It was 7 years old and teaching a flying class for the fellow members of the Dragonborne project who had not got insane from the effects of it. “That’s it, like you’re swimming folks, like you’re swimming! You’re doing great, you’re amazing, keep going!”
All eyes were on her and she stopped at one girl and ordered, “Do that again.”
The girl did and everyone shouted when they saw she had hovered off the ground 3 inches. The girl grinned and looked up at It. “Thanks for teaching us this, It,” she said. “This is amazing. I never thought I’d get to do it.”
It grinned and said, “I’m here to teach you guys this. I’m just happy you’re learning.”
Everyone cried out when Mangle came in and squirted them with water. “Who’s ready for lunch break?!” they cried.
“Dad!” It shrieked as Mangle sprayed more cold water on her.
“It’s lunch time, I have pizza and cola. Everyone who wants a can or a slice, to the deck!”
Everyone scrambled to the deck at the back of the Mangle residence, and it followed exasperated. “You’re defeating the purpose of this,” It grumbled.
Mangle shrugged. “Hey, I let you take breaks when you were learning this stuff, and kids need to eat. Haters gonna hate.”
“I love you too,” It sighed grudgingly.
A boy waved to her from the deck and she blushed. A girl kissed him on the cheek and he yelled at her, making the girl laugh. “I have the biggest squish on him ever,” she admitted to Mangle.
“Want me to set up a private playdate?” Mangle offered.
“No! Dad! I’m 7! I can do it myself! I just don’t want to,” she mumbled the last part.
Mangle laughed. “Young platonic love, oh I remember it well,” they said with a sigh.
It shoved them and ran ahead so as to not be associated with them and went up to the boy. “H-hi, um, Ryan,” she stuttered.
Ryan smiled. “Hi, It. How’re things going?”
“Oh, um, I was just talking to my dad about his methods to get everyone’s attention, you know, the water isn’t really a good idea, it just makes everyone upset.”
Ryan laughed at her rambling. “Do you want to go to the park after today’s flight lesson?”
“Yes! Um, yeah. If...if you’re offering. I’d love to.”
“You are so obvious,” he laughed.
It blushed. “Shut up! Squishes are hard!”
Ryan winked one green eye. “Well, I’d like to know you better too. So if you’re fine with going to the park…”
“Yes!” It said too quickly again. Ryan laughed. “Shut up.”
It and Ryan swung next to each other, staring up at the sky. “How far up do you think we could fly?”
Ryan thought about it. “I have no idea. Probably real far, but I can’t say for sure.”
“But how far is real far, do you think. I know that eventually the atmosphere thins, but could we fly up high enough to feel that, or would we get tired first?”
“You ask a lot of questions,” Ryan noted.
“Sorry,” It sighed.
“Don’t apologize, it’s cool to question what you see and why it happens. I was just...saying.”
It turned to Ryan with a smirk. “You have a squish on me too?” she asked.
Ryan winced. “Badly.”
It laughed. “Now we’re even!” she declared.
“Now we’re even,” Ryan repeated quieter.
It looked over at him. “Want to play on the beach? I know how to make the best sandcastles!” she offered.
Ryan nodded, and jumped off the swing at the top of his momentum, gliding to the ground. “Let’s do it!” he declared.
They changed into bathing suits in the nearest bathroom and went down to the beach. It went to the waves and grabbed a huge handful of sand, and started to sculpt it away from the water. Ryan kneeled next to her. “It?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re cute, you know?”
It looked up from her sculpture. “Are you flirting with me?” she asked.
Ryan shook his head. “No, I just wanted to let you know you’re aesthetically pleasing to me.”
It looked back down at her sculpture, her blush visible. “Thank you,” she mumbled.
Ryan leaned back and smiled. “Should I get some sand to mold for this sandcastle of ours?”
It nodded. “That’d be best,” she murmured.
“Hey, did I…I didn’t…insult you or anything, did I?”
It shook her head. “No…I’m just…not…I don’t know. I don’t like the thought of romance. It makes my stomach feel yucky. There’s no other way to describe it. Like...I don’t want to be a girlfriend…ever. Does that make me terrible?”
Ryan shook his head. “It makes you aromantic, like your Dad. There’s nothing wrong with it. And there's also nothing wrong with that changing later."
It looked up at Ryan and sighed. “Is it normal, though?”
“It’s…um, natural. It’s not common, my mom says, but there’s nothing wrong with it. So, you might not be ‘normal’ but you are natural.”
It smiled softly at Ryan’s explanation. “You don’t like romance either, do you? That’s why you know so much about this.”
Ryan nodded. “I’m…demiromantic, my mom says. But I don’t need anyone to like me back, too, which is cool, ‘cause it sounds like dealing with romance is really hard for normal people,” he laughed. “And I don’t have to worry.”
It grinned. “And neither do I!”
They continued to talk, bolstered with courage that there was someone else like them in the world.
“So what do you think of kisses?” she asked Ryan when they were 9.
“I don’t know, I’ve never kissed anyone,” Ryan admitted.
“Want to try?” It asked.
Ryan hesitated, then nodded. “Sure.”
It was chaste and soft with a certain warmth underneath it. It leaned back and Ryan did too. “Kisses are nice,” It decided.
Ryan nodded. “I agree.”
“Ryan Limonte, you’d better mean that or else I’m going to have to shove you in the ocean!” she declared.
He laughed. “I mean it! I don’t see anything romantic about it, but it’s nice.”
It grunted and nodded the affirmative, taking a bite out of her ice cream. “So… let’s not tell our parents about this.”
Ryan nodded. “They’d flip.”
The walked out of the ice cream parlor, walking along the beach. “So...have you ever heard the word ‘queerplatonic’ before?” she asked.
“Um…sort of. It’s…like, life partners, as friends.” Ryan asked, “Why?”
“I was wondering if that’s what we are,” she shrugged. “I certainly don’t want any romance with you, but I don’t feel like you’re just a friend, either.”
Ryan paused. “You know, I feel the same way about you?”
It grinned. “Well, at least we can be confused together!” she glanced up. “It’s 5 years to the day we were given rights, did you know that?”
Ryan nodded. “I did. And I’m glad you remember, you were integral to that.”
It laughed. “You don’t even know what that means!” she exclaimed.
“I know it’s true, the paper said so!” Ryan argued.
It laughed. Ryan kissed her again. “What was that for?” she asked.
“For saving us,” he said softly.
She blushed and kissed him back. “This is a thank you for being my queerplatonic partner.”
He shrugged. “There’s nothing to it, really. I just got to be friends with you because you had a squish on me, and I had one on you, and then we got to be really good friends from that, and then being really good friends… evolved.”
It repeated, “Evolved. That’s a good name for it.”
Ryan nodded. “I thought so too. That’s why I used it.”
It shoved Ryan into the sand. “Shut up!” she yelled.
“Trick or treat!” a 10 year old It yelled with Ryan in sync as they walked around Ryan’s neighborhood.
The woman in front of them smiled. “Oh, you two are dressed as those dragon kids, huh? They’re frightfully good costumes.”
Ryan snickered and It jabbed him in the ribs. “Thank you, ma’am!” she chirped.
The woman gave them a handful of candy each and closed the door. “We get more candy if they think we’re wearing costumes,” It explained to Ryan.
Ryan shrugged. “I don’t really care. I just enjoy going around the neighborhood and looking at people pretending to be someone they’re not, to pretend to be amazing for one night when they don’t realize they’re amazing already.”
It nodded. “I know what you mean. People dress up as us, because they think we’re amazing. I mean, we’re just 10! We’re nothing special, just different, and everyone’s different.”
Ryan nodded and rang the bell for the next house. It dropped the subject as the door opened. “Trick or treat!” the two chirped.
“Periods suck…” a 14 year old it whined on a 14 year old Ryan’s stomach.
Ryan chuckled. “I take it you want more chocolate?”
It nodded, and Ryan hand-fed it to her. She groaned. Mangle walked up the steps to the loft. “It, what did I tell you about periods and boys?”
“Dad, Ryan’s my queerplatonic partner, we’ve been over this!”
“Queerplatonic partner or not, this isn’t something you really want to discuss with guys.”
It sighed. “Yes, dad.”
“And I better not hear you two making out up here!”
“We’re queerplatonic, dad! The most we do is kiss! You know that!”
Mangle narrowed their eyes at Ryan. “I’ll still be watching you, Limonte.”
Ryan smiled benignly. “Yes, Dr. Mangle.”
Mangle rolled their eyes and muttered, “I’ll be downstairs.”
It looked up at Ryan and smiled. She opened her mouth. Ryan dropped in another chocolate. “I love you,” she mumbled.
“I love you too,” he smiled. “10 years in knowing about you and I still can’t stop.”
It stood in front of the crowd of students, fear in her eyes. Ryan looked over to her. “Hey, it’ll be fine, all right? It’s just school.”
“I’ve been homeschooled for 14 years, Ryan. Since I was 2. I don’t know what to make of this.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “I’ll take care of that.” He spread his wings, and carried her to the main office. Everyone screamed or cursed at him. He bowed and opened the office door for her. “After you, m'lady.”
It rolled her eyes and walked in, the secretary giving her a withering glare. “Hi, I’m Bethany, I’m the new girl who needs her schedule?”
The secretary gave her a sarcastic smile and passed it to her. “Don’t fly to your classes, sweetheart, or we’ll have to call security.”
Ryan groaned. “Oh no…”
“'Sweetheart'?” It asked, venom dripping from her voice. “Is that supposed to be a step up from ‘abomination’? It’s been 12 years, I deserve to be treated with respect.”
The secretary kept the sarcastic smile in place. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”
It dropped her backpack and said, “Ryan, cover me.”
Ryan’s eyes widened. “Uh, no.”
She shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Within 5 minutes, Mangle had been called to pick up It. They looked down at her and sighed. “I knew this was a bad idea. Let’s go back to having you study for a diploma at home.”
It nodded, relieved. “I thought you’d never say that,” she sighed.
Mangle smiled grimly. “It’s not by choice. You were expelled.”
“Ah.” It said. “Is that bad?”
Mangle laughed. “Very.”
Ryan whistled. “Well, you’re officially going to be a legend here,” he said.
It laughed. “Good! The girl who got expelled before she even got to class! I like the ring of it!”
Ryan punched her arm lightly. “Get out of here, knucklehead. I’ll see you after school.”
It grinned at him and waved. “See you around, zucchini!” she called as Mangle dragged her out of the overcrowded high school.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNibuaezgY
