Leon Urie (Adopted By The Uries) ~COMPLETE~

Chapter Fourteen

When Leon walked into school on Monday, he immediately knew that everyone had heard, seen or somehow knew about what had happened.
  He tried his best to ignore the low mutters following him through the halls as he looked for Frankie, who had recovered from her cold. Leon saw Jace's angry, still slightly bruised face in the crowd and immediately took a different way to his locker.
  He found Frankie at her locker, looking put together and determined. He wondered what she was about to do until she started speaking.
 “Leon, I've heard from reliable sources that Ms. Tiller doesn't know about the video. So I'm going to send her a link. Something like this can get someone,” she cleared her throat, “expelled. Or at least in deep trouble.” there was a gleam in her eye that made Leon nervous.
 “Is- is it necessary? Ms. Tiller said- said that she was going t-to deal with him.” Leon said timidly.
  “Leon, Jace has become one of the worst bullies in school. We can't just let that slide.” Frankie put her hands on Leon's shoulders. “Don’t you agree that we should do something?”
 “Y-yeah. You're right.” Leon muttered.
 Frankie e-mailed the principal the link during lunch while Leon was busy avoiding eye contact with everyone in the cafeteria.
  That afternoon, when most of the school kids were on their way home or doing extracurricular sports and clubs, Leon was sitting in the study hall, all alone other than the quiet English teacher, who was organising files and keeping a close watch on Leon as he read the same five words of the assigned book without processing them. He couldn't concentrate, and when the hour was finally over, he felt drained.
 The next day, Jace wasn't at school. Everyone knew, or thought they knew, what had happened, including Frankie. Leon tried not to think about it.
 After lunch, when Leon and Frankie's class usually had P.E. on Tuesdays, there was an announcement. Ms. Tiller's voice over the intercom ordered all the students to report to the gym. The cafeteria erupted into whispers and a few shouts, and Frankie grinned at Leon, who smiled back tensely.
 When they had all assembled on the bleachers of the gym, Ms. Tiller spoke: “I’m sure everyone here is aware of the recent events. If not, let me catch you up: recently, a student was expelled from our school for the use of offensive slurs against a minority. Now, here at Peninsula High School, we take the equality of all our students very seriously. Slurs and foul language are not tolerated...” She went on to talk about the school's policies about abuse, bullying and “physical confrontation”.
  Leon missed the first hour of GSA because of his detention, but at four-thirty he quietly opened the door to the classroom where the club was held.
  “Leon!” James screeched, jumping up and running to throw his arms around Leon.
  “Hey, James,” Leon smiled at his friend. Then he looked around at the rest of the group, who were all looking at him with welcoming faces. “What did I miss?”
 James's dad dropped Leon off at his home fifty minutes later. Leon noticed that his dad's car was missing, and he remembered that Brendon had told him that he'd be at an interview until six p.m.
 When Leon walked into the house, he immediately knew that Sarah was cooking. The delightful smell of sizzling hamburger pervaded the air as Leon took off his shoes in the front hall. For once, Penny and Bogart didn't come skidding to the door to meet him, and Leon found out why when he came into the kitchen. The dogs were circling around Sarah's legs, begging for a taste of what she was making for dinner.
  “Hey, mom,” Leon said.
  “Oh, hi, Leon!” Sarah beckoned for him, and Leon went in for a hug. “I didn't hear you come in. How was your day at school?”
 “It was okay. Jace got expelled,” Leon replied.
 “Really?” Sarah's eyes widened.
 “Yeah… we got to skip P.E. because Ms. Tiller gave the school a lecture about discrimination.”
 “How do you feel about it, sweetie?” Sarah, as usual, could tell that Leon wasn't completely thrilled.
 “I don't know. I think it's great that she's trying to make the school a safe place, but I just… I don't know how this will affect Jace, you know? We should be helping him be a better person, not turning him away to get more bitter, right?” Leon paused, realising he had gone on a rant. “I don't know…” he sat down at the kitchen table.
  “There are some things that teens just grow out of.” Sarah replied. “You’re incredibly kind to think of his side, but I think he just needs to grow up.”
  Leon nodded. It made sense when she said it like that. He checked his Twitter as his mom turned back to where the hamburgers were spitting in the frying pan.
 As he looked at his DM's, he saw something at the top of the feed that made him pause, eyes widening in shock. “Mom?”
 “Yeah, sweetie?”
  “I got a DM from BuzzFeed. They want me to be in a video…” Leon's voice trailed off as he read the entire message.
  Hello, Leon! We were wondering if you would be willing to star in a video all about transgender experiences and rights. If you are comfortable with it, we'd also love you to share your thoughts and feelings about the recent events in your life. Hope to hear from you soon! Sincerely, BuzzFeed HQ. Sarah came over to read the message over Leon's shoulder.
 “Do you want to do it?” she asked when she'd finished.
  “Um- if you- well, if you think it's a good idea…” Leon stuttered.
  “It’s your choice, honey,” his mom replied. “And you don't have to make a decision on the spot.”
  Leon knew that, but he also felt the nagging sensation that he would regret it if he didn't do it.
 In the end, he decided to just jump in and do it. A date was scheduled for him to come in and talk, in late November. That gave Leon more than a month to be nervous.
  Halloween passed in a flurry of orange leaves, sugar and costumes. Last year, Leon had stayed home with his parents during Halloween, but this year he went trick or treating with Frankie and James, dressed as marvel characters.
  Then came November, and Thanksgiving loomed up, not only because of the interview, but also because this year he and his parents would be celebrating Thanksgiving with the rest of the family. This was new, since last year Leon had still been getting used to his parents around Thanksgiving, so they'd stayed at home and celebrated alone.
  Leon had met his grandparents before, last spring, and during tour in Las Vegas, but he'd only met one of his dad's siblings so far. He wasn't too worried about them, because he figured that anyone who grew up with his dad and accepted him into the family must be a good person, he still balked at the thought of meeting so many new people at once.
  About a week before the interview, as Leon was sitting on his bed, listening to music after finishing his homework for the day, there was a knock on his bedroom door. Leon took out his earbuds and called, “Yeah?”
 Brendon opened the door and came in. “Hey, kiddo. I was just on the phone with the lady who's directing your buzzfeed video. She wanted to know if there was anyone from the, uh, the adoption center who you would be comfortable with her bringing in to talk to.”
  Leon immediately blanked out, trying to think of anyone from the orphanage who would even remember he existed. Finally, he thought of Mrs. Hank.
 “I- maybe Mrs. Hank…” Leon paused, considering. “I don't know. I was never out of the closet at the adoption center....”
 “’Course. Leon, you can say no. It's completely okay if you're not comfortable.”
 “No… it's okay, I guess. I don't think Mrs. Hank ever knew…” Leon shrugged. “But there's no guarantee that she'll even agree to come.”
 As it happened, Mrs. Hank was more than happy to come.
  The interview date inched up on Leon. He woke up the morning of in a cold sweat, thinking, I can't do this. It took him a few minutes to calm down.
  After a while, Leon went downstairs, where his dad was already up, making waffles.
 “Good morning, kiddo. Big day today, eh?” Brendon said as Leon walked into the kitchen. Then he did a double take and looked at Leon's face. “Hey, are you okay? You look really pale.”
  Leon sat down at the kitchen table, mumbling, “... nervous.”
 “It’s gonna go well, don't worry.” Brendon told him hearteningly, putting an arm around Leon's shoulder. Leon smiled, though he still felt almost sick with nerves.
  At ten-thirty, they pulled into the visitors parking lot at BuzzFeed studios. Leon got out of the car numbly, trying not to throw up. On the way inside, Brendon put a comforting arm around Leon's shoulders. Leon felt a little better.
 A cheerful-looking man at the information desk told them to follow him to studio four, and when they arrived, he asked them to wait and then disappeared. A few moments later, the door opened and a young woman with dreadlocks whisked them inside, introducing herself as the director of the video. Leon sort of curled in on himself, seeing how many people were in the room, setting up cameras and microphones. He saw a tall stool in the filming area and realised exactly what he had signed up for.
  The filming director, Delilah, was really nice. After she had ushered Leon's parents over to some armchairs that stood along one wall, she took Leon to the side.
  “So, I just wanted to help you get an idea of how this will go, since it's your first ever interview of sorts. Does that sound good?”
  Leon, not trusting his voice, simply nodded.
 “Okay, so, basically, you have free reign. I do have a list of possible topics you can choose from, but each one is totally optional. What we're trying to do in this video is to let people connect with you and with other transgender people. Your old orphanage director should be here in just a few minutes. Until then, we'll mic you up, ’kay?”
 Leon allowed a kind sound tech woman to clip a tiny microphone to his jacket collar. He dropped the small, cold battery pack down his shirt, and clipped it to the back of his jeans. Just when he'd finished, there was a little double knock on the door that sounded very familiar. Leon felt a shiver go down his spine as he felt a weird flashback to the years of waking up the that exact knock on his and Maddie's bedroom door.
  Delilah went to open the door, and suddenly Mrs. Hank was walking in, looking how she always had, in her wire rimmed glasses and neat bun on the back of her head. She had dressed up a little for the interview, Leon noticed past the rushing in his ears. She was wearing a blue blouse and a darker skirt.
 “H-h-hi, Mrs. Hank,” Leon stuttered.
  “Hello, dear.” Mrs. Hank smiled hesitantly, and Leon saw that she was nervous- of him, he realised.
 “Um- so, my name is Leon, now,” Leon told her awkwardly, then laughed nervously. “You probably already know that.”
  “Aw, sweetie.” Mrs. Hank's face loosened into a real, almost proud smile, and she held out her arms. “Can I have a hug?”
  A moment later, Leon found himself hugging her tightly. His eyes felt prickly.
  “I’m so sorry, sweetie. I saw the signs… I should have asked.” Mrs. Hank told him softly.
  Twenty minutes later, Leon was sitting on the tall stool with two cameras and multiple lights pointing at him.
  “Hey, my name is Leon Urie. This is my transgender experience.” He began. His voice sounded a little strange in his ears. Gathering his thoughts, he continued. “I… I consider myself very lucky. I was adopted when I was fourteen. I came out to my parents… I think, the day I was adopted. I remember thinking, no matter if they accept me or not, it'll be better to live out in the open than stay in the closet one more day.” Leon paused. In his peripheral vision he saw his dad's face, sympathetic, caring.
 “Of course, they immediately started calling me by my preferred name and pronouns… I remember the feeling of being called Leon for the first time. It was crazy, how right it felt.” Leon found himself speaking more easily. “And then I started going to school, and almost everyone there was like, ‘Yeah, fine. You're a guy.’ like, it was no question.”
 From where she was watching the monitor off to Leon's left, Delilah said, “Leon, could you talk a little about the GSA you tweeted about?”
 Leon nodded. “There’s a GSA at my school. GSA stands for Gay-Straight Alliance. It's a club where anyone can come and hang out. All you need to be is accepting. The GSA at my school was the first place where I realised that being LGBT+ can not only be okay, but even a positive thing. There's a whole gay community out there, led by love and appreciation and fun. I think it's really amazing that people like us can come together and celebrate.” Leon paused, glancing at Delilah, who nodded encouragingly.
  Leon talked for more than fifteen minutes, occasionally getting prompts from Delilah. Finally, he slipped off of the stool with a sigh.
  Mrs. Hank took his spot. “My name is Sarah Hank. I run the nearly all-girls adoption center where Leon grew up.” she introduced herself. Leon realised that he had never known Mrs. Hank's first name, that it was the same as his mom's name.
  “Could you talk a little about how Leon was, growing up? If you could tell that he was different from the girls at the center.”
 “Growing up, Leon was… quiet. Very sweet. He always forgave when some of the rougher girls who would push him around and take away his toys.” Mrs. Hank got a far away look in her eyes. “Looking back, I know I should have at least suspected that he didn't feel comfortable in his body.” Mrs. Hank's eyes found Leon's, silently asking for permission. Leon nodded, making himself smile.
  “One of my biggest regrets is that he didn't trust me enough to tell me. It's completely understandable, of course, but wish I could have been there for him.”
  Leon bit his lip. It was true that he'd never trusted Mrs. Hank enough to come out to her. He'd been afraid that she would make him leave the orphanage, or swear he wouldn't try to be a boy, or worse things that he didn't like to think of. Now he realised he never should have worried.
  When they left BuzzFeed studios, it was nearly lunchtime. Leon got an idea, and lagged behind with his mom, asking quietly, “Mom, could we invite Mrs. Hank to lunch?”
  Sarah looked surprised, but nodded, smiling. “Of course. That's a fantastic idea. Should I suggest it?”
  Leon nodded, smiling. He felt as if seeing Mrs. Hank again had reunited him with a part of himself that he hadn't even known he was missing.