As if in the blink of an eye, Thanksgiving recess has already arrived. Today is Thursday, November 22nd, and I'm preparing to go back to Beach City to visit my family. A lot has happened up to this point. A while back, Professor Hillenburg gave me and the rest of the class a big assignment on writing out the history of our family or whatever else we have in mind. He wants us to write our assignment out in a genre except non-fiction. After all, he wants to see us use our imaginations when we tell our stories. Oh, and it's due at the end of the year as a final exam of sorts. I've been working on this assignment alongside other smaller assignments for a while now. I'm not entirely sure I'm happy with these ideas I came up with for this big assignment, though. I mean, shape-shifting aliens with hard light bodies that all take on feminine forms? Physical fusions between two or more said aliens? They sound neat on paper, but I don't know if any publisher would want to touch this thing after I presented it to them. Oh well, at least I'll only have to wait until the 26th to start enrolling for the spring semester. Plus, regular classes end on December 9th, so I've only got about two weeks left.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Classes have been going great so far... mostly. I've been struggling for a bit with my Introduction to Linguistic Theory class due to failing at least a couple quizzes. I'd tried so hard to replicate my success from high school, and I hadn't realized until then that it's harder to maintain grades in college than in high school. I might still get a passing grade in that class, so I will have to keep studying to the best of my ability until the end of the semester. Final exams are so gonna get their asses kicked.

There's also some news I need to bring up regarding Van, and unfortunately it's not good. His colon cancer has come back, and this time it's with a powerful vengeance. From what Van has told me, his cancer is at Stage 3C. It's spread past the walls of his colon and into other nearby organs, and it's also been found on five nearby lymph nodes. I'm not sure what we're going to do. I had to look up what his survival odds were a while back. He only has a 45% chance of survival. I don't like those odds. I doubt Maya would like those odds, either, especially since this isn't the first time she's had someone close to her die from cancer. I'm not sure how badly the rest of the family is taking it, and I don't think it would be a good idea to talk about it right now. We have to hope that Van pulls through somehow.

Right now, we need to focus on the present. Shortly before Thanksgiving recess, Quilene and I decided to visit each other's families for Thanksgiving. Quilene seems really excited about it, too. All those phone calls between her and Jonah must have really helped her get through the semester. First things first, we'll be visiting my family back in Beach City.

Quilene helps me pack my clothes and other necessities into my luggage while TikTok videos auto-play on our swivel TV in the background. Once again, I cant help but blush slightly around her. I know she'd never be attracted to the likes of me, but that's okay. I'm just happy to have her as a friend and maybe a future sister-in-law. Besides, I'm already happily in a relationship with someone special back home: April. I'd never forgive myself if I were to go behind her back.

"Hey, Quilene, thanks for helping me pack up," I tell her with a smile. "I appreciate it."

"No problem, Hope," she replies. "April's a very lucky girl to have you."

I blush, this time more intensely. "She sure is. So are you nervous at all about meeting my family for Thanksgiving?"

"Maybe a little bit. They all seem like nice people. I'm just worried about what Jonah will think of me."

I frown and hesitate. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I know Jonah thinks the world of me, and I think the same of him. It's just that if we decide it's time to have our first time, I'm worried that..."

I net my brows in further confusion. "That what?"

"That... well..." Quilene looks down to the ground, seemingly almost ashamed to even look up at me. "He's gonna see that I don't have much of a vagina."

I look at her, flabbergasted. "What are you saying?"

"Well, I'm not sure how else I can say this, but..." Quilene leaves in a dramatic pause. "...I'm intersex."

I'm not sure how to react to this. So what if she's intersex? That doesn't make her any different from any other woman on this planet. It shouldn't.

"Uh... okay," I finally respond.

"Y-You're not upset, are you?" Quilene asks with a falter.

I gasp in shock. "No, of course not! I just... I wasn't sure how to react without offending you, that's all. It shouldn't matter if you're intersex. You are just that: you."

"I mean, normally, it wouldn't matter in any other situation... except I've never actually dated anyone before. I was worried that if a potential partner saw what I actually looked like naked... that they would think of me as some sort of freak and then leave me."

My mouth is left wide open the whole time. "Is that why...?"

"Uh-huh. I actually have what's called CAIS or complete androgen insensitivity syndrome."

Something clicks in my brain. "I think I read up on that years ago on Wikipedia. It said that those with CAIS were more likely to experience dry eye syndrome and photophobia. Is that why most of your classes are at night?"

Quilene just nods. "Yep. It gives my eyes some reprieve from having to deal with all the daylight."

"I figured. Thanks for telling me about all this. I must have helped you unload a huge weight off your shoulders."

"You certainly did. I don't know when I can tell Jonah, though. What am I going to do?"

"I'll help you figure something out."

It takes us almost two hours to get from Rutgers to Beach City. It's so good to be home right now. We manage to pass by all the familiar spots: Fish Stew Pizza, The Big Donut, Beach Citywalk Fries, The Crab Shack, and even the Funland Arcade. Eventually, we make it to our destination at the beach house. I park my car alongside Jonah's in the driveway. I guess Jonah had the same idea about coming here for Thanksgiving. Can't say I really blame him, though. The first thing I do once Quilene and I make it to the front door is knock. Quilene and I wait for about thirty seconds before someone opens up. It's Jonah.

My face lights up upon seeing him. "Jonah! It's so glad to see you again!"

His face does the same. "You too, Hope. I see you've brought Quilene here with you."

I nod with a smile. "Yeah, she actually wanted to come with and meet you in person. We're planning to meet up with her family after this."

"Cool. Hey, do you wanna come in real quick? Mom's got some big news to share with us."

I suddenly get this worrisome feeling in the pit of my stomach. "What kind of news?"

"Nothing too serious like what's going on with Van, but it's big nonetheless."

Quilene and I follow him inside, wondering to ourselves just what Mom's big news could be.