Jon and Zoe crossed to the front of the school, and the block party atmosphere was in full force, as Jon now found usual. Today, he really wanted to avoid the series of selfies and group pictures - maybe he could just slip straight through to first period.
Fortunately for him, Tiffany stood in the middle of a huge crowd, with a rainbow wig, full white facepaint, a red rubber nose, and an absurd striped jumpsuit. "I don't know how to juggle, so everyone stand back!" she shouted, and several students dove out of the way of the three bowling pins as they crashed to the ground. Tiffany laughed as loud as Jon had ever heard her, just completely delighted and leaning in. "This is the most ridiculous closet I've ever had!" Several of the students cheered her on and laughed with her, even as they all rapidly backed away when she got ready to throw the pins up again.
With all the attention on Tiffany, Jon ducked his head and hurried down to his locker. He opened it and leaned his head into the frame, breathing rapidly, trying to calm down.
"Hey, Jon, it's okay," came Karyn's voice behind him. He felt a hand on his shoulder, then was wrapped up in a hug. Karyn kissed him on the cheek. "It's okay. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. It'll be okay."
"I was fine until I was here," he mumbled.
"You were embarrassed," she said softly. "But that's what October is about. Showing you that other people's experiences are just their experiences. And everyone here in town already knows that. You just happen to be experiencing it for the first time."
"I get it, I do." He scrunched his eyes, then turned to face her. "But then Zoe brought up me being on the soccer team, and asked how I'm going to handle the additional physical penalties from playing in the games. Your wish to do this to me wasn't real until this morning. And the future physical penalties you guaranteed me weren't real until Zoe mentioned it. I don't want this, Karyn!"
"Jon." Karyn held him firmly between her hands and stared into his eyes. He noticed that she was wearing a dark blue sweater dress of her own - not something she would normally have, but definitely a teen girl's style, and something she looked pretty good wearing. "I'm sorry. I am. But everyone in town will understand. Trust me. Your hair today? That was an accident, and everyone will understand. Other penalties because you play in the soccer game? Because you're supporting your team? Everyone will understand. Trust me."
"Jon, is that you?" They turned and saw Sarah standing nearby. Sarah had clearly been given the closet of one of the librarians in town, wearing a baggy floral-print blouse under a striped sweater with high-waisted black pants. Her hair was tied back into a bun, and she had glasses hanging from a chain around her neck. She looked at him with a smile. "Look at your hair! Honestly, Jon, it doesn't look bad at all. Hey, come sit with me at lunch today, okay?"
Jon stared at her. The Sarah he knew would have said those exact words, but the tone would have been entirely different, each syllable a blade to stick into him and make him feel small. This Sarah was... genuine, and kind.
"Um, yeah, maybe," he stuttered. Karyn gave him a small squeeze on his back.
"Great! I'll see you then," Sarah smiled, then walked off.
"I told you. People will understand, and they'll be supportive," Karyn offered, then kissed him on the cheek again. "Come on, you should get to class."
