(bus rides / support group / sex event escape)
I’m being transported along with others on a set of buses—several yellow school buses and one small nine-seat shuttle. I’m on the shuttle, which is completely full, while the other buses are less crowded.
On the way there, I sit near the front, but on the return trip I sit in the back. At one point on the return, I’m the only passenger left, and I chat with the driver as we pass Neighbor J’s house.
I’m in Hometown Center, working at a company on the third floor of my high school’s math building. The job feels boring, maybe something like accounting, and my desk space is small.
HS Friend A works at a McDonald’s nearby. I stop by with a friend during lunch and try to get her to come with us, but she says she can’t because her boss would fire her if he found out. We still talk briefly outside.
I go to a small studio for a group conversation. We sit in a circle of chairs and talk—it feels like a support group setting, but not centered on any specific issue.
A boy shares a memory from childhood where he tried to look openly at gay things, but his mother redirected him, telling him that “normal” people looked at cute fuzzy animal characters when they liked things like that. He grows up to become a major voice in furry forums, with his mother continuing to help him hide things from his father.
Later, there’s a nighttime event on the floor of my high school science building. People are bringing in pairs for some kind of tribal-like hate-sex. The first pair is two drag queens, who are also sex workers. I don’t stay till the end, leaving a bit early to head back to work.
When I go back toward work, the bosses are in a meeting and have taken over the office space, forcing everyone else into the hallway. I decide to leave instead.
Downstairs, I find Language School Classmate A, who is a popular child actress. She asks where we are, and I realize she is supposed to be next in the hate-sex show but hasn’t been told about the event.
I decide to protect her and take her home. We manage to get out of the high school building before we start being chased. I pick her up to run faster, but my limbs feel slow and uncoordinated. I end up pushing myself forward using both my arms and legs, almost crawling, trying to get her to safety.