After slowly drifting in the air for a few seconds, the Frisbee safely reached my hands. I relaxed my arms, now only loosely holding onto the plastic disc. My gaze shifted over to Riley on the other side of the yard. “I just need you to talk to her,” I said while readying my arms for another throw.

She kicked her right foot into the ground a few times, exposing some of the grass hidden under a thick layer of fall-colored leaves. “Do I have to? This isn’t my fight, you know?”

I shook my head. “It isn’t costing you anything,” and threw the Frisbee in her direction.

The Frisbee flew slightly too high. Riley needed to make a little jump to catch it. As soon as her two feet landed safely back on the ground, she raised her eyebrows. “I’m not so sure about that. What if she starts resenting me as well? She will think I’m taking your—” Riley threw the Frisbee “—side in this.”

Its course was slow and predictable, allowing me to easily grab it out of the air. Using the Frisbee to point at the ground, I emphasized my words. “You are taking our side; you should be taking our side. The way she has been acting is completely unreasonable. And apparently, it’s not just her being a vat of toxic waste during the games; she has also been completely ignoring the group at school, according to Jade.”

“I get it, it’s just…” Riley wrinkled her nose. “It feels…icky?”

I sighed. “Really? That’s all you got for me? It feels icky?”

She shrugged. “Yeah?”

I exhaled through my nose out of frustration. “It’s the same shit again.”

“What?”

With a swift and unexpected motion, I threw the Frisbee back at Riley. “The same shit you were pulling with Bree.”

The Frisbee landed right in Riley’s stomach, only being caught after her own body had already stopped the Frisbee’s momentum. “Ouch!” She raised her voice. “I’m not obsessed!”

I silently arched my eyebrows.

“No!” Riley grew agitated. “I just don’t want to ruin my chances by confronting her with something that has nothing to do with me.”

I crossed my arms. “Since when have you grown so non-confrontational?”

Riley scowled and forcefully threw the Frisbee back at me. “Since when have you grown so confrontational?”

Her throw was sloppy and uncoordinated, causing the Frisbee to smack into the fence twenty feet behind me. I felt it whizzing by, but I was still focused on Riley. “I have seen how obsessed you can get about someone you like.” My eyes widened. “You promised me that you wouldn’t get obsessed this time. But you not being able to do me this tiny favor just tells me we are going down the same road again.”

Riley started walking closer to me, her eyes were to the sky, and she was exhaling through her nose. “I hear you, but it’s different. For real.”

My arms were still crossed. I gave her a slight nod. “Prove it to me.”

“Prove it to you how?”

“By talking to her!”

Sometimes I just wanted to slap that girl straight in the face. In a kind way.

She wrinkled her entire face like she was about to eat some bitter vegetable and spoke. “Fine!”

“Thank you.” I threw up my arms and turned around to go retrieve the Frisbee. The fact that I felt like a dentist pulling her teeth worried me. I’m just not convinced she isn’t going to completely blindside everybody in her life the more involved she gets with Rachel. It wouldn’t be the first time.

I bended down to pick up the Frisbee when I could hear the voice of Riley’s mom calling out behind me. “The food is here!”

I’m sitting down in one of the foldable camping chairs, and I’m quickly reminded of this family’s current situation. The walls are empty, and all the heavy furniture has already been moved. All that remains are some of the bare necessities to survive the last week before moving. The smell of Pad Thai instead of home-cooked food betraying the fact that even most of the kitchen equipment had already left the premises.

Looking up towards Riley’s mom, I noticed a slight lump developing in my throat. I knew she knew. Riley always told her parents everything, and I was afraid of how her mom was going to handle my situation.

Riley’s mom grabbed three to-go boxes from a plastic bag. “Let’s see, the red curry? That can only be yours, honey,” she said before handing Riley one of the boxes.

“That means the other two must be Pad Thai.” Her blue eyes panned over to meet my gaze. While slowly handing me a box of food, a small smile appeared. “There you go, Emily.”

Emily. She called me Emily. It still felt strange coming out of the mouth of an adult, but it felt good. I couldn’t help but show a wide smile as I took the food from her hand. Not because of the food, but because of her words.

I cast my eyes downwards before responding. “Thank you.”

There was a certain tension in the air. I didn’t know what to talk about. Was this the time for small talk or to share my deeply personal worries? Probably something in between. But where was this magical spot in between? How do I not make a fool of myself?

“So,” Riley’s mom broke the silence. “How have you been? Haven’t seen you for a while, what have you been up to?” She was looking in my direction.

How have I been? Have you got the time? Because I’m pretty sure I can sit here all night answering that question. What have I been up to? Where do I even start? I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Maybe just start slow with some small talk.

“I’m good, I’ve just been living life, you know. School and all?” I faked a smile.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Riley trying to stem her laughter.

Riley’s mom scowled in her daughter’s direction and turned back to me. She raised her eyebrows. “You have just been living life? I understand there have been some big changes recently.”

Okay, so she is bringing it up right away; guess we are done with small talk. My gaze is fixed on the floor; I don’t dare look up. While rubbing my fingers together, I respond, “You could say that.”

“I think it’s cool what you’re doing. Exploring your true self? Only so many people really get to do that.”

I look up, a warm smile greets me. “You think?”

“Yeah, for sure. And it takes guts to show the world who you really are.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little bit myself. “Thanks, It’s just-” I paused, taking a breath before continuing. “-not everybody knows yet.”

Riley’s mom looked like she was thinking for a second. Her hair was the same shade as Riley’s, only way shorter. She didn’t share Riley’s freckles, but their blue eyes were pretty much identical.

She put her barely touched box of Pad Thai on the ground next to her and asked, “Do you want everybody to know?”

For a second, I look over to Riley shoveling curry in her mouth. “Hmmm…” I turn back towards Riley’s mom. “I’m not sure. I want them to see me as Emily, not as Jason who has become Emily.”

“Why is that?”

I bite my lip. “Because…I’m afraid?”

“Of?”

“What people will think? It means I have been lying to them. If they have only ever known about Emily, they will be angry I didn’t tell them about Jason. If they have only ever known about Jason, they will be angry about Emily.”

Her mouth still partially filled with spicy rice; I could hear Riley speak up next to me. “I wasn’t angry. Or at least-” She paused to properly swallow her food. “-Not about the Emily thing.”

I looked at my friend while shaking my head. “But that’s different, you’re…”

“Still not a centaur.”

Riley’s mom tried to take control of the conversation again, completely ignoring her own daughter this time. She kept her eyes focused on me. “Has it happened before? That you told somebody, and they got angry with you?”

I thought back to the conversation with my dad. He hadn’t shown the slightest inkling of anger when I told him. He had just made some silly jokes and kindly moved on afterward. I wasn’t sure he viewed me as Emily now, but at least I didn’t have to hide anything from him anymore. My own mother was angry with me, but that wasn’t because of Emily. If she knew, maybe she would understand me more? Maybe she would actually be less angry?

“No,” I said, looking toward the box of Thai food I hadn’t even opened yet. “But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.”

Riley’s mom shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

I opened the box; the food’s slightly off-putting smell now slowly entered my nostrils. Everybody knew you didn’t buy this food for its smell. But as soon as you pushed yourself past that, you’d find an amazing mix of sweet and savory deliciousness beyond.

I couldn’t eat; my stomach was still filled with a large pile of anxious worry. Riley’s mom had already retrieved her box to start eating; I glanced at her. “And what if it does go wrong?”

She stuck her plastic fork in the food and looked back at me. “You might not think it, but I’m a mother as well. And there is this weird thing about being a mother. Whatever your kid does, whoever your kid is—” Her gaze shifted toward Riley for a second, who was still completely entranced by her food. “—you can’t help but love them unconditionally.” She looked back at me. “And I’m sure that whatever you might think, your mother feels the exact same way about you.”