Angelo nervously entered the three number combination into the lock and opened his locker. He began to remove the books for his first two classes.
He knew he had to hurry so that he could get out of hallway as quickly as possible. Jason's locker was four doors down from his and he wasn't ready for the confrontation with Jason, that he knew was coming.
Angelo didn't know how he would react when he did get seen by Jason, but he did know he wanted to avoid it as long as possible.
Bending over to place the books in his backpack, Angelo was unaware that Cecile was quietly approaching from behind.
"Hey there good looking, you single," Cecile quietly asked in a deep voice, while simultaneously poking Angelo in the ribs.
This startled Angelo causing him to jump, hitting his head on the bottom of the locker door. The books slipped out of his hand.
He had on open-toed one-inch heels, and as the books fell, the corner of one stabbed his toe.
That sudden jolt of pain startled him, and as his weight shifted his right foot twisted, causing him to lose his balance in the heels.
Cecile looked on in horror as Angelo grabbed for the locker door on his way down. He missed, causing the door to slam against the next locker. This all created enough noise to catch the attention of those around him.
By the time Angelo hit the floor the laughter was already beginning. Cecile wanted to laugh as well, but she checked to make sure her friend was okay first.
"Angelica, are you alright," Cecile asked, offering her hand to help Angelo up.
"Yeah, but I think I bruised my ego though."
As Angelo stood up and regained his composure, Cecile began to laugh.
"You got to admit that was a pretty funny fall. Well, from my point of view, anyway. You hit your head. Your arms shot out and you tried to grab on to the locker door but you missed and hit the floor. Did I really scare you that bad? It shouldn't have. What's got you so jumpy, Angelica?"
"Well, Jason'll be back today and I'm not looking forward to that moment he sees me. It's got me very nervous and it didn't help that you had to go and say what you did, in a deep voice. No, you didn't really sound like Jason, but at that moment, it freaked me out and I didn't know if it was him or not."
"Jason? Why? What's he got to do with anything? I mean, why would you be worried about him. He's a part of our lunch group. You can trust him. I don't think he will say anything to anyone once he finds out," Cecile offered, trying to comfort Angelo.
"Yeah, I'm sure he can keep a secret. That's not--" Angelo began to reply before Cecile interrupted.
"Hey, I got an idea. I think we should keep it a secret from him and tell him you're a new student. Do the same thing to him that you did to us and see if he figures it out or not. I bet he won't. I'll tell the rest of the group so they're in on it and they--"
Angelo cut her off, "Cecile! STOP! no! There's no point. It wouldn't work."
"What do you mean? Of course, it would. You fooled me and he doesn't know you as well as I do."
"That's just it, Cecile. He does, actually. He's met Angelica before. The first time we met, it was Angelica, well I called myself Angela then, but the point is, he met me as a girl and he's hung out with me as a girl a couple times."
"Then that's good. So, why you so nervous?"
"Well, he doesn't exactly know for sure that both Angelo and Angelica are the same person, but he has had the idea. He suspected it at one point, but I think I convinced him he was wrong. Maybe he still suspects, I don't think so, but I don't know . . . It gets worse though, Cecile. He has a thing for Angelica."
"Oh? . . . OH! . . . Oh my, I see. Wow. . . Awww, that's so sweet. But, wait - how is he going to react when he finds out for sure?"
"That's the thing, I don't know. I also don't know what I'm going to say to him. I couldn't even sleep good last night worrying about it."
Cecile looked at Angelo as he spoke, but something further down the hall caught her eye.
"Uh, oh . . . Um, Angelica . . . Don't look now but you might want to figure that out, and quick. 'Cause here comes Jason down the hall, right now."
Angelo quickly stuck his head inside his locker, attempting to hide.
"It's too late Angelica, he knows this is Angelo's locker. You're not going to be able to avoid this. It's happening right now, whether you like it or not. Want me to stick around for support?"
"No," Angelo answered in a defeated tone as he straightened up. "I'll be okay, I hope. Go ahead, I'll let you kno--"
"Angela??? " Jason inquired loudly, interesting Angelo as he stepped up next to him.
Cecile quietly slipped away as Angelo turned to face Jason.
Avoiding eye contact, Angelo spoke, "Jason, I - I can explain."
"Well, you can start by telling me why you are here dressed as Angela. I knew it. You tried to convince me that you weren't both Angelo and Angela but I knew you were."
"How," Angelo asked Jason, shocked that he was actually being calm about this.
"Well, I put two and two together at the Halloween dance, kinda. I suspected but wasn't totally sure. But then after that, I began to watch Angelo closer. I studied your mannerisms, the way you laughed, how you carried yourself, and before long, I was sure it was true."
"But you didn't say anything. Why not?"
"I just figured that if you wanted me to know, you would tell me. It seemed to me that it would be best if I let you deal with it how you wanted to. I didn't see how it would help anything, for me to confront you about it."
"So you're not mad, or weirded out? Or grossed out? That's it! You're grossed out that you had feelings for a boy dressed up as a girl and now you're going to beat me up to get even."
"Angela. Stop. That's not true at all."
"Angelica," Angelo corrected him.
"Huh?"
"My name. I've decided I want to be called Angelica. And what do you mean? If what I said isn't true, then what is?"
"I like Angela better, but if it's what you want. Angelica's a pretty name too. They're both angelic. Anyways, from what I've seen, and I'm seeing now, I think you want to be a girl. I think that inside you've always been a girl. I mean, look at you. What guy is going to go to this much trouble to make himself as convincingly female and as beautiful as you have if it isn't true? So is it?"
There it was, the truth, laid out between Angelo and Jason. Jason had reacted nothing like Angelo had feared he would, and not only that, he was also pretty perceptive.
Angelo stood there for a moment, staring down at the floor. He began to slowly raise his head until he was looking up at Jason, and right into his eyes.
"Y-yes," Angelo began, tears forming in both his eyes. "Yes, it is. It's what I've always wanted, to be a girl on the outside, just like I've always felt on the inside. To be seen as a girl and treated as a girl and live as a girl has been my desire forever. You have no clue how h-hard it is, having to live as a . . . as a boy, to p-pretend that's who I am and . . . and th-that I'm happy. It hu-rts so mu---."
By now Angelo was sobbing too hard to continue talking.
Jason reached up and gently wiped the tears from both of Angelo's cheeks with his thumb. He placed one hand around the back of Angelo's head and the other on Angelo's lower back. He then pulled Angelo towards him, and Angelo leaned in, resting the side of his head against Jason's chest.
They stood there like this for several minutes, neither saying anything; the only sound between them was Angelo's sobs.
Finally, Angelo spoke, "So, you're not mad at me?"
Jason placed a hand on either side of Angelo's face, tilting his head upward so that they were once again looking each other in the eyes.
"Angelica? Does it look like I'm mad at you?"
And with that, he leaned over and gave Angelo a slow, soft peck on the forehead.
Jason straightened back up and turned towards his locker, "We need to hurry up or we're both going to be late to class, and you need to go by the restroom to fix your makeup, your mascara's smudged, Angelica."