Nat was the first person Harry met.
Nat was the person he sat next to.
Nat was the nicest one.
But Harry did not want to be best friends with Nat. Nat was a girl, and his whole plan was to start the school year with a posse of boys, doing only boy things.
It was because Nat was so easy to hang out with that this was happening. That the coolest boy in his class, Seth, and those guys didn’t want him in their squad and wouldn’t let him sit with them at lunch.
He was so frustrated. He didn’t know what to do about it or how to deal with it. And the stupidest part of it was that NAT WAS THE ONLY PERSON HE COULD TALK TO ABOUT IT.
Harry picked up the phone and dialed her number, which she’d written on the inside of his math textbook.
“Hello?”
“It’s me,” he said. “What are you doing?”
“I’m at the beach,” Nat said. Harry could hear the wind blowing through the receiver. “I’m waiting for whales.”
“Stay there,” he said. “I’m coming.”
He yelled to his mom, “I’m going to practice on the board!”
“Be back by dinner!” she answered. She was on Facebook on her computer. She was always on Facebook on her computer. Harry hoped she was maybe finding a group of parents of trans kids or something, the good kind of parents, the nice supportive ones. He knew they were out there. He looked over her shoulder. It was a group of people who collected vintage dresses. He rolled his eyes. “Mom,” he said.
“What?” she said. “I love these.”
“Those dresses look like cartoons,” he said. “When would you wear those?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe one day your father and I will go somewhere that I need to dress up. Are you going to the skateboard park?”
“Nah,” he said. “Just around.”
“Wear a helmet!” she called after him. He waved in response.
He went to the garage and got his longboard. It was painted with a skull and crossbones, all black and silver and BOYISH. He loved his board. He dropped it on the pavement and hopped on. It was all downhill to Nat’s place; he’d barely even have to break a sweat. He could just coast, almost the entire way.