Rainbow Jam

Part One: Julian Enters

January 3rd, 2017

     "Class? Class, can I have your attention for one moment?" Mrs. Calista, our science teacher said from the front of the room. We were all busy doing labs. I was doing mine alone. "We have a new student! This," Mrs. Calista indicated to the lanky, dark-haired boy next to her, "is Julian. Julian, I'm going to have you sit in the back, next to Sam. Sam, can you wave?"

     I started at the sound of my name, barely processing what Mrs. Calista had said. Timidly, I waved at Julian from that back of the classroom.

     'Great,' I thought, 'he had to get stuck with me.'

     As Julian walked to my —our— desk, I noticed he didn't have any school supplies.

     I also noticed that he had a very defined nose bridge. It was probably a family trait. I would have bet that one side of his family all had that nose bridge. It was more likely than him having his own, perfectly unique nose. When he got to the desk, I realized that I had spent a full five second thinking about noses.

     Julian looked at me, not exactly smiling, but definitely not frowning.

     "Hi, I'm Julian, as you, and the rest of this class, know. You're Sam, right?"

     I nodded, overwhelmed by the social interaction of someone other than Kyla or my family. Julian's voice was deep for someone of sixteen or so. He also had a slight accent. I couldn't tell what it was, but he definitely wasn't Texan like everyone else in that God forsaken white-supremacist school.

     "So, what are we doing?" Julian asked.

     I blinked. What were we doing? Science was the obvious answer, as well as the sarcastic one, wasting our lives was the truthful answer. Which answer did he want? What if I answered wrong? Wait, he meant for our labs. Okay. Whew.

     "Sam? Are you okay? Oh, God. You aren't mute, are you? I'm sorry, I should have asked if you could answer before I bombarded you with questions. I just—"

     "No," I smiled, a little flushed, "I'm not mute. Just slow."

     Julian laughed with what I assumed was relief. "Same."

     And then something strange happened. I smiled because of something a complete stranger had said. I found it genuinely amusing. And, despite my mind's constant nagging to 'trust no one I hadn't know for at least a year,' I felt myself getting attached to Julian. I had only known him for two minutes.

     Great, I was already emotionally invested in the new kid.

     Julian had the same lunch period as Kila and I, which was great, considering she had a doctors appointment. I didn't have to sit by myself at a large table. No one else would sit with me. Some people were genuinely scared that I was going to 'infect' them with my transgender ways. Others just didn't want to tumble down the social hierarchy. I could respect that. They were just trying to survive without scars. There was a thin line to balance on. If they so much as sat with me or Kila, they would be diving headfirst off that line.