Max’s aunt had to leave because she had to represent some guy in a custody battle in court, leaving the three teens to hang out freely in the hospital.

Elisa tried to ask Max what the whole fuss with the PBF agents was about. Still, he kept it vague, saying that a guy using a fur hood sneaked into his room and attacked him and Max beat the shit out of him with the IV pole. So they called PBF to investigate since the incident involved a kid from a minority, and Max’s uncle was a politician, so they suspected it could have been a hate crime or that someone was trying to kidnap Max.

They kept talking for a while, and they caught Max up to date with what they had been learning in school for the last few days. Then they ended up discussing politics and talked about some stuff they saw on the news.

Half an hour later, Elisa’s phone rang, and she had to excuse herself to go to the nearest bathroom.

She opened her backpack and took out her pills and a water bottle. The bathroom was empty, and she took her medication calmly. Then an older girl, wearing high-waisted shorts, a crop top, and high heels, got out of one stall and went straight for a sink a few sinks away from Elisa.

“That time of the month, huh?” the girl commented casually.

“Huh? Oh, these aren’t…” She stopped herself, noticing the weird way the girl was looking at her pills.

“Estrogen? What kind of painkiller brand is that?” she asked, pointing at the box with her acrylic nail.

“These aren’t painkillers, they’re hormonal pills… I’m trans, so I take these so I can grow boobs instead of a beard.” Elisa clarified, giving her the simplified and direct explanation she always gave to everyone to save time, a bit afraid of the girl’s possible reaction. She knew that girl probably wouldn’t try to hurt her, and if she did, Elisa could defend herself, but she could do without a snarky remark ruining her day.

“Oh so, those get rid of body hair and make your boobs bigger, is that it?”

“Ah… Yeah, pretty much.”

“Do they give those to anyone, or do you need a paper saying you’re trans? I wouldn’t mind getting rid of my mustache, and having actual boobs is always a plus.” She complained jokingly, trying to make Elisa laugh and ease the tension on the trans girl’s shoulders while feeling a bit guilty for making her uncomfortable.

“I don’t think so…” she chuckled. This was a new one. “But don’t worry, your mustache is blond, I didn’t even notice it until you mentioned it, and I’m pretty sure your chest will grow soon. My third older sister was always complaining that her chest was too small, and now she’s complaining that her chest is giving her back pain.”

“Aww, thank you. By the way, what’s your name? I’m Beatriz.” she said, toying with one of her long pink curls.

“I’m Elisa,” she said, storing away her pills in her bag before she forgot.

“You’re a foreigner?”

“My grandma was, but I was born here so… It's the name I chose for myself...”

“So you guys can have a foreign name if you want to? That’s so cool, I always wanted a foreign name, like Katrine or something, my name is so lame and overused, there’s like at least five other Beatrizes in my class…”

“You don’t have to be trans to change your name, you know? But it's still a fuckload of paperwork…” she warned, remembering the countless hours she spent filling out papers and waiting in line.

The girls continued to talk for a while and, after examining one of Beatriz’s bracelets closer, Elisa discovered that they both liked “The guardians”, and they spent almost fifteen minutes straight fangirling over Bear, a character that appeared on the second book of the series, before Beatriz’s mother came looking for her, but they still traded numbers before parting ways, so they could talk later.

She went back to Max’s room but stopped in her tracks and tried to eavesdrop after catching a “Time said that the orphans would be killed by two mighty beings, a corrupted ghost, and a servant”.

“A servant?” she heard Max ask.

“It’s basically an immortal butler.” She heard Daniel explain.

“But why?”