Jude glances up from their still-full plate, then shakes their head. “But I’m meeting them tomorrow.”
“Oh, won’t that be nice,” Megan says, flashing a rather insincere smile.
Man, Jude was right. Most of these people suck.
“So, DEADNAME and Oliver,” Mrs. Cohen says after a beat. “How did you two meet?”
Jude and I share a look, and I nod for them to start if they’re ready. “Well, you might remember my high school buddy Max—he just started at Eidola this semester and is sharing a four-bedroom dorm with three suitemates. On the night before classes started, my friend Celeste and I walked down to see Max in his new dorm and help him settle in. He introduced us to his suitemates, and it turns out Oliver was one of them.”
“Was it love at first sight?” Ashlynn teases.
Jude scrunches their nose, but they grin at me. “Something like that.”
“I like to think it was,” I add, flashing Jude an earnest smile.
“Aww,” coos Ashlynn, Taylor, and Aunt Lisa.
Jude’s cheeks flush, and they look away, bumping my leg with their knee under the table.
A part of me wonders whether it was really love at first sight for me. I’ll likely never know, because all my memories of Jude have an ethereal sheen to them—a distinct, lovely glow of affection that I now understand as romantic love. Nothing or no one has ever come close before, and I can’t imagine anyone or anything will again.
Now is probably the worst time to wonder about that, I realize, but that’s where my mind goes.
The questioning continues, mostly at a surface level. Nothing really throws me until Austin asks me about my hair.
“So, what made you decide to grow it out?” Austin asks.
“Honestly, I don’t remember,” I answer. “It’s been at least shoulder-length since elementary school. I can’t imagine life without it.”
“Wow, your parents didn’t make you cut it?” Steph asks with thinly veiled disgust.
I shake my head. “My dad knew I liked having long hair. My stepmom has only known me with long hair, and she’s always loved it. She’s the one who taught me how to take care of it properly.”
“What about the earrings?” Ashlynn asks, leaning in. “How long have you had them?”
I resist the urge to touch them. “Oh, these are fairly new—I got them pierced in mid-October, I think?” I look to Jude for confirmation.
Jude nods. “Yeah.”
Ashlynn gasps. “Wait, DEADNAME, your nose! Aww, y’all match!”
“What’s that?” Mr. Cohen’s voice booms across the table.
I feel Jude tense up beside me. Uh oh.
“DEADNAME and Oliver have matching studs,” Ashlynn reiterates, completely oblivious. “Oliver’s ear studs and DEADNAME’s nostril stud.”
“You got a nose piercing?” Mr. Cohen repeats.
Jude blinks. “Yeah, just one on my nostril.”
“It’s cute!” Taylor exclaims. “It really suits you.”
“That’s funny,” Mr. Cohen remarks. “I could have sworn we were just talking about facial piercings, weren’t we, Susan?”
Mrs. Cohen stares at Jude in disbelief. “Bill, not at the table.”
“You didn’t do it yourself, did you?” Brian asks.
