Arian clung to the paper bag printed with the Beaded Garden’s logo almost as a reflex. Lampwork beads were made of glass and it was a safe bet that the dark-haired teen would probably end up weeping if they smashed on the sidewalk given how much of his allowance had just gone on buying them – or at the least pretty miserable.
All was well though, the beads were in one piece and he hadn’t had an unfortunate introduction to the sidewalk. He looked over at the taller blue-haired teen around his own age that he’d almost bumped into – or was it almost bumped into him – with a slightly rueful smile “I’m fine thank you, thanks for…” his voice was quiet as he started to answer the other’s question and then trailed off his smile fading as the last word spoken by the other finally registered.
Miss? “Er I’m not actually a girl.” It was a relatively common enough occurrence, at least one of the relatives who Saffy had introduced him to last Christmas had seemed convinced he was a girl – although the dark-haired teen personally thought it pretty obvious he wasn’t female.