Boy in a Girl's Body

Chapter 6

Song: "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" - Deathcab For Cutie

"Eli! Eli, there you are. Come on, I saved a space for you." a bubbly voice floated through my worrying, puncturing my insecurites. Darcy grabbed me by my elbow, dragging me through crowds to a small shaded area to the side of the quad. The mummer and yell of the masses of students dulled slightly, I was able to think about something besides my fears. 

For some odd, yet very good reason, I was very aware of Darcy's small hand on my just-as-small elbow.  I could feel my face flush just a tiny bit, hopefully, she wouldn't notice at all. 

She dragged me to the roots of a sad looking tree near the gates that fenced in the swimming pool that was used for water sports and hot near-summer P.E sessions. A small cluster of weird looking kids were sitting in a circle, chatting in cheery voices about some movie or sometihng. There were two girls, and one guy in the group. The first girl had blonde hair the color of wheat, a puple streak through her fringe that hung over her freckled face. I couldn't see her eyes, nor much of her face. She kept it hidden, never looking at anyone directly, or for very long.  She was dressed in a floral print sun dress, brown boots that went up to her knees. The sun dress was short sleeved, but met the dress code. Her arms and legs were just as freckled as her face, but it look amazing on her. She could carry it. Her entire outfit look..well, pretty damn good. Not my type at all, but she was stunning. 

The girl next to the blonde smiled up at me, wide open and warm, She had fire-red hair, untouched by dyes, that hung in thick waves down to her chest. She was dressed in an over-sized A Day to Remember hoodie, it swallowed her fingers, making her look small and soft. Her legs were wrapped in skin-tight pale blue jeans. They looked broken-in and comy, not trashy, though. She had on a pair of white Vans slip-ons. Here feet looked bigger than mine...as much as I hated to admit.

 The guy was nothing special to look at. He looked just as plain as most of the kids here, nothing about him was different. Nothing about him popped. It made him seem a bit out of place from the rest of the group. He nodded at me, not giving me much of a look - whichI took as a good sign, perhaps that mean I was passing decently - before he continued his quiet conversation with the blonde one. Niether of the two bothered giving me thier names, or asking for mine. They seemed wrapped up in thier own little world. It was just as well, I sucked at introductions. 

 The redhead kept her eyes on me, still showing off her Crest Whitestrip smile. 

Darcy folded herself down on the ground on, pulling me down with her. She smiled at me, then started with her own introductions: "That's Angie, she's shy, I guess you could say. She doesn't talk to anyone hardly, don't take it personally, that's just how she is. Now the firecrotch over there, that's  Wendy, she'll talk your ear off, it's getting her to shut up that's the trick. And, finally, we have Trevor. He's our little mascot, sort of. But that takes explaining that we don't have time for." I nodded my head, trying my best to rememebr the trio's names, struggling with how to introduce myself in just the right way. 

Thankfully, though, Darcy introduced me to the group, sparing me the horror. I smiled as warmly as I could at Wendy, the other two didn't give a shit about what my name was. Still chatering about God knows what. Didn't they ever hear of manners?

 Wendy crawled over to sit near me, creating a circle that I was a part of. She hugged Darcy, wrapping her arms around Darcy's small waist, pulling her tight against her own body. It was the kind of hug you reserved for people you hadn't seen in a thousand years, or really, really close friends. But, for some reason, Wendy's hug made me smile. It was realy, heart-felt, a true hug. Not the one-armed piece of shit hugs that everyone else handed out. It was a hug that could chase the cold from your bones. It would revive you when you were wilting away.

But, then again, maybe it wasn't just the hug that did it. Maybe that was Wndy herself. Just sunny welcoming and warm. Someone you could tell all of your secrets to, knowing that she really would take them to her grave. I had just met her, but I knew I could trust her. I knew that no matter what I told her, she wouldn't care. I was a person, I was Eli. And I was good at heart, no matter what anyone else said.

Granted, that was just a theory, but I liked the thought of it, so I didn't let it go, at least not until I got strong evidence to the contrary, anyway.

 Wendy and Darcy spent most of the lunch talking, I wasn't really listening, I was busy just enjoying a lunch period were I didn't end up face-first in a trash can. Our shady area seemed to be invisible to bullies and bored assholes. I felt safe in my little triangle, conent to sit in the shade of the depressed tree, the soft murmmers of girl-voices floating around me. 

When the lunch bell broke through my peace, I could actually feel my heart drop, something I hadn't thought entierly possible. Angie and Trevor dissappeared without so much as a goodby to any of us. I couldn't help but sneer at them, they were so self-involved it made me itchy. It reminded me of my sister...

Wendy was the first on her feet, bouncing on her toes. When I scrambled to my feet, Wend threw her arms around me, wrapping me up nice and tight in a hug like I'd never gotten before. I felt my cold heart thaw out and ooze love and friendship juices.

When Wendy let me go, she looked me in the eye, her chocolate brown eyes burning bright and said, "I'm so glad we have another man around."