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Chapter 32
Antonio was sitting in his third period class, copying down notes from the whiteboard as the teacher read them out loud. He didn't see the point of the teacher saying anything since she spoke word for word what was written and didn't add any additional information to the bullet points.

Still, the senior scribbled down the notes and tried to follow the teacher speaking in her monotone voice. If it wasn't for the teacher being so distracting as she droned on and on, he would've had the notes copied and could have gone on to doing other things, or, his preference, nothing at all.

The school intercom came to life. “Tiny, report to the vice principal's office. Again, Tiny, please report to the vice principal's office immediately.”

“Mr. LaMano,” Ms. Reynolds said as she paused mid sentence. “You are excused.”

Tony gathered his books together. He could hear the low murmurings of his fellow students and wondered what sort of trouble he might be in. Since he was so tall Antonio always found himself sitting in the back row so he wouldn't block another student’s vision. He found it quite the chore to navigate the narrow rows with his classmates still in their seats. Normally when he left a room the entire row already filed out ahead of him.

Antonio walked through the empty corridors of the school as he heard the noises of other classes going on. He had a good idea what this upcoming conversation was going to be about and was certain Peter was involved. It was the only incident he could think of where faculty got involved.

Tony got to the waiting area of the vice principals' office. There were five in total, and Tony realized he didn't know which one he was suppose to see. Mrs. Davis, the secretary, sat behind a large oak desk littered with small stuffed animals and various stacks of paperwork that only she knew why they were grouped together.

“Hi Mrs. Davis,” Antonio said as walked up to the desk. “I heard my name over the P.A..”

“Yes,” Mrs. Davis replied in her heavy Georgia accent. “Mr. Fenton wanted to chat you up a bit.”

“Trouble?”

“Mercy no, Tiny,” Mrs. Davis said as she searched for whatever pile of paperwork she was planning to tackle next. “From what I hear it's just chewing the fat, you ain't got nothings to worry about.”

“Thanks.” Tony smiled at the lady whose eyes never looked up to receive the gesture. “He has the same office as last year?”

“Sugar, he'll have that office 'til Jesus comes, but that's just between me and you.”

Antonio let out a soft chuckle and then made his way to the small hallway that led to the offices. The far office on the right was Mr. Fenton's and Tony made his way past a myriad of filing cabinets and trophy cases. He knocked on the open door to announce his presence.

“You wanted to see me,” Tony said as the man looked up from his desk.

“Yes,” Mr. Fenton said as he closed some programs on his computer. “Come and sit down. Close the door behind you first.”

“Ut-oh.” Tony said and then turned to close the wooden door with its thick glass window. Despite Mrs. Davis' reassurances that this was some sort of informal conversation, it was Tony's experience that closing the door for administration meant that he was going to get a talking to, not a talking with.

Mr. Fenton eyed the large teen as Tony sat down in the small chair usually reserved for students that were in trouble.

“It's a good thing that I'm the only Tiny in the school or you might have a dozen kids waiting to see you,” Antonio nervously tried to make a joke to lighten the tension.

“I suppose so.” Mr. Fenton remained serious which caused the wrestler to take a deep gulp. “I'm sure you can hazard a guess as to why I called you here today.”

Tony shrugged. “I guess it has something to do with the other week when I broke up that mess between Peter and the new girl. In my defense, I didn't start anything and wasn't there when things began to go down. I walked in on the situation and did what I thought best. Maybe I should have gone for a teacher, but by then Peter might have done something before I got back.”

“There's that,” Mr. Fenton said seriously. “That's part of the problem I wanted to bring up with you.”

“So I am in trouble?” Antonio was having a hard time getting a read on the vice principal.

“Hardly.” Mr. Fenton stood up and walked around the other side of the desk and sat in a chair right next to the student. “First off, I want to offer you an apology.”

“An apology, Sir?”

“We put you in a situation where there can be no winner and we did so without informing you or even asking if it was something you were willing to do.”

“I don't follow.”

“It's about your little friend, the damsel in distress.”

“You mean Courtney.”

“That is exactly who I am talking about, Tiny. Things weren't suppose to turn out the way they did and we have a situation of our hands that we can't handle.”

“What situation are you talking about?”

“I suspect that you already know, seems like the whole student body figured it out already. Courtney is, how should I put it, a unique kind of girl.”

“You mean like the kids in special ed.” Tony knew exactly where Mr. Fenton was heading with things, but didn't want to let on that he had certain knowledge.

“Not exactly. Miss Barnes is a girl that has a physical body of a male,” Mr. Fenton blurted out. “It was supposed to be kept confidential, but the whole damn school knows.”

Antonio cleared his throat.

“Sorry about cursing,” Mr. Fenton apologized. “Sometimes a situation calls for it. I'm surprised you didn't know why the other kids were picking on her.”

“I heard the rumors.”

“The rumors are true.”

“I know that too.” Tony leaned back in the chair. “I talked to Courtney about it on Friday.”

“It wasn't supposed to get out to the student body. Not even the teachers were told of the situation. We kept it solely between the administrators, but news got out and it’s spreading like wildfire.”

“I know,” Tony wasn't happy about the situation either. “I don't see why you need to apologize to me.”

“It's like this; when we made arrangements for Miss Barnes to attend school as herself, we put a lot of thought into making her transition a smooth one. One thing we did was ensure that you would be in her near vicinity throughout the school day if any unforeseen problems arose. If there was one student that we could count on if things got out of hand it was you.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“We knew there was a possibility, albeit a small one, that she got discovered. The reasoning was that if there was teasing or bullying going on, we could count on you to put an end to it. You have that kind of pull here. One of the first things we did was assigned her the locker next to yours and made sure your paths would cross as much as possible. Usually you two have to go through the same hallways to get from one class or the other and should pass each other on the way. We gave her the same lunch period so you could keep an eye on her. We weren't sure you were going to befriend her, but given your history of protecting those less able, the staff assumed you would take on the role of guardian.”

“How did you come up with that?”

“We did it in the past. With your friends Dave and Ted. If it weren't for you, they would be walking around here with permanent black eyes.”

“What happened?”

“It wasn't any fault of Courtney, or the staff here for that matter. All of Courtney's classmates from her middle school were suppose to go to East Lake and her parents bought the home near the school so she could attend here. We didn't take into account that one student wound up moving between parents and threw a fly in the ointment.”

“That Freshman kid Henry,” Tony announced.

“Yes, Peter Taft's younger brother. A lethal combination if you ask me. If he were here by himself we could have contained the whole mess, but, as it is, the school is in an uproar.”

“How do we fix this?”

“Tiny,” Mr. Fenton said sympathetically. “Sooner or later you are going to realize certain situations are beyond repair.”

“Then why did you call me down here if there's nothing I can do to make things better?”

“I thought I owed you an explanation and an apology. We appreciate the fact that you took Miss Barnes under your wings and we know you've been giving her rides home to keep her from being beat up.”

“How did you know that?”

“We have eyes and ears everywhere, though in this case that isn't going to be enough. Did you know there's a petition to keep Miss Barnes from using the restroom?”

“I heard that the girls were doing something like that.”

“There's one going around for the boys as well.”

“I haven't seen that one.”

“This has really hit the fan, Tiny,” Mr. Fenton said. “We got you involved and I am sorry for that. This is over everyone's head and we shouldn't have put it on your shoulders.”

“I'm not sorry,” Tony said with conviction. “You're right, I like standing up for those who can't defend themselves and I'm not going to stop now.”

“I wasn't suggesting that, but I wanted you to be aware. You have a lot of pull at the school, but you're not going to be able to stem this tide.”

“Right now it’s just the teasing, and maybe a few morons wanting to beat her up.”

“It's more than that. It's starting to be a mob mentality. Once a mob gets organized, bad things happen.”

“You think it's going to get violent?”

“I hope not, but we have to consider that possibility.”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

“We want you to be careful. There are some battles where the best thing to do is retreat.”

Tony felt himself grow agitated. “You mean not be Courtney's friend. That's not the way I operate.”

“We know. That's why I said I was sorry. You're in a situation beyond your control and the staff put you there. I thought you deserved an explanation. In the end you're going to do what you know is right.”

“One thing I've learned from wrestling is that control is important but not always obvious. The other thing I learned is that I rather lose the right way than win the wrong way. I won't abandon a friend, no matter how many idiots tell me otherwise.”

“Okay, Tiny.” Mr. Fenton walked over to the door and opened it. “Like I said, I wanted to say what I said and make sure you were informed. The bell is about to ring for third period to be over, plenty of time for you to get to your next class.”

Tony walked into the corridor, it was strange for it to be the middle of the day and not see hundreds of fellow teenagers milling about. He made his way towards his locker, though he didn't know why. It wasn't like he had been using it and didn't fathom a guess as to whether Courtney was still using hers. It was nice to have a locker available, but outside of keeping the text books for classes that didn't use them stored for the semester, Antonio didn't see the point.

The locker was left unmolested. He assumed that much for his own, but even Courtney's was left alone. No one decided to deface school property again, and Tony figured it was a good thing. Even the smell of fresh paint was gone and the only evidence of the graffiti was his own memories.

“Why can't people let things be,” Tony said as he leaned his head on the locker door and thought back to the morning. “Two friends,” Tony said aloud. “Two friends decided to back away and not stand by her. Why? She isn't a bad person. Don't they know that? She's just a girl with issues like everyone else, what's wrong about that? Do they think she is making being a girl up? That she is doing this so she can get attention? Who would want that kind of attention? They called it 'her sin'. Is what she is doing sin? I don't know, Lord, I really don't. I know she is a person that needs a friend, and I don't have a problem with that.”

“You talking to yourself again Tiny?” John Sharp said from down the hall.

Tony snapped his head from the locker and spun towards the voice. “No. Just working things out.”

“Looks like you're going crazy. You're talking and nobody is around, unless you were talking to me.”

“I was talking to God.”

“Oh, your imaginary friend.”

Antonio gave John a look that warned his younger friend that he was close to crossing the line. It wasn't out of John's personality not to needle Tony in order to get a rise out of him. Though he would get his toes on the line, he had a knack for not crossing it.

“Sorry Tiny,” John Sharp apologized. “I heard there is trouble in Tiny-land.”

“You hear lots of things, John. I wouldn't believe all of what goes around this school.”

“Like the rumor about your friend? I didn't get the details, but I heard you found out the truth about that girl; or is it a girl?”

Tony's lips grew thin. “She is a girl.”

“Are you sure, did you check? Did Tiny get lucky?”

Tony squared off against the smaller student.

John Sharp put his hands up to show he didn't want any kind of fight with the larger wrestler. “Relax, Tiny. I was only teasing you.”

“It's a shame you won't be on the mat for preseason workouts because you're afraid of what people might say about you being around Courtney.”

John shrugged. “A man's got to do what a man's got to do.”

“Since when were you a slave to what others in this school ever said?”

“I'm not. You want to know the truth?”

“That would be a nice change of pace.”

“I didn't want to spend after school getting my butt whipped. Carl's got 60 pounds on me right now and you got more than 100. Once in a while it's fun to be tossed around, but it hurts my pride.”

Antonio didn't know whether he should believe his friend. “Why didn't you simply tell that to me?”

“Because the other story would piss you off more.”

“Sometimes you push things too far.”

“You know me.”

Tony shook his head. “Sometimes I regret that.”

“I heard you got in trouble. What did you do Tiny? Did you give someone a pounding?”

“If I did, don't you think you would've already heard about it?”

“Maybe. Are you going to get suspended? Huh, huh? Is it going to be in-school or are they kicking you out for good? Come on, Tiny, you can tell me.”

“They're not kicking me out. Mr. Fenton just wanted to talk to me about stuff at the school.”

“I bet it's about your little girl friend. Or is it boy friend?”

“You don't quit, do you? Yes, Mr. Fenton wanted to talk to me about Courtney.”

“Did he tell you that she had a pecker?”

“John!”

“I heard you know the truth. So, what's the truth, Tiny? You always tell the truth and you know something for sure that everyone else is just guessing at.”

“I wonder what you would do if you knew the truth.”

“Come on, Tiny. I just want to know for me. Is she one of those people who are both? That's my guess. She has both boy and girl parts.”

“No, she is not a hermaphrodite.”

“Then what is she?” John demanded.

“You'll hear this soon enough so I might as well tell you. The rumors are true, kind of.”

“What do you mean 'kind of'?”

Though he wanted to drop the conversation completely, Antonio felt as if he didn't have a choice. He knew that once John got his mind on something, he would pursue it to the bitter end. “Courtney is a girl that was born in the body of a boy.”

“Wow! For real? I thought it was some bullshit that people were making up.”

“Now you know.”

“Wow! So what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to do?”

“I mean are you going to beat the queer out of him?”

“This is why I don't tell you things.”

“Come on Tiny, you can tell me. Are you going to kick his little ass and make a man out of him or are you going to throw him to the wolves and let Peter and his group have all the fun.”

Tony grabbed John by the shoulders, lifted him in the air as if he didn't weigh a thing and spun towards the lockers. He put the kid gently back on the ground, but made sure he was against the locker as he held him in place. “Listen to me and listen good,” Tony said with an even voice though he knew his anger was evident. “Courtney is not a he and you will not refer to her as a he. She is a human being and deserves to be treated with the same decency and respect as everyone else, do I make myself clear?”

John nodded his head yes.

“Good. I am not going to beat the queer out of her because she isn't a queer and that is not the way I do things. I won't stand around and watch others do it as well. All she wants is to be herself and live a regular life. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No.”

“Good.” Tony took his hands off John's shoulders. “I'm glad we came to this understanding.”

“Geez, Tiny, don't get your panties all in a bunch.”

“Just back off from her. She isn't doing you any harm.”

“I never said she was.” John started to relax again. “But can you do one thing for me, Tiny.”

“What, John?”

“Can you pick me up and toss me into the locker again? That was fun.”

Tony playfully cuffed John upside his head. “One day I'm going to have normal friends.”

“I thought you liked this Courtney girl.”

“I was talking about you.”

“Oh!”

The bell signaling that third period was over rang and the hallway soon filled with other students. With others around, the conversation dropped and John merged with the stream of students that made their way down the hall. Tony stood with his back on his locker and watched the boy disappear through the door. He always had a hard time reading John and didn't know where his friend stood on matters. There was a chance that John Sharp would back off on Courtney, but his friend's sheer joy of instigating problems was the wild card. Only time would tell and it was just another item on a long list of things Tony would need to pray about.

Chapter 33
Tony was glad that he started bringing his lunch. He was getting tired of eating hamburgers every day, especially considering how unhealthy they were. The large wrestler sat down at the front table, getting there before anyone else had a chance and waited.

Antonio watched as Shannon came into the dining hall and gave his friend a wave when the football player looked his way. Shannon sneered in return and turned his head away.

“So much for giving him time to come to his senses,” Tony said to his turkey sandwich.

Shannon reemerged into the dining area with a tray of food. The heavy teen walked to the table where the other football players were sitting and joined that group instead. Tony wondered if this was going to be a permanent development or a temporary setback. He didn't like the idea of losing a friend, but was more disturbed over the reason why.

“Tiny!” Carl said as he sat across from his friend, Tracy right beside him.

Antonio turned his head quickly and saw the two before him. “Sorry, didn't see you come in.”

“I could tell,” Carl said with a smile. “What's gotten your attention now?”

“Shannon. He decided to go sit with the football players.”

“Yeah,” Tracy sympathized. “He's pretty mad.”

Tony sighed. “What does he have to be mad about?”

“He's a football player, do they ever need a reason to be mad,” Carl joked.

Tracy gave Carl a glance that removed the smug look from his face. “I think he feels like he'd been lied to.”

“I didn't lie to him; I told him the truth as soon as I found out.”

“Not by you,” Carl interjected. “But by Courtney.”

“Ridiculous,” Tony said out of frustration. “I think Courtney is coming to school and living life as a girl so she stops lying to herself.”

“I haven't thought of it that way,” Tracy said. “I think it's weird, but what can you do?”

“I don't know if I agree with what she's doing,” Carl said. “But I'm not going to cast the first stone.”

“Think of it this way, Tracy,” Tony turned his attention to the girl. “How would you feel if you were born with a penis?”

“Gross!”

“My point exactly. But what if you were the same person you are today, only in a boy’s body?”

Tracy scrunched up her face.

“That's what I thought,” Antonio said pointedly.

“Think of the benefits,” Carl needled the girl.

“What benefits?”

“You could pee standing up and write your name in the snow.” Carl shrugged.

“Completely gross.”

“Guys,” Tony said. “Please.”

“Anyway, what are we going to do?” Tracy asked.

“What are we going to do about what?” Dave said as he started to sit down with Ted by his side.

“We were just talking about Courtney,” Carl informed.

“Oh, her again,” Ted said glumly.

“Yes, her again.” Tony gave the two a questioning look.

“She's been the topic of conversation everywhere we go,” Dave said. “We've been approached before and after every class about how could we be friends with a freak.”

“She is not a freak,” Tony said strongly.

“I wasn't saying she was,” Dave explained. “That's the word they use, not me.”

“It's starting to get old,” Ted lamented.

“Just stay the course,” Carl said. “It'll get better.”

“But what is the course,” Tracy said as she brought the conversation back on topic. “Tiny?”

“Courtney is our friend, plain and simple. We stick by our friends, just like I stick by each and every one of you and I hope that you would all stick by me.”

“But you're not causing all the problems,” Dave said bitterly.

“Yeah, we never once heard 'how can you hang out with Tiny,'” Ted said.

“Maybe not,” Tony replied. “But I have heard 'how can you hang out with Dave and Ted'.”

“Hey, we never did nothing” Dave and Ted said in unison.

“Neither did Courtney, and that's my point.”

“So we just be her friend,' Tracy reiterated.

“Exactly. It's as easy as that. I'm not expecting anything more or less out of any of you. The way things are going; Courtney could use all the friends she could get.”

The table grew silent as each pondered what Tony said and ate their meals.

“Sorry I'm late,” Courtney said as she finally arrived. “I had to see the principal.”

“Ooh, someone got in trouble,” Carl teased.

Courtney pouted.

“What did you do?” Tracy chimed in, “Did you glue someone to their seat?”

“No.” Courtney laughed. “It was just talking and stuff, nothing bad.”

“Good to hear that you're not in trouble,” Tony said. “I would hate for you to stay after school and make me wait for you.”

“I never get in trouble at school,” Courtney said, causing everyone to look at her in suspicion.

“Give it some time,” Carl finally spoke. “Everyone gets in trouble eventually.”

“I heard Tiny got sent to the vice principals office as well,” Courtney said.

Tony cleared his throat.

“I mean Antonio,” Courtney corrected herself. “Did they make you write I will not beat my wrestling partner to a pulp a thousand times?”

“That wouldn't be a bad idea,” Carl said.

“Yeah,” Tracy chimed in. “Then poor Carl wouldn't get so bruised.”

“I don't bruise anyone,” Tony said defensively.

“You haven't seen my upper arm,” Carl said.

“Tiny must be part hulk,” Dave said as an observation.

“Nah, he's a cyborg,” Ted countered.

“Could you at least once not correct me,” Dave got testy.

“Guys, please,” Tony stopped the argument before it got started.

Courtney looked around the table and noticed not everyone was accounted for. “What happened to Shannon and Stephanie,” she asked.

The table got uncomfortably quiet.

“Shannon decided to sit with the football players,” Tony finally spoke up. “Probably a team building thing. And Stephanie, I don't know. Knowing her she is trying to get close to a boy.”

“Okay,” Courtney said solemnly. “It's a shame, they make things more fun.”

“Definitely a shame,” Tony said. “But we're fun enough.”

“We can always discuss which is better, Star Wars or Star Trek.” Dave suggested.

“Or what technology from the future we wish we had available today,” Ted offered.

“Or we could not discuss science fiction at all,” Tracy stepped in. “Since I think I've had each of those conversations a dozen times last year.”

Courtney leaned over towards Dave and Ted and whispered to them. “I wouldn't mind having a teleporter or a holodeck.”

“Told you she was a Trekkie,” Ted said to Dave.

“One point for you. It's now five to three in my favor.”

Courtney gave Antonio a confused look.

“They make bets between themselves. We never know what the bets are, but sometimes we get an update on the score.”

Chapter 34
The day finished without incident. Antonio was surprised that after he was made aware of the fact he noticed Courtney throughout the day, usually in passing. No matter where he was heading, Courtney was always around on the periphery, all he had to do was pay attention. He noticed most people left her alone, but occasionally he could tell someone made a snide remark in private by the look on her face. If he had trouble wearing his emotions on his sleeves, the girl broadcast them on a billboard.

After the final class was over, Tony was eager to get home. He came to school early in order to talk to his group of friends and it didn't go as planned. While he busied himself with school work, he couldn't help but think about how to deal with Shannon and Stephanie.

He would put more thought on the issue when he got home and had time away from people. In silence he would be able to process his thoughts and without distractions he could delve into things a bit deeper. All he wanted to do was get to his car and drive home.

From a distance he could see his car window was rolled down and Courtney had beaten him there. He strolled toward the Firebird, watching as the parking lot emptied of the few remaining cars. He was glad most of the students already left, he disliked waiting for the bottleneck out of the parking lot to clear and made sure he lingered around long enough for it to take care of itself.

“There she is,” Antonio said as he got into the driver's seat.

“Yep, here I am and there you are,” Courtney said in a cutesy way.

“How was your day at school?”

Courtney laughed.

“What?”

“You sound like my mom,” Courtney said through her giggling. “Except she adds sweetie or dear at the end.”

“Great. Now I sound like a woman.” Tony tried to feign being offended.

“I didn't mean it like that.”

“I know.” Tony smiled. “I was just messing with you.”

“That's not very nice.” Courtney playfully slapped the large teen on the arm.

“What are friends for?”

“But, to answer your question, today wasn't bad. At least they stopped singing that stupid song every time I walked by.”

“Thank goodness for small victories.”

“I guess I have you to thank for that.”

“Me,” Tony was surprised. “What did I do?”

“I don't know. I figured you threatened to beat everyone up if they didn't stop or something.”

“Nope. I didn't do anything of the kind. People probably forgot about it. You know most teens forget what happened at school after a long weekend.”

“You think they forgot to make fun of me.”

Tony shrugged and then started the car. “There are worst things to happen.”

“I didn't think the song would be so short lived.”

“How long did you think it would last?”

“Until the day after I graduated.”

Tony laughed as he backed out of his parking spot. “I don't think things will continue that long.”

“Why not? The whole school hates me, doesn't it,” Courtney sounded bitter.

“Not the whole school,” Tony corrected.

“Okay, minus you and the others that eat lunch with me the rest of the school hates me.”

“I don't think anyone at the school really hates you,” Tony tried to sympathize. “They just don't know you and it's a situation they've never dealt with before.”

“They don't want to know me,” Courtney sulked in her seat.

“In time they will. My thinking is that it will go in steps. You'll take a step, and then they'll take a step, and you'll take another step and so on and so on.”

“What step do I have to take to get this ball rolling?”

“I think you've already done that,” Tony said as he drove towards Courtney's home.

“How?”

“You are opening up. I can't talk about how you behave in class, but you aren't walking around the halls like you're expecting someone to leap out of a locker and kill you.”

“I was not.”

Tony raised his eyebrow at the small girl.

“Maybe I was a little afraid when school started,” Courtney admitted, “but I had good reason to be.”

“You're probably right.”

“But now I know that if anyone bothers me I got someone who would make sure I don't get killed or worse.”

Tony laughed. “Worse than killed, huh? I think once you and the school get use to each other, things will be fine. People are always afraid of new things.”

“And I'm a new thing?”

“You're a unique situation that I've never heard of. Not that it's a bad thing, just that when people come across something they aren't use to, the usual reaction is fear. The more they know you, the more comfortable they will get and the less they will be afraid of you.”

“I doubt anyone is afraid of me.”

“Maybe not you directly. But you challenge people's perceptions of what makes a boy a boy and a girl a girl.”

Courtney pouted.

“I meant no offense. I figured you already knew what I was saying.”

“I know. But I'm not trying to challenge anyone's perception. I'm not trying to make a statement about anything. I'm trying to be me and live my life.”

“In time people will realize that, like I did.”

“How did you figure it out?”

Tony grinned as he navigated around Courtney's community. “I look at the person first before I classify them as something. Makes it easier to get around prejudices.”

“I find it hard to believe you could be prejudice.”

“I try not to be. That's why I look at people as individuals and not put them in a group right away. It's taken some practice and I'm not where I want to be, but it does work out better the way I do things. Keeps me from judging people before I get to know what they're all about.”

“I wish more people would be like you.”

“I don't.”

“You don't?”

“It would make wrestling season much harder.”

“You're a nut.”

“Trust me. Things can only get better.” Tony pulled into Courtney's driveway and put his car into park. “I think I see your mom peeking through the blinds again.”

“You do not.”

Tony laughed at how easily he got a rise from the girl.

“Speaking of my mom,” Courtney turned serious. “My mom wanted me to invite you home after school Friday and have you stay for dinner. She figured you like steak and my dad likes to grill while the temperature allows for it.”

“Steak sounds good. Sure, tell your mom I'll come over Friday and stay for dinner.”

“Cool, she wants to talk to you.”

“Yeah. I get that a lot.”

Courtney scrunched up her face. “You get a lot of moms that want to talk to you?”

“You'd be surprised. Mostly it was a mentoring thing I did through church last year for at risk elementary school boys. It hadn't started up yet this year, but it was a lot of fun. I guess there is a benefit to being a wrestler in this town after all.”

“Yeah. You wear those tight bathing suits,” Courtney said smugly.

“They're called singlets. Now go, don't keep your mommy waiting.”

Courtney stuck her tongue out at the senior and then got out of the car.

“Brat!” Tony yelled out the passenger side window before the girl could disappear into her house.

Tony got back on the road and headed home. He had homework and some thinking to do, but also wanted to head back to the school after six to get in a brisk five mile run. He always ran when things annoyed him and the reaction of his two friends towards Courtney bothered him to know end.

As he drove home, his mind focused less on Shannon and Stephanie and more on the small freshman girl that he befriended at school.

“Even though she told me that the rumors are true,” Tony spoke to himself as the wind whipped past him, “I can't imagine her being anything other than a girl. Maybe if I knew her in the past, when she lived life as Corey, perhaps then I would have a hard time accepting it. Maybe that's why Peter's brother is having issues, he remembers Courtney for who she was and not for who she is. Even so, I can't explain Shannon or Stephanie for the life of me.”

Tony decided he did enough thinking for the time being. He turned up the radio and made his way home singing on the top of his lungs.

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Author's note: People might think I added Mr. Fenton's part in answer to comments on the site, but it has been there the whole time, ask my beta readers. So there is a little bit of a fallout. Tiny knows the truth and to the chagrin of certain parties, he isn't going to be a prick about things. I would assume my portrayal is close to reality. We know that Tiny is meeting the parents. That's actually a few chapters that I like because we get more background on Courtney. Doing the book this way (following only Tony) does have the drawback of not developing a lot of back story on minor characters.

I hope you are all enjoying.

Tired of waiting for the end to get here, beat others to the punch by buying you copy at Amazon.com (and leave a review when you are through, please). You can find me here: http://www.amazon.com/Wrestling-Against-Myself-ebook/dp/B00B... or by clicking the title art. Also, if you do not live in the us, go to your countries Amazon site and put in the book title so you can buy it there. I know the UK, US, and Canada have separate site (as does Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain, Brazil etc.)

Also, to be fair, once I post the last post on this site I will be offering the book free on kindle for three days. If you don't wish to buy the book, you can still help by clicking the like button on the amazon page. My only hope is that if you are able to, at the end, you are willing to leave a review on Amazon for me (this helps when I do other Kindle free days).

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