An Unexpected Fate

The First Day

First period today was history with Mr. Zela. He wasn't a bad teacher, but he wasn't great either. Ellie followed Freya and the girls in, pausing slightly as she did. Normally, she would've sat in the back corner with Patrick and Steven. A part of her wanted to go over there, but she also knew it'd probably be hell. Instead, she followed the girls to the other side of the room. As she walked past a few rows of students, most of them were staring at her. Some gave her glares, others gave her small smiles, but the main thing, she felt, is that no one said anything.

She watched as Patrick and the boys shuffled in. Charlie was whispering something to another boy, Harvey, as they both looked at Ellie. Patrick, on the other hand, remained quiet. Surprisingly, instead of sitting with Charlie and Harvery, Patrick (and followed by Steven) sat together closer to the middle. Once the last of the students were in, Mr. Zela walked into the room and towards Ellie.

He leaned down next to her, instantly filling Ellie with the smell of cigarettes. "Miss Wilcox sent out an email to everyone, if anyone gives you any problems, tell me."

Before Ellie could respond, Zela stood back up and walked away. "Okay, fourth year. You have your assignments due next Friday, so for today, we'll be focusing on writing those. If you need any help, come up and ask. Any questions?" No one raised their hands, but there was a snicker coming from Charlie and Harvey. "Charlie, care to share with the class?"

"Naw, sir." Charlie said, still snickering as he looked at Ellie.

Zela followed his gaze, then he looked back at Charlie. "Clearly something humerous has happened, why not share with the rest of us?"

Charlie realised his was probably rumbled. "Sorry, sir. Doesn't matter, sir."

"If I hear you again, you'll be removed from class." Zela said. "Now, get to work."

***

The rest of the morning went okay. Ellie spent most of it sitting with Freya and the girls. She was enjoying spending time with them, it felt nice to actually be included. They spent most of the time just gossiping and talking about their classes. Freya and Maple had an upcoming cheerleader tryout they were nervous for, whilst Gwen was trying to join the girls football team. They also gave Ellie a lot of tips about girlhood and about different kinds of clothes.

"Oh, that reminds me. We're having a sleepover at mine on Friday, if you wanted to come?" Freya said as they sat eating lunch.

"My mum wanted to take my shopping on Saturday, so I don't know." Ellie said. She would've loved to spend more time with Freya, but she also didn't want to let her mum down. "I can ask, though."

"We were actually talking about going shopping on Saturday too, if it helps." Annabeth said.

"Like I said, I'll ask." Ellie said.

"Okay, no worries! Here, I'll add you to our group chat so you can just let us know when you find out." Freya said as she pulled out her phone. Ellie's phone dinged in her pocket and when she checked it, sure enough, Freya had added her into the girls group chat. Ellie felt a sudden sense of joy and happiness, being included in something like this.

"Uhm, Be- I mean, Ellie." A voice from behind them said.

Ellie turned around. Patrick and Steven were standing there. "Yeah?" Ellie said. It came off a bit more blunt than she meant, but considering how most of the boys had been treating her today, she felt somewhat justified.

"Can we, uh, can we talk to you for a sec?" Patrick spluttered out.

Ellie looked back at the girls and gave them a little nod, letting them know she'd be fine. She stood up, fixing her skirt as Patrick and Steven stared at her. She could see why they were acting the way they were around her, the three of them had been best friends since primary, but it was almost like she was a complete stranger. She followed them both outside to a quiet corner of the car park.

"So..." Steven said, trying not to be awkward.

"What do you want?" Ellie said, once again more blunt than she meant.

"We just, uh, we just want to know what's going on with you? You accidentally wore the wrong uniform yesterday, and suddenly today you're a girl called Ellie?" Patrick blurted out.

Ellie was a little taken aback by the sudden confrontation, it wasn't like Patrick to just explode like this. "It's kinda hard to explain. I never really felt like a boy and then yesterday happened and from there things just spiralled. But, I think that deep down, this is who I actually am."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Steven said.

"Because up until yesterday, it still didn't really make sense. There are still some things I'm trying to work out." Ellie said. She wasn't sure what kind of reaction she was expecting from Patrick and Steven. She had assumed, given how Charlie and Harvey were behaving, they'd have mocked her too. But no, here she was, talking with her two childhood friends, and they seemed somewhat supportive.

"If you're still trying to figure things out, why are you coming to school like this now?" Steven asked, indicating Ellie's uniform.

Ellie chuckled. "I left the uniform I wore yesterday here, the trousers I borrowed yesterday ripped last night, and my spare uniform is still ripped from last week. I basically had no choice but to come to school like this. I figured I might as well just rip the band-aid off."

Patrick chuckled. "You've ripped two pairs of trousers in one week? Maybe you are better wearing skirts."

"Everyone keeps saying that." Ellie laughed. It felt nice to laugh with them both, as if everything was normal. "Are we good now?"

The boys nodded. "We're sorry for giving you some glares, earlier, it was just a bit of a shock. But I don't know, it doesn't seem that different now that we've spoken. I guess this means you won't be playing football again?" Patrick laughed.

"Oh yeah, I hated football. I hope to god I never need to play it again." Ellie laughed.

Steven chuckled. "Just as well, you were always pretty shit anyway."

"Thanks." Ellie said, sarcastically.

"Come on, Pat, they'll be waiting on us." Steven said. The boys bid Ellie goodbye as they set off towards the school pitch. Ellie waited a few more seconds, watching them walk away. Once they were gone, she went back inside to join the girls.