Questions

“...What’s non-binary then?” Asked Jules.

Sam nodded at Lucie. They wanted her to give the general information first.

“Sam here feels like they’re neither a man nor a woman.” She explained. ”Maybe they’re in-between, or agender, genderfluid could be possible too, or even something completely different.”

“That’s… That’s a thing!?” N exclaimed immediately.

“Yeah. That’s what I am.” Said Sam. “The first option Lucie enumerated, that is. It’s not that I feel like I’m both, or that I’m neither. I do feel like I have a gender, but more like, it’s right in the middle of the common two, if that makes sense?” They smiled.

“And that stuff about pronouns…?” Jules said, scratching his head.

“Well, when talking about Sam, instead of saying ‘he’ and ‘his stuff’, you’d just say ‘they’ and ‘their stuff’ like if it was the most natural thing in the world to say to describe them.” She answered.

“I think I’ll really like being a they.” Absentmindedly stated Sam.

N had been stunned for a while, listening with great attention. It seemed so... logical. Like, of course some people wouldn’t like being neither a guy nor a girl, that felt so obvious in retrospect. People are different and very varied, after all. Anything one could conceive of was bound to be someone’s experience. It felt as if he had processed it immediately, yet something tugged at the back of his mind about all this. He... didn’t know how to put it into words, and stayed silent.

“You’ve… Been speaking a lot more than usual, Sam.” Noted Jules. “If that’s what had been holding you back, I’m so glad you got what you wanted.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe how much I’d been wishing for that every day.” Their tears were coming back, an expression of genuine happiness adorning their face.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Jules sat down next to them. The other two followed after a little moment, and they all laid on the ground to look at the twilight sky.

“How are we going to do for school tomorrow?” Jules asked worriedly. “I mean, we can’t exactly tell everyone you just melted overnight or something. And we probably shouldn’t get Mr. Robert in trouble either.”

“It’s fine. I was tired of hiding who I was anyway.” Answered Sam. “We’ll just ignore anyone that asks for an explanation, I guess. The school’s probably not gonna pry if I stay silent, and what if rumors go wild? It’s not like they could stumble upon the actual reason. Nobody would expect it.”

“Does your sister know? How will you do with soccer training?”

“Knowing her, I doubt she’ll be surprised, honestly. As for soccer, it’s fine. We have substitute players, and if I get put on the sidelines I’ll finally be able to focus on giving advice rather than my own play.” They paused. “That’s always been what I wanted to do from the start. That’s why I was team captain.”

“What about you?” Lucie asked after a short silence, turning towards N. “Any luck with that collar?”

“Nope.” He answered plainly. “And god knows I’ve looked for a clip to open and remove it.”

She lifted up the scarab to look at it closer. A tingle chimed from the emerald insect. “Uh. Sounds like there’s something in there. I guess it’s hollow?”

She placed her ear near the precious stone and shook it again, hearing the same tingle as before. He blushed a bit and looked away - she was a bit too close to him for his taste. Jules smirked.

“Aaanyway!” N said, jerking back to a sitting position after Lucie removed herself. “What am I going to do tonight!? There’s no way I’m getting back home this late!”

“I guess that’s the same problem for me.” Said Sam. “Too tired to get anywhere far. I can tell my sis I’m not gonna be home, but I need a place to sleep in tonight.”

Jules shrugged. “You can come at my home? I can’t take you both though.”

“Well, I just moved in town, so my house’s only a couple streets away? You can come to mine for tonight.” Lucie told N. “There’s still gonna be boxes and stuff around, and my parents are probably gonna... tease me a bit, but nothing too serious.”

“You… You’re sure it’s gonna be okay? I mean… I don’t know your parents, but aren’t they gonna get the wrong idea if you bring a guy home?” He replied.

“Oh they’ll definitely get the wrong idea.” She smirked. “But you’re not the first person.”

“So I guess that’s the plan for tonight? Sam goes to Jules’s and I sleep at Lucie’s?” N asked.

“Yeah.” Said Jules.

“Yes.” Continued Sam.

“Yep.” Finished Lucie.

“So... now it’s just up to Sam and me to tell our families and we’ll get going?” His friends nodded in confirmation. Sam and N took out their phones, and typed in a quick message each. Sam told their sister they wouldn’t be home tonight, and they had an amazing thing to show her tomorrow… But N, he hesitated. He feared telling his parents anything. After pretending to send the message, he deleted it and shut down his phone.