Love Stronger than Stone

Chapter 2

I sat on the couch of Caroline and I's apartment, reading a book. I had already gotten into pajamas and brushed my hair.

"Hey, did you move the toothpaste?" Caroline called to me from the bathroom.

I laughed to myself quietly, "No, it's right where you left it!"

"No it's--nevermind..."

I laughed louder this time.

I sat on the couch looking out of the window next to it. Today felt very long to me, I was exhausted from all of the happenings. I left my mind drift off and when I looked back up, Caroline was walking over while brushing her teeth to look out the window as well.

I watched her quietly for a minute. "What're you thinking about?" I looked back down at my book, pulling my knees up to my chest.

She deflected my question, "What did you think about today?"

I sighed. "You can't answer a question with another question, but..." I thought about how stressful it was, how scared I am about this new school. More than I thought I would be. "It was nice."

She looked back at me, a hand in her shorts pocket and one still brushing her teeth. "Care to share?"

I thought about all the things we went over today in school. "Well, we started our new school, went through all of our classes for the first time, and made some friends." I smiled, hoping to keep a positive attitude.

She sighed, "You made friends. Everyone there just thought I was a man."

It's not fair. I wish things could just work out for her more quickly than they end up being. I wish we could switch places so she could experience first times differently.

"Hey. It was just the first day. A little bit of confusion. Trust me, I just--I have a feeling. This will be good. It just takes time--for anything." I was looking out the window again.

"Not that I agree with you, I am glad, though." I saw her look at me with a kind smile in the corner of my eye. "It's good that you made some friends. Tell me about them." She left then to finish brushing her teeth in the restroom.

I thought about the people I met today, one in particular continuing to show up in my mind.

Caroline came back from the bathroom, sitting down next to me. I laid down as I began to talk, my head on her lap.

"Well, the girls from the cafeteria were really sweet. They helped me around a lot and I think we got along pretty well." I was telling the truth.

I thought about this morning, and our crazy welcome. "That bright blonde electric dude, he was crazy though. Super energetic, remember when he practically killed you?!" I looked at her with silly panicked eyes.

She gave a long sigh. "To think I nearly died on our first day." She began playing with my hair. "You would've cried like a baby if I got hit, huh?" She grinned down at me.

I laughed, "I wouldn't have..." I said, knowing very well she was right.

"Whatever you say--anything else?"

I didn't want to let myself talk about the scary things. "Oh oh oh, what about that tiny, creepy, purple kid! He was sooo weirdddd! Almost made me vomit multiple times, not even gonna lie."

Caroline ran her hand over her face with a grimace. "He was fine until near the end of the day, then yelled at me for wearing pants." She sighed once more. "You'd better be right about him being a...special case."

I sighed, looking to the side now. "Yeah..." I felt terrible that all of that horrible gender mixup stuff happened to Caroline. I didn't really understand even how they thought she was a guy. Maybe things are just perceived differently here than in America.