and giving the dates for the meetings underneath.
“Ready?” Nathan pulls on the door handle.
“Yeah.”
Mariam’s already being called to the front of the room when we step in. They catch us, and a smile lights up their face before they refocus on the papers in front of them.
There are only a few stares from other people when we decide to burst in, taking a spot at the back. Mariam doesn’t miss a beat though and just keeps going. The actual talk itself lasts about an hour, but then there’s another half hour of people asking Mariam questions, and it seems like with every one of them, Mariam falls down this rabbit hole of explanation. They never told me what the subject of the talk would be, but Mariam delves deep into the need for more queer safe spaces. Specifically ones geared toward queer minors, places that don’t focus on dancing or drinking, like most clubs do.
And it’s not like I didn’t know it before, but sitting here, listening to them talk, it hits me just how brilliant my best friend actually is.
“Okay, everyone. I’d love to keep going,” they say. “But unfortunately, that’s all the questions for now.”
The applause is immediate. People even give them a standing ovation, which coming from a smaller crowd is sort of odd. But maybe Mariam deserves that sort of reaction. Nathan and I sort of hang near the back, but since we are new faces, we still catch some attention.
“Hi!” This guy walks up to us.
He’s cute, or I guess they’re cute. I shouldn’t be assuming anyone’s pronouns. The chances of me screwing up are probably higher here. I shouldn’t do that anyway, honestly; I know the pain all too well. “Are you here for the group?” they ask.
“Kinda.” I clear my throat. “My name is Ben.”
“I’m Nathan.” He gives a wave.
“Micah.” They don’t reach to shake my hand or anything, which I appreciate. “What are your pronouns?” they ask.
“Oh, um.” I don’t really know why that catches me off guard. “They and them, please.”
“Awesome. I use he and him,” he says before he looks Nathan’s way.
“Oh, I use he and him, I guess. Sorry, not used to the pronoun thing yet.”
“It’s cool.”
Nathan falls into easy conversation with Micah, and then more people sort of crowd around. There’s Camryn, who’s non-binary like me; Ava, who’s pan and gender-fluid; Cody, who’s bisexual; and Blair, who’s an aromantic trans girl. They all sort of get caught up in Nathan’s gravitational pull, and I’m envious. He just slides right into the conversation, as if he’s known everyone for years. Like we’re one big happy queer family. I guess that’s sort of the point of the whole group really.
I try to chime in here and there, answer any questions I’m asked. But really, I can’t help but watch Nathan. He seems so happy.
But eventually Micah has to go to the front of the room and make an announcement that the building is closing. People start running up to Mariam, getting in last-minute questions and pictures.
“Maybe we should just wait outside,” I say.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
We sit in that silence outside. The comfortable one that comes when it’s just the two of us. Well, the two of us and the few people walking around downtown so late at night, but it feels like just the two of us, the cool air of the night keeping us comfortable.
“You know prom tickets go on sale Monday,” he says out of the blue.
Why on earth is he telling me this? “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. You want to go?”
“I don’t have anything to wear.” Or the money to rent something. And I can’t ask Hannah to do that. Not on such short notice.
“We can find you something,” he offers.
“I’m good.” My eyes fly from the floor to his face.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” I can feel my heart beating faster, and that sweaty feeling in my palms. Because did he just ask me to prom? That’s what it sounded like, right? I just thought it was going to be him and Meleika and Sophie all going as friends. Meleika already said they’d made the reservations for dinner and everything.
So even if I say yes, there’s really no room for me.
“So, did you like it?” I ask Nathan, desperate for a subject change here. Anything to get us far away from prom. “The talk, I mean.”
“Yeah,” he says. “She seems pretty popular.”
“They,” I correct.
“Right, sorry. They, they, they,” he starts repeating under his breath. “What’s their channel name