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ALEX
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Alex didn't even know why she bothered anymore. She had tried so many times to make her family like her, and each time she ended up in some deeper shit than the last. Apparently, throwing pottery at that blondie yesterday was not an okay move, especially since they were visitors. Unfortunately for the other Fierros, Alex didn't care.
Unfortunately for Alex, her father decided that on the way to school was a great time to lecture her about throwing things. She ended up being late because of him keeping her there for at least ten minutes after the bell, at which point she decided to just get out of the car and enter the building.
She spent all of homeroom being shown around the school by one of the office ladies before being given her schedule and locker and being sent to the first period, which happened to be art. Alex didn't mind being the center of attention, but standing at the front of the class while waiting for the students to flood in wasn't really what she had in mind when she came to this school. At last, the warning bell rang, and the talking died down as the teacher entered the room.
"Alright, we have a new student, why don't you introduce yourself?" the teacher, Miss Freya, asked. Alex grinned, and turned to face her peers.
"I'm Alex Fierro, I'm transgender and genderfluid, my pronouns are she/her, and you will refer to be by that unless and until I tell you otherwise," Alex told them. She noticed a few kids scoff or roll their eyes, but she didn't really care about what people thought about her.
"Uh, alright, why don't you take a seat next to Magnus?" Miss Freya told Alex. "Magnus, honey, raise your hand for Alex, please." In the back, a boy raised his hand shyly, and Alex inwardly groaned, because it was the blondie from yesterday. Alex shouldered her bag, walking down the aisle to sit next to him. The two sat in silence for most of the class, until they were required to work together to complete a charcoal drawing.
Finally, Alex decided to break the tension.
"Sorry for throwing pottery at you yesterday, or whatever," she muttered. "I was pissed at my family."
"Kay," Blondie-Magnus replied. Alex took that as a gee, Alex, thanks for the apology! and decided to go back to working on the drawing. For the most part, she didn't know what they were doing, but they worked together well, anyway. The bell rang, signalling the end of class, and all of the students got up, rushing to the door. The teacher yelled something after them, but there was too much commotion that nobody heard what she said. Magnus grabbed the paper they had drawn on, and having been the only two that completed the assignment already, turned it in before leaving.
"Have a good day," Alex called to Miss Freya as she walked out the door. Even after the first lesson, Alex was still far beyond nervous. She'd started a couple different schools the past few years, ever since fourteen, when she had come out to her family as gender fluid. That year had been the worst of them all, especially since her dad had sent her off to a Catholic boarding school, as if spending time around homophobic assholes would "fix" her. There was no fixing when there was no problem to begin with. Luckily, that hadn't lasted too long, since Alex had gotten into so many fights that inevitably ended up in expulsion. That was a fun conversation to have with her dad.
And then, Alex was thrust into Valhalla High with no friends, and it would probably remain that way for most of her time. Somehow, the Fierros managed to find the most homophobic schools in the city and send her there. Just the neighborhood they lived in had at least ten churches, all varying in religion, but all of them nearly half the size of their apartment complex, which was seventeen floors. She didn't even want to think about how many other churches were in the surrounding area. Add that to the glares and snickers Alex got earlier, and the school was already a living hell. There was no way she could survive Valhalla High until the end of the school year.
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Alex was right. By lunch, everyone knew she was there. Some gender-fluid freak who had no business being in their school. No one would want to talk to her, of course. Why would they want anything to do with Alex Fierro?
Suddenly, the lunch room felt so much like middle school again. Alex remembered the school day, sometime in the middle of fall, down to nearly every detail. The way the eighth grade Social Studies classroom, the last period of the day, was so cold, Alex was sure it was warmer outside than it was in there. It smelled faintly like cinnamon apples. After a lot of contemplating, Alex had turned to Marina, her best friend, and told her about being gender fluid, and begged her to keep it a secret. She had agreed. Nothing good nor bad came out of telling Marina that day, so Alex mostly just forgot about it until the next day, when everyone knew. She had been lied to, and spent the day trying not to cry as transphobic slurs were shouted at her. Not even the teachers did anything. By lunch, it was so bad, Alex was close to breaking down. No one wanted to sit with her, not even Marina, who had been by her side since kindergarten. It was hell. She was about to go eat her food in the gym, or the bathroom, anywhere away from the cafeteria, when she was stopped. A curious boy, about her age, dark skin, brown eyes, and curly black hair. And he was nice to her. His name was Adrian, and he never judged her, or told her she was wrong for being the way she was. He had become her best friend, her other half.
But this time, there was no Adrian. He was gone. He wasn't here by Alex's side to tell her it would be okay. He wasn't there to take her to the library, where they could laugh and talk and read silly little books with stupid morals, or to go sit outside and read poetry in dramatic voices, or fake british accents. He wasn't in Valhalla High. He wasn't even in the United States.
What about the country was united, anyway? When people shoved away others for being gay, or transgender, or anything different? It was all very separated. Only the "perfect" got to be here. But none of it was even perfect. In fact, it was far from it. There was no such thing as perfect, and Alex doubted there ever would be.
"Move it," a voice behind Alex snarled, shoving her out of the way. Alex cursed the cafeteria for serving spaghetti that day when she fell to the ground, red sauce and pasta flying up onto her shirt. Such a cliche, yet horribly mortifying.
"Oops," the girl who pushed her down said, a sweet smile on her lips. Alex glared at the girl, who was shockingly beautiful with tan skin and long black hair, yet also looking like pink threw up on her.
"Hey, leave her alone," someone else said. Alex glanced up to meet eyes with Magnus Chase.
"He deserves it, if he's gonna dress like some drag queen," the girl said, glancing down to Alex with distaste, putting extra emphasis on the wrong pronouns. "You know, I could give you some fashion tips to dress like an actual guy."
"Oh, fuck off," Alex hissed, picking herself up. "Maybe I could give you some tips on how to not dress like an ugly bitch." Magnus snorted as the girl gaped.
"You don't know who you're messing with," the girl told Alex.
"Obviously I'm dealing with a bitch." A chorus of oohs rang through the cafeteria. The girl huffed and stormed off, her group of equally pink girls following. Alex turned to Magnus, brushing some left over spaghetti off of her shirt.
"Um, thanks..." she told him quietly. "You didn't need to stand up for me, though. I get stuff like that a lot." Magnus shrugged.
"I wanted to. You wanna sit with my friends and I?" he responded. Alex scanned his face, looking for some sort of tell that he was joking, but she couldn't find any.
"I- um... maybe," Alex responded.
"Unless you want to eat in the bathroom, which I don't recommend, because Drew Tanaka and her friends are probably gonna go in there soon to fix their makeup," Magnus joked. Alex smiled slightly.
"I guess it couldn't hurt," she told him, following the blondie over to the table.
"Guys, this is Alex. Alex, this is Mallory, T.J, and Halfborn," Magnus introduced, pointing to each in turn. "I dunno where Sam is, probably helping a teacher."
"Uh, hi," Alex said as Mallory scooted over to make room.
"Do you need another shirt? I may have one in my locker," Mallory offered.
"If she doesn't, you could just use my hoodie," Magnus added. Alex smiled.
"I think I'll be good, it's just spaghetti sauce," Alex said, glancing down at her stained shirt.
"Hey guys- sorry I'm late, Mr. Odin needed some help- oh my gosh, Alex?" a voice said, and Alex looked up to see Samirah Al-Abbas.
"Sam!" Alex gasped, standing up to tackle her in a hug. "I didn't know you went here!"
"Since when do you go here?" Sam asked.
"Since today," Alex responded.
"Wait- you two know each other?" Magnus asked as Sam hooked an arm around Alex, just as they used to do when they were kids.
"We have the same mom," Sam explained. "When did you dye your hair?"
"Over the summer- do you like it?" Alex asked. For the most part, Alex never cared what people thought of her. She got called names, got glares, but none of that mattered, because who cared what those people thought? Sam was the only exception. Only her half-sister's opinion mattered to her.
"You really pull it off," Sam complimented, messing with one of the green curls. "Ah, I'm so glad you're here!" Sam pulled Alex into another bone-crushing hug, but she couldn't care. Alex hadn't seen Sam in so long, it was hard to fathom.
Sam had been the first person to know that Alex was gender fluid and transgender. She had obviously been super supportive, being the amazing older sister she was, and kept it a secret, as asked. Besides, Sam had been super excited to have a sister, like she always wanted. When Alex's dad found out, he took her phone and destroyed it, eliminating all contact the two had with each other, apart from on the occasional family-gathering on their mom's side. It felt amazing to have her sister back.
Maybe Alex Fierro could survive the school year, as long as she had Sam next to her.