She was still contemplating how unpleasant having to use the charm six hours a day five days a week was going to be when they finally arrived. The parking lot was buzzing with activity as students rushed to get to their cars and off school property as quickly as possible. She was honestly a little glad she’d always just walked to school. She had no desire to get involved with that mess.

Still fighting the discomfort she finally pulled herself out of the car, giving Ms. Zwavel a little wave before heading towards the lounge. She really didn’t know what to expect, and the slow pace she was forced to take as she went against the flow of fleeing students gave her plenty of time to fret.

She was only two or three spirals deep when she finally made her way into the lounge, the large space filled with places to sit and tables to use for a variety of tasks. Her fears were immediately replaced with a sense of mild disappointment. No brightly coloured hair and wild clothing jumped out to greet her. Which, she supposed, made sense. They were all still students and the dress code didn’t allow hair dye or any particularly outlandish clothing.

Instead, she was faced with roughly a dozen kids who could fit into any random cloud of students without standing out. Honestly, she was probably the most outlandishly dressed and that was just because it wasn’t technically sweater season yet. The only person of note was Abby and that was entirely because she was someone Jay recognised.

It took a moment of exchanging confused glances between themselves before one of the girls Jay didn’t recognise finally spoke up. “Uh… Hey? Were you invited by someone or…” She didn’t seem to know what was supposed to come after the ‘or’, and somehow her awkwardness bolstered Jay’s confidence.

She smiled as she looked around the room. They were all awkward and uncomfortable, not just her! She could do this! “Yeah, Abby invited me yesterday.” She turned her attention to Abby, who’s face rapidly shifted from confusion, to realisation, to absolute delight.

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh you came and you look fantastic! I didn’t even recognise you right away! I was so worried when you weren’t in school today!” She flopped back into the oversized recliner she was sitting on, looking at the rest of the group. “It’s all good, she’s cool.” 

Then she froze, turning to Jay for confirmation. “She, right?” Jay didn’t stop smiling as she confirmed with a nod. “I knew it! Okay okay okay, do you have a name we should use?”

“Brooke.” The name had left her lips before she’d even begun to consider if she even had one. She wasn’t even quite sure where it had come from, besides the hint of a half forgotten memory of a conversation with her mother. Even if she wasn’t quite sure where she pulled it from she liked it, it was a good name. It wasn’t the girliest name, and she was already quite positive she would be indulging in some stereotypical femininity, but it felt right. It settled on her shoulders like a familiar coat.

“Well alright then Brooke! Nice to properly meet ya!” Abby turned to the group with a big smile on her face as she continued. “Now we should probably do some introductions, yeah? I’m Abby! I’m in fourth year, I’m a lesbian, and I’m super into nails!”

There was a moment of stunned silence before the next closest person spoke up. “Alright I guess. I’m Jack. I’m in second year, I’m gay, and… I guess I like video games?”

With that the awkward introductions continued, with names and years and reasons for being in the club sliding in one ear and out the other. They all seemed nice enough, though Brooke noted a clear absence from an LGBTQ+ group, one that she was about to have to fill. She just had to hope it didn’t turn out to be more of an LGB group…

With everyone else introduced it was finally her turn, and once again she bolstered herself with the confidence that they were just as nervous as she was. “Hey, I’m Brooke. I’m a fourth year, a lesbian, and trans. I mostly spend my time reading webnovels and chatting on discord.” She was honestly impressed with herself for getting through that without stumbling. She’d be more impressed if she was confident she didn’t look entirely too nervous while waiting for a reaction.

Fortunately, one of the girls who’s name she’d already forgotten was excited enough to avoid her having to wait long. “Oh sweet! We finally filled out the set!” A few of the others looked at her so she explained. “We’ve got lesbian, gay, bi, and generally queer, but we didn’t have trans!” The explanation earned a few polite laughs, but was apparently insufficient to keep the girl from pouting. 

Brooke was trying to figure out how to broach the subject of asking for help when Abby gave her an opening. “So, is this why you weren’t at school today?” 

Brooke considered for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, pretty much. I… uh… had to get some stuff figured out. Tomorrow I’ll be coming to school as Brooke and I wanted to get things worked out as much as possible first.”

Abby’s eyes practically sparkled at the declaration. “Oh. My. Goddess! You’re coming out at school tomorrow?! That’s such a big deal! I’ll totally do whatever I can to help!”

Her declaration was followed by a general murmur of agreement from the others, confirming they’d similarly be interested in helping out. Brooke was a little floored, she hadn’t really expected it to be that easy. “Well, uh… Having one or two of you come to the front office with me to talk to them tomorrow would be cool I guess? I don’t really expect you to stick your necks out for me, but maybe let me know if anyone seems likely to start causing trouble?” That earned some nods and a couple looks of relief. Clearly none of them were eager to make targets of themselves.

They spent a bit more time discussing details before things devolved into more general chatter, and soon enough the club came to a close. All in all it had gone a lot better, and a lot less dramatically, than she’d expected. Then again she was turning into a demon. The maximum potential drama of any situation was considerably higher than it used to be.

Making her way back towards the Zwavel residence she had to resist the urge to run. Both because joggers did occasionally use the path, and because the kind of running she wanted to do would require her claws. It was frankly unfair that she’d been given such a quick and fun method of traversal only to be told actually using it in public wasn’t allowed.

She still made better time than she would have expected, and made a mental note to be a bit more careful about how fast she moved while spacing out. Regardless, she was happy to see the utterly mundane building come into view. Part of her worried Ms. Zwavel had been intending for her to go home after the club, but a more reasonable part insisted it was safer for everyone if she stayed with people who knew about her situation. 

Knocking on the door she was quickly greeted by Sarah in all her demonic glory. Brooke was a little surprised at just how similar she was to her human form. The only differences she could identify were the obvious ones. A pair of giant, folded bat wings on her back, and a pair of white horns jutting out of her forehead and swooping backwards. She didn’t even have a tail to go with the wings! Part of her was annoyed at just how normal Sarah looked, and another part worried that her own inhuman features said something unfortunate about her own nature. 

Fortunately, telepathy didn’t appear to be one of Sarah’s skills, and so she welcomed Brooke with oblivious warmth. “Heya Jay! Welcome home! Mom told me you went to meet with the lgbtq+ club at school. How’d it go?” She stepped aside, motioning for Brooke to enter.

“Oh, uh… it went well? They’re gonna try and help with me coming out tomorrow. Uh… Also.. I think I’m gonna try going by Brooke?” The bravado she’d felt earlier faltered under Sarah’s confidence.

“Oh yeah? Cool. Nice to really meet you Brooke. Cute outfit by the way, I assume mom picked it out for you?” Brooke nodded, still a bit taken aback by how easily everyone was just accepting her. She’d heard so many horror stories! It almost felt wrong that she was getting off so easily. Then again, she still hadn’t told her parents…

The rest of the evening was surprisingly casual as Brooke hung out with Sarah and Ms. Zwavel in their demonic forms. They talked a bit about womanhood and what to expect, then moved on to some casual chatter about demons in general. Apparently Sarah had looked a lot different before her manifestation, and they just happened to be largely passable as human traits.

Brooke honestly couldn’t remember the last time she went to bed feeling so relaxed. As she closed her door she smiled. It felt so different to home, where she locked her door so she could hide away from the rest of the house. As she settled into the indulgently sturdy sheets and let her claws scratch away she felt herself fading quickly, wondering idly just how much she’d have changed by the time she woke up.