AllFreeNovel
Share Us
All traces of amusement have drained from Finn’s face, replaced by thunderclouds. “What?”
“It’s nothing, don’t—”
“Ellie…”
I sigh, lifting a hand to run through my hair. “It’s not a big deal. It was a long time ago…before I transitioned.”
“Can you tell me about it?” he asks gently, some of the anger draining from his eyes.
“It’s really not that interesting,” I warn him. “In high school I was kind of a theater geek…”
“You? Theatrical? I never would have guessed,” Finn says with a wry grin.
I chuckle, feeling some of the heaviness melt away. “Anyway…in senior year we didA Midsummer Night’s Dream.I was Lysander and my friend Anna was Helena. After our last show we all went back to Anna’s place to celebrate, and of course the celebrating involved drinking…”
“Of course.”
“I’m not even sure who suggested it, but for some reason we thought it would be fun to all try on each other’s costumes, with the guys dressing up as the female characters and vice versa. Then I ended up in Anna’s closet trying on more of her clothes and her heels and jewelry. It was all just a bit of fun…”
“Did your mom come looking for you at the party?” Finn asks.
I shake my head. “No. Thank god. I’m not sure what she would have done if she’d known I’d been dressed up like that in front of twenty other people. I managed to convince her it was just Anna and me when she found me.”
“Where?”
“In my bed.” I let out a rueful chuckle. “I was absolutely hammered and somehow ended up going home still dressed up in Anna’s clothes. I was so drunk I passed out as soon as I got to my bed. The next thing I knew, Mom had one of Anna’s heels and was beating me with it. At first I thought she was mad at me for getting so drunk, but then the words she was yelling started to register and…well…”
Finn shakes his head, a grim expression crossing his features. “Jesus, El…”
“She said if she ever caught me wearing anything like what I had on again I’d be disowned. So since then I’ve been pretty strict with my no heels, no make-up, no jewelry, no dresses in North Carolina rule.”
Finn stares at me in confusion. “So…you’re saying she’s okay with you being trans as long as you…what? Don’t shove it in her face?”
“Fuck no. Neither of my parents are okay with me being trans. You should have seen the reception I got when I arrived earlier—it was so cold it could have frozen the equator.” I let out a soft breath, shaking my head. “I honestly have no idea why they still let me come home.”
Finn stares at me for a long moment, as though wanting to reassure himself that I’m actually okay. “Well, you’re always welcome here. I hope you know that.”
I smile. “Yeah, I know.”
10
FINN
“Remind me to never agree to do a favor for Shay again,” I grumble to Jake as I set the last load of flowers on the floor in the hallway just outside Shay’s apartment.
We’ve spent the past two hours travelling back and forth several times from my hotel in Brooklyn, transporting the flowers and balloons and all the other shit Shay had delivered there. And then, once we finally had everything unloaded in the basement parking lot downstairs, it’s taken at least five or six trips up the stairs—because, of course, Shay’s building doesn’t have an elevator—for Jake and me to get everything up here.
“At least you’re doing this voluntarily,” Jake says wryly. “I pretty much have to do whatever he says for the next eight months.”
I let out a soft chuckle. He’s embellishing just a little there; I imagine Shay would be pretty lenient as far as guardians go.
“You could have gone back to Baltimore a day early,” I point out.
“Hell no,” Jake says, a dark look crossing his face. “I wouldn’t be going tomorrow if I didn’t have to.”
“Sorry,” I say with a wince, acknowledging that I’ve hit a sore spot. The reason Jake’s living with Shay now is that his home in Baltimore was no longer safe for him. He’s sworn to us that he was never in any physical danger, but his stepdad is an emotionally abusive asshole, and living in that toxic environment was causing Jake to lash out and get into all sorts of trouble. Shay suggested Jake come and live with him after an incident last year involving a DUI and marijuana possession, and so far things have been going well. It seems like a new environment with a positive support network have really helped Jake get things back on track. College might be tricky with two expulsions on his record, but I’m sure he’ll figure something out.
“What now?” Jake asks, setting his load of helium balloons down on the hallway floor.
