Page 10 of I Wish You All the Best

I shake my head. “They sort of had a no-talking-about-Hannah rule.” I pull another of the loose strings, balling it up in my fingers. “How long have you two been married?”

“Four years last September.”

“Oh, that’s great.”

“Yeah.” Thomas sighs. “Hannah talks about you a lot. She’s really missed you.”

Thomas’s words sit sort of heavy in the air, and for a few seconds, there isn’t a word between us. “Yeah, I missed her too,” I add quietly.

I don’t think Thomas fully realizes what he’s said, not that there’s really any reason for him to.

North Wake High is definitely nicer than Wayne.

Wayne High was built in the sixties, with only slight updates here and there when needed. North Wake is all new, with floor-to-ceiling windows, and slanted roofs, and chrome. Even the parking lot is filled with shiny, expensive-looking cars.

Everything looks so bright and new and put together. Like everything here has a place and that’s exactly where it belongs. And I’m the extra piece that doesn’t fit in. Thomas pulls into the parking lot, parking near the front entrance of the school. “Here we are.”

I stare at the front doors of the school. Unmoving.

“You know we don’t have to do this, right?”

“Might as well get it over with,” I say quietly.

“Are you sure? You don’t seem too thrilled. We can look at different schools, I just thought this would be easier.”

“I don’t want to tell them,” I blurt out. “That I’m nonbinary.”

Thomas’s hands drop from the wheel. “Are you sure? You know that means everyone’s going to call you by the wrong pronouns?”

Like that wasn’t obvious. “I don’t care.” I’m used to it by now.

“And you’re sure about this?”

“One hundred percent certain.” And I am. I don’t think I can handle actually being out right now. Not unless I absolutely have to be.

“Okay. We’ll have to lie and say it was something else. This sounds harsh, but if Principal Smith knows you were kicked out, that’ll help.”

I shrug. “Whatever.”

“All right.”

Thomas leads me through the huge glass doors at the front of the school. There’s a group of kids hanging out near the front, and each of them waves to Thomas as he passes by. I guess their Christmas break is already over. Back home we still had another week left to go.

“Thought you were sick today, Mr. Waller?” one of them says.

Thomas waves back at them. “Nope, just had some stuff to handle.”

I try to follow far enough behind Thomas so maybe the other students won’t make a connection between us, but the way their eyes drop from him to me tells me that they already have. He leads me through another set of glass doors into the front office, waving at the secretary behind the desk. “Hey, Kev.”

“Hey, Thomas. Principal Smith’s already waiting for you,” he says.

“Thanks.” Thomas turns to me. “You wait out here for a second. I’m going to explain the situation to her.”

“Okay.” I take a seat in one of the plush armchairs up against the glass dividers of the office. “Don’t tell her. Please?” I say under my breath.

“I swear,” he assures me, and something about the way he says this tells me to believe him.

I watch Thomas as he vanishes around the corner, waiting to pull my phone out of my pocket, before I remember it isn’t there. I’ll need to talk to Hannah about getting a replacement, though I’m not really sure how I’m going to pay for it. Maybe I can get a job somewhere, start saving up too. I don’t really know what Hannah’s offered. If she’s only planning on letting me stay until graduation, or as long as I need to.