Chapter 4
Reggie was standing there, gobsmacked. He had noticed Julie was wearing a skirt today, too, and as Flynn called out and ran up, she was as well. But Reggie was stuck, staring at their new friends with wide eyes. “What are you guys doing?” They squeaked, “You’ll all get in trouble!”
“There is nothing in the school guide lines about boys wearing skirts.” Luke shrugged. “We looked for three hours. The only thing it says is that skirts need to be two inches longer than your fingertips.” Reggie realized they had all shaved their legs too, and let out a laugh. There was an older man in a suit next to Nick, and Reggie took a step in front of Julie out of reflex when they noticed his presence. Only Julie and Flynn knew what it meant though. Julie rested a hand on their shoulder.
“Reg, this is Nick’s dad. He came today to make sure the principal doesn’t treat you the way she did yesterday. Mister Carlson, this is my sibling, Reggie.”
“Good to meet you, Reggie. I’m sorry you haven’t had a better week. If everyone is ready, we should get you kids to class.” Everyone nodded, Julie reaching down and gripping Reggie’s hand again. They followed slowly, like any step they took could make them fall apart. Julie and Flynn shared a look, calling out to the group that they’d catch up.
“Reg, if you don’t want to do this, we don’t have to.” Julie said quietly, “But I think this’ll be good for you. And for any of the other kids that might be afraid to own themselves like you do.” Julie just held onto Reggie, waiting patiently. She was always patient. It was one of the things they loved about her.
“You’re right. Let’s-let’s do it.” Reggie started forward, still gripping Julie’s hand, the boys were waiting at the door. Reggie gave them a small smile, whispering a thank you as they stepped through the door. The usual clatter of noises in the hallway came to an abrupt end, everyone stopping the stare at the skirt clad co-eds. The group followed Reggie to their locker, sticking close like they could sense Reggie growing uneasy. A skinny kid that had to have been a freshman ran up to the group.
“You guys are awesome.” He grinned before running off. The group shared a quiet laugh that was cut short as Principal Lessa came around the corner.
“What do you kids think you are doing? I explicitly told you-“
“That you were violating school policy by forcing Reggie to change?” Nick’s dad interrupted, stepping between them. Reggie watched with a scared look on their face, but Julie was still squeezing their hand reassuringly. “I have looked over your guidelines with these children, it does not explicitly say that male students cannot wear skirts. And there are no guidelines for students in Reggie’s situation. You have no authority to force them to change.”
Principal Lessa’s face grew redder, “I will be contacting the school board.”
“I’m sure you will. I emailed the superintendent’s office before we left the house this morning, so I’m sure he’ll be waiting to hear from you.” Principal Lessa turned, storming back to her office. Reggie wasn’t sure how smart it was to challenge their principal on his first week. Nick’s dad smiled at his son, “I’ll see you after school, son. I need to get to the office. Text me if you need me.”
“Will do, dad. Tell papa I said hi when you see him at lunch.” Mister Carlson smiled, heading out of the building. “You feeling okay, Reg?” Nick asked, turning to look into their face.
“Uh, yeah. I just never expected you guys to do something like this.” Reggie muttered, cradling their books to their chest.
“Why not?” Willie cocked his head, “Luke and I look for ways to annoy Lessa. The fact that we could help you in the process was a win-win.” Luke agreed, Alex smacked the two of them on the shoulder.
“What my stupid boyfriends are trying to say is that you are our friend. And like Julie said yesterday, we’ll fight for you.” Willie and Luke nodded along, both still rubbing their shoulders. Julie rolled her eyes at the two of them, but agreed with Alex. Nick just nudged Reggie’s shoulder.
“Come on, we should get to class.”
“Yeah,” Reggie smiled, “Let’s go.”