The sound of laughter was dense inside and Lee made it a point to try and stare at the floor as they walked in. Dressing rooms were always terribly awkward for them. In middle school they had been on the swim team, the only sport that they had ever tried out for. They quit less than a year in because people were always teasing each other about their bodies or commenting on the chest size of the people around them. The teasing mixed with the dysphoria that the swim suit caused them, though they didn't know that is what they were feeling at the time, made Lee quit to the shock of their instructor. 

The sound of people moving about, laughter, and the smell of various perfumes and body sprays hit Lee as they entered the room. Lee tried to navigate the busy room without looking anywhere, just get in and get out, they thought. They had been so focused on trying to look at the floor as they walked that they bumped into someone. Lee looked up and panicked, they had bumped into a girl that was in the middle of changing into a dress. The girl was wearing shorts and a tank top but Lee still was startled. Quickly Lee tried to apologize and look at the floor covering their face out of embarrassment. Behind them a few girls jokingly called out “Lesbian!” and Lee felt like they were going to cry. They knew it was probably something they joked about to each other all of the time in here but…. The laughter behind them caused their cheeks to flush and they felt their ears go hot. They heard I’Ksha snap at the girls saying something, maybe “knock it off,” Lee didn't know. Their ears were ringing and they just wanted to be anywhere but here. Lee felt a hand grab their wrist at their side and saw that I’Ksha had grabbed them.She began to lead them through the room. Quickly behind them they could hear the girls that had laughed return to their conversation. Not soon enough I’Ksha burst the door open to the hallway and pulled Lee a few steps more before dropping their hand. “God, what bitches!” she exploded.

Lee subconsciously reached into their jacket and pulled the hood of their hoodie over their head, in a small attempt to hide, like a turtle sinking back into its shell. “I’m sorry,” they whispered. They couldn't look up, their eyes focused on the floor. 

I’Ksha sighed. “You shouldn't be sorry for anything. They're the ones who shouldn't be making jokes like that in the first place or teasing people over that.” She turned back to Lee and saw they were shrinking into themself. Slowly she raised her hands up to their head and lowered the hood down, resting her hands on Lee’s shoulders. Lee tried to look down, avoiding her eyes. I’Ksha sighed. “Sometimes, I really fucking hate this town. I know there are assholes everywhere, but sometimes it feels like they're really loud here.”

Lee looked up at her and saw for the first real time that I’Ksha looked like she was about to cry. Not from fear like in the basement the other night, but really genuinely cry. Over what? Me? Lee thought, or is it because I’Ksha was mad because she’s queer too? They remembered what it was like to hear this kind of stuff when they weren't out, not even to Alice. It was heartbreaking. The people who made the joke never even knew that it hurt or made them scared to trust them. She had told Lee in confidence that she was queer, she didn't seem to be out to very many people. Lee thought back to when they had come out at the beginning of the term, sending letters to the counselors, to their teachers asking to use their new name, the teachers messing up and drawing more attention to the changes to the whole class. The stares when they had cut their hair. The whispers. Sometimes they didn't know what was worse, being out, or hearing people you trusted saying shit to your face about you without knowing it.

Lee brought their hands up to their shoulders and weighed her hands down into their shoulders. “Me too.” I’Ksha gave them a sad smile and after a moment lowered her hands off of Lee's shoulders. The hallway was quiet, hardly lit and no other students seemed to be in the area. Beyond their section of the hallway the passage stretched into shadows, you could barely make out the turns at either end. 

I’Ksha wiped her eyes and turned looking up and down the hallway. “Do you know where he would be?” she asked.

Lee thought about it for a moment. They didn't want to go too far into the building in case they got into trouble so that limited the places they could search to this hallway and maybe a bit to the ones that turned at either end of the hallway. Lee’s locker wasn't far from here and that felt like a good place to start. 

….

It was a little farther than Lee wanted to wander but they could see Nick standing at the end of the hallway by their locker and the Cafeteria. He was lazily floating looking at a bulletin board filled with different flyers from various clubs and activities. They excitedly turned to I’Ksha and let her know that they'd found him and began quickly walking down the hall. He looked up as he saw the two approaching, I’Ksha bending her neck around to look in hopes of seeing a glimpse of the spirit they were supposedly communicating with. Lee stopped as soon as he began to walk towards them and held out an arm to stop I’Ksha from walking farther down the hall. 

“And where the fuck exactly have you been?” Nick hissed at Lee as he approached. His arms were crossed and his eyes were narrowed at Lee. His trapper hat sat crooked on his head and Lee motioned pulling at either side of their head. He brought his hands to his head and pulled his hat straight.  

“I’ve been… out sick.” Lee responded, shooting a quick glance at I’Ksha. She tried to look in front of Lee where Nick was but she shook her head like she was tired of waiting to see him.

Nick looked back and forth between Lee and I’Ksha. He pointed to the girl at Lee’s right. “Is she ok?”

Lee smiled. “Yeah, she is fine. We came to talk to you. Though for her, it just probably looks like I'm talking to the air." They looked over at I’Ksha who nodded, a sarcastic smirk on her face.

Nick cocked his head to the side. “She wants to talk to me?” He looked I’Ksha up and down. “Is this like… an Alice situation?” he asked. He was referring to when Nick met Lee a little while after his death. Lee had told Alice immediately, seeing no reason to hide the news from her. Alice was always uncomfortable when Lee addressed Nick and was the one to come up with the idea of pretending to be taking a phone call. She had made a ground rule that when they were together Lee wasn't allowed to talk to the ghosts and that directly effected Nick. When Alice was alive she had insisted on taking many classes with Lee so Nick had quickly gotten upset with Alice over this. Most of the time Nick would talk to Lee anyway and ask yes or no questions they could subtly nod or shake their head to.

Lee shook their head. “She knows about you, sort of. This is I’Ksha, she wants proof that I can see ghosts.”

Lee looked at Lee with a disapproving face. “So you volunteered my help?” Nick rolled his eyes, “I'm still mad at you for being gone a week.”

Lee looked at I’Ksha quickly then at Nick. “Ok, that’s fair. Um… what if I promised that I wouldn't pretend you're not there when she is around? I could even interpret for you both so you could sort of talk to each other?”

Nick raised his eyebrows. “Really? This one isn't going to ignore me?”

Lee shook their head. “I won't let that happen. Can you please help me?”

Nick rolled his eyes and looked between the two in front of him. He shrugged. “If it means I get to annoy someone else I'm in.”