Chapter 4
BEE AVITUS YAXLEY:
Bee had spent the first visit to Oxdon Youth Centre studying. They had been planning to do that for the second time around, packing a bag with textbooks, notebooks, some noodles in a cup, their phone, their wallet, and their car keys. They had weird parents like that, pressuring them to always achieve the best scores. They supposed it made sense to study during the holidays, so that your mind had the knowledge fresh, but they would have preferred to wait.
They pulled into the car park of Oxdon and grabbed their things. They walked up the ramp and a Mongolian person smiled, walking up to them.
”Bee Yaxley, preferred, other.”
”So I’m assuming you’ve been here before?” They asked. “Right we’ll, I’m Vex, and you can head on inside.”
Bee nodded, spotting Pavarti in the kitchen.
“Dmitry?” Bee was startled at hearing their deadname, and turned to see a boy two years younger than him. Albus, the boy that lived down the street from him. That household always seemed to be arguing, mainly in regards to Albus’ sexuality it seemed. That was the only reason Bee knew Albus was poly, and safe.
”It’s actually Bee,” they explained. “I’m agender, any pronouns. Although I do prefer they.”
Albus nodded. “Sorry, I’m guessing you aren’t out to your family since they only call you Dmitry?”
Bee nodded. “It’s a sucky deadname, because people always ask questions about it.”
“Sometimes I forget that trans and non-binary people have other names,” Albus said. “I got so used to calling my last partner Ghost, and hearing everyone else say it, that whenever someone called them by their deadname I got confused for a minute.”
”I get that,” Bee nodded. “When I hear people say Dmitry I have a moment of realisation where I’m like ‘oh right, I have another name’. It’s like living a double life sometimes.”
”Being in the closet in general is like living a double life,” Albus agreed, “I imagine it’s weirder for trans or non-binary people. Like, you have an entirely different name you use around different people.”
Bee nodded. “I have a friend who’s given me the nickname Honey, purely because I chose the name Bee.”
”I mean, I once made a joke about Ghost having a deadname,” Albus shrugged. “You enby’s just like to pick noun names I’ve noticed. Interesting noun names, but noun names nonetheless.”
”Not always,” Bee protested. “Sometimes we pick three random letters, mythological figures, or colours.”
”I’ve never met an enby with a mythological figure for a name,” Albus said.
”I have a genderfluid friend named Loki, and a demiboy friend named Neptune,” Bee listed. “It is surprisingly common.”
”Bee!” Bee felt a weight land on their back and assumed it must have been Vincent, because no one else that knew Bee would be brave enough to attempt it. “I didn’t know you were gonna be here.”
Vincent dropped off Bee’s back and Bee turned to see him. “Yeah, I didn’t see you here last time?”
”I was grounded,” Vincent said. “Dad found my vape. Aaron didn’t want to go alone.”
”Oh, where is Aaron?”
”He’s signing in,” Vincent pointed to where Aaron was talking to Pavarti. “Tell him he looks handsome, tonight is a dysphoria night.”
”Sorry,” Albus interrupted, “I’m Albus, who are you?”
”Oh right,” Bee snapped their fingers. “Albus this is Vincent, we go to school together. Vincent this is Albus, he lives down the street from me.”
”Oh Albus! From the Shout House?” Vincent asked.
”Is that what people call it?” Albus looked mortified.
”Yes,” Bee nodded. “Unfortunately for you the entire street knows about your sexuality and past relationships.”
”Fuck,” Albus swore under his breath. “That sucks.”
”Hi,” Aaron walked over, fiddling with the sleeves of his baggy hoodie.
”Hey Aaron,” Bee said, “you’re looking handsome dude.”
Aaron frowned. “Did Vincent tell you to say that?”
”What? Me? Never,” Vincent shook his head. “Would I do something like that?”
”Yes.”
“I would have said it either way,” Bee added.
”Bee, what the Hell?” Vincent whined. “I could have totally gotten away with that if you hadn’t said anything.”
”Hey,” Albus smiled, “Albus. I’m guessing you’re Aaron?”
Aaron nodded. “Vincent’s little brother.”
”Really? You’re taller than him.”
”Yeah, well you don’t have to rub it in,” Vincent said.
”It’s okay Vince,” Bee smirked, “you can be a short king.”
”I’m not short!”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but you’re gender,” Aaron said to Albus. “Wait, you might not know what that means. You know like gender envy? You give me gender envy.”
”Thank you?” Albus raised an eyebrow. “No one’s ever said that to me before.”
”It’s a compliment,” Aaron explained. “Like, I want your arms. Can I have them? Would you give me your arms?”
”Sure,” Albus shrugged. “Arms aren’t necessary anyway.”
”Sick, now I have four arms.”
”Arms are weird,” Bee said. “Like, they’re the part of the body that causes the weirdest dysphoria.”
“No! You have nice arms!” Aaron said.
”You want to trade?”
”Yeah, now I’ve got two sets of arms that aren’t even mine,” Aaron smiled. “I identify as a four armed demon, and that is now my gender.”
“Shit, Aaron, kids from Eddyville,” Vincent pulled on his brothers sleeve. “Let’s go somewhere they won’t notice us.”
Bee looked over and frowned when he saw them. They were the pricks that wore nothing but adidas and talked shit about queer people. They were in Vincent’s year, but when Aaron had come out as trans he started getting bullied and beaten up. It got so bad that he started going to a completely different school, and avoided going to Eddyville Senior High School like the plague. Vincent still went, and copped some shit from them for being omnisexual, but ever since Bee had started hanging out with him they started to leave him alone. Probably because Bee was two years older than them.
“How bad are they?” Albus asked. “Are they straight and just unknown whether they’re allies, or are they homophobes, or transphobes?”
”The best way to describe it is by telling you why you should avoid them,” Bee answered. “If you talk to them, chances are you will get hate-crimed.”
”Oh, yeah that’s bad,” Albus cringed. “They should be kicked out. There’s a poster at the front that literally says this is a safe place for queer and neurodivergent people and they’re just invading the space.”
Bee nodded in agreement. “Unfortunately adults will say ‘this is a safe space for everyone, we want everyone to feel welcomed’.”
“That’s bullshit,” Albus said. “Bigots shouldn’t be allowed.”
Bee sighed. “Adults are just silly sometimes.”
”Oh, my friends are here,” Albus said. “It was nice hanging out Bee. We should talk more often.”
”We should.”
Bee found Vincent and Aaron hiding out in a corner, as far away from the Eddyville kids as possible. Aaron was visibly shaking, and kept looking back and forth between the kids and the floor. Bee hoped they wouldn’t recognise Aaron, because he did look quite a bit different. A haircut and a binder can do that to a person. Vincent had an arm around his younger brother and spoke in a surprisingly soft voice, considering this was Vincent.
”Hey Aaron,” Bee said, “do you wanna go outside? Get some air?”
”I just didn’t think I’d have to see them again,” Aaron brought his hand to his mouth and started chewing on a nail. “I don’t want them to know I’m here.”
”I can murder them,” Vincent offered. “I have a box cutter in my bag.”
”Why do you have a box cutter?”
”For emergencies,” Vincent shrugged. “Is this an emergency?”
Aaron shook his head. “Not an emergency, I just don’t want to have to talk to them.”
”I brought the car,” Bee said, “we can go to the shops for a bit and come back later?”
Aaron thought for a minute before nodding slightly. “Thanks.”
”No problem.”
Bee led Vincent and Aaron outside and to their car. As they were walking someone ran past carrying a baguette, but Bee thought it best not to judge people on their choices, so they didn’t ask. Bee owned a seven seater, because they were the second oldest of six kids and it was better to just invest in that then to have to put someone in the boot when there wasn’t enough room.
Vincent and Aaron climbed into the middle seat, and Bee started the car. Once everyone was strapped in they drove off. Bee found a shopping centre not too far of a drive away, and pulled into a parking space. The car ride was silent, but as it progressed Aaron seemed to get increasingly calmer. That was good, Bee could remember figuring themselves out at fourteen as well.
First they thought they were trans, and it was only the year prior that they figured out they were agender. They’d gotten past a lot of the dysphoria and dysmorphia that Aaron struggled with, although they still suffered, but they could remember what it was like to have people in your life invalidate you. It was why no one in their family knew. Except maybe Danika, she was startlingly good at reading people.
”Where do we want to go?” Bee asked.
”Is there a Greggs?” Aaron asked, getting out of the car. “Don’t know why, but I kind of want to buy a sausage roll.”
”In the mood for a sausage are you?” Vincent asked. “I’ll meet you guys at Greggs, I’ve got to go do crimes first.”
”Don’t get caught!” Bee called out.
”I won’t!”
“So, Greggs,” Aaron said.
”This way.”
Bee and Aaron found a Greggs and lined up inside. There was a bit of a line, but it wasn’t so bad, considering it was a Friday night and most people bought dinner from Dominos, or Burger King. Not many families were getting Greggs for dinner. After about ten minutes Aaron was able to buy his sausage roll, and Bee purchased a pie for themselves. They left and waited outside for Vincent, who was probably stealing something from somewhere.
Vincent appeared shortly after, his bag slightly heavier and holding the ends of his sleeves. Yep, he stole some things. Bee wasn’t sure what exactly Vincent stole, since it could range anywhere from dice to sweets to alcohol. It was also entirely possible he’d stolen from the chemist, although not as likely.
”The people in the off-license were looking at me, so I think we should get going,” Vincent said.
So, that answered the alcohol question. Although, it didn’t tell Bee what Vincent had stuffed up his sleeves.
“Alright, are we going back to Oxdon or do we wanna go somewhere else?” Bee asked.
”Probably somewhere else,” Aaron said. “I doubt they’d let Vincent in with a bottle of whatever he stole.”
”Vodka,” Vincent said. “But not to drink straight, I’m not a heathen. I also stole some monsters.”
”I think there’s a park a few blocks from here,” Bee said, as they walked to the car.
“Dog park or kids park?” Aaron asked.
”I don’t know, I just saw a patch of green and a sign.”
“Guess we’ll find out when we get there,” Vincent said.
The three teenagers clambered into the car, and drove off again. The park was probably around a ten minute drive from the shops, but this time the drive wasn’t silent. They talked and found themselves at the park, with the sun gone from the sky. There was no one at the park, and since they were there, they got to explore a little bit. The only light came from a covered table and a barbecue. Next to that was a set of swings and some children’s play equipment. The park was surrounded by a wall of trees, so no one driving past or in the neighbouring houses would see them.
Vincent sat on the table and started to pull out the things he stole. Some sweets fell out of his sleeves and onto the table, and then he unzipped his bag to pull out three monsters. One plain one, one zero ultra, and one ultra rosa. He pulled out the bottle of vodka next, along with a funnel, presumably to mix it with the monster. The last thing he pulled out was just a small bag of vapes, but Bee recognised it and knew this wasn’t stuff he’d stolen that night.
”I don’t understand how you can drink the ones with sugar,” Aaron said, opening the zero ultra can, and taking a sip. “It’s much too sweet.”
”Speak for yourself,” Vincent said.
“Speak for most people, you mean,” Bee said. “I don’t think I know a single person that likes the original flavour, other than you.”
”Whatever,” Vincent rolled his eyes.
They sat there just talking for a while, until Vincent poured three shots worth of vodka into his monster, then he started to act loopy. Aaron put a little bit of vodka in his monster, but not three shots worth.
“You want some?” Aaron offered Bee the bottle.
”I’m driving,” Bee deadpanned. “I can’t be drunk on the road.”
”Then just add one shot,” Vincent slurred, he was a little more than tipsy. “I know you have a high tolerance, because I have seen you after four drinks. You just get chilled out a little at four. Four drinks, not four years old. Imagine a drunk four year old. Oh, that would be one fun toddler.”
Aaron shook his head as he sipped his spiked monster.
”Maybe we should start heading back?” Aaron asked. “Before Vincent hurts himself.”
”I’m tipsy,” Vincent protested. “Not drunk.”
”You are more than tipsy,” Bee said, watching as Vincent stumbled over his feet.
“Fine, I’m trunk,” Vincent pouted when he splashed some of his drink onto the ground. “More than tipsy, less than drunk.”
”Sure,” Aaron said, packing away the stuff and slinging Vincent’s bag over his shoulder. “We can use that word for this.”
Bee helped Vincent into their car, before getting into the drivers seat and pulling onto the road. It took maybe fifteen or so minutes to get back to Oxdon, and by then they only had an hour until it ended. Bee was glad for that, because it meant the Eddyville kids were much less likely to find them. At least, if the trio decided to hide away from them somewhere. Which they did.
Bee helped Vincent out of the car, and they followed Aaron, who led them to a shed a little bit away from the Youth Centre. The doors were locked, but Bee could see through the window that this was where they stored all of the sporting equipment. There were bins labelled with ball sports, shelves of bibs, bags or rackets for all different sports, and a section with nets. Bee decided no one would think to look inside and used a pair of scissors from inside their bag to open the door. They didn’t turn the light on, because Bee figured it would draw too much attention to the unlocked shed.
Bee sat on top of a table, shuffling the cones around so that they could fit. Vincent elected to lay across a row of bins, and Aaron sat inside a football net. It wasn’t the most spacious of circumstances, but it was better than letting the Eddyville kids mess with Aaron.
”So, what sweets did you actually steal?” Aaron verbalised his thoughts as he looked through the sweets. “Sour straps. Jaffa cakes? You stole Jaffa cakes?”
”Why not?” Vincent shrugged, sipping on his spiked monster. “Jaffa cakes are tasty.”
”Nerds, almond nougat, treacle toffees, wow, you put a whole sweet shop in your sleeves and bag.”
”Sweet like me!” Vincent claimed.
”I don’t think so,” Bee deadpanned, stealing the almond nougat off Aaron. “You’re more of a fish taco.”
”Ew!” Vincent whined. “I don’t want to be a fish taco! Fish don’t belong in tacos! Can’t I be fish and chips?”
”No,” Aaron shook his head. “I’m already the fish and chips. And Bee is any food involving honey.”
”Just because my name is Bee doesn’t mean I’m obsessed with honey,” Bee pouted. “I just think bees and flowers are a vibe, a vibe I like.”
”I swear, enby’s have two settings,” Vincent said, “obsessed with bees or obsessed with frogs. Sometimes both. Like Neptune, they constantly send me bee or frog themed memes.”
”The fact that you are the only cis person in our group,” Aaron chuckled.
”Not true! Loki is intersex!” Vincent called out. “Technically that makes her cis.”
Bee thought about it a moment. “So does that mean I’m trans MTI?”
”Yes,” Vincent nodded. “Maybe? Wait, did you say UTI?”
“Yes Vincent, I am a bladder infection,” Bee said. “I make life difficult for people.”
”True,” Aaron said, earning him a cone thrown at his head. “Hey! I’m not wrong!” That earned him a second cone.
”Yo, what time is it,” Vincent asked, fiddling with the ring on his right index finger.
Bee checked their watch. “It’s not even been twenty minutes.”
”Really?” Vincent tried to get up but fell off the bins. “Ouch.”
”You are drunk, how much did you put in the monster?” Aaron asked.
Vincent shrugged. “I dunno, like, this much.”
Vincent gestured and Bee’s jaw dropped slightly. “Four shots! Vincent are you crazy!?”
”A little bit,” Vincent shrugged. “I’m fine.”
”You just fell off the bins, you are not fine,” Aaron get up and helped Vincent to his feet. “I can’t believe I’m supposed to be the little brother.”
Bee chuckled. “Maybe it’s best i drive you home early?”
”Please,” Aaron said.
”No!” Vincent whined. “Mum’s gonna yell at me! I’m gonna be grounded forever! Can we stay at your house?”
”Vince, I can’t stay at Bee’s,” Aaron said. “Dad reckons two people of the opposite sex equals babies.”
”Tell him you were at Wisp’s,” Bee said. “He would play along with it.”
”Yeah, but their parents would rat me out,” Aaron said. “Unless you drop me off at Wisp’s on your way home with Vince.”
”I can do that, I don’t think their parents would mind.”
”Nah, Wisp’s parents are cool,” Vincent said. “How come he got the best deal out of all of us?”
”Because otherwise we’d have no house to hide at,” Aaron said. “In a group of gays there’s always got to be one with supportive parents.”
And with that, they got back in the car, after only fifteen minutes, and Bee dropped Aaron off at Wisp’s before driving home with a drunk Vincent.