Chapter 15

“I mean…Well…Uh, I don’t know if this is offensive, but as a nonbinary person I’m guessing you’ve got stories to tell. Y’know, about exploring your identity and coming out to your family and how it’s affected your life.” Eli frowned. “Okay, maybe not offensive, but intrusive. Either way, sorry if it’s something you don’t want to talk about.”

That was an easy topic. Alexi tapped their heel on the ground. “Started out with being the ‘different’ kid in high school, essentially,” they said. “I fit into the emo niche pretty well because I was fine with wearing eyeshadow and painting my nails black and wearing girls’ jeans. Kids teased me, yeah, but fortunately my mom was a huge Robin Williams fan and The Birdcage was one of her favorites, so I’d kinda already had the talk about never being ashamed to express myself the way I wanted to, even if that meant not always dressing like a boy.”

Eli smiled around his spoonful of slush. “Well, that’s good. At least you had that.”