January 6th, 2018

     After watching the entire Godfather series, we talked about nothing in particular. It was after midnight when we finished the movies, and we were both physically and emotionally exhausted. Obviously, we decided that it was the perfect night to pull an all-nighter.

     "I'll get the five hour energies. Do you want a Red Bull, too?" I asked.

     Julian yawned. "I've never had a Red Bull or a five hour energy."

     I gasped. "How?"

     "I dunno."

     "Well, I suppose you will have had one before tomorrow."

     "It is tomorrow."

     "Fuck off."

     "You're a fuck off."

     I went to the kitchen and grabbed every caffeinated drink I could get to. When I got back to my room, I had an old plastic shopping back filled to the brim with energy drinks.

     "Sam, what the fuck?" Julian gaped at the cans and bottles of chemical energy, which were overflowing from the plastic bag.

     "You need to try the energy drinks," I demanded.

     "All of them?" Julian asked, incredulous.

     "Why not?"

     "Maybe because I don't want to die of caffeine overdose."

     "You're dramatic. Let's start with Monster."

     While we shared all the energy drinks, we spoke. I don't remember the conversation, but I know we kept bursting into laughter. The later(or earlier) it got, the more we, as you say, 'opened up.' We were tired and high off the rush of caffeine. Our emotional strength wasn't at its highest. We were lying on my carpet floor, side by side, looking up at the ceiling.

     "Hey," I said, "Julian."

     "Yeah?" He responded, as he had a staring contest with the ceiling

     "I want to tell you something about me."

     Julian paused. "Is it a bad thing?"

     ". . . No."

     "Oh," he yawned, "Okay."

     I inhaled. "I'm, um . . . I'm, like, transgender. That's why the kids shoved me in a janitor's closet that one time when I was in seventh grade."

     ". . . Yeah," Julian said, after a pause, "I know."

     "What?" I sat up. "How?"

     Julian exhaled. "Where do I start? It was mostly the kids at school. After science, this dude went up to me and he said, 'I would stay away from Sam if I were you.' 

     "So I asked him, 'Why?'

     "He says,'She might turn you.' 

     "And I was all like, okay, so the kids at this school are weird and they don't know the difference between the pronouns 'he' and 'she.' 

     "Then, there was this girl, and she walks up next to me and links her arm in mine. She whispers in my ear, 'Be careful what girls you hang out with. Sam is delusional. If you want a real girlfriend, talk to me.'

     "Now, I wasn't going to be rude or anything, but she was overstepping all of the boundaries, so I politely asked her to go away and stay away. And get this! This girl makes this ugly face at me and pushes me away! 

     "I was about to get expelled for aggressive behavior, but then this giant ripped football guy steps in front of me. He says, 'I'm sorry about my friend over there. She's on her period.'

     "At that point, I figured that if I threw the first punch, the guy would be too surprised to hit back immediately. Teen Arnold Schwarzenegger interrupted me before I got the chance, though. 

     "'Look,' he said, 'all she was trying to say is that Sarah thinks she's transsexual. She's thought it for a while. She needs serious mental help. We just don't want her to negatively affect you in any way.'

     "I almost punched him. But I didn't. Instead, I put itching powder all over his gym shorts. You see, we have PE together."

     I laughed. "You put itching powder in his pants? That's a new level of petty."

     Julian chuckled. "Only for you."

     After a while, I spoke. "On Sunday, I have an appointment. Well, it's more like a checkup. It's, like, a prelude to bottom surgery."

     "You're getting a penis? That's great."

     "Yeah, sometime after my seventeenth birthday."

     "When's that?"

     I blushed. "February fourteenth."

     Julian turned over to look at me. "You were born on Valentine's Day?"

     I nodded, embarrassed.

     "You aren't serious."

     "Yep. February fourteenth, 2001 A.D."

     "Wow, I'm glad you clarified that you aren't several thousand years old."

     "You should be. I could be a vampire, for all you know."

     "That would be cool."

     "Not if outlive you."

     "Not if you turned me."

     I looked pointedly at Julian. "Really? You want to lead an immortal life, watching all of your friends and family die?"

     Julian frowned. "Hmm . . . Fair point."

     We lied on the floor for a few hours, just talking about nothing. Around eight in the morning, I got up to pee. Tonya was waiting for me in the hallway, leaning against the wall.

     "The walk of shame is always so embarrassing," she said, eyeing me up and down.

     "What? Why are you-? How long have you been at my door?"

     "Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to," she said, semi-ominously.

     "Look, I have to pee." I tried to walk past her.

     Tonya grabbed my arm with a surprisingly tight grip. "How much sleep did you get?"

     I grimaced. "None."

     "I figured as much. Listen, I won't tell mom and dad you and you boyfriend were butt-fucking all night, if you-"

     I sighed and rolled my eyes. "This whole family. I swear. We weren't 'butt-fucking' or anything like that! We were just talking! Jesus . . ."

     Tonya looked at me, doubtfully. "Not even making out?"

     "No! And he's not my boyfriend!"

     Now it was Tonya's turn to roll her eyes. "Sure," she said. "Besides, if you weren't sexing all night, what were you doing?"

     I looked down.

     "I knew it!" Tonya exclaimed.

     "No! You didn't! We weren't having sex! We had an eight-hour movie marathon and then we drank all of the energy drinks in the house and had a four-hour conversation. There, I told you. Are you happy?"

     Tonya then had the nerve to giggle. "That's adorable. Omigod, what did you watch? Twilight? Rocky? The Hunger Games?"

     "The Godfather."

     Tonya shrugged. "Not what I would have picked, but at least it wasn't Shrek."

     "Wh- Okay, whatever. May I use the restroom, now?"

     "Yep."

     Around noon, I drove Julian home.

     "Bye," I said as he got out of the car.

     "Bye," Julian said, hastily. He glanced at is house. "Listen," Julian looked directly into my eyes, "thank you for having me over. It means a lot, considering we met each other less than a week ago. Also, why the fuck did you think it was a good idea to sample all of your energy drinks? I still have a headache."

     I chuckled. "Sorry."

     "It's fine. I'll see you Monday?"

     "Yeah."

     "Tell me how your appointment goes, okay?"

     I smiled and nodded. I kept smiling, all the way home