i. hate. romeo. beckham.
it all happened on the bus home. i was sitting in the back seat with romeo, gaten and a couple of other people.
'hey, this chick has short hair like you, mills!' romeo says, pointing to one.
they turn around to look at me. freckles and big blue eyes, with flaming red hair, they suited the way they looked.
'don't call me a chick, romeo,' they say.
'oh sorry, are you a boy?' he asks.
'no.'
'what?' he asks, smirking.
'i think they're non-binary, r. they don't consider themselves a boy or a girl, or they consider themselves as both.' gaten says, staring at romeo.
'what kind of bullshit is that? you're either a boy or a girl. do you have a penis or a vagina?' he says, scoffing.
'leave them alone, romeo!' i yell, sitting up.
'its just a question, chill.'
i catch the person's eye and mouth sorry. they stand up and move to a different seat on the bus, and i'm furious.
'fuck you romeo! you have no right to be telling someone that! go to hell!' i say, standing up. gaten follows me and we sit with the non binary kid.
'i am so sorry about him. what's your name?' gaten asks.
'well, my birth name is sadie, and i'm still working on finding a name i feel more comfortable with,' they say.
'sadie suits you. i think it can be a unisex name,' i say. 'i'm millie.'
'i know. everyone knows you guys. you're like the most popular people in our grade.'
'let's be real, we're just as dorky as anyone,' gaten says.
sadie smiles. 'thanks for sticking up for me by the way. it means a lot. i get a lot of crap for it from people like romeo.'
'romeo's a dumbass. i'm through apologising for his idiotic behaviour.'
'me too,' i say, even though he was the only reason i survived freshman year.
