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Gina Porter knew she wasn’t special. She was mediocre at best. Most people could read her from nothing but her eyes. Her dad was gone, mother had one foot out the door, and her brother— man her brother wasn’t even her brother anymore. Joining band was more of an impulse decision, like most of her decisions were. She was graced to play the flute, the woodwind family wasn’t very accepting at first but she learned how to fluently speak the instrument. Gina had never interacted with the cheerleaders. As much as they knew she was just one twenty-eighth of their personal instrumental speaker. So when Nini came into the picture she was generally shocked.
“Excuse me, I don’t mean to be rude, but are you sure that you’re talking to the right person?” Nini fiddled with her straight brown hair. She checked the scribble on her hand. “You are Gina Porter, correct?” She asked. Gina shyly nodded as she grabbed her alchemy and arithmetic books from her locker. The miniature door made a large slam. “So, what do you need, especially from a lezzie like me?” She tugged at her letterman jacket and pulled out a crumbled piece of paper. Gina intensively read it and suddenly her eyes lit up. She pulled out a pen and wrote on the back of the paper. “Meet me at 4:00 at this address.” The girl took two steps before turning around. “Sharp, may I add.” Nini’s face scrunched and she rolled her eyes crumbling the paper again. In the corner near their locker stood Ricky Bowen, the kicker for their high school’s iconic football team.
“Babe,” he started slowly, “what in hell was that?” He asked sucking his teeth. His hands turned pale white and formed fuming fists. Nini placed a hand on his chest and looked directly into his eyes. “Nothing, just toying with the prey before I go to town.” His burning glare turned into a dreamy glasgow smile. “That’s my girl.” Ricky grabbed his girlfriend’s hand and they began to walk to class, she tried to avoid everyone and though it was very overt, no one noticed. Her eyes stared at the big wildcats poster on top of the A-Wing walls, it was like watching paint dry looking at the same poster all day but the feeling of seeing airborne, jealous, brutal teenagers lock their gaze onto her made her want to hurl. He dropped her off at room A-104 two minutes late to the bell, another thing about Nini was that she was observant— very observant, which was concealed. Ever since Ricky her record was a bit more damaged than usual. But, her father was a football fan and all her mother saw was a manageable gentleman that went to church on Sunday’s and said his grace before dinner. So no one cared, why should she. “Bye babe.” He kissed her lips and she puckered her lips in response. A small wave was given before she disappeared into the warm atmosphere of the foreign language class she had entered. Before she could even put a toe into the threshold the teacher interrogated her. “Pass, young lady?” Obviously Nini didn’t have one but her recently acquired lying skills came in handy and she got off scot free until she realized the big “TEST” written in white chalk on the board. “Please pull out a number two pencil and a new brain, this is gonna be a hard one folks.” She didn’t know if she wanted to yawn, scream, or cry so she didn’t do any. She carried on.
Soon enough 4:00 pm came along after Nini’s terrorized day of being worshiped and having a front row seat as a test dummy. They met at an old shed deep into the forest behind the football field. Nini dressed in a petite granola white dress while Gina completely shadowed her wearing chafing jeans and a way too big for comfort graphic tee that she may have or may have not stolen. “Hey.” Nini started. “Sup.” Gina finished. Their eyes met before Nini coughed. “Alright so you read the letter, I um, I need help to know if I am… y’know.” Gina sucked her teeth and bit her lip. “Er, I think I’m kind of forgetting princess.” Nini could wipe the plastered smirk off of her dyke assed face but the teasing made her stronger. “…Gay.” She whispered softly not even the leaves on the ground rustled. “Speak up, darling.” Gina added, her brown skin complementing the bronze glow of the autumn blooms. Nini now felt as if she was being toyed with. “Gay!” Nini shouted and Gina covered her mouth. “Shh! You don’t want the whole goddamn neighborhood to know!” Nini pushed her back into the bark of a tree. “Shut up! I don’t even know if I am!” Gina leaned awkwardly on the tree. “Believe me sweetheart, you are.” Nini laughed to herself. “Just because you like me, doesn’t mean you have to project yourself on me!” Gina’s eyes bulged and her face was cherry red. “Listen up darling.” She began cornering Nini into a bush. “You asked for my help so really aren't you kinda wanting me to start projecting on you? I look at you and all I see is worn out, burnt out, gay kid in the 90s. I see a better version of myself, but as a dumb bunny teenager.” Eventually Nini slipped into the bush and a few thorns pricked her and Gina’s morale led to her fishing the girl out of the prickly mess. After taking off a few hitchhikers, Nini inquired. “But how can I be sure? No one’s sure of anything, not even you.” Her lips formed straight and she sighed. “You’re right, I’m not sure of anything but I know that denial is the first step. Your name will be on a wanted poster in a few months sister, and you’ll know where to find me.” And with that Gina left her in the dust, like literally blew dust on her face as she left. “What a bitch.” Nini muttered as she left the premises. E.J. took his binoculars off and checked the candid he had got. “And what a dyke.”