Ester adjusted the skirt of her dress and cleared her throat. Phil was pulling things out of his locker and hadn’t seen her yet. Ester’s heart was thumping in her chest and pounding in her ears. What was she supposed to do?

Asking Sue out had been downright easy. Being one of the Boys had really boosted Ester’s confidence back then. But she knew that Phil was into her, so why was this so hard?

Hoping he wouldn’t notice just how sweaty from nerves she was, Ester walked up behind him and said quietly, “Phil?”

“Oh, hey,” he replied, “What brings you to my locker? Are you okay? You look kind of sick.”

“No! I’m fine, really,” Ester replied, but she was shaking, “It’s just… I was thinking… you said that you wanted to go out?”

“Oh, yeah, I did.”

Ester could feel the eyes of other students on them.

“I know I turned you down,” Ester said softly, “But if you’re still interested, do you want to go out? Maybe this weekend? To a movie or something?”

She bit her tongue to keep from babbling. A cold sweat started to form on her forehead. People around them were whispering. Ester couldn’t breathe.

Phil looked nervous. Fuck. What did she do wrong? She’d never done this before. Was it that bad that a girl asked a guy out? But he wanted to go out with her. Or had he come to his senses since the last time she saw him?

That was probably it. Asking him out had been a mistake. Ester mumbled “forget it, never mind” and spun around. But Phil grabbed her gently by the arm.

“Yes, I’d love to,” he said, smiling awkwardly, “I’m free this weekend. Let me have your number so we can plan something.”

Ester let go of a breath she’d been holding. She put her number into his phone, trying not to listen to the whispers around them. Phil kept his awkward smile while he waited, but was fidgeting with his hands.

“There you go,” Ester said.

“Thank you,” Phil replied, taking his phone and stuffing it into his pocket, “I’ll message you at lunch, okay?”

“Sounds great!”

Ester couldn’t help but smile as she headed toward her next class. She’d done it. She’d actually asked a guy out. She’d proved that she didn’t need her old friends by her side to be more than just April’s sister.

“Can you believe her?” she heard somebody whisper.

“Probably just a pity date,” someone else muttered.

“Poor Phil.”

Ester lowered her head and flared her nostrils. By the time she reached her next classroom, her vision was blurry. She just grit her teeth and slammed her books down onto her desk. She wasn’t going to cry. These assholes weren’t going to make her cry.

He’d asked her out first, dammit! Why did everyone think she was the bad guy all of a sudden? It was just because she used to be a boy, wasn’t it?

Her phone buzzed and Ester pulled it out of her pocket. It wasn’t Phil, was it? Was he already calling the date off?

“I don’t care where you are,” Victoria had written, “Find a private place and call me.”

Ester snorted and put her phone away.

Through her next couple of classes, Ester could swear that people were turning to stare at her. The news can’t have traveled that quickly, could it? Why should they care what she was up to? Who did they think they were?

So much for feeling good about herself. Ester was relieved when the bell finally rang for lunch. She got out of the room as fast as possible. Even if she had to face April again, it was better than listening to people whisper about her behind her back.

“Ester?” someone asked.

Ester was broken out of her stupor and turned around to see Tamara and Khloe. Tamara was standing with a girl that Ester recognized as her girlfriend Rose. Rose was kind of special, in that she wasn’t actually one of the Girls herself; it was a little unusual for one of the Girls or Boys to date outside their little social circle.

“Um, hi guys,” she said, frowning, “Can we just not do this today?”

“We’re not here to pick on you,” Khloe insisted, “We just thought you should know: Abby’s parents threw a fit and so she’s back in school today.”

Ester felt her stomach bottom out.

“Yeah, so be careful,” Tamara added, “She can be a little vindictive. Trust me on that one. It’s part of why we spent so long trying to stay on her good side.”

“Yeah, but fuck her,” Khloe said, folding her arms, “After what she did to you? Nobody’s going to want to be friends with that psycho.”

“Um, thanks, you too,” Ester replied, “I appreciate the warning. It’s nice to see you too, Rose.”

“Hi, Ester. It is Ester, right?”

Ester nodded.

“Babe,” Tamara said, nuzzling Rose, “Me and Khloe gotta go to the gym with the other Girls. You’ll be okay without me for a while?”

“Oh, if I have to,” Rose cooed in return.

Tamara and Khloe walked away, and Rose waved after them.

“Can I talk to you while we walk?” she asked Ester.

“Oh… sure.”

Rose was quiet for a moment as they headed toward the cafeteria. She looked to be turning thoughts over in her head. Ester started wringing her hands. What did Rose want from her.

“So…?” Rose began, “I hope this isn’t too forward. Are you trans, Ester?”

“Um… I think so?” Ester replied, “I mean, I don’t think I was, but I was raised as a boy and now I want to be a girl instead. Everyone in my, um, ‘support group’ says that I’m trans if I want to be, but I don’t have to think of myself that way if I don’t want to. Does that make sense?”

“Do you want to be?”

“…I guess that’s the best word to describe me.”

“Well, I only ask because I know I haven’t seen you in any of the GSA meetings.”

“GSA?”

Rose smiled softly and said, “It’s the schools Gay-Straight Alliance. It’s open to all queer people and allies. I can’t get Tamara to come, but if you want to you’re definitely welcome. People have been asking about you, actually. You’re a bit of a minor celebrity right now.”

“Oh…” Ester felt a warmth bubbling up from inside of her. “I didn’t… I mean I guess I’d heard of the GSA but I never thought… really?”

Rose nodded. They’d stopped at the entrance to the cafeteria, which was already bustling with activity. Students milled around them while Ester took in what Rose had said.

“It’s just…” Ester continued, “I can hear people talking about me behind my back. I don’t really want being trans to be the only thing people think of when they talk to me.”

“Ester, you’re not the only queer kid at this school,” Rose reminded her, “We all feel like that sometimes. The GSA is mostly just a place for us to hang out. Sometimes we talk about being queer, but everyone will understand if you’re not comfortable talking about it.”

“I’ll… think about it,” Ester promised, her gut swarming with butterflies.

“Then I won’t tell anyone that I brought it up to you,” Rose assured her, “It’ll be funnier if you just show up one afternoon.”

Ester imagined a room full of surprised faces as she made her grand entrance, and couldn’t stifle a laugh.

“I’m so glad,” Rose continued, “that you managed to get away from the Boys and the Girls. I’ve been trying to get Tamara away from them for months.”

“Tamara’s got a good head on her shoulders,” Ester assured her, “So does Khloe. If they’ve detached themselves from Abby, they’re going to realize just how toxic the Girls really are.”

Rose visibly relaxed.

“I hope you’re right,” she said, “That’s actually really comforting. Um… if you want to meet some of the girls in the GSA with me, you can come eat lunch at my table today.”

Ester opened her mouth to turn her down, but then remembered that April would be waiting at her usual table.

“I’d love to,” Ester told her.

Lunch away from April was actually pretty relaxing, and Ester found herself enjoying Rose and her friends a lot. By the end of the lunch period, they’d all but convinced her to come to the next GSA meeting. Ester was feeling so good that she didn’t even mind when Cole intentionally bumped into her as they were entering their chemistry class.

Afterward, though, as she was heading to her final class for the day, Ester spotted her. Abby was walking toward her in the hallway. Ester felt her breath catch in her throat. As soon as Abby saw Ester, she folded her arms and looked down, then picked up her pace.

Ester breathed a sigh of relief. But she was shaking. The memory of Abby’s hateful expression dug its way out of her mind. Her nose still ached a little from the attack.

“Abby!” she cried, and the other girl flinched.

Abby sped up and ran past Ester. She reached out to grab Abby, but missed. Ester cursed and started to follow her. Other students started to duck out of the way.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she demanded, “Look at me!”

“Leave me alone!” Abby cried.

“You hit me, Abby,” Ester said, running in front of her and cutting her off, “Do you think you can pretend that it didn’t happen?”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Abby snarled, “You ruined my life, you bitch. I got suspended from the debate team because of you. If you’d just kept your head down and known what was good for you, I wouldn’t be in trouble with the school or my parents right now.”

“This isn’t my fault!” Ester replied, “I’m the one who’s cursed. You’re just a fucking asshole. No wonder you don’t have any friends.”

“Shut up!”

Abby’s hands flew up and she shoved Ester back a few steps. Ester grabbed for her arms but was too slow. Abby buried her head in her hands and started to choke back a sob.

Ester flared her nostrils, but her expression softened.

“Abby,” she said quietly, taking a step forward, “I don’t want to fight about this. I’m sorry that you got in trouble but it doesn’t have to get worse. Can’t we just put this behind us?”

“Fuck off!” Abby cried.

“I’m serious,” Ester said, squirming at the feel of everyone’s eyes on them, “Look, I hate you right now. A lot. And you kind of deserve it. But I don’t want to hate you forever. So can’t we pretend that it didn’t happen and just ignore each other?”

Abby curled her hands into fists as tears ran down her face.

“I don’t need your pity,” she croaked, “You’re not better than me, no matter what you think. I don’t care if everyone in the entire world loves you, I know that you’re just a cunt. I will always hate you, Eli or Ester or whatever you’re fucking calling yourself these days.”

She pushed her hair out of her face, sniffed, and then finished, “If you come near me again, I’m going to sic Leon on you. Now get out of my face, bitch.”

Ester stepped aside and Abby passed with her nose turned up. When she passed, Ester sighed and stuffed her hands in her pockets. Then she started to walk to her final class of the day. It was disappointing, but that was probably the best way that could have gone down.

At least she didn’t have to deal with Abby anymore.

By the time she finally got home, Ester was ready to call it a day and collapse into bed. But she hadn’t been doing any homework for a while and her teachers were starting to ask questions. So she said goodbye to April and dropped her bag on the table.

No sooner did she start, though, then Ester heard a banging on the front door that made her jump. She was quivering a little when she checked the peephole. But once she saw who it was, Ester sighed and unlocked the door.

“What the Hell?” Victoria asked, bursting in, “I haven’t heard from you in two days. What happened? Doctor Rackar said you hung up on him.”

“Victoria…”

“He said that he found the faery that placed the curse on the fountain. So now you know how to break the curse.”

“That’s right.”

“Are you going to do it?”

“No!” Ester cried, stomping her foot.

Victoria blinked in surprise, then folded her arms and said, “Alright. So what’s going on? Why are you so upset if you know what you want?”

Ester sighed.

“Can we take this outside?” she asked.

Victoria followed her out the door and closed it behind them. Ester started walking down the sidewalk a bit, trying to put some distance between her and the house. She could feel Victoria’s gaze boring into her, but she was being courteous enough not to pry.

“I don’t want April to hear us talking,” Ester admitted.

“Why not?” Victoria asked, “Doctor Rackar didn’t tell me the details.”

Ester rolled her eyes and replied, “It doesn’t matter.”

“I want to know what’s going on, Ester,” Victoria insisted.

“What’s going on is that I’ve decided not to break the curse. If the doctor doesn’t want to tell you, then obviously he thinks that it’s my right to keep it to myself. I wish you’d respect that. I wish everyone would show me the respect that they claim to have for me.”

“Ester,” Victoria said softly, “You’re very clearly not okay. I want to help. Whatever it is, it’s better if you’re not going through it alone.”

“No,” Ester snapped, “Don’t you get it? I’m done, it’s over. This is my life now. I’m done with magic, I’m done with the weird-ass doctor, and—logically—I’m done with you. So leave me alone already.”

Victoria winced, as if struck.

“Ester, whatever’s going on—”

“Leave me alone, Victoria.”

Victoria frowned, and she looked like she might cry. Ester glanced away. She didn’t want to see that. It would break her resolve, and she needed to stay strong.

“Alright,” Victoria said quietly, “If that’s what you want, I’ll leave you alone. But please hold onto my number. If you call, I’ll come.”

“Please go.”

Victoria pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded. Then she was gone. Ester sighed. She didn’t really feel any better for having stood her ground.