Fern looked at the two large double doors, just below the bright green boy's locker room sign. He yawned and used his shoulder to push the door open stepping through the doors and into the room. The locker room was a large open spaced room, that lacked changing stalls. Something the girls locker rooms were graced with. There were only a line of alternating yellow and green lockers on the wall, and four benches leaving the center of the room empty. This was an inconvenience to certain types of people. Most of the changing teens unaware and oblivious how hard their lack of clothing made it for others.

Fern wasn't too concerned about the other people that locker rooms made changing hard for, but he did know it made it hard for him. Especially at times like this, when it was first period and his cousin dropped him off too late to avoid the mob of guys changing at once. Fern turned away from the group of guys congregating in the center of the room in favor of putting his gym bag into his locker. Fern knew himself, and he knew his limitations. He knew that he wasn't exactly attracted to the men in the locker room, but he also knew he had a big staring problem. The points of interest being, the abs, the ass, the face, and recently arms. After two full years of highschool and enough awkward explanations he knew better than to change with the rest of the guys in the center of the room.

Fern grabbed his gym shirt, shorts, and sneaker from his locker. Stuffing the rest of the bag inside and closing the locker door. He heard a disapproving sound to the left of him, he turned to see Quinn Rogers, smiling and shirtless. .

"Really? It's been what two years and something-something months, and you still can't be bothered to put a lock on your locker?" Quinn smiled at him, flashing Fern his perfect white teeth. Fern couldn't remember a time when he didn't have perfect teeth. Even in elementary school when everyone else was losing teeth, it always seemed like he skipped a step and went right to perfect adult pearly whites. Fern dragged his eyes away from Quinn's teeth and met his eyes, silently hoping that he didn't stare for more than two seconds.

"I really don't care." Fern began and glanced at his locker. It dawned on him how rude he might of sounded, he mulled over how to follow up. "I mean....if they really want some beat up converse that smell like feet, then they can have them." Quinn smiled at him again, this time closed mouthed.

"Well I think if they're in the shoe taking business I think they'd expect to have the shoes smell like feet." Quinn pointed out, Fern looked at him nodding slowly. He couldn't decide what to say next, something witty probably? He tried to imagine what Anakin would say in that situation.

"They'd probably get those shoe freshener things." He doubted Anakin would actually say that but any progress was good progress.

"How about your phone? Don't you keep that thing locked, or should I say unlocked in your locker. I mean that would be a pretty penny at some pawn shop right?" Fern thought about it and looked at his phone then at Quinn and shrugged again. He didn't even really have a lock on his phone.

"Do you think anyone really wants to take my phone?" It was Quinn's turn to shrug, the toothy smile back on his face.

"I mean I definitely would, I've always wanted your number." Fern felt taken back, a frown on his face he looked around to make sure this wasn't a filmed prank or something.

"My...number? For what?" Quinn made a motion like a phone was in his hands, his thumbs moved over the invisible screen.

"You know to text you and shit? Dude I mean we have known each other since like first grade. It just seems kinda weird that we haven't linked up or anything." Fern paused for a moment thinking, it dawned on him that he really didn't have anyone's phone number. Well except for Anakin.

"Come on gentleman I'd love to start gym sometime this week. I promise you can gel your hair down on your own time!" One of the male coaches called out into the locker. Fern looked down at his still casual clothing.

"I uh gotta go change," Fern said sidestepping Quinn to walk passed him. Quinn seemed unphased and slipped his hands into his pocket.

"Okay talk to you later then." Quinn walked off casually, like he hadn't just basically agreed to talk to him again. Fern shook his head and walked towards the bathroom, he would have to think about that later. He hugged close to the lockers on the wall, as he walked passed the group of guys he could actually begin to smell cologne free air again. Not that he wasn't a guilty user of cologne products.

He entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him. There were actually stalls in this area of the locker room, and they also happened to be alternating yellow and green. He went to a stall slightly ajar and opened it too quickly. His eyes widened and he turned away fast enough to almost hit the sink.

"Sorry! Sorry, shit I just thought tha--"

"No no it's my fault, I should have closed the door properly." A nervous voice said from inside the stall. "You can turn around I'm decent." Fern bit his lip hard and turned around. A thin but tall kid stepped out from the stall. His hair was cut short gelled back in the style of most guys in their school had. His arms were held up defensively around his chest, hiding white cloth binding underneath.

"I am so sorry, I really should have knocked or something." Fern insisted keeping strict eye contact, he definitely knew this wasn't the time to check him out. Dillan seemed to try to keep eye contact but his eyes drifted to the side occasionally. Fern stood stiffly and silent unsure how to continue from there, he was already mentally attacking himself for getting in the situation in the first place.

"Really it's okay....but could you actually um help me?" Dillan asked slowly his voice unsure. He turned around Fern could see two loose flaps of cloth needing to be tied together.

"Oh yeah! Sure! Totally I mean I uh used to be a boy scout...well um not really actually I just showed up to one meeting...then I uh never came back. But I bought a book on knots! That I actually...never read...but I tie my shoes often so yeah..." He rambled needing to fill the terribly awkward silence with sound. He heard Dillian chuckle a bit which calmed his nerves.

"Don't be afraid of making it too tight." Dillan assured him, Fern nodded at that and rubbed his hands on the side of his jeans. He put his clothes between his legs holding them there. He then grabbed the two ends of the cloth and knotted them together best he could. "Just to let you know the levels of my gender dysphoria rely on how well you tie that knot. No pressure or anything." Fern felt himself go cold, he had no idea what gender dysphoria was but it sounded very negative. He untied the knot carefully re tying it tighter. Dillian chuckled again making his back shake.

"Could you keep the laughing to a minimum I have to make sure this knot is tight." Fern mumbled under his breath, this only made Dillian snicker more.

"Listen relax okay? I can always make a bathroom break. Gym is just annoying with all the moving around you know?" Fern nodded even though he didn't know much about having breasts.

"Does that feel okay?" Dillan turned around checking himself in the mirror.

"Yeah that feels fine, nice and tight better than anything that I could have pulled off." He reached for his shirt on the top of the stall and pulled it down. "Thanks a billion." Fern nodded eagerly his shoulders relaxing more, somehow it didn't feel nearly as awkward as it had before.

"Anytime, I can um help anytime. I think I'll be changing here more often anyway." He shrugged and looked at Dillian who shrugged as well.

"I just hate changing around the rest of them, I feel like a spectacle."

"At least no one is really mean to you...unless they are," Fern said unsurely looking at Dillian.

"No one's, outrightly mean I guess. It's just the looks, it just annoys the shit out of me. It's like they're thinking aw look at that cute little girl, she thinks that she's a guy isn't that adorable?" Dillan scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Makes me want to kick their asses, or serve them in something manly like spitting in a cup from long distances."

"Then why don't you do any of that then?" Fern asked throwing his gym clothes at the top of the stall. The energy in Dillian's eyes slowly dissipated.

"Because...I can't...actually do any real manly things. And it's totally not my fault, I joined the dude game way later than everyone else so i'm inexperienced." Fern couldn't exactly argue with him there, he was incredibly thin. He then looked down at himself, deciding that he didn't have much room to talk. He slipped into the stall making sure to close the door.

"Well you have the rest of your life to catch up. Just um, do some physical stuff. I'm only the way I am because I help my dad with landscaping." His cheeks flushed red he hadn't meant to just out himself so easily.

"I was thinking of maybe joining a sport or something, but I don't know." Fern could practically hear the shrug in Dillian's voice. He changed around the toilet careful to not get any clothes near or on the seat or floor.

"Maybe, any you can actually play?"

"I use to play little league girls soccer. But I stopped after the girls started inviting me to sleepovers." Fern opened the stall doors and grabbed his regular clothes from the top.

"Were they that bad?" Dillan gave an uncomfortable shrug.

"It was just all...makeup, and nails, and talking about boys. It really wasn't my forte." Fern smiled a bit, he could imagine Ani gladly taking Dillian's place in those situations.

"You could watch some videos or something on soccer, you could get lucky and get JV on the soccer team." He floated towards the door, not exactly wanting to end the conversation but also not wanting to get yelled at by the couch. He wished he knew what to do in these types of situations. Dillan helped him out, he walked past Fern and opened the door for the both of them. Not many guys were actually still in the locker rooms, to Fern's relief.

"You into any sports?" Dillan asked letting Fern walk passed him before following behind. Fern paused for a moment then shook his head.

"Not my forte." He walked towards his locker, he glanced behind him surprised that Dillan was still there.

"That's cool, hey maybe you can join the cheerleading squad. You have pretty nice quads." Dillan teased, Fern raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Don't think i'm peppy enough." He opened his locker and stuffed his clothes in not bothering to put them in the bag. He glanced to the side actually giving himself a chance to locker Dillian over without the added awkwardness. Even though he was slim, he was a few inches taller than Fern. He had normal brown hair, and his eyes blended into his face giving him the average guy look. His features were a bit softer, but even then they were sharper than Ani's which to be fair wasn't saying a ton. Fern rated him a ten out of ten on his scale and looked away before he was accused of checking him out. He turned and noticed a sticky note stuck to the inside of his locker. He frowned and grabbed it reading over the short note. Dillan leaned closer trying to catch a glimpse of the paper.

"For texting purposes, love your future best friend Quinn Rogers." Fern looked up at Dillian. "Then he put his number at the bottom." Fern finished, he put the note in a pocket of his gym bag and closed it.

"Was he flirting with you or just being nice?" Dillan asked slipping his hands into his pocket as he began walking towards the double doors.

"Can't be flirting he has a girlfriend, I heard it in math he asked out Jess." Fern said, he was surprised with himself that he even remembered that. Then remembered that he wasn't paying attention to the actual math so his brain did get wandering time.

"So? That means nothing. He might just be using her as a beard." Dillan paused then looked at Fern. "Jess really? I thought she was dating Kyle. Weren't they supposed to be endgame or something?" Fern shrugged and opened the double doors with his shoulder again, using his foot to keep it open long enough for Dillan to go through.

"I guess endgame meant a few weeks, then an over the phone breakup text." Dillan laughed at that and this time Fern joined him.

"Really over text? Maybe I should hang out with you more often you seem to know what's up in this school." Fern shrugged at that and lead the trickle of kids heading to the back of the school where the field was.

"It's not like it's actually paying attention in class." Dillan did a breathy laugh through his nose and shook his head, following Fern out of the school.

They jogged to the bottom of the hill leading out of the school. At the bottom of the hill was a field that they used for gym classes during the school day, they used it as a Soccer field for the boys soccer team in the fall, and a lacrosse field in the spring. Teenagers were already congregating in front of the gym teacher. Fern and Dillan sneaked into the crowd sticking to the back. Both of them instinctually fading into the rest of the crowd of teens.

"We are starting our soccer unit today!" Ms. Edwards announced loudly, her voice still as gruff as ever. She held a soccer ball under one of her arms, the black and white ball was a stark contrast to the bright blue track suit that she wore.

"Don't they usually do the volleyball unit first?" Dillian asked in a hushed voice, his head tilted towards Fern.

"Winter is supposed to be five degrees colder than usual, so they're afraid to do any outdoor sports during that time." Fern informed him, he vaguely remembered hearing one of the older teachers mention it a hallway once or twice.

"Oh what? Is it going to go from 60 to 55 degrees? Come on we live in Colorado it doesn't get that cold." Dillian rolled his eyes. "In Mass we used to have outdoor gym in below 30. You guys are so bitchy." Dillan mumbled under his breath. Fern rolled his eyes and side-eyeing him.

"Not all of us can be thick skinned northerners." Fern drawled turning back to face the coach. She was separating teams by last names. "Thank god no drafting." Fern looked at Dillan who looked just as relieved.

"I'll pick uncomfortable being thrust onto a team with other losers, over being picked last any day" Dillian mumbled, Fern nodded his agreement his eyes still trained on Ms. Edwards his ears straining for his name.

"Olivarez blue team, lower court." He heard Miss. Clarkson call out. Fern leaned to the side trying to catch a peek of his team. So far it had a mix of Juniors and Sophomores that he vaguely recognized. Standing to the side of them was Quinn who waved at him.

"Catch you later," Fern said to Dillian stepping passed him and jogging to the other court joining his team.

Quinn held out a blue mesh jersey a welcoming smile on his face. Fern took it and pulled it over his gym shirt.

"Welcome to the team Fern." Quinn said, he crossed his arms and leaned against the goal post. "We have a pretty decent line up so far, you any good?" Fern tried to think of his past soccer experiences, he opted for shrugging instead.

"I know the rules of the game if that's what you mean." Quinn chuckled closed mouthed and gestured to the team on the other side of the court.

"We're playing against the future captain of the Soccer boys soccer team, team. Think we can manage not to be completely creamed?" Fern glanced at the other team. It was mostly Juniors, they were graced with a few Seniors. Standing in front of the crowd eyeing down the blue team was Carson Kelly, one of the best offensive soccer players the school had. And an almost guaranteed Varsity Captain of this years soccer team. Fern felt a bit intimidated by him, even when Carson was just a Sophomore. He was bigger than Fern. He still managed to have a slim soccer player body, despite his stature. He was graced with strong legs, slim abdomen and wild hair ungelled and free. Fern had always thought he was attractive, if Fern knew him just a bit better he might have even rated him higher then a ten out of ten.

"Finished checking him out?" Quinn asked, his tone suggestive. Fern felt his face heat up and he gave Quinn a look already trying to come up with a generic excuse. Quinn chuckled at him and rolled his eyes. "I'm teasing, but seriously his team seems pretty good." Fern relaxed a bit letting out a breath of air but still feeling on edge.

"Maybe they don't know how to play well?" Fern offered, his eyes scanning their own team.

"Most of them are Juniors, even if they barely paid attention in gym they'd at least know enough about soccer." A girl cut in to the right of Fern. He did a quick look over of the teen, he didn't particularly remember her face well enough but the scar just above her right breast reminded him.

"We have a lot of Juniors." Fern reminded Candy, she looked at him and shrugged.

"Maybe, what are you planning on playing as? I already called being on the defensive line. All I really want to do is tackle some kid to the ground" She said her voice energetic enough to make Fern glad she was on their team.

"This is soccer not football." Quinn said in a sing-songy voice the smile on his face smaller but still lingering. Candy shrugged at that and crossed her arms, she looked over to the red team once again.

"No matter the sport I still have my shoulder, and a ton of pent of energy. Now let's make a few Seniors cry." She walked away from them snapping her fingers at the other members of their team.

"Can't disagree with that, how about you get out on that offensive line. Show us some fancy footwork." Quinn followed the statement up with a slap at Fern's butt. Fern immediately turned around to give Quinn a questioning look, but Quinn's back was already turned heading to the goal. Fern took deep breaths through his nostril as he walked to his line. He waited anxiously for one of the other of players on his team to meet up with Carson for the kick off. His finger drummed nervously on his thigh, he looked back at the defensive line wishing he could switch places with one of them.

At the sound of the whistle the two fought for the ball solely with their feet, Carson gained the upper hand and got the ball away running off with it. Fern watched as some of the members of the red team ran ahead of Carson stopping at strategic points. Fern felt energy strum through his limbs but he didn't make any movement towards the ball. Some of the players on his team moved towards the red players trying to block any open places to pass.

"Gotta pass the ball Kelly!" The coach called out, Fern could see Carson cringe at the use of his more feminine last name. His head turned as he ran and he shot it to the person on the far left of him. It was impressive shot the red player being so far away, but the kick was powerful enough to send it straight for his team mate. Fern's feet moved almost on their own shooting away from his spot and directly in the line of the ball. He intercepted the ball a foot away from the red player. His momentum was still taking his body towards the blue goal. He used the side of his foot to make a sharp pass to nearest blue member. He completely turned around and ran the same direction that his blue team mate was now running in. He could already see a flash of red racing towards them. The Sophomore that had the ball was obviously already struggling to keep the ball and his speed in check.

"Hey pass me the ball." Fern said to the Sophomore, moving diagonally closer to him. The Sophomore stopped running all at once and began panting. Fern didn't take the time to look the Sophomore over, he took the ball in front of him and continued running towards his goal.

"Sure you don't want to hand that over to me?" Carson said from behind him, Fern ignored him and struggled to dodge around the other offensive players. He could feel Carson dogging him from behind, he knew he wasn't fast enough to outrun Carson. He looked around looking for any blue ahead of him. He groaned audibly when he saw none, he risked a look from behind him. He saw mostly Carson's body from behind him, but another look to the left he saw a blue jersey trying to keep up. Fern stepped over the ball as he ran, he used the back of his foot to kick it backwards. The moved must have surprised Carson, because soon he felt a body crash into his back. He and Carson fell to the ground, Fern felt the air leave him as Carson fell on top of him.

"Shit." He heard Carson mumble, Fern almost stayed their agonizing. He saw feet run passed him, he panned up to see a blue-jerseyed team mate struggling to keep away two red offensive players. Fern used his elbow to push Carson off. He rolled and came to a squat, shooting up again. He ran towards the left where the defense was staying away from, keeping their eyes on the blue with the ball to the right.

"Hey!" Fern called waving his left hand as he ran parallel to the other blue team mate. The Junior glanced at him, nodded once, and gave a hard kick to the general left. The kick was wild and only went half of where it needed to go. Fern turned hard and ran towards the ball, the same time one of the defensive red ran towards the ball. This time it was a girl. A part of Fern knew he couldn't run full speed towards her but the majority of his brain was set on the ball. For a very brief moment it became a game of chicken, which one of them would dodge out first. By the time they were one foot away from each other the red player understood. She nearly dodged out of Fern's way as he ran for the ball. Their elbows hit hard, but Fern didn't care he had gotten the ball. He ran hard towards the goal, with the defense momentarily dazed he had an opening. Less than a quarter away from the Goal a red player began dogging him for the ball again. This time from the side, Fern didn't have to look before he knew that it was Carson.

"Guess I can't go easy on you then, huh?" Fern was inwardly amazed, Carson was attacking him while running sideways and not tripping like Fern would have. After less then a second of Fern trying to block Carson's feet, Carson slipped a leg between Fern's legs and kicked the ball away right to another red player. Carson used his shoulder to push away from Fern and in the opposite direction back towards the blue goal.

Fern swore under his breath and had to hunch over putting his hands on his knees. His breath came out ragged and shallow. He felt a pat on his back and looked up to see a blue-jerseyed member running past him and towards Carson. Fern stood straight again his face more determined than before. He jogged to the halfway point of the field watching Carson easily slip through their defenses. Ferns fingers dug into the side of his thigh as he watched Carson get close enough to the goal to shoot.

Running towards Carson at full speed was Candy, Carson had either not expected to be tackled or not expect Candy to tackle him. He skidded to the side, almost falling over. Candy moved to take the ball away when a whistle was blown.

"Candy we've been over this for the past two years! Keep tackling to a minimum!" Ms. Edwards yelled, she blew the whistle again and stalked towards them. "You know what this means?"

"Goal shot." Candy stated and crossed her arms unconcerned like she was going through familiar motions.

"Ah, i'm fine coach honestly, just surprised." Carson rubbed his shoulder, Fern could tell a bruise would form, but being a soccer player Carson should always expect those.

"Nope rules are rules, line up!" She called to the blue team. Fern didn't move, there were enough of his team members on the other side to protect the goal.

"I mean rules also call for cleats but..." Quinn stopped as the coach made eye contact with him.

"Keep it up Kelly and I'll let Carson shoot at your without a goalie." She warned putting her clipboard underneath her armpit.

"Hey Carson is the Kelly, I'm Rogers remember?" Quinn said leaning one hand against the goal post.

"Well, you're acting like a real Kelly." She said with a shrug like it was an obvious answer.

"What are the qualifications to be a Kelly?" Quinn asked earning a dirty look from the Coach.

"Carson shoot!" Ms. Edwards ordered, Carson like a piston immediately reeled his leg back kicking towards the goal at full blast. The blue team pathetically jumped, not nearly high enough to block anything. Fern wanted to look away. The precision and speed the ball was going, it looked impossible for it to go anywhere else but right into the net. Quinn pushed away from the pole of the goal post and hit the ball away at the right moment. The ball fell harmlessly on the floor. Quinn bent down and picked the ball back up, he raised an eyebrow to the coach.

"Still acting like a Kelly to you?" He asked Ms. Edwards, she rolled her eyes and blew her whistle again.

"Just play the game Rogers." She said as she walked back to her refereeing spot. Fern was amazed, Quinn still had the same lazy smile on his face. He acted like he hadn't just basically stopped a meteor from falling into his goal. Fern could only see Carson from the back, but his body looked tight and tense. Quinn glanced at Carson and winked, he dropped the ball to the ground. His head jutted to one of the defensive players and kicked it to her.

Fern was surprised to see Carson staying in the same spot. A few of the other red offensive players went after the ball. The girl defensive line player ran farther away from the goal. She made eye contact with a taller male player with a blue jersey, after a few more steps she passed it to him. As the blue-jerseyed teen ran forward he made eye contact with Fern. Fern understood what he was supposed to do. He sidestepped away from the nearest red member giving his team mate a clear pass to him. His team mate reeled his leg back giving all he had in the kick. The ball drifted too far away from Fern and it was quickly scooped up by a red-jerseyed senior.

"No fucking way." Fern growled under his breath. He felt a charge of energy through his tired legs. He shot off at senior. He copied Carson's side step run, he began dogging the Senior. He kicked violently at him nearly missing his ankle on several occasions. A burning pain could be felt in Fern's left leg his leading one. He used his shoulder to push the Senior away and made away with the ball. He didn't bother passing it to anyone, there was no one close enough. He used what little energy he had left to speed at the goal. Too many of the defense was pushed farther up the court to really pose a threat to him. He got close enough to the goal. He slowed just a bit to get his leg ready to kick. He felt a force come from his left throwing him off balance, he stumbled losing control of the ball and falling on his back. His forearms supported his fall but it didn't protect his skin from scraping.

When he looked up he saw a familiar tanned dark haired teen, his foot was pressed down on the ball.

"Pretty good, but I think you'd aiming for the glass case back in the school." Jace said with a smile that felt nothing but condescending. Instead of answering him, Fern tried kicking at the ball with his feet. Jace chuckled a bit and rolled the ball backwards. He rolled it towards his toes and popped the ball over Fern's head and right to the welcoming feet of Carson who sped off with the stolen ball.

Fern panted hard his chest aching, every muscle in his body was asking him to stay down. Jace bent towards him his arm extended.

"Sorry must have been running too fast. I'm not usually this aggressive with someone as inexperienced at you." Fern felt himself scowl, it didn't matter how sincere Jace sounded, or how attractive and sweaty he looked from that angle, Fern felt a burning in his body and new energy. He rolled over ignoring Jace's hand and scrambling up running towards the mid point again.

Carson was already near his goal. He shot quickly at the blue goal not giving Quinn too much of a chance to prepare. Quinn didn't miss a beat and dove for the ball catching it between his hands. He brought himself up and threw the ball back at a blue member. Quinn made the mistake of passing the ball too close to Carson. Carson gave the Sophomore no chance and immediately stole the ball sending it back at the goal. Quinn had less time to block it then before. Instead of grabbing for it he used his body as a shield the ball hitting painfully in the center of his stomach. Quinn hid a wince with a smile. He came to a crouch he stayed there only for a moment before popping back up. He centered the ball with his foot.

"You're gonna have to do a bit better than that Kelly." Quinn teased in a strained voice. He reeled his foot back this time kicking it hard far away from him, and right towards Fern.

Fern ran towards it catching up with the ball halfway and turning with it. He knew better then run an entire half court again. He ran for a bit and looked to his side, he jutted his head to the nearest blue teamed member. She nodded and ran parallel to him, he kicked the ball to her. His pass already better than it was at the beginning of the game. The girl caught it and continued forward slower then him but she was doing a good job of keeping red team members away. Fern shot off-diagonal towards the right of the field not yet pressing into the defense line. He could see Carson running towards the blue team member. She made eye contact with a blue team mate who strategically put herself in the middle of the both of them. The ball was passed to the second blue girl, she ran a bit faster until she had a clear enough shot to Fern.

Fern stepped ran until he was away from the nearest red defense player. He nodded at the girl with the ball. She slowed and gave him a good pass, one that he was able to catch. He didn't waste time, and ran until he was a decent enough space away from the goal. The shot wouldn't be perfect but he knew there was a good enough chance of making it in. He made the shot, as soon as the ball left his area he slowed watching it shoot towards the goal. He saw Jace run to intercept it.

"Don't worry I got this one!" Carson yelled from the left, Fern almost didn't think he wasn't going to make it in time. Carson proved him wrong and caught the ball with good enough distance still in between him and the goal. Fern ignored the ache in his body, nothing but raw irritation driving him to run after him.

The game went on for thirty more minutes. Every time Fern or another teammate of his got close enough to the goal they were blocked either by the defense, Jace in particular, or Carson. He doubted the goalie ever even had to move in her goal. On the other hand, every time Carson shot at the blue goal he was blocked by a smug faced Quinn. Each shot at the goal became more and more aggressive, in turn Quinn's blocks became harder with the ball being kicked farther and farther away each time. The coach eventually ended it with a frustrating zero-zero score.

Fern could barely hear the coach's voice over the sounds of his own breathing. He only moved from his spot on the field when he felt a hand on his back. He didn't look up but gauged from the neon sneakers that it was Quinn.

"Come on someone is supposed to talk to us and we can hit the locker room. You kicked a lot of ass out there." Quinn ended his praise with a chuckle. Fern wasn't sure what exactly was funny about it but he shrugged either way. He finally picked his head up, he could see Ms. Edwards talking to a shorter student in the distance. He blinked a few times and rubbed the sweat from his eyes. He felt not a jolt of energy but a body-wide buzz. He found the energy from somewhere and walked closer to where the other kids were congregating.

As he got closer he immediately noticed Ani's outfit, he was seriously getting ready to check Anakin's privates because he looked nothing like what he said he was. He was wearing a shirt that, or maybe it was a dress. Either way it extended past his waist, and he wore black leggings or possibly tights underneath. It was simple navy, he'd even argue that some guys could wear that. But it was Anakin's face that took most of Fern's attention. His hair was put back in a braid, and he was wearing a deep blue eyeshadow accentuated by winged eyeliner. His lipstick was a navy blue almost identical to the shirt/dress, it didn't look like regular lipstick and could only be described as Matte.

Fern zoned out as he Anakin began talking not entirely concerned with what he was talking about. He wondered if possibly Anakin was a girl transitioning, or possibly the other way around? He wouldn't be offended but he assumed that they were close enough for Anakin to at least tell him that much. He then thought back to the time at his house, Ani clearly looked like a guy then. A really pretty guy but a guy all together, he wished that there was a none accusatory way to ask him about it.

Hands went up, Fern looked around and raised his hand too, unsure what the reason was.

"Okay, all of you who raised your hand please line up." Fern frowned but followed the rest of the crowd, he hoped it wasn't for anything weird, worst case scenario he'd tell Ani the truth. He'd most likely get an earful but it was more time he could use to talk to Ani. He made sure he was last in line.

As he waited he tried to spot Dillian, but he assumed that he had already gone up possibly using the extra time to take a much needed shower. Depending of course, on how hard he actually played on the field. Soon he was the only one in line, even Ms. Edwards had gone up. Anakin looked up at him and gave him a suggestive smile.

"You really want to take health class?" He asked already writing down Fern's name on a slot. Fern blinked a few time, groaning inwardly he wished pen wasn't permanent.

"I guess now I do." He mumbled under his breath, his eyes drifting towards Anakin's chest. It really was flat, not even an A cup.

"You weren't paying attention where you? I could tell you had that look on your face." Fern raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"What look?" Anakin shrugged and held his clipboard in front of him.

"It's hard to explain, you just do it. So if you weren't listening to me what were you thinking of?" Fern's eyes widened a bit, this was one of the few times he thanked his darker skin. It hid the beginnings of a blush pretty well, until he could get control of it at least. "Was it soccer? I saw you killing it out there on the field." Fern stilled this was the second person to comment about his playing. He assumed Quinn was just complimenting him because he was weird, but he knew Anakin was too honest with him to sugar coat.

"You think so?" Fern asked carefully, looking at his face. He really was attractive, he knew exactly why he thought he was such an 11/10 when he first met him.

"Yeah totally, if we never talked I would have assumed you were on the soccer team. Speaking of that, why aren't you on the soccer team? With moves like that you'd probably work your way to varsity." Fern scoffed and looked down nudging his toe in the dirt.

"Ah well...I don't know, I assumed they wouldn't like me. Like...I doubt I'd fit in." Fern said slowly, he didn't feel like that was the time or place to go into detail. Anakin narrowed his eyes at him.

"Oh and why not?" Anakin demanded forcing eye contact with him. Fern just shrugged keeping his lips pressed together. "Fine then it's settled, you're trying out for the soccer team, and if you don't at least make JV then i'm calling giving Ms. Edwards in for a psyche evaluation." Anakin declared, Fern felt like if he had anything other then his tongue in his mouth he would choke.

"What?" He asked he looked at Ani like he was crazy. He hoped that the message that, Anakin was being insane, was passed along telepathically.

"You are trying out for the soccer team next week. If you come up with a valid reason to not try out, tell me today at drama. Otherwise I'm putting your name on the sign up sheet. See later." Anakin turned around and began walking away from him. He paused and turned back around. "Oh, and Fern?"

Fern looked up at him his eyebrow raised expectantly. "Yeah?"

"Too bad our school colors aren't blue because you look really great in it. But, I'm sure yellow will look just fine on you." He clicked his pen giving Fern a wink. He turned back around and continued to walk.

"You don't even know how to spell my name!" Fern called after him.

"F, E, R,N, A, N, D, O, O, l, i, v, e, r, e, z!" Anakin yelled back a bubbly sound to his voice. Fern felt a small smile on his lips, despite the terrifying task of trying out for a team looming over his head. He paused for a moment, taking the opportunity to watch Anakin walk away from a back perspective. Fern knew what a guy looked like walking away, and he knew what a girl looked like walking away. Ani was like a strange middle, he walked basically like a guy but somehow moved his hips just enough to have Fern biting his lip. He shook his head, wondering if Anakin walked like that on purpose just to fuck with him.

"Fuck my life." He mumbled to himself and began walking back to the school.

By the time Fern finally made his way up the school hill, and into the locker room most of the boys were finished changing and were out of the room. Including Dillian and Quinn.

Fern took his time to take a quick shower and change. He checked the time on his phone. He was already going to be late so he decided to just take his time. He took the sticky note out of his locker and saved Quinn's number under Guy Who Touched My Ass (Quinn). He shot a quick text to Anakin.

<Me: So y were you doing that thing for health?>

The reply was almost immediate, Fern smiled and leaned against the wall of lockers. /

<Mother of my Unborn Child: Oh I just spend a lot of time in the nurse's office so she asked if I could do her that favor.>

<Me: O ok but y do u spend a lot of time there? U look healthy>

<Mother of my Unborn Child: Looks can be deceiving young padawan.>

<Me: Now who's making SW's references?>

<Mother of my Unborn Child: Say as I do not as I say, now get to class before you lose anymore of an education then you already have.>

<Me: Actually it's my study hall period soooo>

<Mother of my Unborn Child: Soooo go study. I have study hall too I can help with you some shit if you want. Or we could just talk, i'm good with either. I know you still have a ton of shit to do after school....even if that is your fault. :)>

<Me: Actually i'm going to talk to a teacher,so I don't know if i'll still have time>

<Me: I Actually I need more help studying after school it's soooo hard to focus>

<Mother of my Unborn Child: My poor Fernando. What? Too busy look at nude magazines or something?>

Fern's cheeks flushed red, he nearly turned off his phone to actually do something important.

<Me: Why do that when I can just get the real thing ;)>

<Mother of my Unborn Child: I'm not sure who you're referring to, but I swear if you have any other women in your life I am taking my son and leaving. My mother always said you were no good for me.>

<Me:I thought it was OUR son?>

<Mother of my Unborn Child: You'll get that privilege back when you've earned it mister.>

<Me: Te amo mi cielo, there does that make up for it?>

Fern blushed deeply, he groaned he should have thought about that more before sending it. He just hoped that Ani had never taken spanish, or listened to any Spanish telenovelas.

<Mother of my Unborn Child: Ooh talk to Spanish to me papi ;) ;) ;) ;)>

Fern's cheeks burned so hot that it could have been mistaken as fever.

<Me: Blocked, reported, divorced, unfriended, unfollowed, breaking the mutual, never talk to me or my son again, goodbye.>

Fern let out a shaky breath and slipped his phone into his back pocket. He muttered to himself and walked out of the locker room.

When he entered the math hall he was surprised with himself that his legs hadn't lead him astray. He rounded the corner to Mr. Teen's room. A very large portion of him wanted Mr. Teen to not be on break, and instead too busy with a class to talk to him.

He wondered if this was even a decent idea in the first place. Maybe he should just leave? Or possibly another time would be better. The only real thing keeping him at the door was Ani's encouragement to join the soccer team. He needed to overcome this in some way. He lifted his hand and knocked on the door.

There was a ruffling from the other side of the door, soon it opened to Mr. Teen in all his glory. Despite the seriousness of the situation Fern couldn't help but to take a quick look of him. That day he was wearing a more tightly fit pair of dress pants, a light grey that matched nicely with the white button up. His bowtie was also white, giving just enough of a nerdy vibe to pass him off as a math teacher and not a model.

"Fern? What brings you to the math hall?" He smiled but he looked as confused as any other teacher would. "Is this about the math test?" Fern took deep breaths and shook his head, trying to keep eye contact.

"I want to talk to you alone....about something, really important that I think both of us kinda understand." Fern began hoping his voice wasn't shaking too badly. Mr. Teen suddenly looked like he completely understood the situation, anticipated it even. He nodded and took a step back opening the door wider.

Fern glanced up at him once and stepped inside. Luckily there was already a chair left by his desk, most likely from a student seeking help. Fern took his seat there and clasped his hands together. Mr. Teen looked more serious than usual, he sat in his wheely chair next to Fern. He took his time wheeling it in front so that they were both looking at each other. There was a bit of silence between them, both of them looking like they were trying to collect themselves.

"So..." Mr. Teen began seriously looking at Fern directly in the eye. Fern looked back at him.

"How do you deal with being a different nationality?"

"It's okay to be of a different sexuality than other peo--" Mr. Teen paused and looked at Fern, who looked just as confused. "What?" Fern tilted his head his eyebrows coming together.

"I...I came here to ask about nationality." Fern said slowly. Mr. Teen blinked several times his mouth slightly ajar.

"Oh...I thought that...you came because I was gay and you..." Fern frowned and he shook his head.

"Um no offense Mr. Teen being gay is great, and all but I don't really care. I'm pretty comfortable with my sexuality, I mean I know it's straight I don't really need to talk about that." Mr. Teen looked at him silently for awhile, his face was a mix of emotions that Fern couldn't decipher. Confusion, concern, a bit of bafflement.

"But...you..."

"You're the only other teacher that's a different nationality than everyone in this school. I mean let's face it this town in general is majority white. You and I stick out like sore thumbs." Fern decided speed was in his favor, maybe if talked more and faster it would make the situation less embarrassing. "So how did you become comfortable with being culturally different than everyone else?" Fern finished biting his lip closed, stopping himself from talking anymore. Mr. Teen finally looked less confused, he took a deep breath.

"Well Fern, shouldn't you be asking one of your parents about this?" Fen glanced down shrugging a bit.

"I don't want them to know i'm having issues with this stuff....they're just so...proud. They are so proud of their culture, and if they could they'd tell everyone that they were second generation children from a different country. That they used to take long vacations there every year." Fern leaned back against the chair. "So I thought maybe...you could help." He said the last sentence quieter even more unsure then he was before. Mr. Teen sighed and put on leg on top of the other.

"Well I hate to break it to you Fern. But i'm not even technically African American. My family, came here such a long time ago. And we've lived in North America for so long, that I doubt that my great grandmother would be able to give you an culture lessons." Fern felt himself defl as Mr. Teen continued talking. "I think that my great great a ton of great grandparents were some of the first free slaves actually. But that's more of a fun fact then a cultural difference. I would love to help you Fern really, but honestly I think i'm more 'full blooded American' then a lot of the kids that come into this classroom." He reached over to his desk, he picked up a picture frame with him, his husband, and their new puppy in it. "My dog's name is America I mean, I don't think it gets more American than that." Mr. Teen chuckled at that but Fern could only manage a smile.

"Oh, well thanks anyway Mr. Teen," Fern mumbled standing up, he adjusted his gym bag to his back.

"A word of advice though Fern?" Fern turned to him, hoping it wasn't something about being gay. "Nationality and Culture is like a placebo effect. If you think it's good, then the people around will think that. If you think it's no big deal then it's no big deal. If you want everyone to know about it and be excited about, like say your parents? Then they will. But if treat it like it's something weird, and embarrassing and no one should talk about it. Then I can bet a lot of people around you will act that way too." Fern thought for a moment then nodded, he'd have to think about that more later. His head was filled with too much noise to dwell on that sort of thing.

"Okay..." Fern said unsurely, he didn't want to sound ungrateful but he was at a loss for words.

"And another important thing not to do is label yourself. Like...at this job! I'm not the black teacher, i'm the Algebra 2 teacher. When I think of myself in that way I think people can somehow tell that and they don't think of me in that way." Fern blushed a bit, he could think of a few times that he thought of Mr. Teen that way. "And in my friend group. I'm not the black gay friend. I'm the friend who always brings snacks to meetups, and is in a committed relationship with another man."

"But if what you say is true then why do people get discriminated against?" Fern said suddenly, surprising even himself. Mr. Teen shrugged a bit, a sad smile on his face.

"You're guess is as good as mine, let's just chalk it up to shitty people in the world and not dwell on it too much." Fern bit his lip and nodded, he doubted it would be that easy to leave his mind. Maybe he could text Ani during a boring subject like French. His mind paused then remembered that he already had French with Ani that day. He smiled a bit, and nodded to himself. He became aware of Mr. Teen still sitting there, and became very aware how creepy he must have looked to him.

"Um thanks for the advice Mr. Teen, I'll think about it. I gotta head to my next class." He turned and headed for the door.

"Don't forget to turn in those math papers!" Mr. Teen called to him.

"See you tomorrow." Fern said instead speed walking out of the math classroom. He was just glad that he dropped Math today, he really did need help to catch up with some of his those subjects.

Fern groaned as he splashed himself with white paint. He turned the dove over in his paint covered hand and looked up at Ani.

"I thought after the boards we were done with prop work." He placed down the wet dove down next to the three others and picked up the last none painted one in the line up. Ani chuckled to himself and did another turn practising his steps to one of the dance numbers.

"Oh Fern you'll learn soon enough that prop work is never done until the day of the show." Ani sung, spinning and coming to a crouch next to him. His lipstick had been rubbed off at some point in the day, and the only thing that alluded to him even having eyeshadow was the blue sparkle left on his eyelid. Fern looked away from Anakin before he was caught staring.

"Well if I join the soccer team then I won't be able to learn." Anakin looked at him confused for a moment. "Soccer season is right on top of the play, and practises are during now time basically." Anakin looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled.

"Well, there's always the spring. And if not then, you'll still be seeing the show anyway."

"I will?" Fern said slowly, he dipped his brush into the white paint can.

"Yes, yes you will because I'm the lead and I want you to see me perform," Anakin said seriously, he stood back up and hummed the toon to one of the songs. Fern smiled a bit and looked up at him.

"Yeah, i'll come, as long as you promise to be there when I don't make the team." Ani rolled his eyes, he put his hair into a messy ponytail. He looked out at the empty seats.

"And it'll be there when you make the team." He walked to the very edge of the stage and glanced around. Not as many people came that day, there wasn't a ton to do at the moment. The little that could have been done was already taken care of.

Fern watched him, he could imagine being on the other side of this stage. Watching Anakin perform, whether it'd seem gay or not he'd bring Anakin the best bushel of flowers he could find. Even if that meant taking from his father's garden.

Anakin turned around, his shirt/dress brushing up just a bit. He looked at Fern, who was looking back at him his gaze not shifting. Anakin blushed after a moment and looked slightly to the side. Fern knew he should look away too, move the tension away from the moment. But he couldn't.

"You know what I don't understand? How could you think I'm a girl when you listen to my voice?" Anakin said breaking the moment, he walked to the edge of the stage suddenly becoming invested in the tied curtains. Fern blinked and shook his head, he stared at the dove in his head painting more aggressively.

"What do you mean? Your voice isn't that low." Fern stated, Anakin looked at him suspiciously. Fern shrugged.

"My voice isn't high enough to pass off as a girl you know? I did go through the whole puberty thing." Fern struggled to imagine Anakin with a higher voice than the one he already had.

"Your voice isn't too high but it isn't very low. It's just in the middle, you just have a goldilocks voice." Unknowingly while he was talking he got more white paint on his hands. "Fuck this." He mumbled, he stuffed the dove into the paint. Drenching the entire thing in white.

"Goldilocks voice?" Anakin made eye contact with him again, this time smiling. Fern wasn't sure if it was because of the dove drowning or because of what he said.

"Yeah, it's just really in the middle. Actually I think everything about you is basically in the middle." He took the drowned dove out and put it on a piece of paper to dry. His hands were soaked but that was the least of his concerns.

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked genuine curiosity in his voice. He glanced towards the rope tying the curtains together again, he fiddled with the knot. Fern stood up resisting the the urge to wipe the paint off of his hands onto his jeans.

"Your voice is in the middle. You have a goldilocks face, whatever that means. Your body is in the middle, at least to me. Even your hands and feet aren't that big, you don't even look like you grow much body hair. And the way you smell isn't masculine or feminine, it's just you." Fern resisted blushing at the end, doing his best not to make the moment more awkward than it needed to be. Anakin didn't turn to him but Fern could see the smile on his face.

"Are those compliments or..."

"Call them observations....from a friend." Anakin glanced up meeting his eye for a brief moment.

"Well thank you...friend. I think you're pretty masculine so not much discussion is needed there." He chuckled a bit, Fern assumed to alleviate the stress.

"Thanks, I guess." He chuckled as well hoping to pop the bubble that was forming in the center of his chest. There was a brief silence between them, Fern became aware again how bad he was in conversations.

"So, excited for Homecoming?" Anakin said suddenly, his tone as excited as before.

"Oh shit, I forgot about it." Fern shrugged, putting his paint-covered hands together. He wrinkled his nose, it felt like glue. Anakin scoffed putting a hand on his hip.

"Excuse me?" Fern put his past hands up to defend himself.

"What? I just never go to dances." Fern said defensively, that only seemed to upset Anakin more.

"You've never gone? Fern we're juniors what are you doing!" Anakin exclaimed loudly, Fern was glad they were mostly alone.

"I've never had friends to go with, and I've never really wanted to." Anakin gave him a hard scrutinizing look like Fern was actually hiding a group of teenagers behind his back.

"Well, you have friends this year. Well at least a friend, so go with me!" Fern shrugged again, now avoiding eye contact with him.

"We're Juniors no one goes with friends anymore." He wasn't sure how accurate that was, or why he even brought it up instead of turning the idea down.

"How would you know? You've never even gone." Ani pointed out, but he did pause to think a little harder. He grinned and put his hands behind his back.

"Then I go as your date." He stated looking directly at Fern, his smile wavered a bit. Fern wondered if he was struggling as much with confidence as Fern would.

"Like...a date, date?" Fern asked, his voice getting higher towards the end.

"Yes, but I can go in full makeup and a dress."

"What do you mean by full?" Fern asked slowly. "Whenever you wear makeup, isn't that considered full?" Anakin looked at him and dramatically rolled his eyes.

"Fernando, of course not. There is highlighter, contour, bronzer, eye lash curling, etcetera. Fern, it takes a lot to put together a face." Anakin scoffed, despite the dramatism Fern wasn't sure if he was joking with him or not.

"Oh? Do you have all that stuff?" He asked half the words he could detect from a commercial or two but he'd be damned if he knew what they achieved.

"Some of it but my sister has the more expensive stuff." He shrugged casually. "I'll just have to steal some from her. Either way most people won't recognize me. Especially with it being so dark. Just say i'm a church friend or something. Hey i'll even tuck for you, just in case."

"Whats tucking?" Fern asked, trying to focus on one question at a time. Anakin glanced at him his cheeks looked to be brushed by red. He waved his hand dismissively at Fern and scoffed under his breath.

"Oh, it's nothing. But is it a yes? Want to take me to homecoming?" Anakin asked blinking his eyes rapidly. Fern made the mistake of looking at him.

"Fine, but..."

"Fine but what?" Anakin asked, doing something weird with his lips, that was doing something weirder to Fern's chest.

"But...my mom will take a lot of pictures..." Fern said instead of whatever he previously wanted to say. Anakin smiled and hugged him, wrapping his arms around Fern's neck. Fern blinked shocked, he kept his hands away from Anakin and touched him with his elbow.

"Thanks, it'll be amazing I can feel it." Fern closed his eyes and nodded he could feel something else coming from himself. He held his breath, trying to ignore the fact that they were touching. Anakin let him go and smiled again.

There was a buzz coming from the ground. Anakin looked across the stage, his phone was next to his backpack.

"I think my ride's here." Anakin moved away from Fern and went to answer it. Fern looked down at his pasty sticky hands.

"I'm going to go wash up. If you wait a second I can walk you out." Fern offered surprised himself.

"Okay meet me at the door," Anakin said as he bent down to pick up his phone. Fern nodded and jogged off to the nearest bathroom.

They met each other at the auditorium door, both with their backpacks. They walked out together Fern thinking back to the homecoming proposition.

"My dad should be here soon anyway." Fern mumbled both to himself and Anakin. Anakin glanced at him and nodded a small smile still on his face. Fern looked at him and wondered if it was possible he was smiling because of him. Fern glanced down at Anakin's clothes again. "Anakin could you please explain what you're wearing today?" Fern asked, finally cracking. Anakin laughed a little and shrugged.

"I spent too much time on my face this morning. So basically I just threw on a shirt and yoga pants." Fern raised his eyebrows, yoga pants were typically forbidden territory for men. Not because of the gender aspect to them but because they left nothing to the imagination. "Don't worry I thought that too." Anakin chuckled, "this is my dad's shirt but it's long enough to cover lower parts."

"Oh." Fern nodded it made sense, he wondered how tall Anakin's father could be if his shirt looked like a dress on his son. Ani picked up the pace and Fern was able to check out Ani's back side again. He assumed the yoga pants rule worked for the back as well as the front. To his dismay all he saw was the blue shirt, covering Ani's front and back. With that disappointment he walked faster and opened the outside door for Anakin. They both stepped out.

When Fern looked around all he saw was his father's pickup truck. He frowned a bit and looked at Ani.

"Hey, where's your ride?" Anakin looked smugly at him and gestured to the pickup truck.

"There it is. I'm coming home with you today, already texted my mom." Fern looked between Anakin and his father waiting inside the truck.

"But...why?"

"Well because you said you could use more help outside of school. So I decided to tutor you." Fern was impressed but still held some doubt.

"How did you get my father's number? Does he know about this?" Anakin smiled but looked more nervous.

"I did text him, and maybe I'll tell you how I got his number....when we're at your house. Race you to the car!" Anakin adjusted his backpack and raced off.

"Hey no fair!" Fern began running after him, he slowed when he noticed that when Ani ran the his shirt lifted up. Fern slowed down drastically to stay behind Anakin. He bit his lip and smiled to himself. He was certainly not disappointed. Despite not reaching the car first, he figured he won regardless.

Authors Note:

Hey, guy's I hope you're enjoying my little story here. I just wanted to say that I don't usually do chapter names so I am uber bad at it, I will always take suggestions for chapter names. If I like it I'll change it, and most times seeing how bad my names are I'll like them.