Monday arrived all too quickly for Vian's nerves. Yes, his coach had assured him that he would be welcomed into the squad with open arms, but most people didn't really understand the subtle ways in which someone who didn't fit the mold of societal expectations could be shunned by their peers.

"Maybe you can ease them into it." Ethan said over his mile high pile of pasta the night before. After Ethan helped him move in on Friday, Vian didn't see his twin again until Sunday evening when they met up at the cafeteria for dinner.

"What does that even mean?" Vian replied, the double innuendo joke dying on his tongue. "I will be wearing the girls uniform, there's no easing them into that."

"Just don't go all out from the start."

"So… no drag makeup?"

"Ha-ha." Ethan rolled his eyes. "I'm not telling you to dress and act like a gym bro or anything, maybe just toning it down a bit?"

"'It' being, what, all of me?"

"Yeah, you know what, forget it." Ethan mussed his own, much shorter, blond curls. "People who are gonna be assholes to you are going to do it regardless of how much you try to fit in, just don't take their shit, okay?"

Now, Vian stood in front of his mirror, at six in the morning, pondering on whether he should apply the eyeliner he held in one hand and deciding against it solely because he'd be a sweaty mess in less than thirty minutes. He made it to the gym in record time, half frozen by the wind and drizzle that rendered his umbrella useless and thankful he had extra time to warm up. He tucked his outerwear and bag into an empty locker and headed to the massive weights room where he'd be meeting the rest of the cheer squad. There were a few students already milling about, either focused on their own routines, warming up together or idly chatting in small groups. Vian wondered if any of them were his teammates and tried no to stare through the mirrors as he started stretching. Then Coach Vega walked in, speaking to one of the basketball coaches and a rather diverse group of students stood by waiting for either of them. When the basketball coach left and none of the students followed, Vian held his breath, these were his new squad mates.

It wasn't that he was afraid they wouldn't accept him, cheerleading was a historically welcoming sport, but high school had been a rude awakening that just because people were progressive it didn't mean they would accept you. It all was worsened by the realization that him and his would-be-mates weren't living the same lives, they didn't understand him or he them, and it wasn't until very recently that he finally got why… and that it wasn't his fault.

"All right everyone, huddle up, I gotta get a bit of house-keeping out of the way before I get you all sweating like you ran a marathon in a tropical rainforest." Coach Vega pulled his mind away from a place he was not keen to revisit, he approached the group but stayed out of the actual circle. "First of all, the shy little bean hiding behind Kepler is our newest flier, Vian Luceres, make some room for him guys." As they turned to look at him, Vian stepped into the circle between Kepler and someone else, it didn't matter that he didn't know which one was Kepler as all eyes were on him.

"Hi, thank you for having me." Vian braced his arms behind his back, tugging at the ends of his ponytail to hide his nerves.

"He may be replacing Ashley, but starting today we'll be rotating our fliers and spotters until we find the best match-ups." She starts looking at her clipboard and that distraction gives enough room for the squad to react.

"Wait, coach, wouldn't that be dangerous for him? Because of the uniforms, I mean, we can't really get a good grip through loose fabric." The spotter across from Vian spoke.

"That won't be an issue seeing as he'll be wearing the girls uniform. Now–" she was cut off by the guy standing next to Vian.

"Oh, so you're like trans or something?" The guy blurted out as he turned to look down at Vian, making him hold his breath and gauge what kind of response he should give, based on his expression. A micro second later he was about to let Coach Vega stand in as she'd promised she would when the squad let out a collective groan, some of them even going so far as lightly chastising him for asking such a personal question and making him look utterly lost. "What? I wasn't saying there's anything wrong with that! I was just trying to be respectful and stuff." He exclaimed, scratching the back of is neck.

"There are more tactful ways to go about being respectful, babe." The woman on the other side of him smiled at him before standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"That is not something you ask, point blank, period." The next girl over echoed. "It's like asking someone if they are or aren't straight or what church they go to, it comes off very confrontational." A couple of others nodded and the relief nearly had Vian in tears. His previous squad had toed the line between tolerance and acceptance more often than not, and would sometimes pretend he was one of the girls for the sake of avoiding awkwardness with other squads whenever they traveled. It hadn't mattered in the end, he had quit the squad his junior year, right after the performance Coach Vega had praised him for. "Besides, Coach already introduced him." She emphasized the pronoun with a smiling eye-roll and a smile. "You're lucky your girlfriend loves you so much, Kepler."

"Very much." Kepler's girlfriend kissed his cheek again and turned to Vian. "He didn't mean any offense."

"Yeah, dude, sorry it came out wrong." Kepler added.

"Oh, it's okay. I'm kind of used to it." Vian tried to shrug it off so Coach Vega could return to her spiel, but everyone's eyes were still on him, not with the usual awkward detachment or morbid curiosity he was accustomed to, but with what he realized was genuine concern that he could be upset. "I've just never really understood why that specific part of our anatomy should dictate how we dress and live our lives, or how is guys wearing skirts different from women wearing pantsuits."

"Right on!" One of the other girls cheered and the rest of the group emoted variations of agreement before turning back to Coach Vega.

"Now that that is settled, this is the circuit you'll be cycling through today." She started pointing out equipment around the weights room, exercises to be done at each station and how they would divide themselves for spotting each other. Most of the men were surprised when Vian was partnered with Kepler as they were paired up by how much they could each lift, but nobody said anything as Coach Vega sent them off with a warning not to waste any more of their valuable reserved time with the equipment on gossip.

Kepler, Vian learned quickly, really had no filter or impulse control. As soon as they finished setting up on one of the bench presses he couldn't hold back anymore, it seemed.

"Damn, dude, you can lift all that and you're not a spotter?" Kepler eyed him as Vian finished his first set.

"Kinda hard to do it when the other spotters are all so much taller than me." Vian laughed, focusing on watching Kepler's movements for signs of undue strain. "Besides, nothing beats the feeling of being on top of the world you get when you're flying."

"Lyra says the same thing. My girlfriend." Kepler added, then asked. "You got a girlfriend?"

"Oof!" Vian was caught off guard and missed one of the reps, Kepler caught it. "I, uh… no, I don't… I'm gay, actually."

"Oh! Boyfriend, then?" Kepler asked without missing a beat, and Vian couldn't help but smile as he went for his next set.

"Not for a while, my ex was kind of an ass, so I've kind of been focusing on myself." Vian replied.

"That sucks dude… Lyra is a matchmaking fiend." Kepler said in between reps and Vian noticed how the taller man's face lit up when he even thought of his girlfriend. "Whenever you're ready to date or whatever do not let her know, she'll make it her life's mission to find you a beau, unless that's something you're open to."

"Thanks for the warning." Vian laughed and they went off to the next station, a flash of red caught his eye while they crossed the gym but it was gone before he actually saw what it was.

Vian couldn't believe how smoothly things had gone over, even with Coach Vega's assurances he couldn't shake off the "what ifs" all weekend, now that the tension finally broke, Vian didn't know what to do with himself. He had never had real friends besides Ethan, even Him Vian wouldn't classify as a friend, now that there was a real chance to, he was terrified of messing things up somehow. However, as Kepler kept peppering him with questions about his interests, some of which they shared and discussed at length during the rest of their workout, Vian started breathing easier. Maybe he finally found a place and people with whom he could freely be himself.