Back to School: With a Vengeance!

You have had quite the eventful Spring Break. From beta bitch boi to enchanting enby is quite the glow up. Cindi and Emma and you are all getting along swimmingly, when you aren't fighting like cats and dogs. Still, Cindi's controlling and coldness and Emma's manipulation and mischievous malice are a small price to pay for the inevitable make up sex. You have gotten pretty good at playing mediator, and so far, everyone is more excited about the new facets of each other you are discovering than they are hung up on sorting out your collective baggage.

"Ella! Are you almost ready? We don't want you to be late on your first day back." Your mother calls upstairs and you rush down to reassure her you are ready. You have had to do a lot of reassuring lately. She took your announcement of your identity, relationship status, and new look surprisingly well, but she has always been too concerned, some might say condescending, for your own good. She is starting to realize, as are you, that you can take care of yourself.

"Hmm. You look nice today, Ella." Your father gives you a kiss on the top of your head on his way out the door. He's harder to read than your mother, but he is starting to show actual affection and approval. His reaction to your big news still floors you when you think about it. He said, "About damn time you stood up for yourself," and shook your hand. It's funny, you're pretty sure you started out by surrendering, but now it almost seems like your first victory in fighting for who you are.

"Hey! Did you steal my lip gloss, Ella? Let's see...SMOOCH yep!" Emma kisses you extra hard as a penalty for stealing her bubblegum pink lip gloss. What can you say? It matches Brad's letter jacket. Only you added your own flair, scratching out his name and updating it in neon rainbow point so it reads 'Nobody Bitch'. You wear it over a 'Hades U' tank top and skinny jeans. You look good enough to eat, but more than a mouthful. You are going for 'fuckable, but don't fuck with me' and judging by the way Emma's lips linger on yours, you'd say you're nailing it.

"So...what are you going to tell Brad?" Emma asks, not with out a hint of cruel curiosity, as she drives you to school. You don't exactly have an answer. Your hope is that Cindi can buy you enough social credit that you won't need your bully turned bodyguard's protection. Failing that, you hope you've found enough inner strength to stand on your own two feet. Not that you haven't relished spending a lot of time on your knees this past week, but you want it to be your choice from now on.

You give Emma a lingering, loving kiss bye as she pulls up to school and you make your way to class. You hear more than a few wolf whistles, a few catty remarks, a few more cat calls, and what you think might have been a marriage proposal muttered under her breath from a mousy minx. You finally see the man you're looking for standing with a cocky casualness by your locker. He's got a knowing look in his eyes, so you guess he's heard about your wardrobe change and he's probably heard how you spent your Spring Break, and with who. The question is...