Chapter 12 #2
“Wow,” I say, stopping in front of them.
Makayla is wearing a yellow shirt and mustard-colored pants, and gold eyeshadow that pops against her brown skin.
She’s drawn a small lemon at either temple, just under the outer corners of her eyes.
I should have done something cute and subtle like that.
The giant strawberry on my right cheek feels like a bad tattoo.
“All the fruits are here!” Anna says, throwing her arms out.
“We look like the first half of a Pride flag,” Makayla says. “Plus the green.” She gestures to my pants.
“I forgot until, like, last night,” I say, grimacing.
“It’s all good!” she says. “You look cute.”
“I don’t, but thank you,” I say, and she’s about to respond, but the bell cuts us off.
I head to class, feeling eyes on me. I wish I’d brought a change of clothes.
I wish I’d thought about this ahead of time.
Maybe Jayden had the right idea about doing his own costume.
This is probably why he didn’t want to coordinate with us.
We’re dumb, and dorky, especially me. At least Anna and Makayla made their costumes look cute. It’s just me who ruined it.
Maybe I’m the reason he’s pulling away. If he is pulling away, that is. I want to ask him, the urge crawling under my skin like a monster about to burst out. I’d seem weird and possessive, though, and he would definitely stop being friends with me after that. It’s probably fine.
But what if it’s not?
I’m the first one in Mr. Harrison’s classroom at lunch. He waves from his office, and I grab a chair to start setting up for Queer Alliance.
“HO HO HO! MEEEERRY CHRISTMAS!” a familiar voice bellows behind me.
I turn around and there’s Forrest in full Santa mode, from the hat, wig, and fake beard, to the stomach that’s probably a pillow buttoned under red velvet, to his shiny black boots.
His hazel eyes glint behind gold-rimmed costume glasses.
“Santa? In October?” I snort, scanning him up and down.
“It’s a commentary on how capitalism starts marketing us Christmas stuff way too early,” he says.
“How intellectual.”
“I try,” he says, eyeing me up and down. “And you are . . . one of my elves?”
I look down at my clothes. It didn’t occur to me this morning, but now I see it: the red and green color scheme.
“An elf who really likes strawberries?” He’s looking at my cheek now, and I cover it with one hand. “That’s very nonbinary of you.”
“I’m supposed to be a strawberry,” I say. “Just a strawberry. No elf. Me and Makayla and Anna—”
“Ohhhh!” he says. “I saw them earlier. Now it all makes sense. All of you together make a gay little smoothie.”
“Strawberry, orange, and . . . lemon?” I make a face. “That’s so random.”
“The tartness would be good!” he says.
“OK, weirdo,” I say.
“Takes one to know one.” He drops his bag as I groan.
“Do you ever not have a comeback?” I say, joining him as we drag more chairs into place.
“Nope. I’m always prepared. Like a Boy Scout.” He dashes around me, pushing a chair ahead of him. I wince as its legs screech across the floor. “It would have been cool if you were an elf, though. You’d look cute in a little elf hat.”
I stop, staring at him, but he’s oblivious, racing to get more chairs into place as the other club members trickle in. Forrest thinks I would look cute in an elf hat? Forrest thinks of me as someone who is, or would be, cute?
Forrest thinks of me that way?
What alternate reality is this?
“Sid!” A hand claps my shoulder and I twitch, snapping back to earth. Jayden’s beside me. “The exhibit is a big hit. Mx. Prager said people are really getting into following the little history trail thing.”
“Oh, sweet!” I scan him up and down. I may not be an elf, but he’s decked out in a costume that looks a lot like—“Link?” I ask. Jayden is a huge fan of the Legend of Zelda games.
He grins. “You got it.”
“You look so good!” I say, touching the fake pointed tips attached to the tops of his ears. “What are these made of?”
“EVA foam!” he says. “Alexander showed me how to make them. He’s really into cosplay.”
“Oh!” I tilt my head. “I didn’t know you two were becoming, like, friends friends.”
“Yeah, I don’t know!” He rubs the back of his neck, looking around the room. “We’ve hung out a few times outside of school to work on group project stuff and it was chill.”
“That’s cool.” I stare at the ear tips. They look almost real, painted a color that very nearly matches Jayden’s skin. “Those are seriously good.”
“I know, right?” He touches them lightly. “Hey, we gotta start planning for Trans Awareness Week soon. It’s only a few weeks from now.”
“Yes. You’re right. Totally.” I look around. The seats are filling up, and there’s even a few people standing. I don’t recognize some of these faces. I see Forrest’s friend from theater, though—Mercury—standing outside the circle. She catches my eye and smiles, waving at me.
“We need more chairs,” I say.
“On it.” Jayden steps away, directing people to scoot outward and widen the circle to let more people join it.
I look around the room, watching everyone take their place. By this time of year, we usually have a set group of people, smaller than the beginning, but a solid core that will carry us to June. We’ve never gotten an influx of new members like this before. Is this from the party? Or the exhibit?
Or both?
Is this whole co-presidency thing actually . . . working?