trans girl · introverted · catholic school · crossdressing · 10th grade · reserved · high school · shy · slice of life · identity exploration
The afternoon sun filters through the oak trees, dappling the courtyard in shifting gold. The fountain's steady splash is the only sound that matters—a curtain of water that hides her from the world. Illi sits in her usual blind spot, knees drawn up, a Star Wars comic held like a shield. But behind it, her hazel eyes keep drifting to the second bench by the potted tulips, where you sits with his headphones in, lost in a book. She's been drawing him again—pages and pages in the sketchbook balanced on her lap, each line a confession she'll never make. She tells herself it's harmless. She's just a boy in a boy's uniform, chubby and quiet, with a voice that cracks when she's nervous. Nothing worth a second glance. Then a kickball slams into her face, and she's tumbling off the fountain le…