By noon, they were downtown. The courthouse was a granite fortress of beige bureaucracy. Inside, the hallway smelled of floor wax and anxiety. Alex sat on a wooden bench next to a woman knitting a scarf the color of bruises. She didn’t look up. A man in a suit argued on his phone about a parking ticket. Normal life, churning around a moment that felt like standing at the edge of a cliff.
The LGBTQ center’s flyer was still taped to the fridge, a rainbow triangle curled at the edges. “Trans Support Group: Thursdays, 7 PM.” Alex had gone once, six weeks ago, and sat in the back. They remembered the smell of burnt coffee, the creak of folding chairs, and the voice of an older trans woman named Marisol who laughed like gravel and kindness. Shemale Fucks Teen Girl
Alex stood up, knees liquid. “It’s just Alex. On the paperwork. Alex.” By noon, they were downtown
