Another band appears on stage, and Jamie can’t take it anymore. Why can’t she just have one beer? It’ll be the only one, she promises.

She gets up from the table that her brothers were at and heads toward the bar. It’s a crowded night. Actually, in all her years living in Dilly, Jamie’s not sure she’s ever seen so many people in the no-name bar.

Jamie sits down at the counter and waits to be helped. The bartender catches her eye. A tall, lengthy man with round glasses. He looks like a hipster, Jamie thought. She wasn’t used to seeing that type around Dilly. The world really is changing, she acknowledges.

“What can I get you?” The man asks as he wipes down a glass. It’s a busy night, and as the only person manning the bar, he didn’t have much time to chat. Jamie couldn’t help but notice how the shirt was two sizes too big, and yet still couldn’t hide the defined muscles in his arms.

“Just a beer.” Jamie answers causally. The bartender nods.

The bartender grabs a beer from the mini-fridge underneath the counter top, but is interrupted when a larger man comes up to the counter calling out his name.

“Casey! Did you- did you really break up with-” Casey gives one stern glare at the guy and it shuts him up. He hands Jamie’s beer over to the man in hopes of shutting him up for good. Jamie wants to point out that it was her beer, but doesn’t want to start anything. She wasn’t even supposed to be having beer. If Marty found out… she’d have an aneurysm.

“Look, it’s fine. He was a dick anyway. Not even that fun to hang out with… tell you what, let’s go out tomorrow. Blow off some steam in the city.” The man suggests. The bartender, Casey, only shakes his head.

Jamie patiently waits for Casey to notice that he’s forgotten about her beer. Casey isn’t going to remember.

“I’ve… got plans.” Casey tells his friend. It’s obviously a lie, but the friend doesn’t argue. Jamie tries to get the bartender’s attention again. She tries waving discretely to pull his eyes over to his direction, but it’s too late. Casey the bartender is already serving another customer.

“That was my beer,” Jamie mutters. She doesn’t mean for anyone to hear, but the guy who stole the beer in the first place must have keen ears. He manages to hear her even over all this noise.

“Sorry about that… he’s pretty forgetful when he’s flustered over pretty ladies.” His friend says. Jamie scrunches her eyebrows. Maybe Casey the bartender isn’t gay? No, because she just clearly heard them talking about a break-up with another man. So maybe bi then?

Why does she care anyway? Okay, so maybe Casey the bartender was a little hot… but Jamie wasn’t about to throw herself at him. He might clearly be dressed as a hipster, but that didn’t mean he would be down for… Jamie stops that thought before it can even fully manifest. What is wrong with her? All she wanted was a beer!

“Hey, Casey! You forgot about the prettiest Shawford in all of Dilly!” The man turns to face Jamie with a hap-hazard smile. “Not to diss your mama or anything,” he adds. Jamie rolls her eyes. She was getting uncomfortable.

“Sorry about my friend,” Casey glances angrily at the man sitting next to Jamie. “He doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.” He pours the beer into a glass and slides it over the counter-top.

“On the house.” Casey tells her with an endearing smile. Jamie smiles shyly. Was… was he hitting on her? If the guy next to her knew she was a Shawford then they definitely knew she was trans.

The Shawfords were famous for four generations of all male children. Not a single female in almost fifteen kids over a span of eighty years. Dilly folklore joked that it was some kind of curse. But then, here Jamie sat; a true Shawford girl.

“What’s your name?” Casey asks before adding, “besides Shawford, that is.” The more Casey spoke, the more interested Jamie became.

“Jamie. Jamie Shawford.” She smiles her best smile. A weapon in an arsenal of expressions. Jamie hasn’t had a date in over a month… and it’s been even longer since her last relationship. Dilly wasn’t really the place to go boyfriend hunting though. She doubted Casey the no-name bartender would be interested in her.

“Hey… I get off in about twenty minutes. Are you free tonight?” Casey lowers his voice to seem a little sexier. Jamie thinks about it. Critically. If he knows she’s a Shawford, then he knows. But on the off chance that this dudes an out-of-towner, or worse, a city-dweller, he doesn’t know. Jamie can’t afford to be reckless. Not in Dilly. Not at home.

“It's just- it’s not a great time.” Jamie answers. Why was she even considering this? This is Dilly, not the city. She can’t just pick up a guy and hope he’s on board. People in this town talk. And they’d all love a juicy tidbit of gossip from the local bartender.

“Wait, wait, wait- do you not remember me?” Casey asks, astounded. He fills three shots and hands them over to another customer. He comes back around to face Jamie. She is really thinking about it, but… not bells are ringing.

“It’s Casey. Casey Dylan from highschool? I had the biggest crush on you, you know? I thought everyone knew,” He says easily. Jamie raises her eyebrows. Crush? In highschool? But she was still in the closet back then.

Casey seemed to notice this discrepancy, and fought to back peddle his words.

“Not that I knew you were a girl or anything… I mean, I suspected, but I never said anything to anyone I swear.” He pauses, considering his words. He didn’t seem to be the least bit embarrassed about the crush thing. Jamie smiles.

“Yeah, I think I remember. You sat in front of me in English, right?” Her eyebrows knit together as she tries to remember more. She can’t. Casey Dylan had a very small presence in highschool. She doubted anyone knew that he had a crush on Jamie.

“Yeah, and behind you in chemistry.” He says. “So… er, want to see my place?” Casey wasn’t embarrassed about the boyhood crush, but he definitely was embarrassed about this. Jamie considers it for a moment.

She weighs her options. Casey knows. So there’s no need for avoidance, or an awkward conversation about gender. But on the other side, all of her brothers are here, watching. Her eyes drift over to their table.

The Shawford boys have been trying to keep their cool since they noticed Casey Dylan trying to make a move. At any moment one of them might just lose it. Jamie was, of course, their only sister. Andy was just getting on board with the whole thing, but even he didn’t like it.

“I swear, he’s staring at her like a piece of meat…” Andy growls under his breath. The other brothers nod solemnly. Patrick comes to Jamie’s defense.

“Oh, come on. It’s harmless flirting. She is the oldest one here. If she wants to-” Patrick clears his throat, “-get it on, then let her.” Even Matt makes a disgusted face at Patrick. None of them wanted to imagine their sister in… ugh, it makes them sick just thinking about it.

Jamie glides her eyes back over Casey. He’s hot, for a hipster. She figures that she’ll just sneak out after he falls asleep, and they’ll never have to see each other again.

“Yeah, I’ll see your place.” Jamie smirks as the sentence comes out as dirty as she means it to. The look on Casey’s face was priceless.