I awoke the next morning to buzzing from my phone. I looked to see Sam calling me. I quickly rejected it with an included text: "As I am unable to currently speak at the moment, please just text."

And text they did.

Sam: I'm having some issues with Andy, can we hang out please? You and Anna are so nice to hang out with.

I gently shook my girlfriend awake, showing her the text. Ana merely mumbled out a yes and curled up next to me again.

Me: Should be good. When and where?

Sam: Mall good? I was thinking after breakfast and until I feel okay enough to go back to Andy's.

I noticed that they didn't say home, just called it Andy's. Something had happened, so I sat up.

Ana groaned, "Eve c'mon, please let's sleep."

I showed her the text, signing to her what I had figured out. She nodded as well, getting up to get dressed. I got dressed quickly, grabbing my shoes as Mom came in.

"You two are up early, what's going on?" Mom asked.

"Something happened with Sam and Andy, Sam asked if we could meet them at the mall," Ana said, grabbing her purse.

Mom nodded, "Alright. When will you two be back?"

I shrugged, "Sam said to stay until ok to go home." I really needed to find a gender-neutral sign.

"Alright. Just keep me updated, okay?" Mom asked. I nodded and she kissed my head, letting us leave the house. 

Ana and I quickly got into the car, discussing how we could sign about Sam without possibly offending them.

"Maybe just this?" I held my right hand out to sign 'S' but brought it from my forehead around to the back of my face and down my chin, essentially including both the signs for boy and girl.

"That's good. I'm sure Sam will be happy to have a name sign bestowed upon them," Ana said, smiling. 

"Want food?" I asked her. I realized we hadn't eaten and Sam said after breakfast.

"You paying?" Ana looked at me, grinning. 

I nodded, "Yes, of course."

"Then where to?"

We were at the mall half an hour later. We were about to head to the food court when I got a call from Sam. I handed the phone to Ana and she answered.

"Hey! Yeah, we just got here. Do you want to meet at the Hot Topic? Alright, Eve and I will be up soon," Ana ended the call in less than thirty seconds, taking my arm and linking her arm through it as we walked through the shopping center. 

The beanie itched the back of my head, so I adjusted my hair so that it was covering the skin where the beanie had been running. Some hair in the front stuck out, curling up. Truth be told, I had natural curls, but usually, when I showered I brushed my hair and got rid of most of them. I had merely brushed my hair this morning, dry. A mistake, since I couldn't really do much to the hair on the front of my head other than brush them aside occasionally. 

Ana and I got upstairs and turned to the Hot Topic when Sam came walking out quickly, meeting us halfway and hugging us. It looked like they had been crying.

"You okay?" Ana asked, leading us to a bench.

Sam sighed, "Andy and I got into this big argument. I didn't want to yell at him, I was just freaking out."

"Why were you freaking out?" Ana asked, sitting down next to Sam. I sat next to her, lacing our fingers together. 

"It's a new place. I'm still getting used to it I guess," Sam mumbled. They twiddled their thumbs, which I noticed quickly.

"That's not it. What happened?" I signed.

Sam whimpered, which is something I didn't expect.

"Tom posted on the website that I was gender-fluid... but he was supposed to have taken the profile down and now all my old friends are texting me-" They cut themselves off, obviously crying.

I moved so I was kneeling in front of them. I took my hand and gently wiped the tears away from their face.

"Right now, there's not much I can do. But I can help you to forget, at least for a while. But I want you to do something for me first."

"What is it?" Sam asked, looking at me.

"I want you to text Andy and tell him what happened. He isn't there to hurt you, but to help you," I smiled at them, and watched as they pulled their phone out.

"Sent," Sam mumbled, putting their phone away.

"Before we go shopping," Ana interrupted, "What pronouns do you want us to use today?"

"Girl," She immediately responded.

"Alright, let's go shopping!" I stood and took both her and Ana's hands, leading them to the Hot Topic. I know I was going to save that bracelet gift for her birthday, but she needs some cheering up.

The two giggled, following me into the store. From there Ana sent Sam to go look at t-shirts while she and I looked for a bracelet set suitable enough for the teen. I couldn't find a bracelet that felt right, but I spotted a choker set that came with a necklace and interchangeable crystals that Sam could change depending on how she felt. The crystals came in yellow, pink, blue, green and light blue. The choker set also came with a velvet choker and a lacy-looking choker.

We checked out a while later, and I presented the bag. Sam grinned, examining the crystals for a few minutes as Ana explained their purpose. Sam quickly slipped on the lace choker and deemed the pink crystal the girl crystal, so Ana and I wouldn't be confused.