GENRE: Transgender Young Adult Romance
LENGTH: 20,748 words
RATING:

Whit is different. Not only is she an outcast at school, but she has an alter ego, Dusty, who embodies the transgender side of who Whit really is inside.

She finds an unlikely companion in Danny, also an outcast, who comes out to Whit as gay. However, there seems to be something more than friendship brewing between the two.

Their art teacher Mr. Jay tries to help them come to terms with who they both are, but will their relationship be able to overcome the hurdles created by being themselves while at school? Everyone is looking for a place under the sun, but can Whit and Danny find their own sunshine amidst the coming storms?

EXCERPT:

Todd nudged her. He’d been writing some more. She looked at the screen and read, “You have boy eyes. Do you have a boy soul, too?” In shock and with pleasure, she could only smile at Todd, and nod as well. She too could communicate without speaking. She felt her face flush, and knew that must show how much warmth his message filled her with. He typed more. “You have sunshine in you!” she read. She bent down and went to kiss him, but he turned away, so she smiled again, and walked away. As she left the room she saw a pizza delivery truck pull up outside.

She reached the art room just as the back door beside it opened. The pizza delivery man raised his eyebrows at her and she pointed to the right room. Then another form slipped in behind the man, and her small smile expanded. It was Danny. He was covered in snow and his face was red and he looked like he’d been crying, but he was here. She almost ran to him, and then tugged him along with her and into the art room, which was empty, but warm. Just from sheer joy she kissed him right on the lips, feeling how cold they were, but neither of them seemed to care. His eyes lit up and burned like the sun she had so recently been craving. As she let him go and he started to take off his hat and jacket, he was already talking. “I’m so glad to see you! So much has happened since yesterday and I’ve been dying to tell you!”

Whit watched him with affection. Her eyes narrowed as they roved over his face. He was so animated, so wound up ... she loved his mouth and his eyes; wait, what? “Are you wearing eyeliner?” she blurted in shock and delight. “You are! I love it!” And surprising both of them, she grabbed him by his ears, pulled him closer and kissed both his eyes and then his nose and then -- the door opened, the bell rang -- at least she thought it was the school bell -- and people started coming into the room.

First to come in was Mr. Jay. She felt him stop behind her. She saw Danny’s eyes open wide and look upward. She drew a long breath, slow, nice and easy now, she told herself, letting go of poor Danny’s ears and inwardly cursing herself for letting Dusty have his way again.

“Is this a bad time?” Mr. Jay asked with a voice full of laughter.

As they took their seats, Danny smiled. “You need to rename yourself again,” he said. “There’s nothing dusty about that smooch! Ow, my ears hurt,” he ended.

Whit blushed. Echoing in her head she heard, Twitley and Danny, sitting in a tree ...