Departure

V looked up into the night sky. Excitement filled her heart. Dawson had called her out on her birthday. This was the time to tell him about her secret. V had spent the whole evening trying to find her best outfit ever. A little girlish, but not enough to give away her gender. Unfortunately it was very hard since Zeebo came flying around all the time, trying to help her choose. She finally decided to stick with her purple jumper, and a pair of jeans. As she finally began to get dress, there was a thud on the roof. She looked angrily at Zeebo who shrugged his tiny mechanical arms. It was from the outside. She quickly popped her head out the window. As though her wish had come true she spotted Dawson beside the makeshift cardboard gate of her house. He smiled at her and signalled for her to come down.

“Hey, I decided to come get you since I was going to pass here anyway,” Dawson shouted.

He looked at his watch.

“By the way, you are already late,” he smiled angelically.

V quickly turned to her alarm clock.

“Oh crud! Seven thirty already,”

“Late! Late! Late!,” Zeebo screeched.

She pushed Zeebo aside and almost jumped down the stairs startling her mother.

In less than a second she was tiredly panting beside Dawson.

“Woah, now that was fast,” Dawson said with an impress expression as they headed down the road.

They talked about the most usual things on the way to the shop but all the time behind V’s mind was the same thing she never felt brave enough to tell Dawson.

“I have to tell him, once we reach the Reed Shed,” V promised herself.

Despite being built beside Trashcan’s famously polluted river, or rather river size drain which was constantly filled with water from sewers all over the coutry, Redd Shed had a rather cosy ambience. It was like going into one of those reed shacks near a scenic beach. The interior decorations was filled with shells of all sorts as well as native islander art from all the world. The shops name itself was a clever play of words from reef shack to reed shed, since all that grew beside the huge drain was huge reeds. The shop strangely however smell of coconut pinna colada, which was a mystery but attracted huge customers. It could be because of the tribal torches use as the only light source. Some said they were scented giving the shop a pleasant odour and romantic ambience.

As they neared it V noticed the lights had been dimmed.

Mike’s warning came into V’s mind.

“They are probably going to plaster you with cake. Guys do that all the time at birthdays,” his voice echoed through her head like a phantom in a haunted house.

“Thanks a lot,” V growled thinking of her friend, who had just ruin the perfectly romantic mood.

V cautiously let her guard come up as they entered. She was expecting to be ambush by a group of five or more guys hiding behind the table. To her surprise there was no large group of rowdy guys there. Perhaps it was a romantic atmosphere meant for a couple seated on the far corner of the café.

“Coincidence?,” V thought to herself.

“Alright, V so since it’s your night, I decided I do the ordering,” Dawson winked as soon as they got into the Reed Shed.

“Hey, don’t I get to choose,” V protested cheekily.

“Well let’s say I would like to make it a surprise,” Dawson said pulling the chair out for a astonish V.

She hope the Reed’s dark lights would hide her cheeks which were slightly red from blushing.

She also felt very strange. As a student in Rotterdorm she was experience enough to not this was not how regular guy friend’s act. “It probably was a kind gesture,” V thought deciding to brush of any other thoughts in her mind.

Suddenly the lights were turned off. V looked at Dawson who gave her a sly smile.

“Alright, V close your eyes cause I have a surprise for you, my little friend,”

“Hey, you better not batter me with pastry,” V shot back jokingly but followed anyway. Once again Mike’s mischievous face flashed in her mind.

“Alright V, get ready, one, two, three! Open them now,” V open her eyes slowly, and in front of her seem to be almost like her dream.

There was a huge ice cream cake, heart shaped, decorated with flowers, and pink icing. At the corner was a little present with a little card which had the congratulations written on it.

V gasp in amazement.

“I don’t know what to say, Daw. This is I don’t know, unexpected,” V said overwhelm a little. Than a thought cross her mind. Did he like her? But to him, she was a he. She glanced nervously at Dawson. Something in his eye seem to show that he knew what she was thinking. “Alright, time to tell him, better now or never,”

“Daw, this is really overwhelming and such but you know, I didn’t know you were that kind of well person. And like if any of those jocks caught us here with all this you know girlish….,”

V paused. Dawson had a serious look on his face.

“V just read the card,”

“Okay,” she said obligingly picking up the resent with the card attach.

“Congratulations to V, my little sister,”

The words sister were spell in bright pink.

V blinked surprisingly. She let the card drop.

“Wait u knew I was a girl all the while? For how long?,”

“Well after a week or two since we first met,”

V drop back on her seat. She felt a little annoyed. “Why didn’t you tell me?,”

“Well for one, if your mother knew that I found out you were a girl she would force you to change schools immediately,”

Now V’s anger flared up.

“How could you even know?,” she demanded.

“A little bird told me,”

“Mike!,”

Dawson nodded.

“So you kept quite so I remain in that rotten school,”

Dawson look a little sadly at V.

“Yeah. You know why? Have you been to the other boys schools in the area? I have! I learn to how to fight there and even then I still came back every single day in bruises. The bullies there make Bates look like your best friend. Cops flood those schools every single day there,”