Just You Wait (Lams High School AU)

Chapter 6 - Meggy

TW: Homophobia, transphobia (I keep saying that but i mean nonbinary-phobia, is there a better word for that or should i just keep saying transphobia?)

In the week after they got their topics back, Mr. Lee had made history class living hell for John and Alex, always calling on them for the most difficult questions and making sure everyone knew that John and Alexander were doing their project on the gay rights movement. Rumors spread quicker than wildfire in their grade and before they knew it they were being called every homophobic slur you could think of as they walked through the halls. Laf was experiencing even more misgendering than usual, and Herc was also being bullied for openly dating Laf. Mrs. Schuyler did as much as she could, but they couldn't exactly run to her and tattle on every person who called them an unpleasant name; she had meetings and other students to deal with. They were all starting to wonder if a school project was worth getting this much hate over and if they should just change their topics.

However, not everyone was mean to them. In fact, Peggy and Maria became frequent guests at their table during lunch. They were only 9th graders, but they were cool. They seemed like polar opposites and Alex often wondered how they even became friends. Peggy had ADHD and was pretty much the definition of a stereotypical ADHD girl (quirky, bouncy, funny, and loud) but in a good way while Maria was very quiet and shy and seemed happy to just fade into the background and listen while they talked. One day, when Laf and Herc were both out with the flu (it had been spreading around the school like wildfire) and Laurens was taking a test he'd missed, Peggy confided in Alex.

"So you know how Maria and I hang out all the time?" she said quietly, almost whispering. "Yeah, what about it?" Alex said, not getting where this was going. "So, uh, that's actually because we're girlfriends," Peggy said, kind of embarrassed, which was very out of character for her. "We've been together since right before school started. Don't worry, I had her permission to tell you this." Maria smiled shyly from the other side of the table.

"And the thing is, I need help coming out to my family. I know my sisters will be supportive, but I'm still really nervous." "What about Maria? Does she need help too?" Alex asked. "She's an only child, and she's already out to her parents. They're cool with it. But anyway, I kind of want to do it soon. Maria and I can't keep our relationship a secret forever," Peggy said. "And your parents? WIll they be okay with it?" Alex questioned, wanting to make sure she would be safe coming out to them. "Our mom will be fine with it, obviously, but I'm not so sure about my dad. Honestly, I'm not sure why she puts up with him, he's a total douche. She'd be able to keep him from doing anything crazy though."

"Okay, so do you have any ideas? Like do you just want to sit them down and tell them or do you want to something more creative?" Alex said. "I don't really know." she replied. "I don't want to be too boring or anything but I also don't want it to be too over-the-top because I want to be taken seriously. You'd be amazed how hard that is when you have two perfect older sisters. It's like you're living in their shadow, you're always an afterthought. 'The amazing Schuyler sisters, Angelica and Eliza. Oh, and I think there might be a Peggy somewhere in there too.' It's tough, you know?" "Yeah. I'm an oldest child so I don't really know how you feel, but I can imagine," Alex said.

"But anyway, do you have any ideas?" Peggy asked, clearly trying to deflect the conversation away from her feelings. "Well, when I came out to my adoptive parents, I did it separately for each parent, which is good if you have two very different parents," Alex said. "Wait, came out? Are you...?" Peggy asked before quickly saying, "It's fine, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" "Well, I didn't mean to tell you that, but yeah, I'm pansexual," Alex said, deciding it was better to just tell her since she pretty much already knew. Peggy looked at Maria and gave her a smile that said "I told you so." Maria sighed, pulled 5 dollars out of her backpack and handed it to Peggy.

"Wait, what? Did you place bets on my sexuality?" Alex said, laughing. "Uh... yeah, sorry about that," Peggy said, laughing a little too. "The way you acted around John made it clear you weren't straight. Maria thought you were gay, but you got just nervous enough around Angelica to make me think you were bi or something similar." "I actually usually have a preference for guys, but what can I say? Your sister's pretty hot," Alex said with a wry smile. By this point they were all in giggles, even Maria.

"What's so funny?" John said, walking up to them. Alex stopped laughing and blushed a little instead. All this gay talk seemed to have just made him more gay: since when was John this cute? "Oh, nothing," Peggy said, exchanging knowing glances with Maria and smiling. "Alex was just telling us how you guys need to start working on your National History Day project, the first notebook check is in like a week." She gave Alex a pointed look and a nod that even the most clueless of guys could figure out means "Now's your chance!" Alex's face got even redder; could Peggy be any more obvious in her attempts to set them up? "Yeah, you want to come over to my house after school to work on it?" Alex said, deciding to go along with this even though it was probably painfully obvious to John. "Sure," John said with an amused smile that said he definitely knew what was happening.

Alex internally let out a breath he'd been holding since he first met John and his adorable freckles. John was coming over. To his house. This afternoon.

A/n: sorry this one took so long and it was mostly meggy but whatever because the next chapter's going to be awesome ;)