Hand In Hand: A Pride Month Anthology

Out In The Open

Before I'd even walked through the doors, I knew what I was in for. Mia was always at the center of any and all gossip at our school, and there was no way she hadn't heard yet.

Sure enough, there Mia was, leaning against my locker and drumming her fingers impatiently against her thigh. I thought about turning around heading to class even without my books, but we made eye contact before I could pretend I hadn't seen her.

"Angel asked you out."

"Please not now. I'm so tired, Mia. It's too early to do this."

She crossed her arms. "Oh, we're doing this now. Why did you tell him no? You told me you like him."

"Because I do like him."

It was hard not to. Angel was a great guy, and he'd never been anything but nice to me. He was sweet, funny, and so incredibly easy to talk to. Hell, he even spent almost every Saturday volunteering at our local animal shelter.

He was pretty much perfect, is what I'm getting at.

"Okay, I'm confused. Do you know what the normal reaction is when the boy you like asks you out? Because that sure wasn't it."

I sighed and opened my locker to switch out the textbooks in my backpack.

"It's more complicated than that, Mia."

"Is this because of Kristy? Because you shouldn't be afraid to date again just because she was a bi-"

I cut her off. "It's not about Kristy. I'm over her. And she wasn't a bitch, we were just... looking for different things is all."

"Then I don't get it."

"You don't need to get it. I just don't want to date him."

Thankfully, she didn't get the chance to press any further.

"Mia!"

I didn't know Cody very well. We sat at the same lunch table once in a while, and we'd say hey sometimes when we passed by each other in the hallway between classes, but it was really just because we were both friends with Mia. Honestly, all I knew about him for sure was that he was on the student council.

"Oh, hey, Cody. Tell Adam he's crazy."

"Wait, why?" He asked.

"Because he was just asked out by the guy of his dreams," she told him dramatically, throwing her arms up for emphasis, "and he turned him down."

"I never said-"

"Who, Angel?" Cody asked.

I groaned. "Why do you know that?"

"I don't think you realize just how big Mia's mouth is. Or just how much she talks about you specifically. You should go for it though," he said. "If you really do like him, that is."

"Didn't you come running over here for a reason?"

"Oh! Right. Mia, can you help me run the club stand today? Alex called out sick and I don't want to be stuck there alone."

"Oh, sure," she said, "but I might be doing homework half the time. I have stats right after lunch."

"What club?" I asked.

"GSA. We're fundraising all week. Bracelets and buttons mostly, but we're planning a bake sale for Thursday in case that doesn't bring in too much," he explained. "I'm vice president, so I'm kind of stuck running everything for most of the week."

I hadn't even known Cody was in GSA with Mia, much less that he was the vice president.

"What are you raising the money for?"