25. New Friendship

"Can you let me out, please," Kaylee said to Butch, a little harshly.

Butch cut his eyes at her and stood up.

"You okay?" he asked.

She didn't want to get in a fight with him, so she ignored his question and asked Taylor to go with her to "powder her nose."

"No, I'm good," Taylor replied, not knowing that whenever a female in a group announces to another she's going to the restroom, it a cue for the other female to go with her, period.

Kaylee gave Taylor a look and pointed toward the restroom with her head.

Taylor finally got the message.

"Excuse me, Johnny." Taylor announced.

Johnny slid out of the booth and stood for Taylor to exit.

Both girls then headed towards the ladies room.

"Are you okay, Kaylee?" Taylor asked as they entered the restroom.

"Butch and Johnny are getting on my nerves. I can't believe they are acting like that and making fun of that girl. I feel sorry for her."

"Really? You don't agree with them?"

"Absolutely not, Taylor. Don't tell me you do."

"No way," Taylor replied as they each entered a stall.

"I feel bad for her, Taylor. I wish there was something I could do."

When Kaylee came out of the stall, she began to check her hair in the mirror. A few moments later, Taylor emerged from a stall.

At the same time, someone else entered the restroom. It was the trans-girl the boys had been making fun of.

"I think the boys are - - oh hi," Kaylee said not finishing her thought once she saw the girl enter.

The girl didn't respond, instead she hurried straight into a stall.

Kaylee looked at Taylor and silently signaled for her to wait. She then turned on the faucet and began to wash her hands. She continued to run water over her hands until the girl reemerged from the stall.

The girl walked up to the sink next to Kaylee and began to wash her own hands.

"I'm sorry," Kaylee began. "The boys we're with are being jerks."

The girl, without ever looking up, shyly responded. "Are you talking about how they were staring and laughing? It's okay. I'm used to it."

"No, it's not okay," Kaylee replied as she turned off the water and moved over to the paper towel dispenser.

"By the way, I'm Kaylee and she's Taylor."

"Astrid," the girl introduced herself, looking up at Kaylee, through the mirror.

"Wow, that's a very pretty name. Suits you, too."

Taylor could see Astrid was visibly nervous.

Kaylee continued trying to hold a conversation with her, "That's a cool lipstick. What color is it?"

Astrid reached into her little Sailor Moon themed hand purse and pulled out a lipstick tube. She quickly touched up her lips then recapped it and handed it to Kaylee.

"It's called Snow."

Taylor spoke up, "Yeah, it is kinda cool."

"It's my favorite," Astrid replied. "I actually have a little youtube channel where I review it and a few other less popular colors. You should check it out."

Getting positive attention and acceptance from Kaylee and Taylor, Astrid began to calm down and open up. She gave Kaylee and Taylor the name of her channel, which she said only had seven subscribers so far.

Kaylee pulled out her phone, looked up Astrid's channel and subscribed. Taylor saw what she was doing and did the same thing too.

Astrid pulled paper towels to dry her hands.

"Hey, we should get together sometime. Let me get your phone number, if that's okay."  suggested Kaylee, as she offered her phone to Astrid.

Astrid cautiously eyed Kaylee and Taylor for a second before picking her own phone up from the counter and responded, "Yeah, I'd like that."

After exchanging phones and entering their numbers Astrid placed her phone back in her purse and exited the restroom.

"What now," Taylor asked. "Do we go back to the table or do you just wanna leave?"

"I like that idea, let's leave.  I don't think I want to see Butch anymore. That is if you're okay with standing Johnny up."

Thoughts ran through Taylor's head at that moment and he realized if they did that, it might cause issues with him on the football team, so he rejected the idea of leaving.

"No, I couldn't really do that, as much as I'd like to. I can't risk losing my place on the team, but . . . as soon as we're done eating, we can get out of here."

"Okay, fine. I'll do this . . . for you." Kaylee smiled at Taylor.

When Kaylee and Taylor returned to the table, their food had just arrived. They took their seats and began to eat.

After the meal, Butch and Johnny tried to get the girls to go for a walk with them, down to the city park on the square, but the girls quickly declined.

"No, we have to get back. My, uh, my mom told us to go right back to the salon after we finished eating. Sorry." Kaylee told them.

No sooner than Kaylee said this, Johnny quickly leaned in and gave Taylor a peck on the cheek and whispered that he would call her later.

Taylor winced but kept his composure as the wheels turned in his head, trying to figure out a solution to the problem of Johnny. He knew he had to find a way to get rid of Johnny's attraction to him if he was gonna survive on the team.

Taylor and Kaylee then headed back toward the salon, where they saw Carissa exiting the salon ahead of them.

Spotting the girls, she called out for them to get in the car, so she could take them to her house where they would wait for Craig to finish his salon visit.

"Craig has a big surprise for you when he's done." Carissa told the two of them. "Get in the car. He's going to meet us later."

As soon as Taylor got in the car, his phone chimed. He checked it and found he had just received a message from Johnny.

>I enjoyed brunch. Can't wait to see you again. I'm really glad you're on our team now. With you by our side, we'll be unstoppable."

Taylor put his phone on his lap and looked out the window.

He sat quietly. Deep in thought, he continued wrestling with how he could remain on the all city team without having to "date" Johnny.

At this point, Taylor was more afraid than ever of Johnny and the rest of the team finding out he wasn't really a girl. He now knew coming clean and telling the truth would destroy his spot on the team and definitely get him beat up.

A few seconds later his phone chimed again with another message from Johnny.

>You were quiet at the table today like you had something on your mind. I just want u to know u don't have to worry. The guys are all supportive of having a girl on the team. They think it cool a girl can play as good as u do. They all think ur very pretty too. I know they're all jealous that you chose to go out with me over any of them but don't wory about that either, none of them would ever let it affect the team.

Taylor turned his phone face down and placed it back in his lap.

He exhaled. He was so tense he had not breathed while reading the text. Closing his eyes, Taylor began to realize what he had to do.

I can't believe I'm saying this, he began to tell himself  but I want to play for all city so bad, I'm willing to continue pretending to be a girl to do it. I have to tell Craig, but what will he think when I tell him and how will l be able to do this without my school and pretty quickly, the team knowing my secret? I can't just show back up on Tuesday as a girl, everyone would know.

Moments later a thought occurred to Taylor that he decided could be the perfect solution to keep from having to reveal his secret.

Kaylee didn't go to public school. Instead, she was a part of a homeschool group and he wondered if Craig might be okay with him continuing to live as a girl while joining the homeschool group.

Taylor began to tremble as the realization of what he was deciding to do, overcame him, yet he knew it was the only solution.