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Chronicles of Danny
Chapter 1
It was the first time in days that they finally felt like they belonged. Their overbearing parents had forced them to enroll in an all women college and they did not identify as a woman at all. Nor did they identify as a man, they simply just didn't identify as either or. For Danny, short for Danielle, gender roles were too confining and not representative of who they were as a person. If anything, Danny identified as genderqueer which they felt was a more fluid label and thus, allowed them more freedom to be themselves. What made things worse, was that Danny didn't dress like many of the women on campus either. The popular style for most women seemed to be skirts at various lengths with blouses or college sweaters, their long locks either tied back or hanging over their bosoms. Danny on the other hand, preferred to wear trousers and a button up shirt that was untucked. Being so thin, Danny could fit into skinny jeans easily, and never felt the need to bind their breasts down because they were rather small, not flat chested, but small enough that Danny was comfortable with. Instead of long hair, Danny's auburn hair was trimmed short in a pixie cut. Indeed, on the first day Danny felt out of place, jokingly wondering if they would be kicked out of campus for their seemingly boyish demeanor, which was really wishful thinking on Danny's part. The only good thing they felt about Wellesley University was the fact that there were so many women on campus. While Danny didn't identify with a specific orientation, they were mainly attracted to women and believed that if they couldn't feel at home in this historically conservative college designed to help women become teachers, business owners and lawyers, Danny could at least get a kick out of all the eye candy. Especially when Danny saw Ashley for the first time.
It was in fitness class that Danny first saw her. They all met in the gymnasium in their non-workout attire. Danny was leaning against the wall, talking with their new friend Natasha, a psychology major who was also in her early twenties like Danny. Natasha had shoulder length jet black hair that was straight and had a curvy body concealed under jeans and a t-shirt, in contrast to Danny's thin body type. What hit it off for both of them was that they both felt similarly alienated from the others except for Natasha, who was one of the few women of color in a school predominantly full of Caucasian women.
"Ugh, I hate Phys-Ed." Natasha said.
'I don't know, better than boring ass economics class. I'm a tech major, why do I need to know economics?"
"Want to trade?" Natasha joked.
Before Danny could answer, the doors opened and in walked the most gorgeous woman they had ever seen. She seemed to be about average height and wore black pants and a pink button up dress shirt. Her blonde hair extended to the middle of her back and her pouty red lips were colored in red. Most stunning to Danny was the woman's eyes, they were bright blue, so much so they practically glowed.
"Wow." Danny muttered and then laughed nervously.
"What?' Natasha asked and then looked in Danny's direction. "Oh her. Yeah isn't she hot? Her name is Ashley."
"You know her?" Danny asked, hoping their new friend had lots of dirt to dish out on their crush.
"Sort of. She's in one of my psychology classes. She's in that sorority, with a bunch of other girls but she seems to be the nicest. At least she actually said 'hi' to me in class."
"Oh man, I think this school just stopped sucking so much."
Natasha rolled her eyes and laughed. "Well admire her from a far, she's got that girl-next-door look and is in a traditionally conservative college, she's probably the furthest from being queer as you can get."
"Oh crap here she comes!" Danny said, turning their head a bit to make it seem less obvious that they had been staring.
"Hi Natasha!" Ashley said with a wave.
"Hey! So you're in this lame class too?" Natasha asked.
"Yeah, my sorority sisters are in it so I thought I'd take it too." Ashley said as she pointed to three women standing on the other side of the gym. The woman on the far left was dressed in athletic pants and a jacket with the university colors and was the tallest of the group, her dark blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. The woman in the center had tanned skin and blonde hair that was straightened, she wore a grey vest over a white button up shirt and grey skirt that seemed a little short. Lastly, the woman on the left had ruby red lips and a yellow summer dress with her hair tied in a bun. They looked in Ashley's direction, the woman in the center saw Danny and seemed to make a face.
"Ashley, this is my friend Danny." Natasha said to break the silence.
Smiling, Danny extended their hand as Ashley smiled and extended hers. "Hi nice to meet you." She said.
"Hi, I'm Danny." Danny said.
"Uh, yep I know." Ashley said with a giggle.
"Oh yea right." Danny laughed nervously.
Ashley turned her head towards her sorority sisters and then looked back. "I should go, I think my sorority sisters want me to stay with them. Nice meeting you!"
Danny watched as Ashley walked off, staring at her buttocks shifting left and right under her black pants, despite having a slender figure, her behind seemed to have a slightly more curvy shape in contrast to the rest of her body.
"Hi I'm Danny?" Natasha repeated.
"Ugh, shut up." Danny said as they covered their face. "I can't believe I did that."
"You are such a dork." Natasha said as she shook her head. "Come on, the instructor's starting class.
****
A week had gone by and Danny was still thinking about Ashley. Occasionally, Danny would say hi to her in fitness, usually if Danny was passing her on the track or if they showed up early enough before other students showed up. In the locker room, Danny would try to look for Ashley but couldn't find her and assumed that she must have a different locker far away from theirs. At lunch time, Natasha would make fun of Danny for staring at Ashley if she happened to be sitting with her sorority in the dining hall.
"Why don't you talk to her?" Natasha asked. "She already said hi to you so she knows you a little bit."
"I wouldn't know what to say." Danny said, "Besides, she's guarded by her sorority sisters who seem like a real open bunch."
"Ugh don't get me started with them." Natasha said. "The blonde one who dresses in those business suits, her name is Kara and she is such a snooty bitch. She says the most insensitive and racist shit in my politics class."
