First Term: Understanding

July's POV:

Waking up to my alarm again, I found myself surrounded by the strong smell of strawberries. Blinking a few times and rubbing my eyes, I checked the time. Six o'clock. Tuesday. One look around, and I spotted Tammy turning away from the noise of my alarm. It took me a moment to realize that I was in Tammy's bed. Right, I remember. Tammy and I changed our beds for tonight to cure my 'sleeping troubles.

She was a very kind and caring soul. I felt awful for having to lie to her, though, but I liked her. I liked knowing I found such a good friend already. If she knew why I bet she would start finding me weird. No time now to mull over such things, though. I needed to get ready for school.

Tiptoeing over to the door, I opened it to quickly slip out, just to hear it slam against something. Hearing someone curse, I peeked around just to find Lucy sitting on the floor, rubbing her face.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you? Are you alright?" I asked while closing the door and helping her up.

"No worries. You couldn't have seen me through the door. I'm surprised to see someone up so early, though." she answered and took my outstretched hand to let me help her.

"Yeah, the showers are way too crowded in the mornings, so I decided to get a head start."

"Smart. I had the same Idea. Wanted to convince Dia too, but getting her to wake up in the mornings is like trying to wake a rock." she joked.

I joined in with a small giggle, "I know that feeling. Tammy is pretty much the same."

As we both went to the bathroom, we luckily found it empty, so we could go through our routines. I noticed that Lucy seemed to like mainly dark makeup and dark-colored clothes. Even her towel was black.

No wonder she hangs around Dia so much.

"How are you and Dia getting along?" I asked while combing and blow-drying my hair.

"Pretty good. She is really fun to be around. Just Veronica is fucking annoying. She constantly keeps bugging her on purpose and trying to make her mad." she scowled while applying very dark lipstick.

"Well, there are always those kinds of people. Just glad I get along well with Tammy as my roomy."

"Yeah, bunking with Dia is great. Just not getting a lot of sleep," she remarked.

"Excuse me. What?" I shook my head, confused.

"She likes to talk late into the evenings. Good thing I don't need a lot of sleep," she said with a chuckle.

...

I went to the cafeteria after showering to grab two hot chocolates for me and Tammy. Also got her a cupcake and a croissant for myself. Since I did have plenty of time, and it was still over an hour for class, I thought I might as well wake her with breakfast.

Just hope she doesn't dump it on my face for waking her early.

My worries were unreasonable though because when I entered and placed the cupcake along with her mug on her bedside table she woke by herself.

"Huh? What?" she rubbed her eyes. "Breakfast in bed? How did I deserve that?"

She stretched a bit and sat up while looking over at me.

"Good morning to you too, Tammy. It's only just seven o'clock. Since I did have plenty of time today, I thought why not." I answered, taking a bite from my croissant.

She played hurt and fell back onto the bed, "And there I was hoping you were trying to seduce me."

We both giggled and did as much small talk as Tammy could manage this early on. Getting ready slowly, we both decided to choose the pinkish-red jacket today and made our way to the first class of today. Chemistry with Mr. Retzner. I tried avoiding looking at Vivian as she entered, but she decided to take the seat closest to me on the table next to Tammy and me. She just sat down with a slight head shake, though.

Now, Mr. Retzner was a creepy guy. He wasn't the tallest, and his bald head and crooked nose gave him a very funny appearance. The strict look and nasal voice however made it seem like he tolerated no shit, so the class was rather silent.

When he turned around to write something on the blackboard, Vivian placed a piece of paper on my table with a suggestive wink. I looked at her quizzically and opened it up. There was a very crudely done drawing of a stick figure with the name Retzner over its head. The other stick figures at the tables were all drawn with the typical 'ZZZ' for snoring above their head.

"What is that, Miss Romanov?" I looked up and was face to face with our teacher.

"Oh, that? That's nothing, sir." I tried to calm him and slip the paper away just to have it ripped from my hands by him.

FUCK!

He looked at the drawing and I could see his face become angrier and angrier, "You find my class boring then, Miss Romanov?"

"What? No sir not at all." I exclaimed quickly.

"Detention today and tomorrow," he ordered while ripping up the drawing.

"But it's not-"

"And on Thursday. Want to make it Friday too, Miss Romanov?" He looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"No Mr. Retzner." I sighed and sank my head.

"Good now pay attention."

When the lesson ended, I packed my books annoyed. I stole a glance at Vivian, who stood up and leaned against my table with a smirk.

"No sugar and just a pinch of cream, July. Don't forget it tomorrow." she gave me a wink and strode out with her hips swinging on purpose.

I couldn't believe it. Did she get me into fucking detention over that? What did I do to her anyway? I just hope she won't get me into even more trouble.

...

Tammy's POV:

The sun was shining brightly and not a single cloud in the sky. It was a wonderful day today. Most of our class was chilling outside in the warm weather and talking about all kinds of stuff. And with most of our class, I mean like pretty much everyone. Well except for July, since Vivian got her into detention with that little scheme of hers. Veronica also wasn't here, which was good since she and Dia were constantly fighting over everything. I was just lounging on a bench with my headphones around my neck and blasting music, so I could faintly hear it in the background without putting them on. I wanted to listen to the idle conversations, too.

Ally was sitting beside Nami on a bench and quite obviously flirting. She didn't seem to have much luck though. Ajax was standing up and blurting out random rhymes, asking the guys for an opinion about it. Ty seemed to dig it, but Raider and Ben were less impressed.

Vivian was leaning against a tree and bobbing her head to the music in her earphones. That annoying smirk never left her lips and she was watching what was going on around her. I swear every time her eyes glanced over me, she seemed to smile more.

Trying to ignore her, I focused on Dia and Lucy, who were sitting closest to me and talking. Lucy was always quick to change back out of her school uniform and back to her casual clothes after classes. She hated to wear it. Guess the dark shirt and pants look suited her better anyway. Dia pulled the uniform off quite nicely, though. The dark blue of the jacket and the tips of her hair worked well together. She didn't like compliments much, though, at least if they didn't come from Lucy. I guess she just thought they weren't honest.

For some reason, that bothered me. Don't get me wrong. I don't expect everyone to like me, but I hated people disliking me for nothing. Especially in Dia's case. Maybe I did have a little crush there, just.

"Earth to Tammy. I just asked you something." Lucy suddenly said.

"Oh. Uhm, sorry. Spaced out a little." I rubbed my neck, a bit embarrassed.

"We couldn't tell," Dia remarked with her eyes rolling.

"I wanted to know if you would like to join us at the pool for a swim. We have plenty of time on our hands anyway." Lucy asked again and raised an eyebrow.

"The pool?" that caught me off guard.

On one hand, it was a pretty hot day today so a refreshing swim sounded like a nice idea. Also, I would get to spend more time with both of them, which could help me become closer friends with them. Dia might start liking me then. There was one downside to it, though, and that kinda scared me. But the most fun things are always scary in the beginning, right?

"Sure. I ... I just need to go and get a swimsuit beforehand."

"Cool. See you at the pool."

Once I was in my room, I opened my closet to get my swim clothes. Okay so the Bikini was a must, I could hardly swim topless with them. Now, bottoms were a harder choice, but I settled on a pair of longer swimming trunks. I didn't like them to be too tight, since that got pretty uncomfortable quickly.

I met up with Dia and Lucy at the pool. Seeing them sitting there with their feet dangling in the water was a sight to behold. Lucy's blue bikini was pushing her breasts up for a nice cleavage, and the bottoms hugged her butt perfectly. If I had to describe Dia's bikini, three words were coming to my mind. Tight, black, and tiny. Both of them looked stunning. Suddenly I started to feel very self-conscious about my swimming clothes. I undressed slowly, hoping they would not just laugh at my attire.

"You're seriously slow," Dia remarked as I sat down beside them.

"Sorry." I just mumbled and stared into the water.

"Why so shy, Tammy?" Lucy asked a bit more friendly.

"I just don't feel that comfortable showing off a lot of skin." I lied, not wanting to let them in too much.

"I don't get why. Those hoodies don't do your body justice. You have a nice figure." she continued to try and cheer me up.

"You think?" I looked at her and smiled a bit, feeling how I started to blush.

"Yup. Just maybe a little flat in the chest department, but you got a nice ass." she continued.

Wow, that was kinda blunt. I mean, it is true, but still. Guess some people just tend to speak their minds openly. At least she complimented me, and who doesn't like to hear that from an attractive person?

Yes, I do think that Lucy looks quite attractive and so does Dia. Many of the girls here do. Except for Guinevere, maybe. She was a bit too nerdy for my taste. And I would not dare to ever think of Vivian in any way like that. Or Veronica. Those two just were rude and selfish. No idea why July seemed to have a crush on Vivian. Since we were here she seemed to be constantly annoyed by her and yet all this whispering during classes and her stealing glances at her didn't stop. Maybe today's bullshit cleared her mind.

What? She's my friend. I don't want her to be miserable.

I was ripped from my thoughts when my body plummeted into the cold water. Diving back up, gasping for air, I was catching sight of a laughing Lucy.

"Sorry, Tammy. You were all daydreaming again, so I thought that might wake you up," she explained in between laughter.

Two can play that game.

Without hesitation, I used my hands to splash her with as much water as I could.

"EEK! Hey. I will get you for that, Tammy." Lucy screamed and Dia smirked.

"I'm in on that," Dia added as she jumped in.

"What?! Two against one is not fair." I exclaimed with played shock and started swimming away.

...

Spending time with Lucy and Dia was a blast. We left the pool together, but while they decided to use the gym showers, I was planning to shower at the dorms. It was empty around this time, so I just dried myself off as well as I could and went there. Grabbing a towel out of my wardrobe, I went to take a long shower.

It is refreshing and pleasant. Maybe I should do that more often.

As I stepped out, though, I realized a tiny mistake on my behalf. I forgot to bring spare clothes.

Guess I needed to get back with just a towel. I mean, it's just the girl's dorms. What's the worst that could happen? I just need to be careful to not be seen by too many people. It's no big deal.

Okay, I lied to myself there. It was a big deal. A huge one. I very slowly made my way back toward my room. My hands were clasping the towel close to my body. One at my chest, not that there was much to hide anyway. The other held it in place in front of my body, so it would not suddenly swing open in the front. The short walk seemed to take ages. I was constantly blushing and checking if someone was behind me.

Get yourself together, Tammy. Almost there. Finally.

I quickly slipped into the room and made my way to my bed, dropping the towel on the way to get some clean clothes.

"Oh hey, Tammy. Taken a nice shower?" I jumped at the voice and turned around quickly to see July sitting on her bed and looking in my direction with a friendly smile.

She was just wearing a pair of sweat shorts and a loose shirt, with clearly no bra underneath. Her hair was falling loosely over her shoulders and she had no makeup on right now. We were just standing there for a while and I could see her eyes wander over my body, probably by accident. Suddenly her eyes got bigger and she blushed.

I took a moment to realize I was still nude and quickly covered my crotch, turning my back to her. Hastily, I began to rip whatever clothes from my closet to redress.

"Tam ... Tammy I-"

"No. Don't you dare look at or mention it! You must think I'm a freak anyway." I interrupted her and dressed up quickly, so I could get out of this more than weird situation.

"What? Tammy, you're ridiculous. Let me-"

"I don't want to hear anything." I shook my head, close to tears.

She was my best friend here. What if she thought I was crazy or weird? What if she didn't want to talk to me from now on? If she told everybody what then?

I was on my way to rush out the door when July grabbed my hand, "Tammy, would you for fuck's sake please stop and listen to me?"

I slowly turned around and looked at July. My mind was racing, and I was in complete panic. I was so scared of the way she would look at me that her smile caught me completely off guard.

"Come on." she led me over to her bed and sat me down before taking her place beside me.

She wiped away a tear on my cheek and smiled at me, "So, You are a boy then?"

I just nodded and looked at the floor.

"You could have told me you know. I know we don't exactly are childhood friends, but I still think we are good enough friends to not keep any secrets." she began calmly

"It's easy for you to say. You aren't faced with all the bullshit I normally had to face. People resented me all my life. No one wanted to be friends with the guy that likes to wear skirts. That's why I so desperately wanted to join this school and-"

"Exactly, Tammy. This school is absolutely fine with that. Now think about it, if the school is fine with it, why do you think the students are not? Or the teachers?" she continued and grabbed my chin, making me look at her again.

"But it's weird, is it not?" I stifled a sniff and wiped some tears.

"I don't think so. I'm the last person that would think so. Want to know why?" she went on.

I nodded, and she smiled friendly again as she explained, "I used to be a boy too."

I completely deadpanned there, "You're shitting me."

"No, it's true. I was born as a boy and at some point realized I wanted to be a girl instead," she said in all seriousness and I shook my head confused.

"You got to be kidding me. I mean, look at you. You're a gorgeous woman. I hardly think you ever could be a boy." I gestured over her body.

"Oh, stop it." she blushed and looked away, a bit nervous. "It is true. Becoming the woman I am now was a long way and a lot of hard work and tears. My father for example was furious when I told him. It took a lot of time to convince him it wasn't that bad and that I was still the same person, just wanted to look a different way. In the end, he accepted it and even fully supported me with the surgeries and all. He got me out of my public school and hired a private tutor, so I would not have to face the constant mobbing and all. He came to love me for the person I am and not for the image I portrayed, and I'm thankful as hell for it."

"You really can be. He sounds like a great man."

"Let's leave it at that, he's a man that loves his family. But seriously, there is no reason here to hide. Everyone would accept it. It's why people are here." she explained again, switching from the subject of her family.

At this point, I gave her a weak smile, "So you don't mind your roommate being a boy?"

"Why would I, Tammy? It changes nothing about who you are. You are still my best friend." she smiled warmly and offered me her open arms for a hug.

We shared a long hug and then went to go and grab some dinner at the cafeteria.

Meeting July and having her as my roommate is the best. She might be the best friend I ever had.