Rock Star Makeover, Part 2

(Author's note: Its probably a good idea to read part 1 first)

We walked to my house hand in hand. We didn’t say much, but the contact seemed to say all we needed to say at that moment. We went inside, and told my mom what happened. My brother came in the room in time to hear Gabbi tell my mom about the card, and he grinned.

“Pretty mushy, Noah.” He said.

“It worked. I got my girl.” I said, grinning back.

Gabbi slipped her arm around me, and said, “And I got my guy.”

I couldn’t help myself. I gave her a kiss right then.

My mom cleared her throat, and said, “As sweet as a first romance is, I have to call an end to this for now. Gabbi, you have to go home, if I don’t miss my guess.”

“You’re right.” She looked at me, and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay Gabbi. One thing though. How do you want to play it at school? You gonna be okay being my girlfriend?”

“If you are okay being my boyfriend. Its not like we can be any more outsiders than we are now.”

“I was kinda hoping you’d say that.” I said, and gave her another kiss.

“Bye.” she said, and left.

Adam asked, “You sure you’re gonna be okay with doing PDA with her in public dude?”

“Bro, when I thought I had lost her, my world turned to ash, so I’m not losing her again. And anybody who can’t see she is a girl needs to get their eyes checked. Besides, she’s right. we were never gonna be in the popular crowd anyway.”

The next morning, she met me at the door to school, and she said, “I..I’d understand if you … well, you know, have trouble being with me while I’m still dressed as a boy, Noah.”

I looked her in her beautiful eyes, and said, “Gabbi, I’m the luckiest boy in this school to have you, and I don’t care who knows it. In fact...” I paused, and raised my voice, attracting the attention of people around us, and said “You are the most wonderful person in the world. I love you!” and kissed her.

After our kiss, I peeked at the other students. Some grumbled, some shook their heads, one or two looked angry and repulsed. But a lot of people smiled, and a couple of people actually applauded.

She blushed, and we went in to classes. The rest of the day, whenever I could, I made a point of holding her had, putting my arm around her, making contact any way I could. I had a few scary moments with some of the jocks, but it seemed like every time somebody would try and start trouble, another student would step in and defend us.

After school, we decided to stop by her house first, and we shared the news with her mom. Her mom said, “I.....I’m not sure about all this. Ga...Ga.. dear, please. This is all is... happening so fast, I can’t keep up.”

“I’m sorry mom. Things seem to have got rolling faster than even I thought they could.”

“I... I know, but I... I wanted to tell you. I... I have decided to not go with you to L.A. “

“How can I go without you Mom? I still need a parent for the trip.”

“I know. I have asked your father to go, and he agreed. I assume you still want Noah to come with you?”

“Of course, Mom.”

“How is that going to work? I looked into it, and they provide only one room with two beds. I’m... not comfortable with you and Noah sharing a room.”

“Mom, think about what you just said. If I was still pretending to be Gavin, would you have minded? “

Gabbi’s mom looked shocked, and silence reigned for a while. Finally, I said, “I need to go home. See you at school tomorrow, Gabbi. I gave her a hug, and she kissed me on the cheek. Her mom almost choked, so I broke off, and left.

The next morning, I met Gabbi at the door of school, and she looked horrible. I held her, and asked, “What happened?”

“My mom and Dad had a fight over me. They were actually yelling at each other. They never yell. Its all my fault!” She started crying.

I held her as tight as I could, and then pulled her chin up so she was looking at me “Gabbi, please. Its not your fault. You had to do this. Trying to be Gavin was killing you. They would be burying their son soon, and that would be much harder for them then having you as a daughter.”

“Th....thanks”

“Welcome. Come on. we’ll be late for class.”

The rest of the day, I could see how she was struggling to keep going. I drew her a a heart-shaped hug in Art class, and she smiled, but it faded fairly quickly. I felt totally out of my depth. Finally, the day was done, and I invited her back to my house, hoping my mom could cheer her up.

Mom was great, as she often is with me. She listened to Gabbi, let her cry, and we both held her tight. After a while, she looked up at the clock, and said, “I... gotta go. Sorry, Mrs. Alexander, I.. I...”

“Young lady, you have nothing to be sorry for.. You are NOT responsible for your parents choices. You have been given …. a huge burden, and you are making the sanest choice possible, in my opinion.”

“Gabbi,” I said, “I want you to promise me you wont give up. Your dad will help, your sister too. And of course, you got me, and my family too. Okay?”

“O....Okay. But I better go.” She said, and then left.

After she left, my mom, my brother, and I prayed for her. Prayer is a funny thing, at least for us. Its a...recognition that we don't run the universe. Maybe you can’t prove anybody was listening, but letting go of the stuff you can’t control anyway seems to help. At least it did for me, enough that I was able to sleep that night.

The next morning, I went over to her house, and her sister answered the door. I went in, and saw Gabbi dressed in her boy clothes, sitting stiffly across from his mom. Her dad was hovering nearby. Everything was quiet, but tense, like a fight had just been suspended by my arrival. Gabbi gave me a sad smile, and said, “Noah, I need to spend some time with my mom before I go.”

She must have noticed my blood start to boil, because before I could explode at her mom, she said, “It’ll be okay, Noah. Terry can you go with him?”

Terry surprised me a bit by saying, “Sure. We’ll see you later.” and ushered me out.

After we left, I turned to Terry, and said, “Okay. You can go do your own thing. You don’t need to babysit me I just wish I knew why your mom is hurting Gabbi.”

“Noah, please. Shes... struggling with this. You did too, remember?”

“I know. I just... hate seeing her hurting.”

“Me too."

"But what’s going on? Can’t you tell me why she’s acting like this?”

“Its … not my story to tell, Noah. Just believe she isn't acting out of malice.”

“Fine. So what do I do with my day? I had planned to spend some time with Gabbi before we went to L.A. “

“You sound like a man in love.”

“I.. I am. Probably seems a bit weird.”

“If Gabbi wasn’t Gabbi, maybe. But I’m happy for her. She deserves a good man.”

“She does. So I’m going to do everything I can to be one for her.”

We walked toward the local mall, when I made a decision. I decided that as soon as I could, I would ditch Terry and slip back to Gabbi’s house. I caught a break not long after we got to the mall, because a couple of Terry’s friends showed up, and wanted her to go power shopping with them. She looked at me, and I said, “Go ahead, I will just wander around.”

With her gone, I headed back to Gabbi’s house. I went around to the back, and found the spare key Gabbi had shown me years ago I hesitated. I realized I didn’t have the right to do this. I went back around to the front, and rang the bell. Gabbi answered, and I said, “I’m sorry, Gabbi. I … I really want to be with you Please?”

Gabbi let me in, and “Okay.” She took my hand, went to her mother, and asked, “Why mom? Why can’t you see this is who I am, what I need to do?”

“You dont understand …”

“You’re right. I don’t. Not unless you tell me. I think I deserve the truth. Because it feels like my own mother hates me, and anything would be better than that.” Gabbi turned from her mother, and I held her.

Her mother said, “I don’t hate you. Gabrielle, look at me.”

Gabbi turned back.

“You are my child, and I love you . And that’s why I wish you wouldn’t do this.”

“But why, Mom?”

“Because I’m scared for you Gabrielle . You’ve been … lucky so far, but all its going to take is one person who doesn’t understand or accept you for you to get hurt or...I don’t want that to happen. Not again.”

“Again?”

Her mom sighed, and said, “I... I should have told you as soon as you came out. You’re … not the first person I’ve known that was like you. I... had a friend, once. When her parents caught her playing dress up with me, they freaked. A couple of months later, they shipped her off to a military school to make a man out of her. She...never came back.”

Gabbi left my arms and ran to her mom and held her. “Mom,” she said, “Things are...better now. People actually congratulated me on my bravery at school. And Noah... he kissed me mom, right in front of everybody, and you know what happened? People applauded!”

I blushed a bit, and added, “And she has something else your friend didn’t.”

“What’s that?” Gabbi’s mom asked.

“Parents who accept her, and wont try to make a man out of her.”

She reached for me, pulled me in, and hugged us both, while I and Gabbi hugged each other. And …. well.... there are some times, when its okay for a guy to cry, you know?