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Colleen shrugged and agreed.

I didn't know exactly how to explain to my cousin that I needed to go to the bar we had been going to. She wouldn't understand and would probably make assumptions that I didn't want to deal with. That's why I asked her to drop me off at a drugstore a block away from the right location.

“Are you okay?” She asked, worried.

“Oh yes.” I smiled at her, trying to calm her down. “I just need to buy new bandages and a new ointment for muscle pain.”

“Okay, I can wait…”

“No!” Colleen almost jumped in the seat because of my intonation. “I mean, there's no need. You have class in theafternoon, better go. I'm going to walk around for a bit, I think, and then I'll order a car from an app to get back to campus.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, of course…” I opened the car door and jumped out. “Don't worry. We'll talk later!”

I closed the door and walked towards the pharmacy door.

“Hey!” Colleen opened the car door too. “You’re not… like… pregnant, are you?!”

I looked at my cousin, confused. I didn't answer her for a few moments, absorbing her assumption and trying to understand why she would say that.

“I’ve never...” I sighed and walked back to the car. “Colleen, I've had sex with two girls my entire life and neither of them was a trans girl... Plus we're in fucking Texas, I think it's unlikely to happen anyway.”

“Oh! Right!” My cousin suddenly seemed embarrassed by her speech. “True.” A wide and amused smile filled my lips, I had to control myself to laugh discreetly. I was already having fun with the situation. “Okay… then see you later.”

I just nodded my head in agreement and waited for her to get in the car and leave.

I went into the drugstore and bought some new bandages, since I really needed them, and only afterward did I head to Hayley’s bar. The door was unlocked, so I walked straight in, finding the redhead in the room, organizing some glasses while two other people cleaned the room.

Her attention soon found me.

“Hi…” I waved weakly.

“Hi…” Her hands wrapped in a glass and a cloth quickly became free and she nodded toward the hallway. “Let's go to the storehouse to talk.”

I didn't like the tone of voice she used; it was too serious. And at the moment, I was running away from too serious conversations. My daily quota had already been met with Veronica before practice. I almost groaned in frustration, but I gave in and just followed her into the dark, liquor-filled storage room.

She opened the door and let me go in first, then left the door behind her.

“So…?” I began, urging her to speak.

“Who was the girl who saw us?”

I frowned.

“Nobody?!” I laughed, but Hayley remained serious. “What? She's my teammate, but that's it, we're just acquaintances.” I felt an unusual nervousness when answering that.

I wasn't lying, but then… why did I feel like I was?

I took a deep breath and continued to stare at her green orbs. She looked disappointed.

“Kendra, you're beautiful and you don't need me to tell you this, but you…” She sighed, seeming to search for the right words before finally continuing. “I can't, blondie. I can't go back to the closet.”

“Ah, that was the conversation… Shit!”, was my only thought about it.

“I'm not...”

“Yes, you are!” She didn't even let me speak. “Everyone has their own time, and that’s okay. I don't want you to feel obligatedto do anything, but...” Hayley closed the distance between the two of us and gently touched my face. “I can't do that. I love being with you, I love our talks, but we can't continue if things are like this.”