*RRIIIIIIINNNNG*
The bell signaled the third lesson of the day. Moth nervously arose from their seat and scuttled out of the room. They held on tight to their bible as they paced down the corridor. Several girls hurled mild insults at them but they just kept on walking. The next lesson was music with Miss Del Rosario and they didn’t want to be late. They found the classroom and waited outside for the teacher to let them in.
Nobody arrived. Maybe they were a bit early. They traced their fingers gingerly over the bible as they waited some more. Still, nobody came to call them in. No matter, it wasn’t the start of the lesson for a while now. They looked down at their knees, bruised and sore from having to pray inside the closet for the past few nights. Their stomach burnt with hunger but it didn’t seem to affect them much.
“Hey Moth!” called a voice. Moth looked up. Ashleigh was there, smiling at them. Moth waved nervously, their hand shaking a little.
“You have music next? Lucky you, Miss Del Rosario is so nice!” she said. Moth only nodded in response, unsure of how to reply.
“Well... I’ve gotta go now. Maybe see you in gym class after lunch?” she said.
She left after getting no verbal response, leaving Moth alone once again. They held onto their cross necklace as they continued to wait for Miss Del Rosario to call them inside. Still nothing... A gang of girls suddenly barged past, some of them carrying bulging bags full of mystery contents.
“Watch it weirdo!” snarled one, nastily. They all tittered as they sauntered off.
Moth watched them walk off, curious about what was inside of those bags. They finally decided to poke their head around the door. There was Leonora, chatting with Hondo and writing stuff on the board. She noticed them peering in and smiled warmly.
“Hello Moth, have you been waiting there long?” she asked, approaching them.
They shook their head, not wanting to be rude.
Hondo smiled as Leonora brought them into the classroom.
“How are you feeling today, Moth?” he asked, politely. They shrugged as they sat down at their desk. Hondo simply nodded, understanding that they didn’t feel like speaking, and resumed to talking with Leo. Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the corridor outside. Leo dropped the chalk and immediately rushed out of the room to investigate.
“Stay here, Moth” Hondo ordered, following after her. Moth nodded and watched him leave. They were curious as to what was happening but chose to obey his command. They could hear chanting and laughing outside. Then, they heard the unmistakable cackle of their sister, Madison. They got up from their chair and headed out into the corridor.
The noise seemed to be coming from the far right. They quickened their pace, the chanting getting louder and louder with each step. Then, they came upon a distressing scene. A student was hunched up on the floor, covered in tampons, pads and slimy canned fish, as Leo stood over them to try and protect them. The girls continued to rip open sanitary products and pelt the poor student with them while laughing cruelly.
“Take a fucking shower, you stink bitch!” Madison cackled, emptying a can of rancid mackerel on the student’s hoodie.
“Enough of this! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!” Leo bellowed, protecting the person underneath her. Madison smirked.
“Uh, no? She should be ashamed of never fucking showering on her period. You hear me, fish bitch!?” she hurled a handful of tampons and tuna chunks at the person. The girls laughed and started chanting those words over and over again.
“FISH BITCH!”
“FISH BITCH!
“FISH BITCH!
“FISH BITCH!”
“ENOUGH!” Leonora bellowed, her face scrunched up into a furious scowl “ALL OF YOU, STRAIGHT TO THE OFFICE THIS INSTANT!” the girls groaned, some even yelling back at her.
“THAT MEANS ALL OF YOU” demanded an enraged Hondo, who emerged from the corridor behind Moth, “OFFICE, RIGHT NOW!” they all quietened down and shuffled away, even Madison who looked shocked at how Hondo had bellowed so.
Hondo frowned at Moth.
“I told you to stay inside of the classroom, Moth...” he sighed, hurrying over to Leonora. He helped up the student and tried his best to clear off all of the scraps of rancid fish and sanitary products that stuck to their clothes.
“I’m so sorry about this, Seth...” Leo said, patting the student’s back. They looked up, confused.
“Let’s talk about this later on, come along now” Hondo ordered, leading the pair to the classroom “You come along too, Moth” he added, leading them too. The group reached the music room. Leonora led the two students to a desk and sat them next to each other.
“Now, stay there you two” she said “Arata... I mean... Mr Hondo and I need to speak with the principal about.... What just happened” she hurried out of the room.
“And we mean stay here, you two. No wandering off” Hondo said, firmly, as he left the room. The two sat in silence for a moment. Moth couldn’t help but notice the unpleasant, fishy aroma coming from this Seth person. They didn’t say anything though, just kept on staring at the chalkboard.
“U-U-Uhm.... H-H-Hello...” mumbled Seth, nervously. Moth was surprised, nobody ever talked to them aside from Ashleigh. They waved back and resumed their position.
“M-M-My name is... Safiya...” he said “B-B-But you c-can call me S-Seth if you like.... Or H-Honey... I like that name” Moth didn’t respond. They were just too shy to speak. Seth seemed a little disappointed but still tried to have a conversation.
“I-I like your shoes...” he mumbled “D-D-Do you like mine?” he showed off his pair of glittering gold heels. Moth gazed at them. They were nice but their mother wouldn’t approve of such flashy heels.
They simply nodded. Seth smiled a little at this.
“O-Oh, and I like your hair!” he beamed “D-Do you cut it yourself? Auntie S-Sekhmet cuts mine for me” he pulled down his hood to show off his short, black and white ombre hair. Moth looked at it for a moment. Far too short for a girl... That’s what their mother would’ve said. But wait... Seth was a man’s name... How come they were wearing a skirt and heels?
They didn’t quite understand. Seth peered over their shoulder and noticed their bible.
“O-Oh! You’re religious?” he asked. Moth nodded.
“S-S-S-So am I! Well... I follow Islam” he explained “Auntie Sekhmet is teaching me how to follow it properly so I can please Allah” Hondo and Leo soon returned.
“How are you two getting on?” Hondo asked. Seth looked a bit distraught.
“I-I want to talk to her!” Seth pleaded, pointing at Moth, “But she won’t answer me!” Hondo frowned a little.
“Seth, please use they/them when referring to Moth” he ordered.
“O-Oh... Sorry...” he whimpered.
“It’s ok, now you know for next time” Hondo smiled.
“Moth, do you like Seth?” Leonora asked, crouching beside them. Moth shrugged. Leo then had an idea. She wandered over to her bag and produced a thick History textbook that Moth liked to flick through. She placed it in front of the pair and smiled.
“Maybe you two could read this together?” she suggested. Moth grabbed at the book and started eagerly flicking through the pages.
“Do you know about the black death?” Moth asked, finally speaking. Seth shook his head. Moth then explained about how it was an illness spread by a type of flea that lived on rats. They went into detail about the different ‘cures’ and religious facts, looking rather happy to be talking about something they were so passionate about. Seth listened on, smiling.
“That’s amazing!” Seth asked “Did the flea ever bite pigs?” Moth looked a little puzzled at this question. Why pigs specifically?
“I don’t know” they answered.
“Well... M-M-Mother always s-s-s-said that pigs w-were unclean... S-So the flea could then bite t-them and get rid of them...” he mumbled.
“Why are they unclean?” Moth asked, curiously.
Seth explained how, in Islam, pigs were deemed as unclean animals and how Muslims were forbidden from consuming their meat and any product that came from a pig. Moth then talked about their own religion and how they must pray otherwise they would be punished. The two continued this long conversation as if they were old friends. The lunch bell suddenly rang.
“Stay here with Miss Del Rosario you two, I’ll bring you something to eat” Hondo said, leaving the room.
Moth looked over at Seth, who was looking down at his body. They couldn’t keep the question in them anymore.
“Why is your name Seth when you’re a girl?” they blurted out suddenly. Leonora looked stunned at this. Moth shrunk down in their seat, ashamed of what they just did. Rather than scold her, the teacher simply approached and knelt beside Seth and Moth.
“You see, Moth, Seth might have a woman’s body but he feels like he’s a boy” she explained “He might look like a girl but, deep down, he knows that he’s really a man” Seth fidgeted uncomfortably.
“B-But I must be g-grateful for my body... I will be upsetting A-A-Allah if I don’t” he muttered. Leo shook her head.
“That’s not true, Seth...” she whispered. Seth didn’t reply. He just stared off into the distance, processing this information.
“Moth...” he finally spoke up “H-H-Have you had your f-first p-p-period?” Moth was caught off-guard by this question. What was... a period?
“Uhhhm...” they thought for a moment.
“Now now, Seth, that’s a very personal subject you’re asking about” Leo said, firmly.
“I-I k-k-know but....” he squirmed a little “E-E-Everybody b-b-bullies me about it! It’s not fair!” he looked a bit upset. Leonora wrapped an arm around him.
“How come you’re on at the moment? Aren’t you on testosterone at the moment?” she questioned.
“N-N-No... I h-haven’t been t-t-taking it...” he admitted.
“Why not?” she asked, a little puzzled at this.
“B-B-Because I’ll d-d-disrespect Allah! I m-m-must love m-my body how it is!” he whimpered, tearing up a little.
“Seth, I’ve told you before-” Leo pleaded.
“N-No! I m-m-must be a girl! Mama s-s-s-said I would b-b-be a d-disgrace if I d-didn’t s-stay a girl! I DON’T WANT TO BE PUNISHED!” he wept, tears streaming down his face. Hondo suddenly rushed in, looking concerned.
“Come along Seth, let’s not get all worked up” he soothed, leading him out of the room. “I’m sorry, Seth, truly I am...” Leo said, sorrowfully. Moth watched on in confusion.
“What’s tes... testos...” they struggled to pronounce the name of the drug.
“Testosterone” Leonora said “It’s a... special medicine that helps Seth become a boy” Moth was amazed such a thing even existed.
“Come along now, you need something to eat” she said, beckoning Moth to follow her. They got up and obediently followed.
They passed Hondo’s classroom, where a now calmer Seth was drawing. He looked up and hurried after Moth.
“W-Would you like to... B-Be friends?” he asked. Moth was stunned. Nobody ever asked to be their friend before. They nodded eagerly. Seth smiled and waved goodbye.
“Isn’t that good? You have a friend now!” Leo smiled. Moth nodded in agreement as they headed for the cafeteria.
A brand new friend... How lovely this was...
