Before she could blink, it was time for the first meeting. Stephanie stood in front of the mirror for the millionth time that day, a dress thrown over her shorts.

She huffed and tiptoed into her aunt-like-figure's office, peeking her head around the corner.

"Miss Bessie?"

The woman looked up from her computer, a soft smile on her face. "Yes, dear?"

The young girl twiddled the hems of the dress in her painted finger tips. "Can you help me pick out an outfit?"

The woman rose to her feet and approached the child, a slightly confused look on her face. "Well, your dress looks fine, darling. What's wrong with it?"

Stephanie sighed and bit her lip. "Do I look girly enough? I just want people to be sure that I'm a girl."

Cooing, the woman bent over to be at eyesight with the girl. "You look fine and very pretty, sweetheart. They will be sure."

Unconvinced, the girl looked down at her outfit. "I don't feel pretty enough. I'm scared, Miss Bessie."

Pulling the child into a hug, Bessie stroked the child's hair. "I know, darling. There's no need to be scared, though. And to help you see that, how about I do your makeup?" She chuckled and pulled away, pushing hair out of the girl's eyes. "It will help cover your black eye a little bit, anyways."

Stephanie nodded. "Thank you, Miss Bessie." She held the woman's hand as she was lead to the restroom. Stephanie sat down and relaxed as her makeup was applied.

"Have you been practicing painting your nails?"

Stephanie giggled. "Yeah, I've been practicing on them a lot. I even bring my nail polish to school now. I painted my nails and all my friends' nails at recess."

Bessie chuckled. "Yeah? That sounds like lots of fun." A moment passed before a thought crossed the woman's mind. "You've made a few friends now, yeah? What are they like?"

"Well, they're all really different. I have three friends at school so far." She smoothed out her dress. "The first friend I made was Trixie. She stood up for me when Gabe was being mean to me." She paused. "That's the kid I beat up last week."

"I assumed. And what about your other friends?"

"Well, Trixie has a brother named Stingy. His real name is Nenni, but everyone calls him Stingy because in 1st grade he stole everyone's crayons and the teacher told him not to be so stingy."

Bessie chuckled. "Really? He sure sounds fun to be around."

"He is!" Stephanie thought of her latest friend. "And then my other friend is named Pixel. He doesn't talk too much, but when he does, he says really smart stuff. He knows a lot about science. He told us all about Rigor Mortis when we met him."

A bit surprised, Bessie stopped applying the girl's eyeshadow for a moment. "He taught you about what now?"

Giggling, Stephanie played with her dress more. "Rigor Mortis! If I remember right it's when your body goes all stiff when you die."

Chuckling, Bessie pulled a blush brush out, applying rouge to the girl's cheeks. "Well, he sounds very smart."

The girl kicked her legs as the woman finished up the girl's makeup. "Now, go look in the mirror."

Hopping off her throne and twirling around in front of the mirror, the girl's usual jolly expression returned. "I look really pretty!" Her face fell, "just…there's one problem."

Bessie joined the young child's side, confused. "What's that, sweetheart?"

Stephanie held her finger up and ran it over the developing bump on her throat. "I don't want people to see my Adam's apple. Then they'll know I used to be a boy, no matter how pretty I am. It's embarrassing."

Pursing her lips, Bessie knelt down in front of the child. "I'll help you cover it up if you really want, Stephanie, but do understand that you don't have to hide it. You're just as much a girl as any other girl in that school, or in the world for that matter, and you having an Adam's Apple doesn't change that." She ruffled the girl's hair. "Now, are you sure you want it covered?"

Fidgeting with her dress nervously, Stephanie nodded. "Maybe later I won't feel bad covering it up, but for now I'd like to. At least until my black eye is gone. I'll have enough attention on me for that as it is."

Bessie chuckled. "That's true." She raised to her full height, leading the girl by the shoulders to her room. "Now, I believe I have some old chokers. You're free to take a few, but be careful with them."

"I will! I promise I won't break them. I'll be careful." Bessie turned around, a magenta colored choker in her hands.

"I'm not worried about you breaking them, darling. They're very replaceable." She gently wrapped the jewelry around the young girl's neck, fastening it with care. "It's you that it's irreplaceable. Be careful and if it ever feels too tight, take it off. Your safety should always come first."

Pouting a bit, Stephanie looked up at her aunt-figure. "But…what if I start feeling really bad, and I feel like everyone is looking at me as a boy?"

Bessie stared thoughtfully at the child. "Then you excuse yourself and find a place where you can be alone to breath. Promise me you'll do that." She cupped the child's face in her hands. "If you promise me anything, promise me that you will try your best to stay safe."

The girl nodded, rubbing her cheeks as Bessie released them from her grip, causing the woman to laugh. "Was I squeezing too hard?"

Stephanie just gave her a funny smile and skipped into the living room. "Hey Sportacus, is it time to go yet?"

The man sitting on the couch glanced at his phone and smiled at the girl. "It's little early, but if you're that excited we can head on there."

In response, the girl flapped her arms excitedly. "Yes, please!"

With a playful chuckle, Sportacus sprung to his feet, offering the girl his arm. She took it within the blink of an eye and started to pull the man outside.

When the group arrived at the school and found that the club was meeting in the cafeteria, they were a bit taken aback. Stephanie looked up at Mr. Simpcan curiously.

"Mr. Simpcan, why are we meeting in the cafeteria?"

The man awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Well, while we would love to meet in a classroom eventually, until we have an exact amount of members, the principal wants us to meet here. If all goes well, we'll be in our own room in no time. Until then, we're stuck here." He looked around at all of the empty tables with an awkward laugh. "But hey, we won't run out of seats!"

Stephanie giggled. "That's true!" She looked at her hands and twiddled them. "When do you think the other kids will be getting here?"

The man chuckled. "Well, you guys arrived a bit early. They won't be here for at least another half hour."

Stephanie pouted for a moment before grinning again. "Well, do you need to do anything else to prepare for the meeting?"

Grinning down at the child, the office worker nodded. "I was going to put some tablecloths on about two tables so when you guys are eating the snacks I brought for this week it won't make a huge mess." He chuckled. "And I still have to get the snacks out of the office and onto the tables, of course."

Stephanie looked up at Sportacus, pulling at his arm. "Hey, let's help Mr. Simpcan set up!" Right away, the office worker went to tell Sportacus that he didn't need to, but before he could finish his sentence, the blue-clad man flashed him a grin.

"That sounds like a great idea, Stephanie! Let's get to work!"

And with that, the three started to set the tables up so everything looked presentable, and sure enough, the time flew by and the sound of Trixie laughing as she entered the cafeteria sent Stephanie running to her.

"I'm so excited, Trixie! This is going to be really fun!" Stephanie grabbed onto the other girl's hand and raced over to the tables, leaving her friend's mothers staring.

The taller mom looked at her wife. "Hey Wanda, isn't that the little girl that suggested the LGBTQ club to begin with?"

The other glanced over at Stephanie and smiled. "Well, I don't know how many pink-haired girls are in the school, so I imagine it is."

The two women approached the other two adults, who were idly chatting away.

Wanda reached her hand out to Sportacus enthusiastically. "Hey, you must be Stephanie's father! It's so nice to finally meet you." When he took her hand and shook it, she went on. "My name is Wanda, and this is my wife, Leia. We're Trixie's moms."

Graciously, Sportacus smiled at the two. "My name's Sportacus! It's great to meet you both as well! Stephanie comes home telling me all about Trixie every day. It's so nice to meet her parents." After a moment, he glanced over at the girls who were gleefully chatting. "But Stephanie's not my daughter."

Surprisingly, the two didn't seem startled by the name. Instead, they seem preoccupied with the second fact mentioned by the blue-coded guy. Wanda glanced at her wife and back to the man. "If it's alright for me to ask…"

He gave her an understanding smile. "It's complicated. Her parents dumped her off at her uncle's. I've always been a close family friend of his, and since he's so busy, I'm usually the one driving her to things like this."

The taller woman nodded. "I had no idea the poor girl had to deal with all of that. I hope she's been adjusting well."

A fond look settled in the man's eyes. "Surprisingly, she's been adjusting wonderfully. Her parents didn't let her be herself, and they sent the poor girl to her uncle's to 'straighten her out.'" A grimace appeared on his lips but quickly vanished. "They didn't realize that her uncle would have been so supportive. They still haven't really noticed."

Wanda sighed sadly at that. "Poor kid. From what Trixie's told us, she seems like such a dear. It breaks my heart to hear she's been through so much because of her own parents."

"Me too." Sportacus said wistfully, watching the girls laugh at something together. "She seems to happy right now, despite everything."

Both of the moms nodded in agreement. "She certainly seems like such a strong-willed girl, I hope she's able to stay that way." Leia said pitifully. The group stopped talking for a minute when yet another parent and child combo entered the building. Right away, the two women approached the father and started talking to him.

After a minute of staring awkwardly Sportacus joined them. The boy ran off and started talking to the two girls, leaving the parents by the door. The man looks at Sportacus and awkwardly grins. "Ah, I'm guessing you are the parent of the pink-haired child?"

"Not parent, but guardian, yes." He reached his hand out for the man to shake. "Sportacus."

"Richard Spoilero." He looked the blue-clad man up and down with a soft grin. "I've heard you and your kiddo helped start this club."

Sportacus smiled a little wider at him. "That's true. She heard people in the office considering starting one and brought it up at the PTA meeting."

"That's awesome. It gives my son a chance to really interact with other kids. Other than Trixie, he doesn't usually talk to others."

The door clicked open again and Pixel entered the room, hurrying over to his friends. Another door click and the parents and children all gathered around the two set up tables, with adults at one and children at another, aside from Mr. Simpcan, who stood in front of the children and went through the LGBTQ acronym letter by letter, explaining the meanings to the kids.

When he was done explaining, he left the kids to their own devices with snacks on the table.

"How about we all introduce ourselves?" Stephanie suggested, eyeing the two unfamiliar girls at the opposite end of the table as her.

Trixie grinned. "Yeah, alright!" She nudged her friend in the side. "You start."

The kids went one by one telling their name and a little bit about themselves. When it came to the two little girls, one of them looked to the other nervously.

"My name is Tina. This is my sister Gina." The one with pigtails said suddenly in a soft voice. "She can't speak right now."

The mentioned girl turned to her sister and signed something. The other nodded. "She usually uses sign language. Do you guys wanna learn some?"

The kids all glanced at each other before giving the girls a smile. "Sure! That sounds fun." Stingy said suddenly.

Pixel nodded. "Sometimes I can't speak either, but I never was taught ASL. It would be cool to learn some."

Tina smiled. "I think the easiest thing would be to teach you guys how to finger spell. You can learn other signs later, but finger spelling always works."

The kids all got to work as Tina went through the alphabet, teaching the other kids graciously.

Meanwhile, Sportacus awkwardly sat while the parents had some conversation that seemed a bit mundane to him. Something about a birthday coming up in Richard's family, and he was inviting Trixie's mothers. It didn't concern him, he had to remind himself. He only looked up when the parent at the table who hadn't spoken nudged Sportacus.

He looked up at the blonde woman, who appologized and offered her hand to him. "Sorry, I don't think I've met you. I know Richard, Wanda, and Leia well enough, as our kids used to play t-ball together, but I don't recognize you at all. Your Stephanie's guardian, right?"

Sportacus nodded her hand, thankful for a distraction that didn't force him to stare at his phone. "Yes, I am. My name's Marcus, but everyone calls me Sportacus. You are miss Brenda, right?"

She seemed flattered that he knew, and something twisted in his stomach slightly.

"Well, it's a nice change to meet another single parent."

That caused Richard to look up towards Sportacus, and he felt a bit flustered with the attention centering on him.

"You're single?" Richard said confidently, a wide smile on his face. Oh no. Sportacus could feel his face heating up as he nodded.

"I am."

"That's too bad. You're too handsome to be si-"

Sportacus started coughing, silencing the other. "Sorry, there's uh, a frog in my throat." He stood up and excused himself, heading to the restroom.

Once alone, he splashed his face with cold water. He hated being flirted with, and especially when everyone else was already staring at him. He was never sure how to react to flirty talk when he wasn't interested. Distractions seemed necessary.

When he finally decided to return, he immediately noticed a pigtailed child, only slightly older than Stephanie sitting alone at a table far from the other kids. Frowning, he tiptoed over to the kids and motioned Stephanie over.

Pointing out the lonely kid to her, he grimaced. "Maybe you should go ask that little girl to join you guys. I don't know how long she's been sitting there for, but she's all alone." Stephanie nodded and skipped over to the target, sitting next to her.

Slowly, the other girl looked up at her, a bit taken aback. "Do you need something?"

Stephanie smiled brightly at her, resting her head in her hands. "You seemed lonely. I was wondering what you were doing, sitting her all alone."

The girl knit her lips into a tight line. "I'm waiting for my dad to finish work." She looked at her hands. "He's the janitor."

Humming, Stephanie gave her a small smile. "Well, there's no need to wait alone. Would you like to come sit with my friends and I?"

Curiously, the girl peeked over at the table of other children, biting her lip. "I don't know. I'm not very good at hanging out with people."

A small frown drew on Stephanie's lips. "Well, alright. If you change your mind, you can always come join us!"

As Stephanie stood to leave her be, the other girl rose as well. "I-I've changed my mind." Smiling, Stephanie turned around to face her. "I guess I could come join you."

Stephanie cheered at that and grabbed the other by the arm, excitedly pulling her over to the kid table. As she approached, the table occupants went quiet for a minute at sight of her.

Nervously, the girl glanced around before sitting next to Stephanie. All of a sudden, Trixie grinned and threw her hands into the air. "Hey Rottenella!"

Confused, the kids all glanced between the two. "It's just Ella now, actually." The other girl said very politely.

Now Trixie shared everyone's look. She smiled lopsided and explained. "Ella and I used to hang out a lot and pull pranks on the teacher and other students. I still pull pranks every once in a while," she looked over at the other girl, "but Ella stopped. She just stopped coming to school all of a sudden one day, and when she came back, she refused to do any pranks."

The new girl fiddled with the bottom of her skirt. "Well, I just matured some. That's all." She cleared her throat and glanced around the table. "So, who are all of you?"

Stephanie smiled and pointed her thumb at herself. "Well, my name is Stephanie. And this is Stingy, Pixel, Gina, and Tina." She pointed at each member individually. "And you said your name is Ella, right?" The girl nodded. "Well, we're all happy to meet you, Ella!"

The girl nodded again and looked down at her hands. "So, um…what kind of club is this, anyway?"

Trixie took over again. "Well, this is an LGBTQ club. Do you know what that means?"

Shaking her head, Ella kept her eyes glued to her lap. Trixie went through and explained each letter of the acronym, Ella nodding after each explanation.

Finally, she looked up and around the table again, taking notice of Gina, who was currently signing something to her sister. A small smile lined Ella's lips. "Oh, you know ASL, too?"

When the little girl shyly glanced at her sister and then to Ella, the older girl took that as a yes and started to fluently sign something to the other. Watching in amazement, the group all went silent until Gina started clapping happily.

"What'd you tell her?" Stephanie asked curiously.

Ella smiled brightly. "I told her that the ribbon in her is very pretty and that I liked it."

The group all smiled and continued to talk to each other after that, Tina once again going through the finger spelling alphabet for the group, this time Ella going along with her and helping correct the other kids' simple mistakes.

Suddenly, Tina furrowed her eyebrows. "Hey, Ella?"

The other girl looked up from where she was helping Stingy correct his 'k' sign. "Hm?"

"Why haven't I seen you at school before?" She glanced at Trixie and back to the other girl. "I mean, if you're not new…"

The other girl sighed. "Well, I don't usually talk in class…or out of class." She pulled her hands to her chest. "That's why I use ASL so much. I don't really have friends, and I don't like talking to teachers, so I usually stay quiet."

A pity-fueled look on her face, Stephanie gently put a hand on the taller girl's back. "Ella…you're always welcome to be our friend." She gave her a small smile. "You're really smart, and you seem really nice. No one deserves to not have friends."

The small group perked up, agreeing with their pink-haired friend.

Matter-of-factly, Ella shook her head and brought her voice back to a monotone sound. "Thanks, but…I don't need friends." She stared at them all, her eyes unwavering. "I just need my dad."

As if summoning him, a man suddenly closed the janitor's closet behind him, locking it up and slowly approaching the girl, who bounded over to him. "You haven't been waiting too long, have you, Ella?"

The girl shook her head and looped her arm through her father's. She glanced over her shoulder at the group, which all seemed occupied with practicing ASL except for Stephanie, who curiously and almost pitifully gazed after Ella. When the two caught eyes, the pink-clad girl waved softly. Ella just turned her head and ignored the small bubble in her chest.

Like always, the car ride was silent. Ella snuck a few glances towards her father, wondering to herself what he would think of her possibly joining the club. She quickly decided that asking wasn't worth it, though; ever since her other father died, her living dad had been such a stickler for her behaving and being polite and reserved, and she hated the idea of disappointing him. He was all she had, after all. She didn't have time to waste with friends; she had to work hard in school so her dad could be proud.

When the two finally made it home, they heated up tv dinners in the microwave and threw a sitcom on, the sound of a laugh track blaring in the background. As the two sat down to eat in silence like usual, her father spoke up, nearly causing her to choke in surprise.

"Who were those kids you were sitting with?"

Picking at her food nervously, she replied with a distinguished smile. "It was the LGBTQ club. They just started recently, I think."

Now her father wore a face of surprise. "They started an LGBTQ club? I'm a bit surprised."

But just like usual, the conversation was dropped and the two continued in silence. Every once in a while, the two would idly chat about their respective days at school and work, but it didn't feel right. The conversation was never warm and always was spoken as if they were neighbors or in-laws, and not daughter and father.

Ever since her father died their home life wasn't the same. It was strained and cold, and the remaining father and daughter duo rarely did things that they both longed for. Of course Ella wanted to have friends, but she felt as if it wasn't worth it. Everyone she ever felt close to, both of her fathers, either died or pushed her away. She used to have friends at school, but even they didn't know what to say and therefore didn't talk to her when she returned. There were nights she stared at the ceiling wishing she wouldn't fall asleep in fear of being happy in her dreams and only waking to the dull life she lived now.

Part of her knew that meant something was wrong. She had heard of the strange pink-haired girls home-life from the gossiping parents near her, but still the odd girl laughed and smiled at her. Ella couldn't help but feel the bitter taste of jealousy being left in her mouth as she took the last bite of her dinner. Maybe she was still rotten, to some extent. She wondered if other little girls thought such horrible things. Tossing the box away, she announced she was going to her room, leaving her father alone.

Sitting up against the back of her bed, the girl pulled her shoes off and stretched her legs out. She really did want to join the club. She couldn't remember what it felt like to be so appreciated, like she felt today. It was so refreshing and shook her out of her shell. The girl stood up and turned her cd player on, slowly starting to dance around the room.

The one part from her life before that the girl didn't lose was her love for dancing. While she didn't do it as often as she used to, she still had a natural affinity for it. She hummed along to the song and kept dancing as it ended and progressed to the next tune. Once the cd finished, she rested against the wall and smiled to herself.

She needed to ask.

Even if she wasn't allowed to join, she needed to try. Tip-toeing out of the room and back to the living room, she spotted the silhouette of her father sitting on the couch, lit up by only the lights flickering from the television.

With a deep breath, she approached the figure and stopped behind it. "Dad? Can I join the LGBTQ club, please?" When no answer came, she cleared her throat. "Please?" Her voice felt as small as a mouse as she peeked over the couch and saw that her father's eyes were sewn shut, his mouth falling agape. Sighing, she pulled a blanket out of his room and to the couch, tucking her dad in.

"He wouldn't let me join, anyway." She whispered to herself, as she quietly made her way back into her room, flopping down on her bed ungracefully. Holding her pillow close to her face, she whispered her insecurities into it starting with the one she whispered mere minutes ago, continuing on with, "they don't want me to join" and so on until sleep carried her away to a world where her other father was still alive, and everything felt better.