Gold

"Hayley, I can't believe the amount of shit you carried back home," I said while dragging her bags into her house. Our first year of college was in the books, and we finally made it back safely after an agonizing ten hour drive.

"What? I needed to bring everything just in case campus burns down or something," She said skipping past me, not even helping. I swear, being a guy best friend is the worst.

"What if your house burns down? What are going to do then?" I said while laughing and finally getting everything in. She shrugged.

"I guess I'll just die," She ran upstairs. "Mom!? I'm home!"

"Darling!" I hard her mom say, probably finding Hayley. Mrs. Williams was a pure angel. I don't see how she's the mother of satan herself.

"Is Jack down there?" Mrs. Williams asked, "I want to see my second child!"

I smiled and playfully rolled my eyes. Mrs. Williams was always like a second mom to me, and I wouldn't mind claiming her as my first. She's just as accepting as Hayley, but is actually kind and isn't from hell.

"I'm down here Mrs. Williams!" I told her. She came speed walking down the stairs to see me, but as soon as she did, she gave me a sour look. I knew why, too.

"Now, Jack, how many times do I have to tell you that my name is Amy. Not Mrs. Williams. You should call me that instead." She said while patting my back and going over to Hayley's bags. "I hope you're not planning on making poor Jack take all of those back."

"Maybe," Hayley said while shrugging, "Did you cook for us?"

"I didn't have enough ingredients, so I just ordered Zaxby's for the night. It's in the kitchen." She said while sitting in the living room. This planet doesn't deserve Mrs. Williams.

"Sounds good to me." Both me and Hayley said while running to the kitchen. After we sat down, we started talking about our first year of college and how crazy and off it was. I'll admit, it was a wild year. Aside from the endless work, it was actually pretty nice. For one, me and Hayley were currently talking about going to out first college party.

"And when you walked in on Alex and Lynn...that was hilarious! Your face was speechless!" Hayley said while laughing.

"It was not...that was humiliating. Alex was so mad at me that night!" I said as I felt a tear run down my eye from laughing so much.

"Only because he was drunk. He forgave you next morning, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but Lynn didn't," I mumbled under my breath.

"Weren't you crushing on her?" Hayley asked, giving me flashbacks I didn't ask for.

"Yeah; up until I found out she was hooking up with my roommate." I replied.

"Tragic," Hayley said while finishing up her food.

After we finished, we decided to take a trip around our old town, considering we haven't been here since last summer. Hayley was enjoying herself and loved reminiscing here, whereas I've never been happier leaving this place. Hayley was happy though, so that's all that matters to me.

I wasn't expecting all glitter and gold when coming back from my first year of college. On campus, people Called me Jack because that's the only name they know me by. At home, people called me Jack as a nickname I always went by. My parents, specifically my mom, call me by my full name just to annoy me. I don't know how I'll manage to ignore her all summer break, along with everyone else besides Hayley and Mrs. Williams, but I'll manage.

Hayley wanted to stop at the record store, simply because she worked here before going off to college. I did for a little while, but quit when I found out that the owner was homophobic. I didn't tell Hayley because I knew how much she loved this store.

"I wonder if Taylor still works here," She thought out loud. Taylor worked on days Hayley didn't. They were practically best friends, and could've been dating if Hayley wasn't so contradicting.

She walked in and Taylor was still there, putting new CD's on the shelf. Hayley squeaked and ran to Taylor, hugging him from behind. I smiled at them and their adorableness.

While they were making small talk, I went and checked out the vinyl rack. I actually don't own any vinyls or CDs. I break them easily. Usually when I get one for Christmas or my birthday, I give them to Hayley, who has a sick collection of both.

After checking out new records for the past five minutes, I noticed someone walk in that looked familiar. I think I went to school with him, but can't recognize him considering I can only see the back of his head. When he turned around, it was almost like like I saw either a ghost, or jesus himself. I instantly felt chills in my body, and goosebumps on my skin. My knuckles felt like they instantly turned white, and the tiny hairs on my arms stood as straight as they could on a bi person. I was frozen.

I haven't seen him in over a year, yet he still looks the same. Same brown hair, same hazel eyes, same...everything. Just slightly buffer. I'm not surprised, either. He loved working out. He would always go to the gym after school and do stretches in the morning before school. Fuck. I hated myself for even reminiscing all of that. I'm supposed to not care about him!

I panicked, simply because I didn't know what else to do. Should I say hi to him? Wait, I can't. He won't recognize me. Should I leave? No, Hayley's talking to Taylor. Maybe if I don't do anything, Zack won't notice me. I was proven right when he checked the new releases section, asked Taylor about an album, then left. I sighed and let out a breath I didn't even mean to keep in. I haven't seem him for a year, and I plan on going on two.

Zack was always my best friend. I'm not kidding. Our mothers are best friends, so when they coincidentally had children around the same time, Zack and I were practically forced to be around each other. I shared everything with him and vice versa, up until i started questioning my sexuality and gender. I was planning on sharing it with him, but when I saw how disproving he was towards me wanting to go by Jack instead of my birth name, and how weird he felt about this girl I had a crush on sophomore year, there was no way I could talk to him about that stuff. Luckily, I met Hayley around that time and she was extremely supportive at the time, and is still now.

A huge part of me missed being close with Zack. mainly because he was my only friend throughout middle school, but because he knows more about me than anyone. I started passing when I was in my last year of high school, but permanently passed last summer. When I did it in my senior year, Zack took it as a joke, so I had to pretend I was too. It was a really shitty day for me, as it made me realize that it was better if Zack didn't know about me passing at all.

"Are you done lurking?" Hayley said, startling me. When did she come over here? I know she left Taylor to do something, but I wasn't really paying attention to her.

"Uh, sure." I said, laughing a bit afterwards.

"Are you okay? I sense a bit of agitation," She asked. Curse her for knowing how I feel at all times.

"Uh, I'll talk about it in the car. Let's go." I pulled her out of the store while she was yelling goodbye to Taylor. We got back in the car and headed back home, deciding to check out more memorable places tomorrow. It was getting kinda late on Hayley's time, which means it's not as late in general.

"So, what has you all shaken up tonight?" Hayley asked.

"You know it's only 7, right?"

"I know, now answer my question." She replied. I've never seen someone so obsessed with sleep.

"I, uh, I saw Zack in the store." I hesitantly said, causing Hayley to stop the car. I already knew exactly what was going to happen.

"Dammit, Jack!" She yelled.

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell me so I can kill him?" She asked. So psychotic Hayley still exists. That's nice.

"Hayley, as much as I love your efforts, I don't think killing him is possible." I reminded her.

"That bastard picked on you for simply being a guy! Every time he meets anyone that isn't straight or cis, he finds a way to pick at them. He deserves his head in a guillotine." Hayley said in an angry tone. She was like an older sister to me. One who was kinda crazy for her younger siblings.

"Calm down. I didn't like it either, that's why I stopped talking to him." I reassured her.

"Yeah, if I ever see him again I'm killing him," She told me, and continued driving.

Hayley truly is one of those crazy girls. Ever since she met me, I was hoping her and Zack would be cool with each other, but Hayley's kind of sensitive and Zack had a thing or dark humor, so they didn't click well. When he found out that Hayley was asexual, he picked on her for it and she couldn't take it anymore. Luckily, that occurred on our last days of high school before Hayley could do any major damage on him.

"How could you even tolerate him for so long? He jokes about the most twisted things," Hayley asked. I sighed.

"He's just ignorant. If you actually talked to him instead of fussing, you'd know that." I replied.

"He's as stubborn as a rock. I could tell him that red is better than blue and he won't hear me out on why." Hayley shot back.

I just sighed and let it go. We eventually made it back home. Mrs. Williams was still awake and she let us in, since Hayley left her house key inside. She had it detached from her car keys for some unknown reason. Hayley does things in weird ways, and in ways only Hayley understands.

"Jack, you're staying over right?" Mrs. Williams asked.

"Yeah, I was planning to. That's not a problem, is it?" I asked in concern. Mrs. Williams is a nice person, but I still wasn't sure.

"Oh, yeah. Of course it is. I was just making sure, because it's getting late." She reminded me. Hayley nodded with her in agreement. It's literally only seven. Why do they think that's late?

I just smiled it off and went upstairs to Hayley's room. She had double beds in her room for nights I stayed over, and I had an extra guest room at my house for days she stayed over. It used to be for Zack, but things happened. Hayley plopped on her bed, and I jumped onto mine.

"I'm gonna go wash and sleep. You need anything?" She asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Hayley, you're not going to bed this early." I told her. She raised her eyebrows.

"Um, yes I am. I'm tired and didn't take a nap from driving your lazy ass from Tennessee to Baltimore all day," She reminded me. I sighed.

"You're so old," I commented, "But what am I gonna do while you're asleep?" I asked her.

"Aren't you talking to someone right now? Call and see if he's awake, he can entertain you," Hayley said, making me laugh. She turned and continued walking out.

"Nice to know that you don't even remember Derek's name," I muttered to myself. Hayley turned back around.

"I remember his name, idiot. I was kidding. By the way, remember that you have an appointment with Dr. McKinnon tomorrow at 9," Hayley said before leaving. I actually almost forgot about that. Well, I didn't forget, but I forgot that tomorrow was the 12th.

"Thanks, mom." I sarcastically said before laying on my bed.

"No Problem," She shouted down the hallway, making me laugh. Maybe I should call Derek and see what he's up to.

Derek is a guy I met in college some months ago. I have a slight crush on him, and me and Hayley suspects that he likes as well, but it's a bit messy. We talk and endlessly flirt, but none of us are really making the move to ask the other out. It's weird. Hayley doesn't approve of him because she thinks he's a jerk (for some odd reason), but I don't really care about all of that, as cliché as that sounds.

I was going to call him, but I remembered that he said not to call him until the day after due to him flying all the way back to Florida from Tennessee. I decided to just send him a text and leave it as that.

I turned on my alarm clock to remind myself to wake up on time for tomorrow. I had an appointment with Dr. McKinnon, who's going to help me start my transition surgeries. I've been identifying as a boy for almost five years now, but only had time to buy binders and start my testosterone treatment, and not actually get surgery. One main reason is because I was under 18 at the time, and I couldn't get surgery without my parent's permission. I turn 19 next week, which means I technically could've did it last year if it wasn't for my meddling mother. Excited is an understatement for tomorrow.

I grab my bag and change into some pajamas, and grabbed my laptop and headphones. I was in the middle of watching season two of Batman Beyond for nostalgic purposes on the way home today, so I decided to go ahead and finish that before going to bed.

Midway through an episode, Hayley came back from her shower, and rolled her eyes.

"Jack, you're such a nerd," She commented while turning her light off and getting into bed. She always picks on my love for DC characters. Meanie.

"Go to bed," I told her while putting my headphones back in, and watching my sorrows away.