iTransfer Student

Monday morning at Ridgeway was interesting, to say the least. What had started out as a fairly normal day got rather curious just before lunch. During Spanish class, what Senora Moya asked Melanie came across as rather strange indeed.

"Senorita Puckett…"

Melanie couldn't help but blush whenever she was spoken to in class. It felt weird. It felt like she was being lectured by a tanned, girly version of Uncle Freddie. She knew that her teacher had just caught her staring at Bridget again. She couldn't help it. Bridget looked exceptionally adorable today.

Senora Moya, knowing all too well the feelings swimming through Melanie's head, purposely changed course.

"Senorita Xi?"

Bridget blushed.

The pretty woman, originally from South America, spoke to the Asian girl in English.

"Tell the class something about yourself, en Espanol…"

Bridget blushed. She was shy by nature, except around those closest to her. Her voice came out a hesitant whisper.

"Um… uh… um… me gustan las chicas?"

Bridget saw her teacher smirk and her girlfriend flush beet red. Melanie was beyond embarrassed.

MOMENTS LATER, DURING INDEPENDENT STUDY TIME…

Melanie whispered to her, lecturing her in that loving way she usually did.

"Of anything you could've said… you had to say 'I like the girls'?"

Bridget blushed.

"I'm sorry… it was the only thing in my head…"

Melanie couldn't believe it.

"The only thing in your head was 'Me gustan las chicas'?"

Bridget couldn't help herself. She giggled.

"Sorry, honey…"

Melanie knew she couldn't stay angry. That face made it impossible.

"It's okay… I just… nevermind…"

The girls' fingers tangled together between their desks. Nobody was paying attention anyway.

ELSEWHERE IN RIDGEWAY HIGH…

Her schedule said that she belonged in English class, but Ashley Puckett had decided that it was better to lounge around in Megan Marx's arms in the student union. Normally, it would've taken a bit of work to sneak into the union, but, being a twin, Ashley had simply 'borrowed' her sister's ID. The fact that it was without the little nerd's knowledge was immaterial.

She tried to play the hard-ass, much like her Mama always had, but the truth was that Ashley Grace Puckett – the light of Megan Marx's life – was a soft little daffodil when you really got down to it.

"Megan, I'm not arguing with you anymore…"

The champion fighter held the pretty blonde close, not caring that they were in school. She loved Ashley more than she could put into words. She found herself fighting a smile.

"C'mon, Kid… it's no big thing, but I just think it's weird…"

"It's not weird, she's pregnant…"

"I know… but still…

Ashley knew she was getting nowhere. Megan wouldn't give an inch, it wasn't in her nature. Ashley tried to laugh it off.

"Come on, Champ…"

Megan tickled the back of Ashley's neck. They had to have a little bit of fun. She smiled.

"Alright… Maybe I overreacted a bit…"

"Ya think?"

Ashley laughed. Megan was having a hard time with Shelby being pregnant. She was the center of her parents' collective world for sixteen years and now they had to go and have another kid, completely throwing the family dynamic out of whack. It wasn't that Megan was jealous of her as-yet-unborn sibling, she just questioned her place in the hierarchy of her family. This was where Ashley came in. She tried to hold Megan's hand throughout the whole ordeal, but she sometimes thought that running headfirst into the wall would've been easier. Ashley returned to their shared cheese pizza.

"Ya know, Sweety…"

Megan shot her a look.

"We're in school!"

"Yeah…like they don't already know we're kinda queer…"

Megan playfully slapped her girlfriend on the hand. That word had always bothered her, despite the somewhat empowering, self-identifying way her own community used it.

"Ash…"

"… What I was saying was why don't we go out this weekend – take the nerds with us – and just unwind…"

Ashley Puckett's goal was two-fold. She wanted time with her sister for starters, and anything that she could do to keep Megan's mind off of her upcoming title defense, the better. She truly was a daffodil.

Megan's hand dropped into Ashley's lap, out of view.

"That's cool… I know I've been difficult to live with lately…"

Ashley brushed a strand of red hair away from Megan's face.

"Stop… you know I'm used to it by now…"

Megan smirked. Only her girlfriend could tell her she loved her and that she was being stupid in the very same breath. Her life was good.

AFTER SCHOOL…

Bridget and Melanie filed quietly into what was typically their AP English classroom and slid into seats at the back of the room. They were among friends here.

Melanie noticed that there was a new girl here, clinging to Miss Merrow's hip, awkward and shy. She knew that she wasn't the shy, awkward type, but it was the awkward shyness that came with being the new kid in school. She had heard the hallway rumors. All she knew about this new chick was that she had just moved here from Vancouver and that she had lunch the same time she and Bridget did.

"Everyone, this is Angel… She just moved here from Vancouver…"

The pretty new girl clearly had a thing for the color black. If one were shooting for a particular style here, the girl called Angel looked like anything but. She was most definitely a goth.

The new girl surveyed the room, looking for an empty chair. She found none, until Bridget offered her a seat at the back table, where she and Melanie sat. Miss Merrow began talking to the group. This was the group's typical meeting – directly after school on Mondays.

"So… anyone have any news they want to share since last time?"

The voice that spoke up wasn't a student's. It was the voice of Ridgeway's Spanish teacher, who, coincidentally, had been Miss Merrow's partner for the past two decades. The gorgeous South American woman spoke with a hint of laughter in her voice, as though what she had to share was private, but the most adorable thing in the world.

"I asked my kids to share something about themselves in class today… and one of my students said that they liked the girls…"

Amid the cacophony of 'Awws', the two adults in the room shared a knowing look. Ashley Puckett secretly thought it was sweet, though she told Megan she thought she was going to hurl.

In the back of the classroom, Bridget Xi blushed. Melanie didn't mind so much anymore. Everyone here already knew, besides which, she'd made a new friend.