*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!* I slammed my hand down on the obnoxious alarm to shut it up, rolling over and trying to fall back asleep. What sounded like the padding of feet on my floor could be heard, but I just ignored it, drifting off back to dreamland.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" I slammed my hand down on my obnoxious twin brother's head to shut him up.

"Ugh," I groaned as I groggily sat up, rubbing my hazel eyes.

"Ehehehe. Come on chump, up for school!"

"Do I have to go? I was kinda hoping I could stay home and catch up on some sleep."

"Skylar, it's literally the first day of school. What sleep are you missing?!" he whined.

"The sleep from having to wake up so early today!" I retorted grumpily. "Now if you'll excuse me." Crawling back under my covers, I rolled over again, trying to go back to sleep.

"Fine, be that way," my brother huffed.

I sighed in content, thinking I was finally going to get my way and get some sleep. Oh, boy was I wrong? My brother simply picked me up with a 'hup' noise and dropped me on the floor, blanket and all. I rose into a sitting position, rubbing my now sore butt and scowled at him. He simply gave me a playful grin.

"Now up, before I have to change you myself and you know we both lose in that situation."

With that, he left my room without giving me a chance to say so much as a word. If looks could kill, I would have broken the door and my brother's face as I glared daggers through the only thing separating us. Getting up and rubbing my butt once more, I yanked my blanket back off the floor then placed it on my bed. Not even caring to straighten it out, I then pulled out some random clothes from my closet and putting them on before basically trudging to the bathroom. My brother was still taking a shower, but I disregarded him as I began brushing my teeth.

"Wha- Skylar! What are you doing!" he shouted, sticking his head out from behind the shower curtain.

"Brushing my teeth, Hunter. What does it look like?" I retorted, teasingly saying his name.

He just sighed and continued his shower, ignoring me. I did end up leaving however as he got out. After he left, I finished with my business, took a shower and all that then made my way downstairs. Our days usually went like this; him dragging me out of bed, then us arguing until breakfast. Neither one of us are usually very enjoyable until we've had something to eat in the mornings. I made myself some tea, once again ignoring my brother then popped some waffles in the toaster. After having eaten and grabbing money for lunch, I lugged my backpack onto my shoulders as I walked out of the house.

"Come on ya dip, before I leave you here." I smiled, closing the door and unlocking the car.

Planting my rear in the driver's seat, I waited for Hunter who soon rushed out of the house and swiftly made it into the passenger side. He knew that I really would take off without him if he didn't hurry. I chuckled a bit at the thought before turning to him.

"Why do you have that?" I asked, furrowing my brow and pointing at the single rose he had in his hand. "Is it for your girlfriend?" I teased, sickering.

Hunter adjusted his glasses and sighed before saying, "I wish..."

I just shook my head as I pulled out of the driveway.

- - -

As we got out of the car, Hunter gained a huge grin, running off to the school building. I sighed, shaking my head.

"That boy," I murmured, grabbing my bag and running after him, locking the car in the process.

Catching up to him, I saw as he approached our friend Natalie.

"Hi, Nat. I got this for you," Hunter said with a bright smile, handing over the flower and pushing up his glasses.

"Oh, thanks Hunter," Natalie replied, grabbing the flower and smelling it. "You're a great friend." Smiling, she gives Hunter a side hug.

He sighed and gave a semi-sad smile, nodding. I couldn't help but chuckle at Hunter's failed attempt. He should know by now that Natalie will never be interested in him - or anyone else for that matter - romantically.

"Heya Nat, long time no see. How was your summer?" I asked, giving her our secret handshake that even I could barely remember.

"It was pretty good. You know me, spent my days filling my stomach," she said, patting her stomach. "By the way, that reminds me. I'm really hungry right now."

"Of course you are." I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, can you stop eating for like an hour?"

"I mean, I could. That would probably end in a missing desk though." Nat chuckled and Hunter did the same.

Natalie bid us goodbye, walking off to get her food and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I looked over at Hunter who was just continuing to look at Natalie like a creep. Sighing, I left him to his business to search for the rest of our friends. My eyes scanned the crowd of reconnecting teens until I was met with vibrant rainbow coloured hair. An unimpressed look made its way onto my face as I realized who it was.

"Really Damien?" I mumbled as I walked in his direction, sighing.

As I got to the caramel-skinned boy who the curly rainbow hair belonged to, I was immediately brought into a group hug.

"Hey babe," I was greeted then given a kiss on the cheek.

I gave a soft smile and replied with, "Hi Tony."

"Girl, it has been too long," Damien said to me.

"Obviously! I mean, you died your hair rainbow!"

"Yeah, I was getting tired of the pink."

"Geez, dude, how gay can you get?" I ask, shaking my head.

"Probably a lot more hon, but I'm not complaining."

"Hey, come on Dame, don't hog her all to yourself," said the dirty blonde boy in my group.

"Hey Riles," I greeted Riley, giving him a fist bump.

"Sup Sky. Haven't seen you much this summer. This guy keep you busy?" he jeered, elbowing my boyfriend, Tony in the stomach.

"Har, har," I mused sarcastically. "You could say that. I did hang out with Tony a lot." I held onto his toned arm.

"He better not have gotten you pregnant."

"Riley!" I shouted, my cheeks heating up.

"I did nothing of the sort," Tony states innocently with a 'matter of fact' look on his face.

Riley jokingly eyed my boyfriend as if trying to detect a lie. "Alright." He sounded skeptical, but let it go.

The four of us spent a few minutes catching up on what we did during the summer and just joking around when Hunter and Natalie came to join us. Talking for a little while longer, I interrupted the friendly conversation.

"Ugh, really? Do they have to do that in public?" Disgust was written on my face.

"What? Who do what?" Riley asked, looking for what I was talking about.

"Over there," I pointed. "There are two guys just kissing in the middle of the hallway."

Everyone turned there heads to look for a second. By then, they were already pulling away from the kiss.

"What's so wrong with people kissing in the hallway? I mean, we do it too babe," Tony asked.

"Yeah, but that's different, they're two guys. We're, like, I dunno, a normal couple, you know?"

"Well, they're normal too," Tony replied.

"Yeah, Skylar. Anyway, it's not like they're doing anything wrong. Love is love and if two guys, or hell, even two girls want to kiss each other then they damn well can," Damien added. He seemed to be getting annoyed.

"I'm not saying they can't, I'm just saying they should do it where not everyone can see them," I defended.

"You have no problem when you see me kissing other guys," Damien countered again.

"Yeah, but you used to be a girl so it's not as bad."

Damien looked a little distraught at what I said and stopped talking, his usual strength and confidence, gone. Everyone else was looking at me for what I've been saying while Damien stared at the ground. This bothered me. Was it really so wrong for me to voice my opinion? The whole conversation stopped there and everyone else looked at each other in an uncomfortable silence.

"We agreed we wouldn't bring that up..." Damien murmured before the bell rang.

He rushed away, no doubt to get away from the unsettled aura around us. Everyone else awkwardly decided to leave for class too and I was left heading to chemistry. Riley, who was also in my class came up to me during the walk.

"You know, that was really uncalled for back there."

"I just said what I was thinking," I replied matter of factly.

"You upset Damien by bringing up something he doesn't want to be aware of anymore and you were showing unneeded disrespect to gay people."

"It doesn't need to be a big deal." I shrugged.

"Well, you made it one. Even if you don't like it, you're not changing anything. You should have just kept your mouth closed about the whole thing. How would you feel if you were gay and someone said that to you? That gay acts are disgusting. How would you feel if someone brought up something you're self-conscious about? You hurt Damien and the rest of us sure weren't pleased with your actions. I suggest you apologize to Damien before he doesn't want to talk to you, and," he paused, moving towards his desk. "Be careful about what you say."

With that, our conversation ended and I was left with something to think about. Chemistry droned on more than usual since I had other things on my mind that I didn't really want to think about. After finally coming to the conclusion that what I said really was kind of horrible, the bell rang and I sighed, heading out of the classroom.

Riley always did this, he was always the voice of reason. He always stepped up to be the better person even when it wasn't his place to. That boy really was the glue that kept our group together. Without him, we'd all constantly be at each other's throats or giving silent treatments until we died. If it weren't for him, our hardheaded rag-tag group of misfits would never have the guts to think over our own mistakes, give up our pride and admit when any of us did something wrong. Sighing, I made a mental note to thank Riley for always being there to take down my ego a couple notches. I also reminded myself to apologize to Damien for my actions and keep quiet about my discontent for gay PDA in the future. Topping it all off, I sighed once again. Man, what would I ever do without Riley? He's always looking out for everyone like a cool second father.

- - -

Another period down and it was lunch. I walked out of auto mechanics and to my group's normal table. No one seemed to be there yet so I thought a bit about how I was gonna say everything. Never had I been the apologizing type and It's not like I even thought my friends would see it as such a big deal anyways. This is why I usually tried not to offend people; because then I get called out for it and it makes me feel terrible. Ugh! Why do I have to be such a loud mouth! I groaned, dropping my head on the table as I already gave up trying to think of a good apology a while ago.

*Maybe I can just pretend nothing happened this morning. Then I won't need to apologize.* I thought.

Just then, Damien and Natalie came over to the table with Hunter following after Natalie, looking like a lost puppy. I smiled at everyone but none of them spoke and Damien looked away with a hurt expression. Damn, I guess I really struck a nerve. I honestly didn't think it'd be such a big deal to him, all I did was say he used to be a girl. That to me doesn't seem like such a big deal, I mean, I used past tense. It's not like I said he is a girl or something insensitive like he "doesn't have the parts to be a guy so it's fine". This just kind of frustrated me since he was taking something like that so hard. I mean, come on!

I huffed in exasperation. "I think you're being ridiculous about this Damien."

Damien finally turned to me with a surprised yet pained expression on his face. "What do you mean? I told you I never wanted you guys to bring up anything about me being trans." He started to stand up now, making it more obvious he meant what he was saying. "I can handle a lot of things Sky, but that's something I'm still sensitive about. I hate having to remember I was born the wrong way. It's hard enough when I have to use the washroom or shower, feeling self-conscious because of my dysphoria," Damien wraps his arms around his chest as he continues. "I don't need the reminder here too. Not after I've gotten myself in the mindset that I'm just a normal guy. I thought you of all people would get that." Damien's head hung low now as he stared intently at his shoes, but he still kept going. "Now please, I just don't need that right now, so unless you're going to apologize and say you won't bring it up again, I don't want to talk to you. You've ruined my day," he explained.

I gave him a sympathetic look, feeling terrible for the way I've been acting. I mean, he's my best friend for crying out loud! I knew he was upset. He was always so upbeat but, I guess I truly was out of line with saying the things I did. As I looked at him for a little longer, he began to slowly sit back down in his seat and started eating his lunch. Damien looked almost worried and our entire table was silent. The only thing I could hear was the buzz of teenagers talking around us yet I couldn't ignore the tense air at our table.

I had forgotten how bad Damien stressed the fact that he never wanted to be reminded of being born female, how bad and self-conscious he felt about himself when he identified as a girl. I never really knew how he felt on the subject and it never crossed my mind he would react so badly to being reminded he was trans and not a cisgender male like he always wished he was. It was only now that I felt truly sorry about what I said but, my pride was already bruised and his feelings already hurt. Not wanting to worsen anything, I just kept my mouth shut and told myself I'd apologize the next day to let the situation cool down a bit. Thinking things through would be a good idea so I wouldn't say something stupid again. Not that that worked the first time, but I was determined not to make a total ass of myself again.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Riley chucked his backpack to the ground unceremoniously and planted himself on one side of me while Tony more gracefully sat on my other side, kissing my cheek. I smiled at him but stayed silent. For the rest of lunch, no one dared talk, keeping the tense silence from what had just gone down all over again. Basically wolfing down my food, I was already rushing to get out of the cafeteria before the bell even had the chance to ring. I couldn't stand the awkward tension I had created anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sup my dudes. Here's chapter 1, I hope you guys liked it. If you did please give the chapter a vote, I'd really appreciate that. Anyway, I think I'll probably post once or twice a month just so I can keep it consistent and actually be able to have a full chapter out to guys on time for the most part. That might change in the future but we'll see.

Anyway, I encourage constructive criticism and what do you guys think of the characters? After meeting them who's your favourite so far? What are your first impressions or everyone. Tell me what you think.

Alright, see ya later guys. Bai!