I met Henrietta and the rest of the Goth kids by their cubby outside; the air was crisp but not as crisp as morning air – it was subtly crisp, nice.

"Hey, conformist, what're you doing here?" The tallest one asked; his hair was covered in black, probably dyed, curls and he wore a white button down with a tailcoat; however, that wasn't what surprised me – what did was the fact that he carried a cane, however his weight was hardly leaned onto it. I wondered if it was prop or necessity.

"Um…" I didn't know what to say; I guess Henrietta didn't tell the others of my invitation. Should I say never mind and run back to hang out with the boys?

"I asked if she wanted to chill," Henrietta said, glaring at him. "Is that alright?"

"She?" They all gasped.

"Um, yeah, I'm a chick…" I said, awkwardly. "I don't understand what gives everyone the impression that I'm a dude."

"Pull down your hood," Henrietta said.

I did. I kept my hood down when I was inside, but always put it up outside.

"You tie your hair back, that's why," She said. "And you don't coat your face in makeup like the rest of the girls."

I shrugged, "I used to dress nice and wear makeup, but the weather here is always so cold and wet that I just never put in the effort."

"Are you sure that's the reason?" Henrietta asked.

I shrugged, again. "It doesn't matter." I put my hood back up. "Let's get going."

We walked for a little ways in a different direction than I'd ever been in until we came across a small diner. I'd never seen the diner on any maps before so I was surprised that it was even a real thing. We walked inside and got access to the long, round booths, which I'd always wanted to sit at. When the woman came over to take everyone's order, it seemed as if she knew that they'd all want coffee. When she got to me and I also said coffee, she rolled her eyes and mumbled something rude while walking away.

"You drink coffee too?" The Goth with the red streaks asked.

I nodded, "Yeah. It's one of my favorite things. I've spent a lot of time studying at Tweak Bros. the past few weeks."

The tall Goth sighed, "You know what that guy puts in his coffee, right?"

"No?" I asked. What did he even mean?

"Drugs," The kindergartener said, somberly.

"Holy shit, I knew something was up," I said. "Tweek was forced to go to some sketchy building near Kenny's house last night to pick up something."

"You hang out with Tweek?" The Red Goth asked. "That kid's a spaz."

"At least he's not a total conformist," Henrietta added.

"True," The tall Goth and kindergartener nodded.

The waitress came back with our coffee and the sugar I requested on the side and left without saying a word.

I added two sugars to my cup, stirred, and took a sip into sweet bliss.

"You know, if you want to be like us, you have to drink your coffee black," The tall Goth said.

"I'm not trying to conform," I said and took another sip, unfazed.

"Damn," Henrietta said.

It was quiet for a few minutes.

"So, the only person's name I know here is Henrietta but you all know my name," I said awkwardly.

"Pete."

"Michael."

"Firkle."

"Cool," I nodded. "So, what are your hobbies?"

"Poetry," Michael said.

"Graveyards," Pete said.

"Non-conformists," Firkle said.

I nodded, "Mmmhmm."

They seemed cool, but they also seemed like they were trying too hard to not fit in with society; while I admired their efforts and enjoyed their company, it seemed as if they had a troubled past or home life or something. I wasn't going to ask, but it just seemed a little off putting for them to be so dark, even for Goths.

We finished our coffee after a few minutes, paid our bill, and walked back to school in time for recess, which meant that I missed part of class. I hoped that they wouldn't find out and call my dad. I walked out to the playground to find Jimmy, Craig, Clyde, and Butters.

"Hey, guys," I said.

"Oh, um, hey, Em," Butters said, awkwardly.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Well, um, Wendy told us that you're a girl," He said.

"Yeah, of course I am," I said. "And who's Wendy?"

"Stan's girlfriend."

That made sense; Stan caught me while I was changing, so he must've panicked and told Wendy, thinking that I was intentionally hiding my gender from the boys.

"Oh, cool," I said. "I mean, this doesn't change anything, right?"

"I don't know, you tell me," Craig said sarcastically. "You basically lied to us so we'd be your friend, new kid."

"I didn't lie!" I said, frustrated. "I kept trying to correct you guys, but none of you would listen."

"Just go hang out with the girls," Clyde said.

"Jimmy?" I pleaded. He couldn't turn on me too.

Jimmy looked at the guys who glared at him and then looked down at the ground. "S-s-sorry, Emma."

As if it was my lucky day, the sky started to sprinkle down rain; first it was slow and then it became heavy and the snow started to slowly melt around me. I was thankful that and my hood covered up my tears. I ran off to find the Goth kids, who were the only ones who seemed to accept me.

"Hey, back so soon, new kid," Pete said, turning down his music; he'd covered his boom box with a black towel to shield it from the rain.

I didn't say anything. I just sat down with my head between my knees and cried. But, I knew, at least being with them, nothing else could go wrong for the time being. They let me be and didn't say anything and eventually the bell rang for recess to end. I sulked inside, considering to feign sick and go home but didn't want dad to worry. So, I just sucked it up and went back to Mr. Garrison's class. However, upon entering class, he gave me a surprised look and told me to go to the principal's office for skipping English, which was, ironically, the only subject I cared for.

I ended up in the principal's office with the Goth kids for skipping. I'd met Principal Victoria once in my time at South Park Elementary and it was on my first day of school; she was kind to me then however today she glared at me like I was just as bad as the rest of the Goths; but I wasn't Goth, I just wanted friends – friends who would still be my friend even if I was a girl.

"I assume you all know why I called you down," Principal Victoria said. "I've already alerted all your parents of your skipping class."

I sighed and looked down at the floor. The rest of the Goths just stared at her, as if they were used to this, as if getting in trouble was a daily thing for them.

"You four may wait in the lobby for your parents; I'd like to speak with Emma, please."

Henrietta and Michael gave me a look of mourning, but I ignored it as the four of them left.

"Now, why would you go and hang out with the Goth kids, Emma? There's so many nice girls at this school."

"They all thought I was a boy," I sighed. "I tried to correct them but they wouldn't listen. And, so I became friends with a few of the boys and then this Wendy girl told them I was a girl and now they won't talk to me anymore."

"Well, why don't you talk to Wendy? She's a nice girl, I'm sure she didn't mean you any harm. She probably just wanted to make sure the boys knew since they weren't listening to you about it."

"I don't know. Can I just go back to class?"

She sighed, "No, unfortunately, your Father is coming to get you."

"Can I go wait in the lobby with them?" I asked.

"Yeah, I suppose so," She nodded.

I went into the hall with the Goth kids.

"What's going on, Emma?" Pete asked, stressed out.

"It's nothing."

"You're lying," Henrietta said. "You were crying earlier after we got back from lunch."

"I don't have friends anymore. You were right, they all thought I was a guy and when Wendy told them I was a girl, they got weirded out or something and just left."

"That sucks," Firkle added.

"Yeah, goddamned conformists," Michael said.

"It's okay, guys," I said. "Maybe I'll try to meet this Wendy girl and maybe I'll just become friends with them or something. I mean, I am a girl; I'm supposed to hang out with other girls, right?"

Henrietta shrugged, "You do you, girl."

Father picked me up and brought me home. The car ride was silent; Principal Victoria had already called him and informed him of our conversation, so he was aware of the circumstance and probably assumed that's why I ditched school, which I didn't mind him thinking. I didn't want him to think I was friends with delinquents, because I really enjoyed hanging out with the Goth kids and didn't want him to put a damper on my only friends.

When we got home, he said he wasn't mad at me and let me go to my room as he headed back to work to finish the rest of his shift. I could tell he was disappointed, but I don't think it was directly in me. I think he was just upset to see me upset. He told me that I should still go pick up Van, which of course I told him I would. That would be an hour from now, so I played guitar until I had to walk over to get him.

During my walk to get Van, I was stopped by a sixth grader who must have ditched school early.

"Where are you going, punk?" He said, threateningly, as he hovered over me.

"To pick my brother up from school, asswipe," I said, in no mood to tango. Usually, I'd feel threatened by them, but today I didn't.

"Well, you're going to have to take a detour first," He said as he gripped my hood from the front and pulled me up to his level.

"Let me go," I demanded, unafraid.

"Sorry, can't do that." He was strong and it made me wonder what he was going to do.

"Let her go!" A voice from behind demanded. It sounded like a girl.

The sixth grader turned around, freaked, and threw me to the ground as he ran off. With Stan stood a girl a bit older than him with braces and an angered look on her face.

"Nice one, Shelly," He said to her. He then turned to me, "You alright, new kid?"

"Yeah, I guess," I said. "I've got to get to the school before Van thinks that I abandoned him."

Before I ran off, Stan said, "Wait! I didn't mean to make you lose your friends. Come over my house tonight, we need to talk about a way to fix this."

"Okay," I said in passing and ran to find my brother.