The Crying Game

As Galaxy and Charlie took to the dance floor, Galaxy let Charlie take the lead. Keeping their feet away from his awkward moves. "Nervous?" They questioned Charlie.

Charlie shook his head up and down as he was very stiff in his movements. He put his left hand on Galaxy's shoulder and his right hand on Galaxy's side above the waistline. Charlie had the look of a guy trying to pass a test that he never studied for. It was obvious that Charlie was counting his steps since he was quietly mouthing them in hopes to not step on Galaxy's feet. Then he muttered, "Sorry I am bad at this."

"It's fine if it's your first time." Galaxy said. "It's alright to be nervous." Galaxy gave him a coy smile. "You know." Galaxy started, at risk of ending the dance prematurely. "Never pegged you for the type to be interested in somebody like me." They said.

Charlie was still trying to count in his head as his lips mouthed the numbers he was counting. He nervously looked up at Galaxy’s eyes and winced a bit as he felt all tingly inside. Then he responded, “I know it sounds creepy but when I look at you it makes my heart smile. I tried dating the girls Joey set me up with but they were so boring and mean. But when I see you…….. I can’t explain it, but I think I like you.”

"Oh." Galaxy said without missing a step, "Surprisingly poetic." they noted. "Well..." Galaxy paused, unusually picky with the next words choosing to help Charlie make the revelation slowly, "Have you considered maybe they were just not your types?" they asked.

Charlie had a confused look on his face as he actually considered that thought for the very first time. It never occurred to him since Joey always called them hotties or babes or other terms referring them as attractive yet less romantic. He didn't care about the girls since he was having fun with his best buddy Joey. Sadly now Joey was all over Sadie and they didn't hang out as much anymore. Granted he was glad not to have to be Joey's wingman and date his leftovers, but he did miss his pal. Now he thinks he understands what Joey is thinking since he is drawn to Galaxy now and he has no idea why? Charlie then spoke up, "You know this is the first time I ever talked about that. I never knew I had a type.......at least till I saw you. You're so cute........... sometimes my brain stops working when I am with you. Not that it worked much before, but still..........I think you are amazing."

Galaxy's lips parted slightly as they made a little 'pop' sound. "Oh well. I try." Galaxy said at the cute comment. "But are you sure you know what you are getting yourself into?" They asked. "I don't want to make you think this isn't what you think it is, or string you along." they added. "It's a matter of thinking past your Cupid induced haze for a minute or two." Galaxy explained, not sure if the reference hits it's mark.

Charlie was confused by what Galaxy was saying. He could not grasp at what Galaxy was trying to tell him. All he knew was that he was dancing with a cute girl that he was actually interested in. Sadly he was slow on the take and very dense to boot. So he pondered what Galaxy said a bit as he tried to compare what he learned in life and from his "Player" friend Joey. Then he looked puzzled at Galaxy and asked, "Do you have a bad reputation or something? If you tell me you are a slutty girl I don't know if I can handle that." Charlie looked nervous as he looked at Galaxy.

Galaxy put on a thinking face tilting their head slightly looking to the sky for an answer. The pondering expression was nothing but cute. "I wouldn't say slut." Galaxy said after a moment of saying nothing. "Perhaps mildly experienced, or a combination of similar words, but never slut." Galaxy said. "Wait." Galaxy finally noted one key word they'd missed being more worried about the light teasing of Charlie. "You said girl. Didn't you?" Galaxy questioned looking at him.

Charlie had a puzzled look on his face that rather resembled a confused puppy as he looked at Galaxy. First there was Galaxy's answer to not being a slut but having experience, which was more than poor Charlie had since he was still as pure as the driven snow. The second part that confused Charlie even more was the way Galaxy replied to Charlie about being called a girl. He wonder if he said something wrong so he decided to do his best to fix what he said. Charlie spoke up, "I'm sorry do you prefer to be called a babe or a woman?"

"Oh sweet summer child." Galaxy shook their head. "You've made a mistake." They added. "I'm no woman." Galaxy corrected Charlies assumption. "Thought, you knew that." They said looking at him. "Did you not know?"

Charlie scrunched up his face and cocked his head to the side in a state of confusion. "HUH?" he replied as he was not getting what Galaxy was trying to say. Since his parents never let him learn about alternative live styles and Joey always talked about hooking up with females, poor Charlie was clueless about Galaxy's true appearance under the cloths. He just thought Galaxy was a cute girl who like to wear guys clothing since he had seen many females in football jerseys in the past who cheered on guys they liked or were in a relationship with like his parents who loved sports. "What are you talking about?", Charlie asked.

As the song came to an end Galaxy took a step back. "I'm non-binary." Galaxy said. "I don't really conform to the idea of 'gender'." They said putting both hands up palm flat. "Boy." Raised one hand and lowered it saying "Girl" and raising the other. "I don't really like the ideas of it all. Like who can wear what, who can enjoy what, who can be what, who can't, blah blah blah. It's all meaningless to me." Galaxy said. "They said boy can't wear makeup or dresses. Why? They say Boy's can't like cooking and cleaning and pretty things. Why?" Galaxy went on. "It's a little funny. They said. "Like you, You are big and strong. So I bet you like things that make you feel like that. Trucks, football, rough housing, hanging with the boys. Right?" Galaxy asked but went on before Charlie could answer. "I don't really like those things. You are built for it, I'm clearly not. But I'm also not a girl. I'm not really either. Non-binary."

Charlies stood there confused as Galaxy spoke. He dropped his jaw as his pea brain began processing what he just heard. As his poor brain was working overtime and his mouth hung open he rather resembled the catch of the day at an all you can eat sushi bar. Then slowly it began to sink in his dense brain and his eyes began to slowly look at Galaxy's face then moved slowly down to their feet and back up. He did this a few times till his eyes stopped at Galaxy's crotch. Charlie began to tremble in shock as he was slowly putting all the pieces together in his head. He recalled not being interested in the slutty girls Joey hit on or set him up with. He recalled seeing Galaxy at the ice cream place and how they were dressed. Then he recalled seeing Galaxy in the boys uniform in school. Finally he could see what Galaxy was wearing now and it sunk in as his heart began pumping hard like it was going to explode. He had the hots for a guy who looked like a girl and he did not know how to deal with that.

All his life his parents and Joey told him guys date girls and that was normal. He had no reference of this situation since he was never told about it other than in passing. As a jock he had a bad tendency to ignore things he was not into. Now a calm rational person would talk this out and decide on how to handle themselves in the future, but Charlie was shaking like a leaf and in full panic mode and trying to decide on fight or flight as he said, "You're a guy?". As he looked at Galaxy he could not bring himself to hurt that pretty face so he turned and ran away. Yes he ran full throttle into a wall. After a loud impact "BAM!!" he staggered back a few steps and fell to the floor and collapsed. This startled the other students who were not sure whether to laugh or get help.

Galaxy tried to reach out and stop Charlie before he ran off. Since he clearly misunderstood the situation and they wanted to fix that before things got complicated. But he was a football player after all and fast, faster then Galaxy at any rate. Managing even in his blind fumbling to not bowl anyone over. Well anyone but himself. Once he was clear of the sea of people and in open space he got intimate with the wall. Seeing a few teachers moving towards Charlie, Galaxy didn't step in.

Charlie was out cold as he fell hard on the floor with a thud. His head mind was spinning as he drifted off to the dreamland. So as he was dreaming of riding a merry go round in the style of rainbow unicorns he looked around to see several clones of Galaxy riding the unicorns while enjoying the mood and talking to each other. Charlie was confused as he wanted to talk and get close to any of the Galaxy’s but was scared to take the chance.

Meanwhile a coach, a medic and a few teachers were aiding the injured Charlie. Since the medic said he had a concussion after seeing Charlie’s eyes they called for an ambulance to take him to the nearest hospital overnight. It didn’t take long before the rumor mill to begin spreading around.

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