You Must Be A Goddess (Sophie)

[Joelle McIntosh]

It had been a while since Joelle had set foot in the Center.  Not really since the Ugly Sweater party, really.  But she'd been home for Christmas break with her brothers and parents, and since she'd been back at school she'd been busy with homework and classes.  But this weekend she was free, and she was on a mission.

At the party she'd met some very nice people, including someone that she was convinced had to be part goddess, if not all goddess.  She was beautiful, she was nice, and... she seemed to have a really cute boyfriend, too.  

She was on a mission today to talk to her.  The idea of having a mentor around was really nice.  Sure, she had a support system around, but having a mentor would be amazing too.  

She soldiered into the center, clinging to hope that the woman she'd seen would be around.  ... Of course, she had no idea what she was going to say to her, but she'd figure that out.  Somehow.

[Sophie Tillman]

With the Valentine's dance out of the way, the center was back to its regular weekly schedule, and Sophie with it. With different groups meeting on different days and plenty of sleepless nights to spend baking, Sophie was a frequent visitor to these halls. Brownies were a favorite on Wednesdays, cookies for the Fridays, and plenty of leftovers for the volunteers. Sophie's kitchen never seemed to stop smelling of warm chocolates and vanillas.

Today she emerged from the volunteers' break room, where she'd just deposited a saran-wrapped paper plate of snickerdoodles. It was still a bit early for today's group meeting - the destination of her other plate - so Sophie expected to drop it off to an empty room. Not so this week, apparently.

"Hi, hon, did you need some help?" Sophie realized almost immediately where she recognized the girl from; she'd been at the ugly sweater party she and Nick had helped chaperone. Wonderful, she'd decided to visit the center again!

[Joelle McIntosh]

Joelle jumped slightly when she realized she had company. Of course, that was the whole reason she was here in the first place. As she turned from looking at some postings on the wall, she spun and instantly brightened. It was her! The pretty goddess-like lady she'd seen at the party!

Except... except now she didn't exactly know how to ask what she wanted to. A sudden shyness descended over her, and unconsciously she tugged on her skirt, followed by smoothing her hair. She had to be brave. Goddess Lady seemed really nice before.

Okay! She could do this.

"Um, kind of, ma'am." Good manners didn't fail her now at least. Stepping forward, she managed what she could of a bright smile. "I saw you at the party. Um. That was my first time here." She tilted her head slightly. "And you're so pretty and really nice and... I was wondering... do you... or... anyone here do... mentoring?" There, she'd gotten it out. Haltingly, and with a hint of being unsure, but she had done it. Now she just had to find out if she could help.

[Sophie Tillman]

As the girl went on, Sophie could feel her shoulders pulling back, her back straightening to make room for the glow growing in her chest. More than the compliments, it was that she'd apparently made such an impression that Sophie found so flattering. She couldn't recall doing anything all that important at the holiday party, but she didn't need three guesses to figure out that they'd noticed each other for the same reason.

"I remember you, too," she replied, mirroring the girl's head tilt; where hers had been one of shyness, Sophie's was more thoughtful. She hadn't made any attempt to track the girl down - at her age, Sophie knew how that might look - but she'd kept an eye out during each stop to the center. New kids popped in all the time, but trans girls were in the minority.

"How 'bout this," Sophie offered, "why don'tcha help me set up for the meeting, an' you can tell me a little about what it is you're looking for." Setting up was easily a one person job, but it was an opportunity to talk.

[Joelle McIntosh]

Ohh, that look made Joelle happy. Goddess-Lady looked so... happy. Confident. Maybe there was a way to bottle that and take it back to Hammel. Her new friends were helping, yes, but... this lady was on a whole other level.

.... If she was right about her. And she hoped she was. Because if she was, she was the most successful trans person she'd ever seen. She even had a boyfriend.

... Aaaand then again she could be completely wrong. Maybe someone in her family was trans or gay or bi or something and that was why she was helping out and... and she needed to stop thinking before she lost her nerve.

"Really?" It was less of a question and more of a squeak. She was remembered? Oh gosh, why? Had she committed some sort of awful sin at the party? Had she offended someone without knowing it? Why else would she be remembered oh gosh.

She was probably overthinking this.

"Oh! Of course I can help! What would you like me to do?" Anything to keep her hands occupied. As for what she wanted... well, a mentor. Someone who had transitioned, or knew someone that had, who could... help? Sort of? Or at least talk to her about it. Maybe.

[Sophie Tillman]

Oh Lord, the poor thing was so nervous. Was Sophie the first trans person she'd ever met before? She couldn't think why else the girl would seem so intimidated. The sooner Sophie could put her at ease, the better.

"Here." She proffered the plate of cookies, saran wrap crinkling slightly under her fingers. "If you can take these, that'll free my hands up. They just go right in here." Sophie pointed an elbow at the open door of one of the neighboring rooms, where the meeting would be held soon. She knew that there would be folding chairs and a table inside; the table might still be up from the last event, but the chairs would need to be set out for everyone.

[Joelle McIntosh]

Honestly, yes. Sophie was the first person she had knowingly met that was trans, if she was right. And she really hoped she was. Because that really would make her amazingly successful. She was beautiful, and she had a boyfriend. A really pretty one, who had seemed pretty lovey dovey with her at the party, what with all the hugging. She could only be so lucky.

"I can do that!" Gently she took the plate, admiring the handiwork under the plastic wrap. "Did you make them? They look amazing." She had experience baking with her mother back home, and in Home Ec now, but nothing she'd made so far looked as good as these. ... Granted, the last time she'd made cookies they had ended up in the middle of a frosting battle with her brothers. Delicious, yes. Pretty? Not so much.

Crossing into the indicated room, she set the cookies down on the table and turned to look for Goddess Lady. ... Who probably had a name. Whoops. Tucking an escaped piece of hair behind her ear, she turned around and offered her hand. "I'm sorry! I just ran in here and started talking your ear off... didn't even introduce myself. I'm Joelle."

[Sophie Tillman]

"Oh, they're nothin' much, just somethin' I whipped up last night," Sophie replied with a preening smile. Nice and pretty, well, those were all well and good, but compliments about her bakes were another level of flattery altogether.

"Joelle," she repeated. "What a nice name. I'm Sophie." A lot of kids at the center called her Ms. Tillman, which she liked - Sophie grew up calling her elders Mister This and Missus That, and she'd never shaken that instinct for formality. But this was a special case; names had a different significance when they were chosen. "Have you been in Pilot Ridge long, Joelle?"

[Joelle McIntosh]

Nothing much? If Joelle could bake half as good as this, she'd be set for life. As it was, she could assist just fine, but being left in charge of baking or cooking? Disaster waiting to happen. "Wow. You must be an amazing baker." The proof was in her hands, after all.

The compliment on her name sent a happy little shiver up her back. So far no one seemed to outright hate it, though she had had a number of people on some forums she spent time on advise choosing a name that wasn't so similar to her given name. She hadn't exactly been on board with that idea, so she'd worked on her own to come up with it. "Thank you. Sophie is a very pretty name too."

Now her Goddess had a name. Which didn't quite diminish the fact that she still looked like a Goddess. And acted like one. She was so nice. "No, not long." She tucked her hair behind her ear as she thought about it. "Just a few months. I go to school here." Her recruiter, as well as Jeff, had told her not to talk about Hammel much outside the school, even if lots of other students came to the centre. She would be careful. Even with Goddess Sophie.

[Sophie Tillman]

Only in town a few months and already she was reaching out for help, Sophie noted. When she had started at Hammel, it had felt like years before she knew what to do and what to ask for. Oh Lord, did all kids these days figure this out so much faster than she had? Times were changing, that was for sure.

"How're you liking Pilot Ridge so far?" Sophie asked. As they spoke she found the chairs and dropped two against the table before unfolding them. "Not too small for you, is it?"

[Joelle McIntosh]

Joelle had had the benefit of knowing who she was earlier on in life, and had been working towards fulfilling herself to become that person for longer. But back home, she hadn't had a centre like this one. Support group, yes, sort of, but nothing like this. And she'd never known someone to be so successful. Now if only she could get Sophie to let her pick her brain.

"I like it," she admitted, smoothing her hands against her skirt. "It's pretty. And I don't mind small." Pilot Ridge was nice, and despite the snow she'd experienced over the winter, she didn't mind it as her new home, however temporary it would be. "May I ask how long you've lived here?"