Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Talim's Secret
By Diana Moon Glampers
Chapter 1
F is for Freshman
Talim was asleep in her room. She was snuggled under the covers, her alarm clock only a minute away from sounding off. Her pet budgie, Alun, was in its birdcage, also asleep. It was quiet and peaceful that morning. It was at first, anyway.
Bzzt! Bzzt!
"All right!"
Talim jumped out of bed, excited to start her first day of high school. She turned to her bird, who was startled by the alarm.
"Hey there, Alun! Guess what? It's the first day of school! It's the first day of school!"
Talim jumped up and down, barely able to contain herself. She grabbed some clothes from her dresser.
"Oh Alun, I'm going to make so many friends! Maybe I can join a club. Oh! Maybe I can start a club! Wouldn't that be great, Alun? Well? Huh?"
Alun let out a cranky chirp. Talim laughed.
"Silly little birdy."
Talim gave Alun some birdseed and patted him on the head. Alun didn't like to be touched, but usually tolerated Talim. If anyone else tried to touch him, they'd usually get bitten. Once she was done, Talim left her room to take a shower.
Once Talim was done with her shower, she changed into her new clothes, clothes that she'd been saving for her first day of school. She had a cute little pair of shorts, a fine white shirt, and a comfy pair of sandals. She even decided how to do her hair for this day. She bought pink hairclips that she thought complemented her looks well. She took a few minutes to style her hair before she noticed the time.
"Oh. I should get going!"
Talim hastily ate breakfast before leaving home for her first day at Soul High.
Once Talim arrived at school, she was wowed by all of it. There were students all over the place, talking and socializing. It seemed like everyone had their own place in the world, defined by common interests and friends. Talim was giddy from excitement. She walked into the main hall. Right off the bat, Talim saw a new potential friend, a short girl wearing mostly black, with a cute flower print book bag. She walked over to the short girl and greeted her.
"Hi! My name's Talim, I'm a freshman. How are you?"
The other girl shrugged.
"Okay, I guess. I'm Amy, also a freshman. Did you get your schedule yet?" She said.
Talim shook her head.
"The staff's handing them out right in front of the office. You want me to show you?" Amy said.
"Sure, that'd be great!" Talim said.
Amy led Talim to the office. She picked up her schedule. Amy gave it a quick glance.
"Oh. Wow. We have the same gym class." She said.
Talim noticed it, gym at the very end of the day. She was a little bit worried. Talim never did like gym class. It was only for one semester though.
"Okay, Talim. You can do this. It won't be that bad." She thought.
Amy interrupted Talim's thoughts.
"Hey, you want to hang out at lunch with my brother?" She said.
"Yeah. That'd be great. Thanks!" Talim said.
"Cool. See you then." Amy said.
Talim tried not to let it show, but she was overjoyed with how her day had been going. She'd already made her first friend of the year.
Talim's day was otherwise uneventful until she reached lunch. Sure enough, Amy with waiting for her, along with her big brother. He was a tall guy with a small beard. Talim thought he was pretty cute next to his short little sister, Amy.
"That's the girl I told you about, Talim." Amy said.
Her brother smiled as Talim sat down.
"A pleasure to meet you. Name's Raphael, but you can call me Raph."
"A pleasure to meet you too. I'm Talim, but you already know that!" She said.
Raphael started to laugh. Amy sipped her milk.
"So Raph, what are you? A junior? Senior?" Talim said.
"Senior. It's my last year." He said.
"A senior? Cool!" Talim said.
"Yep. Sure is nice, getting to graduate this year. You're not getting out for a long time there, Talim. Not for a long time." Raphael said. He started to laugh. Talim laughed with him.
"He always teases me with that." Amy said.
As Talim, Raphael, and Amy ate lunch together, a fourth person joined them. It was Ivy, Raphael's girlfriend. She stood next to him and gave Talim a nasty look.
"Oh, Talim, this is my girlfriend, Ivy. We met over the summer."
Talim extended her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Ivy." She said.
Ivy gave her a fast handshake, like she wanted to spend as little time touching Talim as she could. To Ivy, the energetic freshman might as well have been made out of bugs and sludge.
"Nice to meet you, Talim." She said, quickly.
"Have a seat, if you'd like." Amy said.
Ivy started to sit down between Raphael and Talim, but her foot slipped. Her lunch tray fell and spilled macaroni and cheese all over Talim's white shirt.
"Oh! I'm so sorry. I… I'm such a clumsy girl. So sorry." Ivy said with a faint smile. She had obviously meant to do that on purpose, but Talim and Raphael were completely oblivious to this fact. Talim only grinned awkwardly.
"It's okay. I'll just wash it out. No biggie." Talim said.
She left for the women's room. Amy, Raphael, and Ivy got napkins to clean up the mess.
"I should help Talim. I really should." Ivy said.
"She'll be fine." Amy said, wiping up the cheese all over the lunch table.
"No, I really should help her. You two have this mess under control, right?" Ivy said.
Amy cringed a little. She had cheese all over her fingers.
"You could help us more." She said.
"No, we've got this. Go ahead and help her." Raphael said.
Ivy left for the women's room. Raphael, oblivious to Ivy's intentions, let out a satisfied sigh.
"That's what I like about Ivy. She's so thoughtful and compassionate." He thought.
"This cheese is fucking everywhere." Amy said.
"Quit whining." Raphael replied.
Talim had removed her shirt and was washing it in the women's room sink. She wasn't sure if the cheese stains would come out with hot water alone. She groaned and wondered if she'd have to use bleach when she got home. She started to grab more paper towels when Ivy walked in.
"Hey. Talim. I want to talk to you." Ivy said.
Talim set down her shirt. She smiled and tried to act friendly.
"Yes, Ivy?" She said.
Ivy moved in close to Talim. She backed away, only to hit the bathroom's wall. Ivy growled.
"You stay away from my boyfriend, you got that?"
Talim was nervous. This was sudden. She didn't expect any of this. She started to stare down at her feet. Ivy grabbed Talim by the chin and forced her to make eye contact.
"Do you hear me, you little freak? Am I making myself clear?" Ivy said.
"Yes." Talim said.
Ivy reached into Talim's hair and pulled out one of her pink clips. She crushed it in her hand and tossed it aside.
"You've got a shitty name, Talim. It sounds weird." Ivy said.
Talim murmured.
"It's Filipino."
Ivy ignored Talim's words and let go of her.
"Don't let me catch you near him again." She said. She sharply snapped Talim's bra strap to make her point clear.
Ivy left the restroom. Talim put her shirt back on.
"Well… I guess there's still hope. The day isn't over yet." She thought.
She left the women's room. A few people stared at the huge orange cheese stain on her shirt that she couldn't get out.
Near the end of the day, Talim came to the class she had been dreading most: physical education. It wasn't that she was bad. Talim was usually good at sports, especially ones that required her to be quick and nimble. No, the problem was that Talim was afraid of what people might find out about her.
"Talim? Hey, how's it going. What happened to you at lunch?"
It was Amy. Talim sighed and told the truth.
"Ivy told me to back off. She doesn't want me to be seen near Raphael."
"I know. I don't like her either. She treats me like a kid." Amy said.
Before they could say anything more, the gym coach, Ms. Lattrilovsky, blew her whistle and began the lecture.
"Starting tomorrow, I need everyone to start bringing your gym clothes to class."
Talim raised her hand.
"Ms. L? Ms. L?"
"Yes, Talim?"
"What if we can't bring any gym clothes?" She said.
"Then you'll stink and I'll fail you. This class isn't that hard, people. It can work wonders for your GPA. All you need to do is change into your gym clothes every day and try your best. You don't have to be good, in fact most of your probably suck. You just have to try."
Talim tried not to let her fear show. Back in middle school, they didn't make her change into gym clothes. The truth was easier to hide back then. Talim was frightened at the thought that she would have to undress in a room full of other girls who could all see her secret clearly:
Talim was a hermaphrodite.