Dance With Me (Rich Kids, Book One)

Ten: Accidentally Matching

Randy

I walked carefully, because I'm afraid of abandoned things. But of course, I didn't want Li to know that. I wanted him to enjoy himself without me crying in the background. So, I did everything as carefully as possible.

"This place is cool," he commented. "Look at the vines and the bushes."

"Mhm. Very cool," I answered.

He turned around to face me. "And the arches... and that huge rose garden..."

"Yup."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Of course, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you've been looking down this whole time. And you're saying everything rushed, plus you're kinda wrapped into yourself."

"I'm all good," I assured. I should probably look up at some point.

"Are you feeling a little freaked out? It's okay if you are, I never judge anyone. Except when I do. But that's only if they're really stupid, and being afraid of an abandoned garden with nothing else around it and while it's dark outside is not at all stupid. Do you want to leave?"

That's what made me look up. "No, definitely not. I'm okay. Yes, maybe a little weirded out, but I'm okay."

"Do you want to hold my hand?" He asked, putting his hand out for me to grab. I nodded and held it. He smiled and kept walking. "For your information, I take boxing, so if some kind of zombie monster thing attacks us it will be gone in no time."

I laughed a little. "Okay."

"Alright. As for now, appreciate the view. Wanna go check out the rose garden?"

~~~~~

I dropped Liam off at his house at 10:20. He led me through the garden and helped me calm down. By the end of the trip, I was holding his entire arm.

Later, I snuck into the door of my house and into my room. I was felt like I was still on a high from the date that night. I fell asleep holding the cat stuffed animal Liam bought for me with his tickets.

~~~~~

Liam

When I got home, I raced up to my room, hoping that Dev wouldn't hear me. As soon as I got in, I looked into my mirror. I appeared weird in my eyes, and I felt out of place. Because when I was walking through the garden with Randy, he talked about how he preferred guys to girls, and that he was happy he found me. When he called my a guy, I started to feel really strange, which wasn't the first time that had happened. More like the trillionth.

So I began to search online for different gender identities, since I pretty much knew I wasn't cis. Non-binary. No, I feel like a boy sometimes and something else other times. Transgender. No, definitely not. Genderqueer. No, I feel like a gender, I just don't know which one. Genderfluid... where your pronouns change over time.

That sounds about right. I read more about it, and after around twenty minutes I was fully convinced that I was genderfluid.

So, I stormed into Dev's room at 11:10 at night saying, "I'm not cis."

He glanced up from his phone. "What?"

"I'm not cisgender."

"O- Oh. Okay. Elaborate, maybe?"

"There's this gender identity called genderfluid where your pronouns change over time. That's what I think I am."

Dev slowly nodded his head. "Alright. Thanks for telling me. How long have you known?"