Changeling - Chapter 2

I woke the next morning feeling better about myself than I had in a long time. Glee practice was today and then there was dinner the with mom and Paul tonight. I was actually looking forward to meeting him, especially the way my mom would smile and her face light up when she talked about him and his kids. I did miss my dad, but Carla helped me on that end.

School wasn't bad. I sat with Sandra as was becoming my habit, who caught me staring at Noah again. She told me that I 'had it bad' when she sat down. Sandra had a bit of a gossip network going in the school and she told me how Puck had slushied some brunette girl in the hallway and stained her white blouse. I felt really sad that Noah would do something so cruel as that.

After school was over I hurried to Glee practice. The room had those foam sound-dampening things on the walls up to about chest high. Well, chest high to people of normal height that is. Opposite the door were built in risers with desks on them and to the right was a grand piano with the same guy from the audition seated there. I'd say he was either a teacher's assistant or he was Mr. Schuester's boyfriend.

While we waited for everyone to show up, we introduced ourselves. The dark skinned girl was Mercedes, and I loved her smile. The Asian looking girl was Tina. Her stutter was a little irritating, but she was nice. The kid with the nice hair and clothes with a great tenor voice was Kurt. Artie was the one in a wheelchair, he and his mom had been in an accident that left him paralyzed. He didn't let it get him down and I stopped feeling so sorry for myself after finding that out.

I found out that the brunette girl that had glared at me during the audition was Rachel Berry, and I had started feeling sorry for her because her white blouse had a pink stain on it. I assumed that she was the one that had gotten slushied earlier and had tried to wash the stain out. But then she couldn't stop bragging about how her dads had spoiled her in the arts since birth and that stardom was her destiny. Listening to her, I could already feel my stomach turning at her hubris.

Mr. Schuester, or Mr. Schue as most of the others called him, came into the room with a small box which he sat on one of the desks. He pulled out some white gloves and some sheet music. When he handed me my gloves I asked, "Are we doing a Michael Jackson number?"

To which he answered, "No."

Too bad, 'Smooth Criminal' was a favorite of mine.

He handed out the sheet music next and I looked at it before looking up in horror and said "Please tell me we're not doing this."

Unfortunately, we were. Rockin the boat had come out back in 1950 when my grandparents were young, then remade in the 1970's. And the dance routine Mr. Schue was having us do? Seriously?! Show hands? Gag me.

When Rachel stormed out I couldn't blame her. Mr. Schue looked stunned when she left, but I had to speak up. "Mr. Schue? As much as I don't like Rachel's prima donna attitude, I have to agree with her concerns. I mean, we're supposed to be the lowest rung of the social ladder already. Doing a song like this? We'll sink like the Titanic."

The rest of the kids made noises of agreement. Even mild mannered Artie told him we needed modern music, but he wouldn't listen. Mr. Schue cut our practice early and left the room.

"Hey girl." Mercedes said. "Thanks for speaking up. I love to sing but I can't stand this old people stuff."

"Y... Y... Yeah. T... t... that s... s... s... song sucks!" Tina agreed.

"I'd rather sing Beyonce myself." I said, eveyone's smiling at that and nodding their heads. I didn't lie. But honestly? I'd rather sing songs from my all time favorite movie The Greatest Showman. It was why I picked my audition piece from it. That, and Disney movies. They have such great songs.

And yet another cab ride home with me wishing I was old enough to drive. One more year and I could get my license. My mom had even agreed I could get a Mazda MX-5 Miata for my 15th birthday. I did my homework and what reading I needed to do. I had promised mom I'd have dinner ready for when her and Paul got here.

I really didn't have an issue with Paul staying the night. My mom wouldn't have had him over before I came if she felt he wasn't good enough. That she'd been dating him for over a year was very telling. I decided to do Chicken Cordon Bleu with a side of steamed broccoli with cheese sauce. I set out a nice bottle of wine for the adults and lemonade for me. If I'd been making the dinner exclusively for them, I would have put set the candles. As it was meant to be a family dinner, I just made sure that, when I set the table, I used the linen table cloth, the real silverware, and our fine china.

Okay, maybe I was overdoing it a little bit. I just wanted Paul to feel welcome with me living here now. Okay, so I was a bit nervous. He already knew about my 'little problem' after all. I kept the dishes covered so they'd stay warm until they got home which, as it turned out, was only a half hour later.

I heard them walk in the door talking happily about something as I stood and went to meet them. Paul was a tall man, my best guess a little over 6 feet. Weight? 180 or 190 maybe?, I'm not sure since I'm not good at weight. He looked fit at least. He had wavy, dark brown hair that was styled nicely. Dark eyes that looked like they were so deep you could fall into them. With a hint of a beard to top it off and I had to admit he was sexy for someone who was around 40.

Mom introduced us and he shook my hand. He seemed sincere and I started to relax. I plated the food after they had sat down, my mom looking at me from the corner of her eye and a slight smile at the place settings. As we ate, our conversation centered around Paul and me, since him and my mom already knew each other, intimately. My being trans never entered into our discourse, just what I did and what I liked, what I wanted to do after graduation and such. I found out that Paul was a Prosecuting Attorney for the city of Lima, so I was impressed.

"Have you ever thought about becoming an attorney Kayleigh?" He asked. His voice was a warm baritone that I found very soothing. I'd love to hear him sing.

I shook my head. "I don't know, I don't like arguing really. I'm kinda leaning toward something with science or math, I'm really good at both. I thought about being a doctor, but I'm afraid of messing up and hurting someone."

Paul nodded. "I can understand being hesitant. But I think that you'd make a great attorney. Your science skills would certainly help."

I was intrigued, having no idea how science would help in a legal sense. "How so?" I asked.

"Okay, isn't a hypothesis basically an argument? You're making a supposition based on limited evidence and trying to prove, or disprove, that supposition."

Color me surprised. That description actually made sense to me. I nodded, smiling, and said, "Point well made, Counselor. I'll think about it."

I probably wouldn't do it, but I would give it some thought.

"What about your Glee Club? Didn't you have your first meeting today?" My mom asked, trying to steer the conversation away from such serious subjects.

I facepalmed.

"That bad?" Paul asked.

I sighed and said, "Mr. Schue had us singing 'Sit down you're rocking the boat'. That song is from the 1950's! I looked it up! And he had us wearing white gloves and doing show hands!" My voice rose in volume until the last part, where I was practically yelling.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"Maybe if you talked to him? Explain how dated his material is?" Mom asked.

I shook my head. "I don't think so. We tried telling him but he kept insisting we'll be a big hit. He seems to have this idea in his head of what New Directions is supposed to be and won't listen to any of our suggestions. It's like he's trying to relive his glory days."

"You could always quit." My mom suggested.

"No." I groaned. "I'll stick with it for a little while longer to see if it will improve. If not, I'll look for a community play group to join."

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Paul said, actually looking proud.

We made plans to have an extended family dinner so that I could meet his son, Daniel, his 2 daughters Kelly and Veronica, and Kelly's girlfriend, Ariel. I was already looking forward to it and said so. While my words seemed to make Paul happy, I could practically see my mother glowing with joy and trying to hold it in.

I had planned to ask if he wanted to spend the night, but now that I was at that point, I didn't feel it was appropriate. That discussion needed to be between my mom and him. He thanked me profusely for dinner and even joked that I'd make someone a good wife someday. I'm sure that they thought my reddened face was in response to his joke, but not totally. It was also due to the image of Noah that flashed through my mind when he mentioned marriage. I kicked myself because I thought I was getting over the idea of dating him.

They both left the room as I started putting the leftover's away and getting the dishes set up to put in the dishwasher. I saw my mom walk back into the kitchen surprising me a little. I guess Paul wasn't spending the night after all. However, her face was beaming like a kid on Hanukkah and she had the biggest grin on her face.

"He likes you!" She exclaimed, shaking in happiness.

"I like him too. He's not staying the night?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"He thinks it's a little too soon. He wants you to get to know him better."

"Well, points to him then, though it wouldn't have bothered me if he did decide to stay."

"I know, you've said it often enough that I'm starting to get worried about this obsession of yours with my love life."

I sighed dramatically. "I know, I have to live vicariously through you..." And then I laughed, my mom joining in and hugging me.

oooOOOooo

Friday arrived and, as usual, I was sitting at my normal table with Sandra. "... and I heard that Lisa took a spill off of the pyramid during cheerleading practice and broke her arm. Coach Sylvester is livid right now because the bases weren't paying attention and now she has to find a new flyer."

I looked at Sandra in confusion. I had no idea what a flyer was. "Flyer?"

The look I got in return made me think I'd just grown 2 heads.

"You don't know what a flyer is?" She asked me, aghast.

"Not into sports. I'm a geek, remember?"

"Flyers are the girls that get thrown up in the air and do spins and flips and stuff. They're the smallest and lightest and are able to get the best height for more stunts. They're also at the tops of the pyramids for the same reason." When she stopped, she gave me a speculative look that started making me nervous. "You know? You'd make a great flyer! Why don't you try out."

I shook my head emphatically 'no'. "Unh unh, no way! I'm not supposed to be dressing out remember?"

"Are you sure? It would help your popularity. Maybe even make you immune to any slushie attacks."

"I'm sure!" A slushie in the face would be preferable to being outed. At least in this school. I had even started wearing clothes that I either didn't care if they got ruined or would come clean in the wash. Such as no more white blouses.

"Okay, if you're sure." She stated, then continued. "I've noticed that you haven't been staring at Puck lately."

"If he's mean enough to slushie someone then he's not someone I want to get to know."

Sandra smiled.

oooOOOooo

Glee practice wasn't much better than before. Mr. Schue had the worst taste in songs, at least for the ones he wanted us to do. And the less said about his choreography choices the better. Somehow he was able to talk Rachel into coming back into the club. Now, whether that was a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen.

Don't get me wrong, Rachel had an amazing voice, and there was no doubt she was talented, but her attitude made it so that it didn't seem worth it. She had the petulant diva attitude without the laurels to back it up. I could sing anything she could, but I didn't think I was better than everyone else because of it. So, silver lining, if she had stayed gone, there would have been more solo's for the rest of us.

I had no sooner walked out of the choir room when I was accosted by the Unholy Trinity. The pretty blonde, Quinn, was in the front and the other two were flanking her. They all had a haughty expression as Quinn said. "Coach Sylvester wants to see you in her office."

Then she turned, her bodyguards moved out of the way as she started walking down the hall. The brunette gave me a fierce glare before turning and following. I watched them walking away before Quinn turned and looked shocked that I wasn't right behind her. "Aren't you coming? Coach Sylvester will be pissed if you're late."

I started to follow them, feeling like I was heading for the gallows. I had a sneaky suspicion what this was all about. I'd just have to pull the doctor's note excuse and I'd be free and clear. Besides, I knew nothing about cheerleading. I started feeling better. No crime in being wrong, is there?

I walked into Coach Sylvester's office which was filled with cheerleading trophies and exercise equipment, all of which were high end. She wore a red track suit with white piping on the sides and was mixing herself a protein shake. She was a tall, thin woman with short, blonde hair, blue eyes, and with a rather severe face that looked like it never smiled. When she did smile at me, it didn't seem natural on her.

"Have a seat." She offered, her tone seeming friendly, but still put me on the defensive. Still, she was a faculty member so I sat.

"I'll get right to it. I had an injury yesterday and I need to replace them A.S.A.P. Quinn here feels that you would be a great addition to my Cheerio's and I have to agree, you have the body for it, almost as good as the one I had at your age."

"I can't!" I cried out nervously. Dressing out with girls would not be a good thing, neither would having their hands touching certain body parts as they threw me around. I wasn't scared about the acrobatics part, I'm limber and stronger than I look from all my marital arts training.

"Of course you can. I know an athlete when I see one."

I looked around, almost in a panic. I saw Santana over my left shoulder giving me a look like she'd just eaten a lemon. I leaned over and looked at Coach Sylvester with as much of a pleading look as I could. "Coach! I can't! I'm not allowed to dress out."

Coach Sylvester leaned back in her chair and waved my comment off. "I know about your doctor's note. It says you're not allowed to dress out due to an unspecified condition. My Cherrios wear their uniforms to school every day, so the whold 'can't dress out issue is moot'."

I choked. She'd found a loophole! Now what was I going to do? Even if I wore my uniform to school, the possiblity of someone finding out increased each time we practiced stunts or whatever. I started fidgeting in my seat. Coach Sylvester's eyes were boring in to me like laser beams, making me even more nervous. She stared at me for a solid minute, although it felt like hours, before she looked up and softly told the Trio, "Get out."

They obediently filed silently out of the office, closing the door behind them. Coach Sylvester continued to stare at me and I found myself unable to look back at her. Anywhere but at her. After a short while she spoke in a more conversational tone.

"You know, I used to interrogate terrorists for the Marines at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I know when someone is hiding something Kayleigh."

I suddenly felt all color drain from my face and felt cold all over. I started shaking, my heart racing as I realized I was on the edge of the precipice. I was a hairs breadth away from being outed. "Why can't you dress out Kayleigh? If you don't tell me why you can't join my Cheerio's, I'll have you dressing out in the girls locker room and playing dodge ball with the rest of the pathetic losers that infest this school."

I opened and closed my mouth, unable to get any sounds to come out. I was scared. Coach Sylvester sighed heavily. It could have been a fake sigh, but I was in no place to be certain.

"Very well." She said. "I'll contact Figgins and have your schedule changed. You'll have PE Monday through Friday from now on during 5th period."

NO! That would completely ruin my schedule! "Please, Coach Sylvester, don't make me go to PE!"

"It's done. I'll see you Monday Tinker Bell."

That was it. I was broken. If I joined the Cheerio's, I'd only lose my study hall time. If I didn't, my entire schedule would get changed and I had on idea how that would end up affecting me or my grades. I could talk to my mom, or, better yet, Paul, but that could open a whole can of worms that I wasn't prepared to deal with. Carla had been saying that I should just be myself and that I was protected by Ohio law, but she wasn't the one having to deal with all the high school drama.

"If... If I tell you... do you promise to keep it a secret?" Coach Sylvester leaned forward and put her elbows on her desk, her hands clasped together and laying on the desk as well.

"Of course." She said in a magnanimous manner. Happy now that she seemed to be getting her way.

Bitch! I thought, hating her for forcing me to out myself. I gathered my courage and what remained of my dignity and confessed. "I'm... I'm a... boy."

I said it! I'd admitted that I was a boy to someone other than my mom or psychiatrist. There was no gasp of surprise or shock. No exclamations of disgust or horror. The quiet unnerved me more that if she'd screamed at me to get out of her office, so I looked up at her to see that she was simply looking at me in mild surprise. Okay...

"I admit I suspected. I've run into cases like yours when I worked as an assistant to a world famous gender reassignment surgeon. I don't care if you're a girl, a boy, or something in between. My Cheerio's wear their uniforms to school to represent the well deserved honor of my national championship team. I'll have Quinn, Santana, and Brittany work with you on the routines to get you up to speed A.S.A.P, along with exercises to get you more flexible."

Well, I'd already confessed to my biggest secret, might as well go for the full monty. "Uh, Coach Sylvester? I'm already pretty flexible. I do Yoga, and I'm a black sash in Kung Fu. I also took a couple of years of gymnastics at my last school in 7th and 8th grade."

I'd swear I saw her eyes gleam under her brows. "Good! Then Quinn will have you ready sooner than I expected. Welcome to the Cheerio's! You'll begin wearing your uniform to school when you have an actual position on the team."

"QUINN!" She yelled, making me wish I had time to cover my ears. The office door opened almost as if Quinn had her hand on the door knob.

"Yes Coach Sylvester?"

"Get our newest recruit a uniform. You three will be working with her starting on Monday to teach her the routines. Dismissed!"

Quinn looked at me and said "C'mon, we'll get you set."

Brittany was the only one that looked somewhat happy about my now being a Cheerio. Quinn seemed indifferent, and Santana only looked a little less like she'd just eaten a raw lemon. Me? I probably looked the way I felt, resigned.

oooOOOooo

I was dressed in my Cheerio's uniform, hiding behind the hall closet door when my mom came in.

"Mom?"

"Here Honey, I just walked in the door."

"Um, mom, something happened at school today."

"What happened? Are you okay? Nobody hurt you did they?" I could hear her voice getting closer.

"No. but..." I hesitated and then stepped back, shutting the closet door, letting my mom see me completely. I had looked at myself in the mirror and, oddly enough, liked what I saw. I felt a sense of pride I hadn't felt in a long time. I was a trans girl and I was a cheerleader!

My mom dropped the bag of takeout on the floor and her hands flew up to cover her mouth as she squealed, her eyebrows now fully raised in surprise. She stated bouncing in place as she looked at me.

"Oh My God! You look beautiful Sweetheart! My little girl is a cheerleader!" The pitch of her voice rose until it was almost shrill toward the end. She grabbed my hands in hers and started dancing around, spinning me and forcing me to dance with her. It didn't take much. I was surprised at how happy I felt. I wondered what Carla would say when I told her next Saturday.

We sat down and ate takeout while I explained what happened. My mom got pissed off when I told her how Coach Sylvester basically blackmailed me into joining the Cheerios, but I was able to dissuade her from assaulting the school tomorrow and kicking down the front gates as it were. I was finally coming to terms with being trans. I decided to steal some lines from one of my dad's favorite movies, his hero being Clint Eastwood, Heartbreak Ridge. It was all a case of mind over matter... I no longer minded because they no longer mattered.

I was putting away the leftovers when my mom spoke to me again.

"Sweetie? Remember that I have that new pool service guy coming over tomorrow. He can only do it on the weekends and I have a surgery scheduled."

"What happened to Mr. Jorgenson?"

"He retired."

"Oh, I'm going to miss him." I'd met Mr. Jorgenson earlier in the summer. I hadn't talked to him much, but he'd been a very down to earth person and very easy to talk to. He usually came by on Tuesdays, so when I started school I didn't see him anymore. I hoped this new pool company did as good a job as he had.

"I'll practice in the music room instead of my studio then."

"Sounds good Sweetheart!"

As a surprise for me when I moved in, before my dad was killed that is, my mom had turned our basement into a recording studio with very high end equipment. I'd go down there and do covers of some of my favorite songs, especially the ones that were sung by male vocalists. It didn't cost much to post it to YouTube, less than 25 cents per song. My personal account that my allowance was deposited into was well over $2500 dollars by now. That's a lot of songs I could do *grin*.

The music room had a grand piano as opposed to the upright one I had in my studio. But my mom let me play it whenever I wanted. Sometimes we'd play duets or I'd play the lower registers while my mom played the upper. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday's were my days to practice my forms, Friday's reserved for my weapons practice. I didn't really want to hurt anyone very badly, only enough to keep them from hurting me. So while I had to learn weapons such as the Jian, a double edged straight sword, I preferred the bo staff. I was less likely to cause serious injury with a stick.

By the time I was done, I was covered in sweat and ready to take a shower before crawling into bed. I sang When I'm gone by Anna Kendrick in the shower. I really needed to practice doing the cups part of it instead of just slapping my thighs in time to it. I crawled into bed and, for the first time since my dad had died, fell into a deep, restful sleep.

oooOOOooo

I know I dreamed last night, but I couldn't remember it. All I remembered were just vague feelings of unease. I don't know why, overall I had a pretty good day yesterday. Other than being blackmailed that is, but even that turned out to be alright. I showered again using my favorite honey and wildflower body wash before getting dressed in my normal, comfortable, lounge-around-the-house clothing.

That consisted of an old tee shirt with some holes in it that had a beam of light striking a pyramid representing a prism, which ended up emitting a rainbow. My mom had gotten it at a Pink Floyd concert when she was much younger. I wore a sports bra under it, but only because the pool guy was supposed to be coming over and I didn't want to be showing any headlights if you know what I mean. I decided to wear my hair loose today. It was still a little wavy, even after I had brushed it out. I had on a pair of red jogging shorts, panties of course, and, as usual, I was barefoot.

I ate a quick breakfast before moving to the music room. I had been practicing my scales to limber up my fingers before starting in on Let it Go from the movie Frozen. I had closed my eyes as I sang with abandon, totally getting into the music. The song had a very personal meaning for me since I interpreted it for my situation. I called it my 'coming out song' before I switched it to This is Me.

"You have an amazing voice." An unexpected male voice sounded right next to me.

"EEEPPPPPP!" I shrieked, jumping away from the voice, tripping over the piano bench and landing on my butt next to it. Breathing hard from the fright I'd just gotten, I looked up to see Puck standing next to the duet bench chuckling to himself. He was wearing a pair of cut off jean shorts and tennis shoes, nothing else. Well, a nipple ring, but that was actually a turn off of mine. But the rest of him made up for it. He was toned. Not ripped like the men I preferred to look at, but still.

"Ass! You scared the shit out of me!"

"Wow! Such language coming from that pretty mouth of yours. I'm getting turned on." He said with a lascivious smile.

"Yeah? Well, keep it in your pants, I'm not interested." Well, not anymore. I don't care how good looking you are, if your personality sucked, meaning you didn't treat others very well, I didn't want to have anything to do with you.

"No? Then why'd you bump into me on the first day of school?" He said, still grinning that grin.

"I didn't bump into you, you bumped into me. And you didn't even apologize, instead you talked down to me and made it my fault."

"Well, yeah." Noah said simply, as if such was the norm. I sighed disgustedly.

"What are you doing in my house?" I asked him sharply.

"This is your house?"

"Technically, it's my mothers, but she's at work right now. And you didn't answer my question."

"I'm here to clean your pool, and anything else you might need... cleaned out." He said as he leered at me.

"GAH! Okay, go clean the pool!" He opened his mouth to say something else, probably something crude again, so I interrupted him. "ONLY the pool!"

Yeah, he truly was a man-whore. He smirked at me, but he turned and went out the back door to our pool. I wasn't going to tell my mom what just occurred because it could get him in trouble or fired and I didn't need the trouble at school. I sat back down on the duet bench and tried to stop myself from shaking. Most of it was from the adrenaline from being scared, but some of it was seeing Noah without his shirt on. And just when I thought I was done crushing on him, I had to start back at square one.

It wasn't easy, but I only allowed myself 3 peeks at him while he worked. I decided to play nice and, when lunch time came I made him a chicken salad sandwich and a glass of lemonade. I took my lunch out with his and set it on the patio table. He seemed a little surprised when I called him over to eat.

"I'm sorry I was sharp with you earlier. You just scared me."

"I didn't mean to, but I was right."

"About what?" I asked as I took a bite of my sandwich.

"That you have a beautiful voice, and that you're pretty."

Okay, cue the blush. I couldn't look at him, my crush having returned with a vengeance. He was probably only flirting with me to be able to sleep with me. I could imagine his surprise if he succeeded and found more than what he was looking for.

"Thank you." I said, barely above a whisper.

He laughed. "Are you sure I can't interest you in..." He started saying.

"NO! NOT INTERESTED!" I said yelled. I wasn't sure if I even convinced myself. That made him laugh even harder. After he ate, he gave me a very serious look but turned and started working again without saying anything. Not even a lustful glance.

I sighed in relief as I stood and gathered the dishes. I kept glancing at him, Noah being worth some glances. I did my best to regain control by reminding myself of his cruelty and what Sandra had told me.

oooOOOooo

I'd decided on Shepard's pie for supper, so I made sure that I took the ground beef out of the freezer. I could take leftovers to school for lunch and heat them up in one of the microwaves there. My mom came in as I was putting it back into the oven for the cheese to melt. I had turned the oven off, letting the residual heat melt it.

"When are you going out with Paul again mom?" I asked, taking a bite of my food.

"I'm thinking this Friday if that's okay?"

"I have no problem with it."

We ate for a little bit and I started thinking about what to do in order to get over my crush, again.

"What's bothering you Kayleigh?" My mom asked, probably because I'd started playing with my food, which I haven't done since I was 3. Unless something was bothering me, like now.

"The pool guy you hired?"

"Yeah. He wasn't mean to you or anything was he?" Her expression saying he'd better not have.

"Um no. It was just the guy that accidentally bumped into me and pushed me into my locker."

"Did he apologize?"

"No. I was singing Let it Go and I didn't hear him come in. He complimented my voice and scared me. When I brought up the bump, he shrugged it off as if it were the normal course of events."

"Rude. Want me to talk to him? Fire him?"

"No! It could cause me more problems at school."

Mom looked at me and then asked "What else Sweetheart?"

I sighed. Somehow she always knew when I was keeping something from her.

"I kinda sorta have a crush on him. I had one before, but I was able to get over it. Then I saw him with his shirt off today and it came back 110%."

My mom smiled. "Does he like you?" She asked.

Looking down at my plate, trying to hide my blush, I mumbled, "Maybe. He might have... flirted with me."

My moms squeal was very high pitched.

"Did he ask you out?" She asked excitedly.

"No! And even if he does, I'm not going to accept."

"Why not?" She asked, incredulous that I'd refuse to date.

"Mom, he's cruel, a bully. Remember the girl I told you about? The brunette that's a prima donna?"

"The one who thinks she all that?"

"Yeah. He's the one that slushied her in the hallway. Sandra told me about it during lunch and when Rachel showed up for practice, there was a red stain on her blouse. I may not like her, but even she doesn't deserve that"

Now my mom looked pissed. Angry was one thing, pissed another. Danger signal number 1.

"And how often does this happen at school?" She asked, her tone low and even. Danger signal number 2. We were closing in on Defcon 1.

I didn't want to say anymore, but I'd rather the entire school be mad at me than my mother.

"According to Sandra, quite often."

"I'm going to go talk to the principle tomorrow."

"Mom, no! Please! If people find out they'll hate me. I'm just starting to make friends, PLEASE!" I begged.

She looked at me steadily, not blinking, for a while and then took a deep breath, slowly releasing it. Her face softened.

"Okay, but if you get hurt, all bets are off. I'll sue them so bad that they'll have to tear the school down to sell off the bricks in order to pay for the damages."

I breathed a little easier. My mom could be terrifying when she wanted to be. Then she jerked the rug out from under me. "But I'm firing that pool boy."

"But mom!"

"Don't 'but' me! I will not have a bully in my employ or in my house!"

Well... shit!

oooOOOooo

Sunday was my free day, meaning that I did pretty much whatever I wanted to do. I jogged my normal 3 miles and then practiced all my forms before doing the ones for my 2nd degree sash. That entailed weapons training.

I had to show proficiency in 4 weapons. I had naturally picked the staff, the spear, the darts and the butterfly swords. Afterwards, I took a shower to clean off and then hit the pool. It was still warm outside and having our pool in a glassed-in enclosure helped keep it that way. Mom said that it was only during the coldest weather that we'd have to turn on the heat for the pool, the cold would seep into the water otherwise.

I popped some popcorn and we sat and watched a couple of movies that evening. We both felt the tugs on our heartstrings during The Lake House. After, I took another shower and set out my clothes for the next day. As usual, I chose to wear jeans, a white tee shirt with a picture of Pink on the front, and a pair of sandals. My gaff was included, naturally. Hoping for a better day Monday, I fell asleep.

A/N: So now Sue knows about Kayleigh's little secret. Will she keep it? Or will she use it to further blackmail Kayleigh? We know how Sue is in the show, so it could go either way depending on how she feels about trans people. She does have a soft heart for certain types of individuals.

The original iteration of this story featured a girl who was gay and was going to be shipped with Quinn, but I already have two stories with female protagonists.