From an outside view, you really couldn't discern that the three were different.

Sure, you might look a second too long at the all-black attire of the tallest one, or notice that there was just something off about the shortest male, (you could probably account for it by puberty. Guys are always awkward at that age, right?), or you might stare at the girl, wonder about her blue eyes and curls, wonder why she's chosen the company of the other two males, but you wouldn't stare, because aside from a few very small details, they're not outlandish, not different or strange, right?

At a glance, you wouldn't know that the girl's name is Clare, or that parents are divorcing, or that she's fallen head over heels for the gothic tall boy, (his name is Eli), even though she swore off boys a long time ago, or that she's actually, honestly afraid to be different. You wouldn't know that she's dating the all-black one, except for late nights when she falls asleep in the shorter boy's, Adam's arms, as they both dream of getting out alive, of hating what makes them different.

At a glance, you wouldn't know that Eli's done shit, bad shit, things he regrets and hate to think about for too long. You wouldn't know that beneath his dark exterior, he has a soft spot, raw, deep feelings that could be called love, for Clare, and that he actually doesn't mind-no, he likes it,- when Clare falls asleep with her hand in Adam's, if not just because it makes her happy, and he'd kill to make her smile.

Most of all, at a glance you wouldn't know that Adam was born Gracie, that half of him, his very body, is a traitor, a burden, a cage. You wouldn't know the loathing and the hate, from others and from himself, at the state of his mind and body, and that the girl with the curls, Clare, she makes it better, every time she offers him a smile. You wouldn't know that secretly he's glad that Eli silently approves.

As they walk down the street, Clare hand-in-hand with Adam, Eli's hand in the back pocket of Clare's jeans, you wouldn't know anything. It's just a snapshot; you can't decipher or understand them.

Don't worry though.

They like it that way.