"Make sure you have everything." my mother orders as I start to head out the door and to the bus stop. I nod as I look down to my plain black lunch box in one hand, my navy blue backpack on my shoulders, my disposable plastic water bottle in the side pocket of my backpack, and my new uniform of a white polo shirt, a red and white striped tie, some khaki pants, and some black dress shoes.

"Yes, Mom, I have everything." I say. She nods in approval and sees me out the door. "Have a good first day Camden, I love you, I'll see you when you get home!" I cringe behind my mother's back and head out the door to the bus stop.

It's pretty warm for an October day. In fact, it's so warm that I roll up the sleeves of my shirt and guzzle some water to keep myself cool. I'm the only kid at this bus stop, at least for today. I wonder if any kids from the All-Holy live around here. It would be nice, if the school is nice enough to let people actually make friends and talk between classes and stuff.

The bus roars to a stop in front of me and I get on. I see shy-looking kids sitting down in bus seats, and no one seems to be in the mood to let someone sit with them. I look around and sit down alone, pressing my head against the window and looking out at my surroundings. I feel like this is a really dramatic scene of a movie, where it's raining and the main character feels like doing nothing but leaning their head against a window while sad, sappy music plays in the background.

But this isn't a movie. This is real life.

I hold onto my phone, which is in the other side pocket of my backpack. My mom made a deal with me; if I go two months at this new school without any detentions, she would take the restrictions off of my phone. I smile and wonder if I'll be able to hold up my end of the deal.

I'm brought back to reality by the bus screeching to a stop in front of a massive school building. Teachers are standing outside escorting students into the entranceway, and none of the kids seem happy to be there. I get off the bus and I'm quickly escorted into the auditorium, and I sit down in between a girl with bronze skin and her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a kid in a skirt with a hint of pink in their blonde hair.

"Alright! Welcome!" a man with a booming voice says from the stage, bringing us all to attention. He quickly closes the door and says, "My name is Abel Marlowe, but you can call me Abel or Abe, I am your Headmaster. It's a pleasure to meet you all!" He quickly peeks outside the door and says, "How many of you are a part of the LGBTQ+?"

The first person to raise their hand is the girl on the left of me, the one with the ponytail. The next person is the kid on the other side of me. Soon enough, every single kid had their hand up. The headmaster put his hand up, and the last person to put their hand up was me.

"As I expected, cause that's the reason why you all are here." Abe said. "Welcome, freshmen!"

A girl with brown hair in two braids raised her hand. "Is this conversion therapy?"

Abe's expression grew serious. "Not at all, and I was just about to get to that. All of you, looking at your records, have gotten in trouble, forcibly outed, or bullied at your old schools for being LGBTQ+. And for some of you, all three of those things happened. I was in the same boat at your age, and that's why I founded this place. I want this place to be a safe place for kids like you. From the outside, and on the website, this place is supposed to look like an average Catholic school. But on the inside, it's not Catholic at all. It's a place where you guys can be yourself, because I assume most of you haven't had that freedom in a while, or ever." I smiled sweetly and then Abe pointed to me and said, "Preferred name, preferred pronouns, sexuality."

"Emersyn, she/her, lesbian." Abe pointed to the kid on the left of me. "Jules, she/they, nonbinary, ace pan." Now the kid on the right. "Myles, he/him, gayer than a rainbow Slinky."

Abe looked at Myles and I and said, "Switch clothes." Abe handed Myles a pair of pants and handed me a skirt. Myles and I leapt out of our seats and then Abe handed Jules a pair of shorts. Jules got up too and she was the first to speak up.

"Where's the bathroom?"

"When you exit the auditorium, go down the hall and to the right." Abe said. Myles, Jules, and I all left and tried to find the bathroom.

Myles led the way, and two minutes later, he came to a stop and gasped. "Guys! Come here!"

Jules ran in front of me and stopped in front of Myles. "They're all genderless!" Jules and Myles screamed at the same time. We all sprinted into one of the single-stall bathrooms and changed.

I was the first person out, followed by Jules. Finally, Myles came out in full Pride Parade makeup.

"You. Look. Awesome!" I squealed.

"Thanks, Emma. Do you mind if I call you Emma?" I shook my head and Myles said, "Want your makeup done? I'm sure Abe won't mind if we're a little late." I giggled and Myles sat me down on a toilet in the bathroom.

"Close your eyes." Myles says, waving his hand. I do as he says and then ten minutes later, he tells me to look in the mirror.

"I LOVE IT!" I yell. Myles giggles and then says, "I have one more surprise for you. You're a trans girl, right?" I nod and then Myles pulls a pretty hair clip out of his backpack.

The hair clip had a star made out of gems on it in the colors of the transgender flag. I gasped as Myles slipped it in my hair. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You're welcome, Emma. I made this years ago. One of my best friends from middle school came out as trans and I was gonna give this to her for her birthday, but she moved away and I never got her address. Then I went to Catholic school and never found a use for this thing until today."

I smile at Myles and skip back into the auditorium, where Abe is just finishing up his speech.

"Ah! Myles, Emersyn, and Jules are back!" We all slide back into our seats and realize that there's a girl next to Myles.

"I'm Lauren, but I prefer Laurie. She/her, lesbian." the girl says.

"I'm Myles, he/him, that's Jules, she/they, and over there is Emersyn, she/her." Myles says.

I smile as wide as I can, this place is one of the few I can feel accepted and love. It's only been thirty minutes since I walked into the building and I've already made friends.

I don't think I ever want to go home.