[POV: Iris]
"You know... I don't want to sound insensitive, but is it alright to go into the girl's locker room?"
"Of course! I've got permission from the school and not only that, the state of California even allowed me to change my gender," while she's talking she pulls out her license, "See?"
"Yep, with a capital 'F'," I say while popping the 'p' of yep.
"It's only in this state though. The change of my gender isn't recognized federally though, so any federal and important medical paperwork still shows my gender from birth. I'd like to change the federal stance, but that's a long way from happening, and I can understand the medical issues that could arise if they prescribe me something that would give me adverse effects to my health. I am going into a medical research field for my career after all."
I remember her family owned a lab, so I guess and assume she's following in her parent's footsteps, "Are you going to work with your parent's when you graduate?"
"Yeah! I've already got a position for my internship after my second year of college. It's convenient having a back door sometimes, hehe."
I stop and look up at her. "Wait. Don't internships usually happen when you're about to graduate with a bachelor's degree?"
"That's not always the case, but it doesn't matter for me since by the end of this year I'll have enough college credits to have completed my first two years," she drops this bomb on me so nonchalantly like it's a given she's already accomplished so much.
I sigh, "Why am I surprised? You've always been an overachiever. If you already have that many college credits, why are you still in high school?"
"I wanted to finish high school in person. That and I don't actually have enough required high school credits. Home schooling doesn't do much for physical education. Even though I was able to supplement a majority of the required credits with health, sports medicine, and other courses, but I needed a minimum of fitness credits to actually pass with an honors degree. I could have hired a personal trainer accredited with a teaching degree to do it, but I really wanted to come here."
I smile up at her and say, "Well, I for one am extremely glad you're here!"
Joy beams back, "Me too! Oh! Before I forget to ask. Are gym lockers assigned? I didn't get notified of anything."
"Nope. You can use any you want. The paperwork when first attending here does say to bring a lock with you. That's the purpose. Do you have one?"
"I wasn't sure of what it was for, but yeah, I did. Just in case."
"That's good then. You can just change with me."
Joy shows a troubled look. "I don't knoooow. I'm kind of afraid of what trouble your wandering eyes could get into. You've already shamelessly flirted with me. What if I already have a girlfriend and she finds out my best friend is moving in on her girl?"
My steps falter a little bit and I look up at her in shock and ask, "Do you? I mean... already have one?"
She's looking at me with a serious face before changing to a coquettish one with a wink and a finger covering her lips in a shushing manner and loudly whispers, "Secret. OH LOOK! We're here already!"
She runs off ahead of me, giggling, going into the girl's locker room. I run my hand down my face and sigh. I don't know if she was really serious or not, but I about had a fucking heart attack. If I found out she was already off the market, I'd probably relapse. There's only so much I could take before my dependency on pills would rear it's ugly head again.
I mutter, "You've been off Oxy for 6 months now, Iris. Keep strong. Even if she is dating someone, it doesn't mean I don't have a chance. Anything can happen." I follow her into the locker room dejectedly.
...
"OH MY GOD! Iris! Are you ok?!"
"Huh? Wha?"
"Your nose is bleeding!"
I reach up and touch my upper lip and look at my finger. A bright red is staring right back at me.
"Do you get nose bleeds often or something? Any previous history?"
"Huh? No... no, I don't. I think you're the cause because... damn." I roll up a tissue and shove it up my nostril while eyeing her up and down. She's just so fucking hot! She's only wearing a sports bra and spanx and her body is out of this world. She's toned and has some definition in her legs and stomach, but not too much. She still has a healthy bit of fat and it's filled in all the right places giving even more definition to her body.
"Pfft! Are you an anime romcom protagonist or something?" She starts putting on her work out clothes. A bright pink pair of yoga pants and tight black halter tee. She puts up her beautiful wavy strawberry blonde hair into a bun and sits on the bench and puts on her matching running shoes. "Are you going to get ready or what?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Gimme a minute. Uhm... are they real?"
"What?"
"Uhm... your breasts. Are they," I gulp, "real?"
She covers her chest and glares at me. "Of course they're real!!! Yeah, they're bigger than you'd normally get with only HRT, but I was blessed and I'm happy with their size. Most people undergoing treatment go as big as an 'A' cup at most but I'm a 'B' cup!"
That was fast. One second she's angry and glaring at me, but the next she's looking at me with an intense smugness. "Do we have uniforms?" She asks after seeing me put on shorts and t-shirt with the school's mascot and logo on it.
"Oh. Yeah, there's a uniform but it's not required. As long as you have appropriate work out attire, the teachers don't care. I'm only wearing it because I can't afford anything else."
"I see. Hey. I wanted to ask. Do you have a ride after school?"
"Not right now. My car's broke down at the moment. I was just gonna take the bus home. Why?"
She steeples her fingers and looks away to shyly ask, "Well, if you want. I'll just go to the library after school to study and wait for you to get out of detention then maybe... I dunno. I can take you to a cafe or something to get something to drink and hang out then I could drive you home after?"
Joy gives me a side eye while still facing away from me. Seeing her shy like this is just too much cuteness for me. It takes me a couple seconds to register what she asked me but before I knew it, I'm hugging her and jumping up and down in excitement. "OF COURSE! I WANNA GO!"
She's giggling while she witnesses my childishness but I could care less.
"Now that that's out of the way. Stop hugging me so we can go before we're late to class!"
I stop jumping and hugging her. I scratch my cheek in embarrassment. "You're right, hehe. We should go." I'm on a roller coaster today. Up one moment and down another. Joy's gonna be bad for my heart.