Noa glanced one more time in the mirror. Their usual light makeup was well within the school’s uniform standards. They wore a simple white button down with short sleeves, standard khaki pants riding low on their hips, and shiny dress shoes that matched the shiny belt. Overall they had a very masculine look until they slid on their collection of friendship bracelets (most of them made by Iris,) and pride bands. Noa adjusted their tie, striped with the non-binary flag colors, and doubled checked their “They/Them” pin on the pocket. In each ear they had small rainbow hoops. All of it was within guidelines. Noa grabbed their bag and stepped out into the hallway.

Ciel looked over their shoulder as they locked their door and smiled at Noa. “Wahhhhh,” Noa cooed over Ciel in their uniform. Same simple button down and khakis, plain brown belt, but so cute Noa couldn’t resist telling them. “So cute! Awwe freshmen are so adorable.”

Ciel blushed bright pink all the way to their ears. “I-I like your tie,” was all they managed to say under Noa’s scrutiny.

“Oh! I have another, come here.” Noa motioned for Ciel to come in their room, not even noticing Em standing in the hall.

Ciel followed Noa and Em followed Ciel. At least to the door way, he stood their holding the door open and watching as Noa rifled through a drawer and lifted out a smaller tie in the enby colors. They took off Ciel’s plain tie and made quick work putting the other on. Then their hand dove again into the drawer. Noa jumped and mumbled a small “ow” withdrawing their hand from the drawer again. This time they handed a “They/Them” pin to Ciel before placing their index finger in their mouth.

Noa looked at Ciel again, “Perfect! Now I have a meeting so I won’t be at breakfast. I hope you have a good first day!” Noa herded Ciel towards the door. “OH!” Noa exclaimed finally realizing Em was standing there watching the whole interaction. They felt their cheeks get warm as they blushed. “Um, you too, uh, h-have a good day.” Noa lowered their eyes and put their head down trying to hide the blush as they locked their door and rushed out.

Once they were alone again, Em spoke up, “I guess they’re not ignoring me today, at least.”

“I don’t think they hate you, Em.” Ciel and Em left NBH and headed to the cafeteria.

“It’s ok, they seem to like you though. That makes me feel better about us being in different dorms.” Em shrugged. He changed the subject, “I think I might ask that Michael on a date.”

Ciel gave Em a disbelieving look, “He’s not really your type, Em.”

Em smiled a cocky smile, “No, he’s not, but if we’re going to be in the same friend group, I’d like to give his feelings an honest answer. I know you went to your dorm earlier, but he didn’t stop flirting the whole night.”

“No, I know, he is into you. I’m just surprised; you haven’t dated at all since mom and dad….” Ciel let the sentence trail off as they got in line at the cafeteria.

“I had to focus last year, Ciel. Don’t you start feeling bad about it. We’re here for a fresh start.” Em loaded his tray with bacon and eggs and a few biscuits. “But yeh, I don’t want to ignore his intentions and make the whole group uncomfortable.”

Ciel gathered much smaller portions than their big brother, taking some fruit and yogurt too. They nodded their understanding of Em’s intentions. “I just hope it doesn’t backfire on you, Em. Like, what if on the date he likes you more, but you don’t feel the same still?”

“Well, then I’ll have to be really clear about it, I guess. I don’t wanna play with his feelings, but I also don’t want to just dismiss them.”

They sat together across the table from Iris and Tani. “Welcome to the early risers club!” Melly sang out before sitting as well. “The rest will be around eventually, except Noa.”

“They said they have a meeting this morning?” Ciel inquired.

Melly nodded while sipping her milk. No longer in the blonde wig, she had a big pink bow on a hair band holding back her dark bangs and was wearing sparkly cat eye glasses instead of contacts. “On Mondays and Wednesdays, Noa is involved with the Diversity Initiative and has planning meetings those mornings.”

Em swallowed whatever he had just shoveled into his mouth, “Oh, the DI meetings we have to attend?”

Iris chimed in, “Yes and no; these morning meetings are planning meetings for the officers. The mandatory meetings are Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Every student has to attend two a month, and with two every week, it’s easy to keep up in clubs and still meet the quota.”

Michael and Raina showed up together several minutes later with their trays of breakfast. Michael took the empty seat beside Em, and Raina took Noa’s usual spot which put her between Iris and Ciel. Neither seemed happy about being awake, but Michael recovered quickly and put on his best smile for Em. Raina, however, promptly leaned her head on Iris’ shoulder and closed her eyes for a nap.

The conversation moved on to schedules and classes, who was where when, and some gentle teasing for Ciel as the youngest of the group. Michael perked up to learn that Ciel would be with him first period for band, as well as marching band after classes. Raina and Melly were both in Theater Club, Iris in Art Club, and Tani was a cheerleader. Em liked to stay active but didn’t find the competitive sports clubs appealing. He was considering joining the General Fitness Club. They had morning and afternoon meetings, practiced a variety of physical activities and held classes on cooking and nutrition.

Em tagged along after breakfast as Michael and Ciel made their way to the band room. He asked Michael for a minute to talk. Having not asked anyone for a date in over a year, Em was a little nervous. He ran his hand through his dirty blonde hair with a small sigh.

“I was hoping you might have some free time Saturday?” Em was taller than Michael so he was a little hunched trying to appear less intimidating.

“I uh, um, is this a date?” Michael asked, his dark blue eyes wide with surprise.

Em felt a blush heat up his cheeks as he looked down at his hands, “yeh, but, I’m not,” he took a thoughtful breath, “I’m not as out, um, as you are? I mean, Ciel knows, but my last school wasn’t… I was hoping to be discreet with the first date at least, y’know? And see where it goes from there.” He shifted on his feet and looked back to Michael’s eyes.

Michael smiled brightly, “I have time Saturday. Sometimes it’s hard to get a pass to go off campus though the first week. Will you be able to get one?”

“Oh, uh that’s not something I have to worry about, but will you have one?”

“Yeh, actually. Let me know where you want to meet in town and I’ll let you know when?”

Em smiled, “Sounds like a plan. Thank you, by the way.”

“No problem,” Michael turned to enter the band room with a ridiculous smile plastered on his face. He looked back a moment later to see that Em had already left the hallway. He looked at Ciel who seemed to already know. “He told you, I guess?”

“Of course,” Ciel replied with a shrug of their shoulders. “It’s not like he’d be able to hide it from me anyway.”

Em stood outside his first class in the hall. He hardly let it show, but he was feeling anxious. Most of their group was seniors, Ciel a freshman, and Tani and Em the only juniors. Other than lunch, he didn’t seem to have any classes with any of them though. He took a deep breath to prepare himself.

Instead of stepping into class, Em felt someone run right into his back with a “thud.” His step stumbled but he managed to turn and see who had just run into him. A flash of dark fluffy hair and hazel eyes as the other managed to catch themselves and not fall over. Noa. Of course, Em thought, the one that doesn’t want anything to do with me.

“Ohmygah! I’m so sorry,” Noa’s eyes lifted and met the surprised green eyes of Em. They looked down immediately, “Oh, Marceau, I wasn’t looking, sorry.” They started to back away, almost shrinking, but seemed to think better of it and straightened their shoulders and lifted their eyes with the confidence Em had seen when they first met. “You have calculus first period?”

Em nodded.

“Welcome to my personal hell.” Noa mumbled it as the bell rang. They held their hand out inviting Em to enter the classroom first. They took a seat beside Em near the back of the classroom and waited for the homeroom announcements that would come before the first period started.