After talking to Alexis, I went back into my house to grab more luggage, only to find my older sister, Beau, leaning against the stair banister.
“Who was that?” she asked, chipping the purple nail polish off her fingernails. “Your girlfriend?” My cheeks flamed.
“No,” I said, “That was Alexis.”
Beau swept her bangs to the side of her face. “Oh, the neighbor Alexis?” When I nodded, her face scrunched up. “I never liked that girl. How’s Donna? Did you ever tell her?”My face turned red yet again, and Beau smirked.
I’m saved from answering her question by our mom walking down the stairs. “Beauregard, honey, can you put this into the truck?” she asked, gesturing to the large suitcase resting next to her at the bottom of the stairs.
“But it’s so hot out!” Beau complained.
Mom made a pointed glance at Beau’s ripped baggy jeans and oversized sweater before answering. “Maybe if you didn’t wear those ridiculous clothes, it wouldn’t be so hot for you.” Beau glared at her, visibly restraining herself from snapping back a retort. Instead, she grabbed the suitcase by the handle and rolled it out the door. Mom shook her head and sighed. “Goodness, isn’t she a handful. She’s just like her father—even her hair is like his.” She had a point. Beau’s curly hair was short, just long enough to cover her ears. “I’m so glad you’re…not like her, Colin,” Mom said, standing on the tips of her toes to ruffle my hair. After a moment, she smiled at me then turned and walked to the kitchen.
I smiled back even though I was confused by her comment. I’m so glad you’re…not like her, Colin. What was that supposed to mean? I knew that she wasn’t happy when Beau came out as transgender, but she never scorned her like that.
Without much to do, I decided to go back outside to see if Donna was still out there. Sure enough, she was loading a pile of bags and suitcases into the trunk of her step-family’s SUV. Walking past Beau, I made my way to Donna’s side, picked up a purple duffel bag with daisies on it, and tossed it into the trunk. “Hey,” I said, picking up another bulging bag and placing it next to the purple duffel.
She said, “Hi,” then went back to trying to lift up a ginormous sparkly pink suitcase. I grabbed the end of it, helping her lift it into the car. “Thanks,” she said with a grateful smile.
“No prob—”
My answer got cut off by the hulking figure of a man storming out of the house and straight towards us.167Please respect copyright.PENANAK44oN6eNmY