You stay home all the next day. Dirk goes to work and while you sit on the couch you can hear Bro doing his job on the computer the living room. You let the TV play in front of you but you aren't really watching. You aren't wearing your binder because you forgot to take if off last night and Bro found out so you're completely curled into the blankets. Your laptop is warm on your legs and you're staring at that screen blankly as well. The fridge opens and you glance up at Bro for a minute before returning your gaze to your laptop. It's only about two minutes since school got out, so you're confused as to why your Pesterchum is flashing at you.
EB: Hey Dave? You aren't at school today and I think I know why… um, you didn't have to run off like that I guess, I understand that you probably didn't want anyone figuring that out but it's not like I hate you or you should avoid me. We're still friends, obviously, and I'm not gonna tell anyone so… it's all cool with me, just so you know.
You don't know what to say to that so you just shut your laptop. There is now a glass of apple juice sitting next to you, you notice. You look up but Bro is already back to the living room to make more puppet porn. You stand up and walk to your room, tugging on a binder and getting dressed. You walk to the front door and grab your jacket, turning around. You walk into the living room where Bro is still at the computer.
"Bro." He glances up briefly. "I'm going to talk to John." He flashes you a grin and nods, ruffling your hair. You swat his hand away, shrugging on your coat and walking out the front door.
You're standing in front of John's door. Your mind is screaming not to knock but your hand is already rapping shortly on his door. It opens a moment later and John is there, looking faintly tired but waking up when he sees you.
"Dave—," he starts, but you interrupt him.
"It's cool." You say matter-of-factly. "I flipped my shit and that wasn't cool, but you yourself are hella cool still." John blinks.
"It's cool? You're okay, I mean? You did kind of flip and I've been really worried." You shrug.
"Yeah. It's fine. I'm fine. I just guess I was worried that… I was worried about things I didn't need to be worried about because for a minute I guess I forgot that you're different."
"Different?"
"Yeah. Um, in a good way, man. Sappy shit and all aside I guess I mean it's kind of obvious that you're not like the rest of the fuckers in this world. I told you earlier that we moved here because of my bro's job and I guess it's true that we only were able to move here because of his job but… that's really not why," he's still watching you with full attention so you continue slowly. "The reason why is something that I figure that you and the rest of the goddamn world will figure out eventually so it's probably better that I tell you now and get it over with—,"
"Dave," John interrupts. "Just say it." You take a deep breath in, deciding whether or not you really want to tell him.
"I'm trans," you say slowly.
"I… alright," John stared at you. You blink, wondering if he heard you.
"Alright? That's it?"
"Well, yeah, I guess," John replied, opening the door wider so that you would come in. "That's it, I guess. One of my other friends is trans, too, so I understand it enough. So… yeah. That's it. Alright. As for… the reason that you left so quickly earlier…" You do step in and he shuts the door behind you.
"That's all there is to it." You say firmly, and he seems to get that you don't want to talk about it because he just shrugs and asks if you want to watch a movie. When you agree and he turns around you wonder to yourself what you did to deserve John?
John decides on Con-Air, which is his favorite movie. He basically flips his shit when you tell him that you have not, in fact, seen it before. So he goes and makes popcorn and mixes things into it. You both sit on the couch and eat the whole bowl before the movie's even halfway over. When the movie does end and you say your goodbyes (and you thank John, even though he says you have nothing to thank him for) you put your coat back on and give him a short wave before making the trek back to your apartment.
When you return and Bro turns around to greet you, he doesn't even have to ask how it went because you're suppressing a grin.
"Hey, Bro." He ruffles your hair again before turning back around and you punch him in reply.
"So it went well, then," Bro said. You just nod, opening the fridge.
"Yeah. I didn't actually explain anything but I told him about… everything. Kind of. I guess he's cool with it. I'm not telling anyone else, though."
"What about your other friends?" Bro asks, still typing away. "You do have other friends, right?"
"Yes, I have other friends." Dave lied. It wasn't a complete lie though, he did meet some nice kids who could be potential friends. "I met them through John and they all seem perfectly fine to me." Dirk walked in, nodding a greeting.\
"How did you meet John?" He asks. You feel like you're on a game show. It's ridiculous.
"I met him when I went to go get food the day we moved here. I was pretty much hella lost and we talked for a while and he told me where to go to buy food and shit. We figured out that we went to the same school and on the first day he called me over and we talked. It was casual."
"Casual," Bro said, amused. "Since when do you say casual?"
"Since I became classier than you assholes!" You mutter, grabbing a cold slice of pizza and stuffing the end in your mouth, escaping to your room. You shut the door behind you and slide into the chair in front of your computer. You open it up, typing in your password and letting it load. Your Pesterchum is flashing with unread messages that you open. You check the first one and see that it's someone you used to talk to back in Texas. You weren't completely friends, but the kid didn't hate you. You close the tab, checking the next message. You don't even read it. The username, cyanideRepose, is Luke's. You feel a lump in your throat as you close the tab and shut off your computer once more. You pull out an assignment to work on instead.