at the lawn.
“There was this one kid. Chip,” he begins.
“Ugh, Chips,” I say.
“Yeah. His dad was not OK with me using the boys’ bathroom. He was the loudest at the public hearings. And when that didn’t work, he sent his son to spread the message. Chip would follow me into the boys’ bathroom and start yelling that I was a girl and other things.”
“My god, Pony. That’s awful,” I say, grabbing his hand. “What happened?”
“I stopped using the bathrooms at school,” he says, then goes quiet.
I’m sad and mad for Pony. That must have been tough. I squeeze his hand.
He looks back over at me. “I just want to be normal.”
“What’s normal?” I ask.
“You,” he says. “You’re normal.”
I laugh, loud. “I’m your standard for normal?”
He shrugs. “I want to walk into a room and not have everyone know I’m trans.”
“And how’s that working out for you?”
“Not bad. No one stares at me. No one whispers behind my back. I made a couple friends. We talk about guy stuff, like balls.”
He’s all excited. I laugh and give him a push. “TMI, Pony.”
“And . . . I met this girl.”
“Careful, I hear they are nothing but trouble,” I say, letting go of his hand.
“Tell me about it,” he says, then finds my hand again.
“No, you tell me about it.”
Pony smiles but tries to hide it. “OK. This girl. She’s something else. The first time our eyes met, I was on the hook. She’s the smartest person in the room but hides it. I don’t know why she does that. Her brown eyes make me happy. Her smile makes me happy. I’m just getting to know her, and that makes me happy. I don’t even care that she’s a cheerleader.”
I give him a soft punch on the arm for that one.
Pony continues, “I’m talking about Mia, of course.”
I hit him again, harder.
At the worst time, car headlights blind us as my dad turns into the driveway. I let go of Pony’s hand. I guess Pony is about to meet my dad. We watch silently as he gets out of the car and walks up the steps to the porch.
“And why are you so late?” I ask.
“Oh, Georgia,” he says, straining his eyes to decipher the shadows in the dark. “And friend?”
“This is Pony,” I say.
“Ah, the infamous Pony,” he says. I’m counting my lucky stars that no one can see me blush.
Pony stands and shakes my dad’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Roberts.”
“And you, Pony. I might have some carrots inside, if you’re hungry?”
“Very funny, Dad.” I can’t with his dad jokes. “Where were you?”
He puffs up, all proud. “I was on a date with the internet.”
Pony shoots me a wide-eyed look.
“You mean, you met a woman from the internet?”
“Correct. We met for drinks at the Mucky Duck.”
“Romantic. And?” I’m dying to hear the play-by-play, but the timing is not ideal.
“She was lovely. She listened to all my stories. We had so much fun. At one point, the bartender asked if we were on an internet date! Everyone could tell!”
Oh, boy.
“OK, Dad, can we finish this later?” I say, hoping he takes the hint.
“Right-o, I will head in. Five more minutes out here, Georgie? It’s getting late.”
“You got it, dude,” I say.
Pony and I watch him go into the house. Then Pony turns back to me. “Georgia, I like you. And before you knew I was transgender, I think you liked me. I’m the same person. Nothing has changed about me. Let’s keep getting to know each other.”
He reaches for my hand, but I move it away. I can’t do this. All I want to do is tell Pony about my new freelance gig and kiss him again. I’d like to believe that I could date him and not care what people thought of me, but I know me. I would be paranoid that his secret would get out. What people would think of me.
And I’m not a lesbian. Or whatever I would be if I dated a trans guy.
But I can’t tell him that. I need another reason why we can’t be together. Something that won’t hurt him.
“Georgia, I’m sorry that I lied to you.”
Bingo.
“Pony. My ex-boyfriend lied to me. Big time. And probably multiple times. My trust in guys? It’s ruined.”
“Would you have kissed me if you knew I was trans?”
“I don’t know,” I lie. He lowers his head, looking defeated. “Pony, I did like you. You came out of nowhere, all cute and funny. I was open to the