The dorm room was silent as Ray slept. Then beeping. Tanner all but ran to their microwave to stop the beeps. Ray stirred. Tanner almost yelped and dropped his bowl from how hot the spaghettios were.

Tanner sat at his desk, eating and writing lyrics. He heard the floor creak and looked up to a very sleepy Ray still in his blanket.

“I want coffee.”

“Go to the cafe.”

“Too tired.”

“What do you want?” Tanner said as he got up.

Rays face lit up, “Caramel cappuccino with a shot of espresso!”

“You sure you need caffeine?”

“Yeessss,” He mumbled.

Tanner left to go get them coffee and tea. Ray laid back down, dozing off until Tanner pushed him.

“Aquí está tu café.”

“Huh?’

“Here is your coffee. I take it you forgot all your Spanish?”

“It’s too early for more languages.”

“Oh, well.” Tanner said handing the coffee to Ray.

Ray almost instantly started drinking his coffee. Tanner walked back over to his desk and continued to write.

“What are you writing?” Ray said as he walked over.

“A song.”

“Oh? Can I read?”

“Rather you not.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Fine!” Tanner said handing Ray the journal.

Ray read through the lyrics. He liked it a lot even if he didn’t know exactly why Tanner wrote them or what the hidden meaning was.

“What exactly happened when I moved away?” Tanner asked Ray while he was working on homework.

“It was pretty much the same but our friend group missed you. Ally was sad, but that’s probably because she had the biggest crush on you.”

“Wait, what?”

“She liked you, did you not know?”

“No. Was it obvious?”

“Yes. Very obvious,” Ray deadpanned. “I hated her so much for it.”

“Oh, well I didn't notice. I guess I was wrapped up in our relationship,” Tanner chuckled.

“Could be because you’re blind,” Ray make circle glasses with his hands.

“Shut up! You know I wear contacts.”

“Oh, but don’t you remember you’re adorable circle glasses?”

“Adorable? I just remember them being annoying.”

“Oh well.”

Tanner rolled his eyes walking over to his nightstand opening a drawer. He took out the pair of glasses Ray was talking about.

“You still have them?”

“I don’t get rid of things.”

----------

“You got glasses!”

“Yeah, I told you last week I would be seeing the doctor.”

“Sorry, I must have forgotten,” Mary giggled.

“It’s okay,” Tanner smiled.

Mary took the glasses off Tanner’s face and held them up to her own face.

“You’re blind.” She said giggling.

“Shut up!” Tanner said taking the glasses back.

“I think you look cute when you wear them.” Mary said once Tanner put his glasses back on.

“Well enjoy them now because I’ll be getting contacts in a few weeks.”

----------

“I remember when you first got them. I was so upset that you would be getting contacts because I thought that you looked so cute.” Ray said sitting back down on his bed.

“I know, but I didn’t like the way they felt and I didn’t like the way I looked. I don’t wear them anymore unless I lose or forget my contacts,” Tanner said putting the glasses on his face. “Or they start irritating my eyes.”

“Remember your old cat? The one your dad tried to wash in the sink?”

“Aw, I miss Jordan.”

“Whatever happened with him?”

----------

“Dad, where is Jordan?”

“I don’t know, I just saw him a few minutes ago.” Tanner’s dad said starting to look around for the orange cat.

Tanner and his dad looked for the cat for a few minutes before Tanner found him.

“Dad! He’s in the tree!”

Tanner’s dad got the ladder as Tanner got the treats. Shaking the box of KatSnacks™ as his dad climbed up, Jordan finally jumped down.

“Aw baby, you’re so dirty. Let’s clean you up,” Tanner cooed.

“Damn cat.”

Jordan purred and looked at Tanner’s dad as he was carried to the bathroom.

Tanner’s dad turned on the water in the sink, plugging the drain. “Come ‘ere ya bitch.”

The cat hissed as soon as his paw touched the water. He clawed and bit, scratching his dad across the face.

Blood dripped on the white tiles, where a pink stain would stay forever. Tanner’s dad grimaced and tried to force Jordan back in the water.

“Dad, stop! I’ll wash him!”

“No-” he breathed. “I’m going to give this damn cat a bath if it’s the last thing I do!”

----------

“What about your bird? Didn’t she escape?” Tanner asked Ray.

“Yeah, I miss her so much. She was such a beautiful parrot. I loved how she used to say ‘Good morning, darling’ every time she saw me.”

----------

Ariz jumped up and down on the bed squawking her own little song when Mary walked in the room. “Good morning, darling!”

“Good morning, lovely,” Mary responded.

The bird flew and landed on Mary’s head, talons getting wrapped up in hair. She did a happy wing flag and squawked.

Mary carefully walked over to her chair, setting down a plate of fruit. She grabbed a blueberry and reached up to give it to Ariz.

“Ra! Bless you.”

“No, bless you.”

“I bless you first. Ra!”

Ariz jumped down to the table, picking a few hairs off of her talons. She ate a few more blueberries and flung a strawberry halfway across the room before going to get it.

----------

“So, how did you find out you were trans? If you don't mind me asking,” Tanner said.

“Around the time you left. I at first thought it was just me hating my body but one day I was wearing this tank top that constricted my breasts and just.. It felt right with them being less noticeable. Does that make sense?”

“Kind of. Go on.”

“Well, after that I looked into it a bit and I found out that there are binders so I asked my mom for one. She was skeptical at first but I told her it was just because I didn’t like my chest causing any attention.

“We got the binder and I tried it on with a t-shirt and it just felt right. I wore it to school the next day and had some people ask but I just kind of laughed it off. I soon started asking to be called Ray because it was more masculine than my first name, Mary. When I turned 17 I went out to a pride parade and it felt amazing!

“Everyone was so accepting and I found so many amazing things. I changed my name after that to Ray Al Carmen.”

“That’s wonderful, Ray,” Tanner grinned.

----------

“Hey mom! Look at this,” Mary held her phone up.

“Is it a bra?”

“It’s a binder. It makes your boobs smaller.”

“Why would you want that?”

“I get insecure and don’t like the attention they bring. I just thought we could try it.”

“Okay.”

The binder came in a few days later. Mary tried it on and felt amazing. She took a picture and sent it to Aaliyah, her best friend. She texted back almost immediately.

Aaliyah: where are your boobs??!

Mary: I got a binder

Aaliyah: like that thing trannies wear???

Mary: What

Aaliyah: trannies wear them. people who think theyre some other sex or something

Mary: What’s wrong with that

Aaliyah: theyre just fucking stupid girl. you cant change your chromosomes

That night Mary looked into “trannies”. She didn’t see anything wrong with being a different gender. Mary wore the binder to school the next day and Aaliyah yelled, “You’re a fucking girl! Get your tits out, bitch!”

Mary did not stay friends with Aaliyah.

----------

“Wait, whatever happened with all of our friends?” Tanner asked sitting back down on his bed after realizing that he had been standing this whole time.

“Well, Ally obviously loved you but she moved too. Aaliyah stayed and tried to bully me but failed. Who knows where she is now, probably doing drugs. Mason tried to get me to date him. Leah went off to college immediately, I’m still in touch with her.

“Jamie, well he isn’t with us anymore. Life got to be too much for him. Jacob, Laney, Matthew, Lauren, and Ethan all went on with their lives. They didn’t care that I’d rather be a boy they just called me what I wanted to be called. I'm glad they did that honestly.

“It helped me get used to the pronouns that I preferred and when the rest of the school started hearing them call me different pronouns they started to also. Except for those that were transphobic like Aaliyah who were little shits to me, but I guess they just don’t believe in people being happy. Sorry for rambling.”

“Your cute when you ramble,” Tanner said without thinking.

“Wh- what did you say?” Ray said as his face started getting red.

“What? Nothing, I wonder what the girls are doing.” Tanner said as he stood up grabbing his jacket. “You coming or what?”

Ray nodded and followed after Tanner. The two boys walked to the soccer field to see if at least Charlie or Riley were there. As they walked Tanner actually looked around at the trees that he saw pass by and the sky. The sky wasn’t blue, it was more of a grey from the cool weather. It was still beautiful to Tanner. The air was chilly but there was barely any wind making it colder so he wasn’t complaining. It’s nice having a cool day without freezing wind to make it worse.

They arrived at the soccer field not finding the girls. They did find dic- Kenney dribbling the ball across the field before kicking it into the goal. He stopped to take a breath before finding the two and smirked.

“Well isn’t it the trannie and her boyfriend.”

“We’re not here to hear your snarky comments Kenney. Do you know where we can find Charlie?” Ray asked trying to get away from this dirtbag as fast as possible.

“He should be in his dorm. Why are you looking for him?”

“We just wanted to talk to her. I would like to be friend with people.” Ray said starting to walk in the direction of the girls dorm.

“You should really watch your mouth. Calling him a trannie is very disrespectful and even using the wrong pronouns hurts him. How would you feel if someone called you a female? You would probably be upset wouldn’t you? Before making up your mind on these types of things I would advise you to do some research so you don't get yourself in trouble.” Tanner said before following Ray.

They walked up to a brick building that looks like its been there for ten or so years. It had glass doors leading into a lobby/ lounge area. There were elevators on either side of the room possibly leading to the dorm area. It was a lot like the boys but cleaner… and more flowers.

“What are you two doing here?” A lady that could be assumed as the dorm advisor said to the two boys. “If you’re here to find someone we can't let you any further for safety reasons. We don't know if your here to do anything.”

Both of them nodded understanding the woman. They gave her the names of Charlie, Willow, and Riley hoping that she could have them meet them outside the dorm building.

They left the building and sat on a bench outside under a tree. Classic sitting area for a college. They sat for a while waiting for the girls. It was nice, quiet time sitting alone. Ray wanted to lay his head on Tanner’s shoulder but didn’t want to make it more cliche. So they sat until Tanner saw Charlie and Willow walk out of the building looking for them. They walked over to them and talked with them a while as they waited for Riley.

“How are you guys doing?” Ray asked.

“Pretty sweet,” Willow said while looking at Charlie.

Charlie blushed and mumbled, “It’s been good.”

“You two are so cute,” Ray cooed.

“Not as cute as you two are...” Willow mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, hey do you guys want to go out to lunch?” Willow said when Riley came out of the building.

“Yeah sure. Where?” Tanner answered.

“I know this really good Chinese place. Come on!”