Xi is different. But in a good way.

Her parents, family, and friends know she's open to everyone and everything. She believes love has no gender, and that religion shouldn't be used as an excuse to hate people. Everyone can be great, everyone has a chance, and everyone has someone. I... erm she has wanted a relationship for a while now, being a high-schooler.  She doesn't care who with, she just wants someone happy with a bright and lovable personality. Someone creative, fun, caring, and understanding. Someone like her, but completely different. Someone-

"Xi, cmon! You've been scribbling in that journal for years. When are you gonna upload it somewhere so the rest of the world can see your amazing work?"

That person is Mary, my best friend. We've known each other since 4th grade, but didn't start speaking much til 6th when we joined the same softball team. She's in love with anime, yaoi, and video games, like me. Once we found out that we shared so much in common, we were inseparable. Hell, we still are. She's always been beautiful to me, inside and out. She has short black hair that stays straight no matter how much you curl it that I love to run my fingers through. She's kinda chubby, but I just see it as making her more comfortable to hug. She's taller than me, but everyone is. 

Around 7th grade, I started writing in journals. My mind is unfocused and always coming up with ideas, and I'd hate for them to go to waste. Mary was the first one to read it, and has been telling me to upload them somewhere for others to read. I'm not very sociable and I don't like negative comments, so I've been hesitating. I'm now in 10th grade, and have taken a liking to third person writing. Sometimes I write about myself, my friends, or random people I see on the street. I like to predict what they're doing or make up an awesome story for them. But of course, they'll never see it.

Anyway, Mary and I are going to a party today. Some guy from school invited everyone, and she thought this might be my chance to find someone. She knows about all my likes, dislikes, and even fetishes. She's been determined to find the right person for me, no matter the gender. I'm too awkward and shy to talk to anybody on my own, so I appreciate her help. But I'm not one for partying with a bunch of teens crowded in the small house of some stranger. I told her I didn't want to go, but she seemed so sad that I ended up agreeing. 

"Look," I replied, getting out of my own head. "I would love to let people see what goes on in this cranium, but I don't think they'll like it. Or care! I mean, with you being the only one who's read it, I've technically got no opinions on it."

She gasped sarcastically. "Are you saying my opinion doesn't matter?"

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "No, I'm saying since you love me so much, I doubt you'd criticize me as harshly as anyone else. I'll listen to what you have to say, sure, but you're only one person."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," she said while shaking her head. "You always were so realistic. I gotta give it to you, you're right. But how do you know they won't like it if they can't see it?"

"Because...well..." I was stumped. She had a good point. I sighed and waved my hand dismissively. "Never mind that, what are you wearing to the party?" 

Mary's face lit up and a giant smile plastered itself onto her face. Boy, she let that go easily, I thought. 

"Ok ok! So, I found this outfit that perfect. It's not a dress of course, 'cos we both hate dresses."

She took out her phone and showed me an $80 black stripped tank-top with the word "otaku" across the chest paired with dark blue bootcut jeans and blue, laced, fingerless gloves. 

"This one is for you. I'm still searching for something that'll hide my chest binders."

"Oh, yeah. It's super cute." I said nonchalantly. She looked at me, annoyed. I shrugged my shoulders and stood up, leaving the bed that we were sitting on. "I mean, what if we get drugged? Or molested? Or kidnapped?!" 

"Oh, come. On. Really? Look, I'll protect you, okay? We'll just dance with each other. I'm going as a guy anyway, no one will mess with you." 

Mary wants to be transgender. Her mom is extremely religious and hates the idea of people "ruining who they were born as and disobeying God," but somehow Mary isn't influenced by her rants. She just nods, smiles, and complains to me about how she can't wait to leave. She's actually planned on living with me throughout college, and I've planned on helping her save money for the surgery. I'm excited for her, honestly. I want her to be comfortable in her own body, to love herself the way she is. And what she is is a guy. She doesn't mind the female pronouns for now, but that'll change once she transitions. She's even started preparing herself by cutting her hair from her back to her shoulders, buying chest binders to hide her breasts, and trying to talk in a deep-ish voice. Sometimes she'll come to school dressed as a guy, and the whole day I'd treat her like one. Though other students may be confused or don't get it, in my head I'm cheering her on. 

"Yes, I know. My knight in shining armor," I replied. 

There was a soft knock at the door. I knew it was my mom because her tiny hands couldn't knock any harder without bruising. "Girls?" she questioned, opening the door.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"When are you heading out?"

"In about an hour."

"Okay. Don't forget to walk TJ and Jackson. They've been running around the house all day, so make sure they don't hurt themselves. You know those little corgis can't help but run into walls."

"Ok, mom." And with that, she left the room. "Guess we should do that now to get it out of the way."

Mary nodded. I got up and walked towards the door with Mary trailing behind me. As soon as we walked downstairs, both dogs ran up to us and started jumping, scraping our legs with their small paws. We laughed, picked them up, put their harnesses on, and walked outside. We never really needed leashes for them because they hardly ever leave our side and listen when we call them. We opened the door and let them run into the grass, but stood there. The grass stretched from our doorstep to the street, 10 feet away. We had a pretty big yard with a tall tree to the left side in which I built a tire swing. Next to it were supplies to build another, this one for Mary. When we were kids, we were small enough to fit on just one, but we've grown. The street itself was bare, as usual. We live in a small and secluded area, where traffic is rare and noise is few. I've lived here all my life with my mom, and we've gone through a lot together. My friends, her girlfriends, previous abusive wife, divorce, things thrown out of the window, robbery, fires, even my grandma's death. She's decided to never leave this house, and I have to take it when she dies. I'm happy with that. There's too much history here to just throw away.

"You know," Mary started. "I wouldn't mind staying in this neighborhood." 

She said it as if she'd read my mind. She's seen all the troubles here, too. She was always the one I called or ran to when things got too serious. Her house was a 5 minute walk away, a 3 minute run, a 1 minute drive. She's technically lived here longer than me, since she was born first. My mom found her dad, who attempted to flirt with her but soon found out she was lesbian. They stayed friends, though it was kind of awkward. We he announced he had a kid by accident, my mom replied with her already being pregnant. Mary's mom died while giving birth to her, and I was born due to a drunk night and a sleepy stranger. We were mistakes, which is one of many reasons we stay together. 

After standing there and watching the pups run around, we called them back inside. As we walked into the door, we realized we were holding hands. We hadn't noticed when it happened. We pulled away awkwardly, laughing slightly at the reflex and looking away. 

"S-so, uh...you hungry?" I asked, walking towards the kitchen. She nodded and followed me. Our kitchen was small and cute, with bar stools at the counter and a glass dining table. Mary sat in one of the stools and rested her head on her hands. Her hair escaped her ear and slowly fell into the middle of her face. I looked at her and smiled. She's so cute...I thought as I absentmindedly tucked it back to its place. She smiled too, which made us both blush slightly. 

Walking towards the fridge, I asked,"Tuna?"

"You always want tuna."

"'Cos tuna is amazing," I said as I pulled out the fish along with ingredients for a tuna sandwich. 

"I heard a new anime about months is coming out," she informed.

"Months?"

"Yeah, as in every month is personified. Like Hetalia."

"Oh my goodness, it's gonna be amazing. I call January, since that's my birthday."

"I call August."

Mary has taught me how to "adopt" anime characters. She doesn't like the idea of marrying so many people, and marriage is a serious case. She loves her characters like she'd love her children. Whenever a new anime comes out or we introduce each other to one, we point out and call the characters we think we'd want to adopt. Then when we watch it, we adopt others and may disown our original choice. It's fun. 

"Do you know when it's coming out?" I asked.

"I'll have to check. But as soon as it uploads on Kissanime, I'm coming over here and we're watching it."

"As always."

I put the last piece of toasted bread on top of our sandwiches and hand one to her. "Thank you, chef," she says before stuffing it into her face. I laugh at how messy she is when she eats. 

"Try to get some in your mouth, huh?" I suggest. She swallows and sticks her tongue out at me, which makes me laugh again.  

Suddenly, the front door slams open and there are sounds of children's screaming and laughter. 

"Looks like my brother is back," I said, placing my sandwich on the napkin below me. When I walk into the living room, I see my brother Jace and his friend Jeremy setting up the PS4. 

"Did mom say you could play games?" I asked, sarcastically placing my hands on my hips. 

"No, but you can," he said with a big, innocent smile. His friend leaned forward and smiled with them, and I couldn't resist against their cuteness. 

"Fine," I sighed. "But only if you let me take a picture of you guys. You're so adorable." 

They got into a more comfortable position as I took out my phone and smiled as much as possible. I took the picture, bowed to say thank you, and walked back into the kitchen where Mary had finished her sandwich. 

"What happened?" she asked. 

"Nothin. J is in there with Jeremy."

"Oooh, what're they doing?" She said curiously, leaning forward. 

"Just playing games. They're too young to understand crushes, don't expect any sparks."

"Awe..."

Jace was adopted. Even though my mom had me on accident, she still wanted a baby boy. We got him when I was 5, and he's 9 now. When she came home with him in a small light blue blanket, I thought he was a dog and got excited. She set him down on her bed and introduced him as his brother. I was slightly confused and asked when she had him, and she explained adoption to me. I started crying and asked if she wanted to give me away, and she comforted me and told me how much she loved and needed me. As I got older, I realized he was shy, confused, and distracted most of the time. He couldn't read at the level he was supposed to when he was 6 and failed first grade. Due to this, my mom had him tested for dyslexia and ADHD, and he ended up having both. Now he's in some special classes and is in 3rd grade. Over the summer, he has to take a test to see if he can advance to the grade he's supposed to be in. He met Jeremy in his SPED classes, and they ended up being on the same soccer team. My mom found out he has a happy little family: mom, dad, and 2 sisters. She thought he'd be a good influence on Jace, and so far he is. 

Now Jace is a light skinned little boy with fluffy black hair and small hands. He's taller than all of his classmates, which is yummy because the gene for shortness runs in the family. Jeremy is dark caramel with light brown hair and blue eyes. His parents call him "God's Child" because he got all the recessive and uncommon traits, but they look great on him. He's shorter than Jace, but not by much. 

"Shall we go shopping for the party now? I think I know what I want now," Mary suggested. I nodded, and we headed out to my car.