Gabe gulped, feeling the weight on the expectant stares on him. Tara was clearly delighted at the idea; she was practically bouncing up and down in excitement at the chance to see an actual high school party in person. He could already imagine her complaining about missing the party all the way back to the house, and with how mad his mom was at him? Her daughter “Gabriella” might be joining her, Molly, and Tara during next month’s “girls trip”. He fought down a shudder at the thought and nodded to Tim. “That’d be great!” He said, trying to put as much excitement in his voice as possible. Besides, it really might be cool seeing how the rich kids lived.
It turned out that when Tim said he was hosting, he meant that he was having the party at his aunt and uncle’s place. “I’m watching the house for them since they are out of town for the next month, and this is an easier place to get to for a lot of kids at our school.” He explained. The walk over, therefore, was thankfully brief; Gabe had been dreading the idea of hobbling his way all the way to Tim’s neighborhood in heels.
Tim and his friends were actually pretty nice, Gabe was surprised to find. Sure, they thought he was a smoking hot girl in a skimpy dress, but they had kept the flirting to a minimum—probably because Tara was there. Still, it was a bit annoying how Paul was deliberately hanging back so he could watch “Gabby’”’s butt as she strutted along, the heels making it next to impossible to do anything else.
Tim’s aunt and uncle’s house was one of the nicer ones on the street, and someone had gone all out on the decorations. Tara shrieked as she stepped on a plate on the ground and eerie, cackling laughter blared through the air. Tim grinned. “My uncle works in special effects. He always has some really cool stuff for the holidays.” He explained. The sounds of loud music could be heard coming from inside as Tim lead the way in.
The place was absolutely packed; everywhere Gabe looked, there were costumed partygoers talking and laughing. “Most of these people are from my old school, in Benson Hill!” Tim called over the loud music, naming a town about a hour and half away from where Gabe lived. He sighed to himself in relief. The odds of anyone he knew recognizing him were slim; he’d caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror before he’d headed down the stairs, and if he hadn’t know it was him Gabe never would have guessed that “Gabby” was really a boy. But the extra level of reassurance brought by so many strangers being there was comforting.
“Do you want a drink?” Tim asked. Eric had led Tara into the kitchen to give her the candy he had promised, and Paul seemed to have disappeared into the crowd within seconds of them stepping in the door. Gabe nodded. “Just a coke.” He replied. Tim wandered into the kitchen and return a second later with two cokes. “C’mon, I want to introduce you to see people.” He said.
The names and faces flashed by in a whirlwind as Tim led him over to a couch. An African American girl in a green dress—some kind of princess outfit—and a blonde in a cowgirl outfit smiled up at her. “This is my girlfriend Olivia and her friend Madison.” Tim said, nodding to each girl in turn. There was a brief pause before Gabe realized they were waiting for her to reply. “Oh! Sorry, I’m Gabriella, but you can call me Gabby.” He said. “I came here with my little sister, she’s in the other room right now.”
“Eric’s got a bunch of younger brothers and sisters. He’ll make sure she doesn’t get into trouble.” Tim reassured her. Madison seemed friendly enough, but the look in Olivia’s eyes wasn’t very reassuring. Gabe felt like she was looking into his soul. He shivered a little.
Paul was soon back with another couple, a boy he introduced as Liam and a girl named Kate. Gabe found that in spite of everything he was really enjoying himself. None of the girls seemed to have any idea he was a boy, and while that was a definite hit to his masculine pride he much preferred that outcome to being humiliated in front of the most popular kids in school. Just gotta play it cool and I can get through this, he thought to himself.