Stuck in a Rut.
By Rosalie Redd

Casey Church is a normal 13 year old boy, full of hopes and dreams and fears and anxieties. But in a world where there hasn’t been a girl born in over a century, what is normal?

Chapter 6.

Janie and I lay there in silence, just listening to each other’s hearts racing. In the quiet I felt peaceful and relaxed, the first time in ages. After what seemed like forever, but likely was less than an hour, I heard the familiar sound of the garage door opening. Janie gently pulled away, sat up and put her bra and shirt back on. I sighed and laid my head in her lap.

Mom came up a short time later, and knocked on the door.

“Come in, it’s open!”, I said, my head still in Janie’s lap. She was stroking my hair softly. Mom poked her head in, and placed the medications on the dresser.

“Janie, would you like to stay over for dinner?” She asked.

Janie smiled that adorable smile that melted my heart. “I would love to, but I do need to get back home. Perhaps another night.” She waited for me to lift my head, and demurely stood up, smoothing her skirt.

Janie was first out the door, and Mom turned and gave me a little knowing smile. I fought off the blush, and got up, following them down the stairs. Mom offered Janie a ride, and while she was gone, Dad came in from work. Seeing me sitting on the couch, he came over and sat down.

Dad opened his mouth, then closed it, like he was trying out what to say in his mind. Finally he spoke, “I know this is difficult, and I’m sorry if we weren’t there for you. But I do want to let you know that your mother and I will always love you. And if you want to talk about anything, we are here. Now this boy… um…”

“DeShaun”, I volunteered quietly.

“DeShaun”, He said rolling the name around in his brain. “He didn’t force you into this, did he? He didn’t threaten or intimidate you, or anything?”

I sighed. “No Dad. He didn’t do anything like that. It’s my fault. I couldn’t speak up. I couldn’t say no. I just sat there helpless.”

Dad looked at me and frowned. He got up and tussled my hair. “How about after dinner you and I go down to the park and shoot some hoops?”, he said.

I might not be the greatest athlete and I don’t take after Mom that much, but I knew I could beat Dad in horse or one on one. “It’s a deal!”, I said.

The next day came and I walked into class reluctantly. I knew there were eyes watching my every move. It’s not often that one misses a day so close to the beginning of school. Second period ended and I went out to the lockers.

I reached my locker and heard a murmur go through the assembled crowd. I turned and saw the reason. Paul Bettany was racing towards me, a cast on his right hand. He was furious.

“Pipsqueak Church, you are gonna pay. The Doctor says it’s broken, and I’m gonna miss the entire football season.”, he bellowed.

I looked at him, I didn’t have time for his bullshit. “I’m not the one that punched a metal locker, you are”, I retorted. “Personally, I couldn’t care less if you never played football ever again. You raped James, and forced him to become a girl, against his wishes!”

A hush came over the spectators. Paul was livid, I could see it in his big, dumb eyes.

“So what if I did? Bond was a pansy. He deserved it. He would have never been a real man. Now he’s what he should be. And I’m a real man. Yeah, I did it, and tell you what. I heard what happened, you got it in the ass the other day, you are as big a sissy fag as he is!”, he said in a clear rage.

I was pissed. How had he found out? Was DeShaun bragging to everyone? Seething, I barked back at him. “So what? So what if I’m going to become a girl. Even as a girl, I’ll still be more of a man than you’ll ever be!”

I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. My secret was out. Everyone would know. I didn’t have time to think about it though, because I saw him wind up with his good arm. With his fist coming directly at my face, I did the only thing I could do. I let my knees buckle, and I dropped purposefully to the ground. Paul’s fist sailed over my head, and with a satisfying metallic bang, I heard him once again punch a locker.

Paul crumpled to the ground, screaming obscenities and death threats. I looked at him, and unsteadily got back up. I heard a throat clear, and looking over I saw Miss Petri and Principal Lewis. Standing there.

I looked sheepishly over at them. “Erm… how long were you standing there?” I asked, afraid of the possible repercussions.

Mr. Lewis, a tall imposing man with piercing eyes and dark complexion spoke in that voice of his, that voice that would make James Earl Jones sign up for voice lessons from him. “Long enough. Miss Petri, take the names of everyone here, should we need to get statements from them.” He looked down at Paul, who was curled in a ball by this point, whimpering quietly. “I suppose we better call an ambulance for Mr. Bettany here. Then I need to get his Father on the phone, and tell him that his son is being expelled.”
I stood there in shock. Mr. Lewis looked down at me, which wasn’t just because of my height. He was easily 6’7”, if not taller. “Don’t look too shocked, Casey”, he said to me.

“After the first incident, we’ve been keeping an eye on him. And with his admission to rape just now, he won’t be welcome here ever again. Contrary to what some students think, we are not the enemy, and we are hear to keep you safe and let you learn in a safe environment. As for you, I’ll give you a pass excusing you from your next class. Please go to the school counselor.” Mr. Lewis patted me on the head, and wrote out a pass.

I sat in the office as Mrs. Archibald came in. She was a small woman, much smaller than me. She was older and had that warm grandma vibe going for her. She reached into a large purse and pulled out a pair of glasses. She sat down and pulled out a pen and paper from the bag, momentarily dropping some yarn and sewing needles.

“Casey Church, what brings you here today?” She asked in a pleasant tone.

“Mr. Lewis said I should speak to you. I...I sort of got into a situation with Paul Bettany”, I stammered.

She perked one eyebrow, before speaking. “Forgive my manners, would you like a cup of tea while we speak? I always have some handy.”

I smiled and nodded and took the glass of ice tea. After a few sips, I relaxed and talked to her about what was really on my mind. I felt a little better after hearing her words about how brave I was to face someone bigger than me, and how I had managed to keep Janie safe.

It was lunch, and despite the tea, I was feeling a little hungry. I stopped by my locker, and after some difficulty with the bent door, I managed to get it open. Grabbing my bagged lunch, I headed out to cafeteria, where Janie was waiting at our usual spot. She had tears in her eyes, and she hugged me tight.

“I heard what happened. I’m safe. I’m free of him. With all those witnesses, I never have to be afraid that he will try again. I called Daddy, and he said that he is going to call the police and have charges brought against Paul.”, Janie said while sobbing into my shoulder.

She kissed my cheek in front of the entire cafeteria, and there was a rousing ovation. I turned beet red, and then Janie stood up and laughed and shouted out. “Get a life, you all!”

She and I sat together and I held her hand through the entire meal.

She and I exchanged glances back and forth in biology class, as Miss Petri tried her best to melt the boys brains with her super-sexy descriptions of cellular mitosis.

I walked to my locker to get my books for study hall, and I glanced down the hallway, and saw DeShaun. He turned and caught my gaze, then quickly turned and fled in the other direction. I tried to follow, but with the in-between class traffic, it was like a goldfish trying to fight its way against the current of a raging river. I shook my head and headed off to the classroom.

Janie was there, and after roll call, we sat in the back of the room in a conspiratorial manner. She reached to hold my hand. I pulled mine short, and smiled at her.

I whispered to her. “I love you, that might seem funny to say after it’s just been a few days. It’s true though, and I wanted you to know. I don’t want to hurt you though by promising more than I can deliver.”
She looked at me and nodded softly. “I understand”, she said with a small smile.

We sat there for a moment, before I gathered up the courage to ask her the question. “Janie, what do you know about DeShaun McAllister?”

“Not much, why do you… oh.”, she said, her expression imperceptible. “Not much really, He lives on the other side of town and went to Hilltop, while we were at Lakeview. All I really know is that he’s supposed to be really athletic and gifted.”

I blushed as my mind strayed involuntarily to memories of my lips around his large dick. Gifted indeed.

Janie looked at me with concern. I tried to brush off the apparent worry on her face. “I was just curious, because he seems to be avoiding me. I guess I can’t blame him. Getting someone like me must be a disappointment.”, I stated.

She pulled my face towards her gently and said exactly the right thing. “Shut up, you incredible idiot.”
When she smirked, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Under the desks, where nobody could see, she gently patted my thigh, before her hand briefly dipped in between my legs. With a smile she withdrew it and we started helping each other with our homework in earnest.

I went to the gym, expecting an ordinary class. When I got there however, the teacher directed me to go to the office, and handed me a hall pass.

I got to the office and was met by Mr. Lewis. He could read the bewilderment on my face, and called me into his office. He smiled and spoke in a friendly manner, “Don’t worry, Mr. Church. You aren’t in any trouble. After this morning’s incident, I called your mother to clarify a few things. She confirmed your current situation, regarding possibly transitioning. The policy of the school board is that for any student that is transitioning, we remove them from athletics, both after-school and during school. It’s not a form of punishment, rather we know the tremendous strain that transitioning gender causes on the body, and we enacted this rule to safeguard your health. As such, I’m afraid that we have to pull you from gym class for this semester.”

I swallowed hard. That was a disappointment, but I understood. With hormones all over the place and the stresses on joints and ligaments and bones from the changes, physical activity could easily end up in a serious injury.

Mr. Lewis continued, “Unfortunately right now most of our elective classes during that period are full. The only class we could put you in was Home Economics. I know that you are dealing with a lot of injuries to your male pride, but please don’t think that putting you in Home Ec is in any way part of some ‘secret agenda’, in fact quite a few members of the various sports teams take the class at various times of the year.”

Sure, because they think it’s a cupcake class, no pun intended. I wasn’t going to say that out loud though.

“Anyhow, since it is Friday, I’ll write you a pass to use the library for this period. On Monday your schedule will officially be changed for this period.”, he finished speaking and gave me yet another of the fun little paper slips.

I was just collecting these babies left and right.

I went down to the library and presented my pass. Heading to the science section, I pulled a book on gender transitioning, and flipped through it, not paying too much attention to it. My mind was on other things. Things named DeShaun.

And after class, I saw the afore mentioned person. Managing to get close to him and his entourage, I stepped in front of him. He looked at me with no recognition on his face, and calmly dismissed me with a “Do I know you?”

I tried to speak, but once again, my voice faltered.

He pushed past me with some pretense about not wanting to be late for class. He didn’t look back once as I slumped to the floor, my entire being shattered.

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