Mortals meet demigods

Ashton Links (Theyna)

Hi, my name's Ashton. I severely dislike my last name because it makes me sound stupid. No one ever gets to call me by my last name. If this seems familiar it's because there's another girl in my school, Thalia, who hates her last name too. In fact one guy tried to ask her about it but she kicked in the balls and walked away. She was definitely super scary but despite this tons of boys try to ask her out on a daily basis. I don't know why they try. Some she sends them away crying, some groaning in pain, some lying on the floor in tears. Seriously! I have never personally talked to her and I don't ever want to.

One day, we were in Mrs. Thomas' class and someone's phone rang. Mrs. Thomas was one of those old school, tech hating teachers and no one liked her. She had a rule that if someone forgot to put their phone on silent and if it rang, they had to pick it up and talk normally to that person on speaker mode for one minute before telling them they were on speaker. We all hated this rule but it helped us to know more about our classmates. Today, Thalia's phone rang! She stared at the caller id and groaned but picked up anyway.

"Hello? Thals?" said the voice. It was very feminine and most of the players were looking eager to find out more about this girl. Despite her earlier groan, Thalia couldn't help but smile as she heard the voice. "Hey Rey! How are you? Why did you call?" Nicknames? They were very close friends I guess. "I miss you! You're coming back today right?" she asked, almost pleadingly. "I miss you too! Yeah I'm coming this evening. We can go to CHB. I think Capture The Flag is today! See you soon!" replied Thalia grinning. Grinning! She never even smiled and here she was grinning? "See you babe! Love you!" said 'Rey" Babe? Was that in a friendly sense or romantic? "I love you too! Bye!" said Thalia as she hung up.

She was immediately bombarded by questions until Mrs Thomas managed to make her voice heard above the racket. "Alright! Enough! So, Thaila, can you tell us who you were talking to?" She blushed but answered, "My girlfriend." Everyone's eyes widened. Thalia was lesbian? How did we not know that? The popular girls were screeching in disgust while the boys were looking horrified. Mrs Thomas was just about to start shouting again but Thalia beat her to it.

"Yes I'm lesbian. That doesn't make me less of a person. In fact it makes me more of a person than you, who are unwilling to accept differences!" she said, pointing to the popular girls. No one seemed to care however and one even whispered, "Fag." Thalia took a deep breath, trying to cool her anger before speaking. "Call me what you want to, do whatever you want to. But don't for a second, think that I am weaker, or less of a person or a woman because of this. My sexuality doesn't define me, and I am proud to be who I am. Now, if you excuse me, I'm leaving." she said, grabbing her bag and striding out confidently. Wow. That was amazing.

I never saw Thalia again, but she gave me the courage to come out as asexual to my family and friends and I am very thankful to her for helping me shape my life. I will never forget her and I wish her all the best with her girlfriend.