Pencil Shavings (a Genderfluid story) - COMPLETED

Chapter Two: The New Girl

I limped to school, and of course, I got some looks of disgust. 

My best friend, Marcus, raced up to me. 

"Girl, what happened to you?" he asked. I rolled my eyes. 

"In football, I - " 

"You were in football?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. I nodded. 

"Yes, I was. I got tackled and kind of busted up my knee." I looked at the new, black bandage wrapped around my leg. 

"Are you okay?" Marcus asked. 

I smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. I won't be able to play football for a while though." My face fell, and Marcus put a hand on my shoulder. 

"You'll be okay, Anne," he said. 

I rolled my eyes again. "I am okay."

He laughed, then looked up when the bell rang. "Come on; we gotta' go. Need any help?" 

"Ye - no. I can do it on my own." 

"Ooookay." 

I started hobbling to class, the black boy walking along beside  me. Finally he said, "Are you sure I can't help you?" 

"No Marcus. I'm fine," I replied, a little annoyed. 

He nodded. "Okay okay. Got it," he said, throwing his hands up. 

I smiled. "Thank you though," I said. He smiled and nodded. 

"No prob." 

We soon made it to school. Marcus helped me sit down in English, then went off to his own classes. 

Then a new girl walked in.

She was dark skinned, blue eyed, and had long, straight, black hair. She was tall and slender; she was not really pretty, but I liked her the second I saw her. 

"Hi," she shouted. 

I defiantly liked her. 

Mrs. Ellie smiled and stood up. "Class, this is Taylor Jackson. She will be going to this school for the rest of the year." She smiled as she welcomed the girl. "Pick a seat. You can sit wherever you want to. But - choose wisely. That'll be your seat for the whole year."

Taylor nodded and looked around the room.

Please don't choose me. Please do not choose the seat beside me. I would die of embarrassment.  

She walked around the room and looked at each and every one of us. When she came to me, she smiled and said, "I think I'll sit here." She set her stuff down on the desk beside me. 

I looked away. I couldn't let her see my face at that second. 

"So...now that we have everyone here," Miss. Ellie said, "we're going to do a little 'Get to Know Each Other' activity. Travis, can you pass out these papers?" 

Travis got up and took the green sheets of paper. He started passing them out, and when I got one, I half smiled, half groaned. 

"Pick a partner," Miss. Ellie said. 

Taylor immediately turned to me. Her eyes cut into me, begging. Finally, I just said, "Sure." Her face lit up, and I blushed. Again. 

"You like me, don't you," she said, a smirk on her face. 

"No," I said, way to quickly. 

Taylor laughed again. "Don't worry; I'm pan." 

"I'm not gay. Or pan. I'm straight. Just...can we talk when...we're actually doing the activity?" I asked.