Tick. Tick. Tick. The clock ticking on the bedside table would have been annoying to some, but to Alex, it was grounding. Reminding him he wasn't living in a bubble.

     3... 2... 1...

Briiiiing!

     And there it was. The alarm going off, mingling with the sounds drifting through the slightly open window. It had been cool the night before, for the first time in what felt like decades, and he had decided to take advantage of it. After an entire summer of feeling like he was living inside Satan's mouth, the cool front wasn't something he was going to let go to waste.

     With a groan, Alex pulled himself into a sitting position. He reached over and pressed down on his alarm clock, shutting it up. Clenched hands came up to rub sleep from his eyes before he stretched and slipped from his bed so he could cross the room to shut the window. He knew it was going to get warmer throughout the day, and he didn't want to come home to his room feeling like a sauna. Not to mention, his parents would kill him for running up the A/C bill for no reason.

     As soon as the window was closed, Alex was pulling his outfit for the day out of his closet. Today it was a simple skirt with a blouse to match, with a cardigan added last minute after a moment of silent debate. Better safe than sorry, right? Completed hair and makeup finished the ensemble, and he headed off downstairs, hoping that his parents had set off for their days already.

     Slipping quietly into the kitchen, Alex counted himself lucky to see his parents weren't there. Not quite as lucky, however, was...

     "Alexandra!" Veronica, Alex's sister, said cheerfully from where she was by the toaster. "You're up early. You just missed mom and dad." Veronica leaned against the counter, eyes following Alexander as he shuffled to the fridge. "I'm making toast, want some?"

     Alex opened the fridge as Veronica spoke, trying to ignore the pit in his stomach as he pretended anything inside of it looked appetizing. "I would, but Chase and I are going to stop for breakfast on the way to school," Alex answered, reaching in and grabbing a bottle of water. He bumped the fridge door closed with his hip as he opened the bottle, quickly taking a swig. It certainly helped with the dry feeling in his mouth, but did nothing to calm his racing heart. "I appreciate the offer, though," Alex added on as he screwed the cap back on.

     "Suit yourself. Tell him I said hey, though," Veronica said with a shrug, turning back to her toast.

     "You got it," Alex affirmed, giving her what he hoped was a realistic smile before heading off to the living room. He'd planned on waiting in the kitchen, but with his sister there, he didn't want to have to hear her calling him the wrong name any more than necessary.

     Once in the living room, Alex plopped himself down on the couch before pulling out his phone. He sent off a quick text to Chase, instructing him to let Alex know when he arrived. No point in waking Lady, their dog, and making her go off in a frenzy. As an afterthought, he texted his friend to let him know Veronica said hello.

     Setting his phone onto the coffee table, Alex leaned back against the cushions, eyes drifting up to the ceiling to examine the designs engraved there. He could still feel the pit in his stomach struggling to fade away at being called his given name, as opposed to Alexander or Alex, like he preferred. He didn't hold it against Veronica, though. Even if it would be easy to do so, he knew it wasn't her fault he was too afraid to come out. No, it wasn't Veronica's fault. It was their parents' faults.

     Alex knew that if he told them he wanted to change his name, they wouldn't even try to understand. To them, he was and always would be their near perfect youngest daughter. Hell, he'd probably be perfect in their eyes without Chase in his life, but that was the one thing the boy wouldn't bend to his parents' will on.

     Speaking of Chase, Alex could hear his phone buzz on the table. He looked at it, smiling slightly when he saw there was a new text. He leaned over to check it, before quickly shoving the device in his pocket. Chase was waiting outside.

     Alex made sure to grab his backpack on his way out the door, calling out a goodbye to his sister as he slung it over his shoulder. Closing the door behind him, Alex could barely keep himself from sprinting down the driveway towards Chase’s old, beat-up car. He could feel the smile on his face growing as he got closer, his excitement growing with each quick step.

     "Alexander!" And there it was. Chase's happy, perky voice speaking the right name through the permanently rolled-down passenger window, albeit said softly so only the two of them would hear it. “Ready to go get some breakfast?” Chase asked as Alex opened the door and climbed in.

      "Absolutely. But first, what was it you needed to talk to me about?" That was, after all, the entire reason they both got up early to go to breakfast. Chase had told Alex the night before that there was some pressing matter to discuss. Or, rather, Chase said he had something to tell Alex, who assumed it must be a big deal if he wasn't just going to text it.

     "I'll tell you over breakfast. Buckle up." Chase nodded to the seatbelt. Alex gave an overly-exaggerated groan(despite the smile on his face) but obliged the request, pulling his seatbelt on. He gave Chase a thumbs up, and with that they were off.

     It wasn't long until they arrived at Dine Right Diner. Both boys stepped out of the car, Alex fixing his bun which had been messed up by the wind coming through the window.

     "I don't know why you still insist on keeping your hair perfect," Chase commented as he shoved his keys into his pocket.

     "Because," Alex started, lowering his voice and leaning in so Chase could hear. "To everyone else, I'm still Miss Perfect, even if I hate it." Chase frowned at that, but didn't argue further. "Now come on, let's get inside. I'm starving." Alex gave what he hoped was a comforting smile, which Chase returned. Alex started towards the door of the diner, Chase following behind him.

     Upon walking in, they saw the owner, Mr. Sheffield, sitting at the bar in the middle of the diner. He glanced up from the papers he was working on and saw them, quickly nodding towards their usual booth. They both gave him a small smile in thanks before heading over there. They had been coming here for a long enough time that this was practically second nature to them.

     "Alright, we're here, we're sitting down," Alex started, looking at Chase impatiently. "I wanna hear what's going on!" He bounced up and down excitedly in his seat, causing Chase to let out a soft chuckle.

     "Alright, alright, fine. God, you're like a toddler," Chase chastised playfully, making Alex giggle a tiny bit. "We're getting a new student today.”

     “Yeah, and?” Alex prompted, raising an eyebrow. “We get transfer students all the time.

     “Transfer,” Chase responded. “Emphasis on the trans.” He paused, and after a few seconds, Alex caught on, eyes widening as he did so.

     "Wait, seriously?" Alex questioned excitedly, leaning forward. "Are you sure? What's her name?"

     "Lucy, apparently," Chase answered, smiling widely. "And admittedly, transfer doesn't really apply to her, I just wanted the pun. I asked around about her and I guess she was home-schooled until now or something. You know what that means?"

     "What?" Alex asked, eyes wide with wonder.

     "It means she doesn't have experience with school. Which means she's gonna need someone to show her around. You see where I'm going with this?" Chase grinned, leaning forward. Alex shook his head, looking confused. Chase rolled his eyes, sighing affectionately. "Oh, you dork. You can befriend her! You can have someone to talk to who understands you!" Chase whisper-yelled this, not wanting to risk anyone hearing. "And no one will even notice! Everybody knows you're one of the sweetest people in the whole school, they'll just think you're being friendly to the new girl."

     Alex went quiet at this, looking down at his menu without really reading from it. He considered this. This girl... She might understand what he felt. As much as Alex appreciated Chase and his acceptance, Chase still didn't understand what it felt like to be trans. Lucy... She might actually understand. She might even be able to offer advice on dealing with it.

     "You said she's coming today?" Alex asked, looking at Chase finally. Chase gave a nod, a smile playing at his lips. "Okay. Well, then, after breakfast we should be sure to greet her. We wouldn't want her to feel unwelcome at our school, right?" Alex gave Chase a smile, who merely grinned in response. "For now, though, let's figure out what we're ordering. I'm in the mood for pancakes, wanna split them?"

     Within no time at all, Alex and Chase had finished their breakfast and headed off to school. Walking into the school, Alex could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Why was he so nervous about this girl? She was probably just like anyone else-

     "That's her," Chase whispered from next to Alex, making the thought fade quickly. He looked in the direction Chase was looking, and immediately he froze. Through the window of the front office, he could see her. She was leaned over the desk, signing some papers. Even so, Alex had a good enough view to see what she looked like.

     She was... Beautiful. Everything about her. The way her curly hair fell against her shoulders, her dark skin and hair a stark contrast next to her pearl-white blouse. The way she delicately held the pen to sign the papers in front of her, clearly deeply focused. Alex felt his heart pounding in his chest suddenly, his stomach seeming to fill up with butterflies as he tried to keep himself from staring.

     "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you want to go talk to her!" Chase chuckled from beside Alex, tearing him from his own thoughts. Alex felt his cheeks flush with embarassment. "I'm guessing I was right to mention this to you, then?"

     "I- Yeah. She-" Alex took a deep breath, and tried to force a normal smile, as opposed to a lovestruck one. "She seems nice." Alex met Chase's eyes, pouting a tiny bit upon seeing how unimpressed Chase seemed with the act.

     "Don't pretend you're calm. I've known you since freshman year, I can tell when you're freaking out." Chase reprimanded playfully.

     "Alright, fine, I get it," Alex huffed. "What do you want me to say? I'm freaking out and I can't even imagine talking to her?"

     "That works!" Chase affirmed, nodding with a grin. Alex groaned, looking up to the ceiling as if searching for some sort of divine intervention.

     "Why are you bullying me?" Alex whined, looking at Chase and pouting. "You're being mean."

     "Oh, get over it," Chase laughed, making Alex pout even more. "It's called tough love!"

     "That's not what tough love is!" Alex huffed.

     "Quit changing the subject!" Chase demanded. Alex glared at him, crossing his arms. "Go talk to her! Offer to show her around!” Alex was quiet for a few moments before he took a deep breath and nodded.

     “Alright. Yeah. Fine,” Alex agreed. “But you’re going to come with me. Like me emotional support animal. Deal?”

     “Hell yeah,” Chase agreed. “I’m always happy to be your emotional support gay.”

     “Dork,” Alex snorted before grabbing Chase’s arm. “Now come on, before she leaves-“ Alex was cut off as he turned around, face falling. They were too late. Because there, on the other side of the glass, Alex could clearly see the last person he wanted talking to the new girl.

     Madeline. The girl who had made it her sole mission in life to one-up Alex. She always managed to get under his skin. She was on the cheerleading team with him, and had been working for ages now to try and get Alex off the team. She had, at one point, tried to get the whole team to hate him. If it hadn’t been for Monica, it would have worked.

     Monica was another girl on the team with Alex, and she had been a lifesaver. She had somehow known that Madeline was wrong about all the nasty things she tried to say about Alex, and helped him clear his name. He had regarded her as a close friend since then, albeit not quite to the same level that Chase was.

     But Monica wasn’t here to help right now. Which left Alex and Chase simply staring on in disappointment as Madeline took the very spot that Alex had wanted: Right by the new girl’s side, clearly about to try and show her around the school. And, since they were passing by without sparing them a passing glance, it seemed she was going to be successful.

     “Are you kidding me?” Chase huffed, once they had disappeared down the school hallway. “She must be doing that on purpose.”

     “Just like everything else she does to get at me,” Alex grumbled, crossing his arms. “I can’t believe this.”

     “What do we do now?” Chase asked. “I vote for making her spill something on herself at lunch so she gets embarrassed in front of the new girl.”

     “No,” Alex sighed. “I’m not stooping to her level of petty. I’ll just wait for a chance to introduce myself to Lucy and befriend her normally. I’m not letting some petty rivalry with Madeline stop me.”

     “Fine, fine,” Chase sighed. “But if you do decide to go the fun route, you’d better come to me.”

     “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” Alex chuckled with a roll of his eyes. “Now come on, we need to get to class.