Lies, Deceptions, And Misunderstandings

30. Homeschool Introductions

It was 9:30 the following morning, and both Kaylee and Taylor were trying to finish getting ready for class. Kaylee was frantically looked for a pair of black patent leather round-toe t-strap platform Mary Jane's she'd only worn once before, but wanted to wear today because she didn't want Taylor to show up to class looking cuter than her.

Taylor stood in front of a mirror while Carissa tied his hair up with a ribbon on either side of the back of his head.

This morning, Taylor looked different, even more girly. His hair was suddenly a foot and a half longer than the normal almost shoulder length, thanks to a trip by the salon yesterday evening before dinner, for extentions that Carissa insisted on Taylor having.

His hair now hung down to the middle of his back, to just below the bottom of his shoulder blades. Taylor was torn over the new length. On one hand he didn't like it but at the same time it put him more at ease about going to the homeschool classes because of the extra girly/less boyish look it gave him. It also made him much less recognizable as his boy self.

I guess I don't hate the new length as much as I thought I did last night. He told himself when Carissa was done.

Before they walked out the door, Carissa reminded Kaylee to take her morning vitamin.

"Kaylee takes a special vitamin every day before school, and now you will too, Taylor."

Carissa handed one to Taylor.

She smiled at him and ran her fingers through his hair when he swallowed the pills down with a glass of water.

A few minutes later, he and Kaylee were being dropped off at the Francis' home for homeschool classes.

They all gathered in the dining area around a large table with seating for eight and took seats. Each student spread out with an empty seat between them.

"Taylor, you can sit here," Mrs. Francis instructed, pulling a chair out. "Guys, I'd like to introduce you to Miss Taylor. She's going to be joining us for a while. She's living with Kaylee while her brother is in the hospital. Taylor, please tell us something interesting about yourself."

Taylor gulped. He didn't want to speak in front of everyone. He glanced down at the table while gathering his thoughts. His eyes landed on his painted nails and the charm bracelet that Carissa had insisted on buying him at the mall yesterday.

The bracelet had several silver charms dangling off of it, charms Carissa had picked out; a pair of pink tinted silver ballet slippers, a pair of red bottomed high heels, an open tube of red lipstick, and a pink tinted football.

Taylor glanced over at the only other guy in the room and immediately knew what he would tell them.

The second Taylor had walked in, he knew who the guy was. They hadn't been personally introduced to each other, so they hadn't talked, but he knew the guy's name and that he played right guard on the all city team.

"HI, I'm. Taylor," he began. "And I'm the only, um, g-girl in the city that plays on an official football team. Not only that, I'm on the all city team.....with Martin."

The girl sitting next to Martin and across from Taylor, stood up, leaned across the table, and gave Taylor a high five before introducing herself.

"I thought you looked familiar but it was hard to tell, you had on a helmet and pads the entire game Saturday. I gotta say that was so cool how good you are at catching the ball and how you can outrun pretty much every other boy on the field. Oh, I'm Elayna. I'm sorry to hear about your brother. I pray he gets better soon."

"Thank you," was all Taylor managed to get out before she was talking again.

"I think it's pretty awesome that you're so good at football and not only that, better at it than all of the boys in the city. We'll all be cheering you on at the games. We're always there cheering on my brother Martin, anyways, because we have to, but we'll be cheering you on because, we'll.....because you're amazing and you're a girl doing something no other girl has done. You're a hero to all the rest of us girls. Not that you aren't great too, Martin, but she's a girl. You know, girl power and all that."

As soon as Elayna finished, Liberty immediately jumped up and enthusiastically began.

"O. M. G. Girls rule," she exclaimed. "You are awesome AF, Taylor. Nice to meet you. I'm Libby, well Liberty, but everyone calls me Libby. I live next door. Elayna is my BFF. Welcome to our group. I think you're gonna fit right in. I totes adore your outfit, B.T.W."

"Libby, what have I told you about speaking in text abbreviations and made up words? We don't do that here. Use real words and complete sentences. Language is important. It's how we communicate concisely, intelligently, and accurately, without confusion." Mrs. Francis corrected.

"Yes, ma'am, Mrs. Francis, sorry," Liberty responded.

"Martin, it's your turn," Mrs. Francis announced, when Liberty sat down and Martin didn't react.

"Oh yeah."

Martin stood up and cleared his throat.

"As you, uh, you already know, I'm Martin."

He sat back down.

"Not so fast, son," Mrs. Francis announced. "You didn't tell us anything about you."

"She already knows I play on the all city team football."

"Martin!"

"Fine," he responded, before continuing in a less than enthusiastic monotone. "I'm happy you're, um, on the team and I, um, think you're a-a great asset."

It sounded like he was just repeating something his mom had told him to say and he didn't really mean a word of it, either that or he was real nervous for some reason. Taylor caught that, as well.

After introductions and greetings were completed all around, the students were instructed to start up their tablets and get to work on the day's assignments. Mrs. Francis made herself available to answer questions while helping Taylor get login access to the portal, and helping him find the list of assignments he needed to start on.

About ten minutes later, Taylor was set up and ready to start on his first assignment. He put his ear buds in and began watching a math tutorial video.

This was so different for Taylor compared to traditional school classes and he knew this was going to be way more enjoyable than trying attend his old school.

Taylor sat back for a moment and pondered his current situation with a grin on his face, before turning his attention back to his school work.