This is where things start to get spicy, my children. Buckle up and prepare for the fun to start.
Throughout the whole day, people kept making remarks about my appearance and how 'weird' I looked. It was strange to me. Women can wear makeup, so why can't men? It's just a style choice, and it's not something that should be assigned to a certain gender.
I tried to go on ignoring them, but some of the comments made were seriously funny to me. I overheard one of the volleyball players call me a "femboy who's only seeking male attention." Luckily, one of the girls on the team, Lindsey Ballato, put her in her place. She so respectfully said, "Yeah and you're just a femgirl seeking male attention. The only difference is that you can't get it. Suck it up, Vanessa."
When I tell you I had to stop myself from bursting into a fit of laughter, I kid you not, I was getting dangerously close to doing it. Currently I was walking onto math class, my last period, which happened to be in the hallway where all the freshmen were for some reason. I don't know why they decided to put a senior class in a freshmen hallway, but here we are.
I was being given a lot of glances which wasn't surprising at this point. What was surprising was when a younger freshmen wiggled his eyebrows at me while I passed him in the hallway, to which I just awkwardly smiled at. He must have sensed my awkwardness though, because he stopped to tell me something.
"Hey I'm only joking with you. Don't listen to what everyone else says though, you look fabulous. Keep rocking it," and then he kept on walking like nothing had ever happened. I found myself becoming quite grateful for the compliment, as it boosted my self confidence even if only by a little bit.
As I continued walking in the hallway, a taller freshman ran into me while yelling, "Ryan, wait up!" I ended up moving back a little, but I luckily wasn't knocked over. I just brushed myself off before looking at the younger boy to check that he was okay.
"Oh um, I'm sorry! I didn't see you coming. Are you okay?" I knew I was being very awkward, I just hoped whoever this was wouldn't judge me.
"Oh yeah, I'm totally fine dude! Not your fault, I should've watched where I was going. My name's Brendon by the way. Nice to meet you... uh," he trailed off, and I realized that he didn't know my name yet.
"I'm Gerard. Nice to meet you Brendon." He flashed me a smile before running off after whoever 'Ryan' was. That was not an encounter I expected to have today, but the two seemed to be pretty nice people.
I finally reached class, happy that I was able to avoid running into anyone else in the hallway. Math was my least favorite subject, so rest assured that this was going to be a long class. Luckily Mikey was in the class with me, which would make the experience slightly more bearable.
I approached my desk and noticed that he wasn't in his yet. Unfortunate. I figured I would just wait it out until he got here. I'm sure he wouldn't be long.
I was correct in that he walked into class only a few minutes later with one of his friends, Pete. Me and Pete weren't too close, but I guess we were acquaintances. He was a pretty cool guy.
"Hey guys," I said to them as they sat down in the two seats beside me. Pete was sitting in front of Mikey so that we could all face each other, sort of in a group.
"Hey Gee," Mikey responded. "Do you know where the teacher is? I heard rumors that she wouldn't be here today but I didn't know if you've seen her or not."
I shrugged. "I haven't seen her today. Not sure." We got our answer right then and there as Mr. Iero walked through the door. (Well how convenient! ;))
"Hey guys. You might have heard that Mrs. Wilson is gone today, so I'll be subbing for this class. Now, obviously I'm a psychology teacher, and since she left me with no information about what to teach you guys... just talk amongst yourselves for the whole class. It's Friday anyway, I'm sure it was nothing important." A bunch of the students cheered at that, and Mikey, Pete and I just continued on with our conversation.
"So guys, graduation is coming up pretty soon," Pete stated. "You guys have any plans in mind?" I assumed he was talking about college, so I started off with that.
"Well I'm planning to become a fine artist, which is pretty good actually. I don't really plan on going to college, I'll probably just stay living around here. I've heard from tons of artists that while a degree might be helpful, it's not usually required. So I'm just not getting one." Pete seemed completely lost. Maybe he wasn't talking about college then.
"That's great and all Gerard, but I mean plans before graduation. Like, anything you want to get done? Any goals?" I thought about that question for quite awhile before nodding my head.
"Well since it'll probably be my last time seeing most of the people here, why not go out with a bang? I'm talking do something totally ridiculous that people will remember you for. Not something outrageous enough to get you in trouble, but definitely something out of the ordinary." Mikey and Pete seemed satisfied by that answer, and Pete went next answering the question.
"I'm thinking of finally dating someone, even if it's only for a little while. I'd like to get in a relationship before graduation if you know what I'm saying. We have what, a month, left of school? I'm sure that's enough time." That seemed like a pretty good goal to me, so I nodded and waited for Mikey's answer.
"I think both those things are pretty good. I'd say my main goal is to just attend a real social event before the school is over. Isn't prom at the end of the year? I'd totally do that if I found someone to go with." I was really proud of Mikey for trying to go to a social event. He doesn't do them often, so it's nice to see him step out of his comfort zone.
We continued talking until someone accidentally brushed past Pete's back while walking. Since he thought it was one of his friends, he made one of his favorite jokes. "Oh hell no, this ain't the strip club. Keep your hands to yourself," while turning around in his chair. His eyes widened when he was face to face with Mr. Iero which caused me and Mikey to burst into a fit of giggles. (That mental image though.)
Mr. Iero just smirked before adding to the conversation. "Well Mr. Wentz, I didn't know that's what you did on the weekends, but I'll make sure to ask for you the next time I'm there," which caused my laughter to get louder until I was almost suffocating.
When I finally calmed down, and Pete and Mikey we're back to talking, Mr. Iero walked by my desk and kneeled down. "It's nice to see you laugh. You should do it more often," he said with a smile. This caused me to smile back, because damn, most people didn't ever give me compliments. I had to admit that it felt nice.
"Oh um, thanks," I said. Of course I had to make it awkward. He didn't judge me though, only stood back up and walked back to the teacher's desk. When I turned to face my friends, they were still carrying on a conversation as usual.
The class went on as normal, Pete cracking jokes, making me and Mikey laugh. I was happy being with people I was actually close to, and I noticed that I started to smile more. Out of the corner of eye, I couldn't tell if Mr. Iero was smiling at me or not, but I figured it was just my imagination. Even if he was though, I wouldn't be creeped out. He knows about my depression now, so he's probably thrilled to see me like this.
Once the bell rang, I was content with my day and began to walk out the door. "Got your keys, Mikes?" I asked and he nodded.
We were heading towards the entrance of the building when I felt a hand reach down and squeeze my ass. I looked up angrily and questioned the person who did it. Of course it was some jerky looking dude who had to do it at the last second of the day. "Hey, gorgeous," he said in a voice that made me want to vomit.
"What the hell was that for? I'm not a fucking object, so I would appreciate if you do me a favor and so kindly fuck off," I spat. I wasn't in the mood for this kind of shit.
"You were asking for it pretty boy, with that makeup you've got on your face." He grinned a cheeky little grin until I slapped his hand away from me.
"I'll show you pretty," I mumbled under my breath before dragging Mikey away and outside the building. That's when I realized it.
I had my outrageous thing I would do before graduation.
"Hey Mikes, do you think we can stop by the clothing store before we head home?" I asked as we got into the car.
"Sure Gee, but why do you want to go there?" I was hesitant to tell him at first, but decided I should just go for it. He would figure out soon enough anyway.
"So you know how I wanted to do something outrageous before graduation?" He nodded, signaling for me to continue. "Well I was thinking of actually crossdressing and going to school dressed like that," I chucked nervously. "Just for the hell of it, you know? It's not like I'm going to let anyone touch me or anything. They can take all the pictures they want, call me a ton of slutty names, and I won't even care. It'll be fun."
I was slightly surprised when he cracked a smile. Damn, I didn't expect him to judge me harshly, but he's not even surprised? "You know you're a unique little fucker, right Gee? I actually really like that idea. It's definitely something I'd love to see." He took a turn, heading in the direction of the store, and I smiled widely.
"Thanks Mikey, I honestly didn't expect you to react so positively to that idea."
"Nonsense big bro, I want you to live your life. Even if dressing like a woman is the way you want to do it, I say go for it. No judgement passed." We eventually pulled up to the store, and I excitedly rushed inside. I was so happy to be doing all this.
We went to the women's section, and I browsed the aisles for something I would like. I didn't want to go too extreme, but I definitely wanted a very feminine feel to go with the look.
The first thing I picked up was a pair of black, leather ankle boots. I tried them on to make sure they fit, and sure enough, they were just the right size. Next, I ended up picking out a pair of fishnet tights to wear under my skinny jeans. The majority of them wouldn't appear, but there were holes in the skinny jeans, meaning they would definitely be visible.
After that, we went to look at the graphic tees. I found a loose gothic one with a skeleton hand in the shape of a peace sign on the front, and I added it to my collection. I also ended up picking out a leather jacket to wear on top of that.
Eventually, we got to the makeup section, and I looked around for appealing products. I ended up choosing some black eyeliner, red eyeshadow, and red lipstick. When I was happy with what I got, we went to the cash register and began buying everything.
The grand total turned out to be quite expensive, but luckily for us, Mikey had our mom's credit card on his hands. Sure it would be hard to explain all the charges on her card, but we would cross that bridge when we got to it.
We walked out of the store with all the bags, and I laughed at the sheer insanity of it all. "So do you think I'll be remembered?" I asked jokingly.
"Oh for sure," Mikey replied with a little laugh at the end.
Chapter planning: