Chapter 3

“Hey, ladies. What’s up?” said a nearby voice. Kayla recognized their friend Raina, a young transgendered woman from the Pride Center. Raina motioned them over to a table where she sat with two other women.

“Hey, sweetie,” said Kayla, giving her a quick hug. Reese sat in silence, focused on her beer. Soft music sounded in the background, a popular female band on the jukebox.

Kayla and Reese didn’t know the other two women, but they introduced themselves politely. One of them brought up the topic of the chili cook-off. Kayla stayed silent and let Reese answer.

“Yeah, we’re in,” she said, “but not sure of our recipe yet. We had kind of a chili fail earlier this afternoon.”

The other women chuckled wryly, and Raina asked, “What was the problem? I can’t imagine you two totally failing at anything!”