume was a big hit at the party last night."

Nick looked up in time to see Jeff wink, walking over and sitting next to him.

"You could say that," Nick mumbled, looking back down at his phone.

"What's wrong?" Jeff asked, frowning.

Nick sighed. "It's... One of the guys at my old school saw my costume and took a picture of me. He posted it, and..."

He didn't say anything, tilting his phone towards Jeff.

His texts with his mom.

A screenshot of the post, and a simple message.

WHAT. IS. THIS.

Jeff gasped slightly. "Nick, I'm so sorry. But... she didn't know?"

Nick let out a harsh laugh. "Of course she didn't know. She hates when I do anything remotely feminine. But she's coming to pick me up."

"Coming to pick you up?" Jeff repeated, worried. "Why?"

"Probably to yell at me or lecture me. Or ground me. Last time..." He swallowed, not knowing why he was telling Jeff all this. "A couple years back, I was shopping with my brother and sister. They saw a shirt that they thought would look good on me. That's... That's when my brother said that it's not a girl's shirt if a guy is wearing it. Because it was a girl's shirt. We all agreed that it looked great on me and bought it. That night..."

He took a shaking breath, realizing he was crying. "That night I heard my parents arguing. Fighting. My dad couldn't care less, he wanted me to wear whatever I wanted despite what it was. Even a dress. That set my mom off. She was yelling that- that she didn't want me to be some- some cross-dressing freak."

"Nick..." Jeff wrapped his arm around the boy, who leaned into the touch.

"They got a divorce." He choked back a sob. "Because of one argument, because of one shirt, because of me."

"Nick, that was not because of you. It's because your parents had two extremely different views and couldn't handle the other's."

"Now, now my mom saw that. The picture of me as a cross-dressing scientist for Halloween. She's going to be furious."

"Hey." Jeff pulled him into a hug. "It's going to be okay, alright? Just... Can you promise me one thing?"

"I could promise you anything."

"Just- tell me if she hurts you. Please. You could text me immediately, you could tell me on Monday, just please tell me. I'm not going to let that happen to you."