A Different Sort Of Magic!

“She had always been Queer all her life,” Zoe thought to herself. She wanted really wanted to tell someone though. Not about her supposed Gender confusion. But about the fact that ‘she was confused like many other young people’.

She just wanted to talk about her feelings to someone. She happened to pass by the School Counselor’s office. The one everyone called ‘The Shrink’, since for some reason she thought that it was empty, with only the Counselor inside.

When she entered, She confessed immediately — I’ve been kissing a girl, and I know it’s wrong.

“You had better believe it but,” the Counselor said to her, “your coming out makes you brave. Your telling the truth makes you different. And you know what else? The very fact that you approached someone you think can help you is a sign. This might be where Magic Happens.”

She sat down and had a long talk with the concerned-looking woman. She seemed to indeed be the shrink that everyone called her, but in spite of what people said about her, she seemed like a fine, understanding woman. Little did she notice while she was talking that she had left the door ajar.

They both had been speaking for more than 30 minutes and when Zoe was about to walk out of the room, she nearly slammed the door on her friend who happened to be eavesdropping.

Zoe Fernandez and Ruth Bader had been friends for a long time. Ruth knew about Zoe as the one who had always generally been good in sports, and the one who usually was the guy in the girl’s group of friends. A strong shoulder to lean on, she was simplistic like that, but she was not taken in by the world or its ways in general.

Ruth on the other hand had some explaining to do, all zoe could wonder about was ‘Why was her friend standing at the door, listening to her, speaking to a shrink?’ People normally did not do that.

“Zoe what just happened was magic!” Ruth knew what her friend was thinking!

“Wha- why?” Zoe replied

“Zoe, you border on being Queer, why would you want to go to a shrink? The very fact that you entered that place on a whim says lots of things about you.” Ruth said again. “Isn’t that Magical?” She quipped.

“Did you actually hear the whole conversation?” Zoe looked at her quizzically.

“Kinda,” Ruth said again. She could tell her friend was being brave.

Zoe and Ruth walked through the hallway talking about things as they usually did and attending classes. Zoe Fernandez knew one thing about her friend, that she did not lie. “Ruth, thanks for telling the truth! It’s one thing to be a good person in this world, but being a good person who is witty and smart at the same time, counts for something too, in this modern world.”

Zoe Fernandez as usual tried to be herself. She was introverted in a way that people did not understand. She paid attention in class that day. It was strange how she managed to be so good in English Literature Class.

The particular lesson that was being discussed in Class that day was a remake of the Titanic. The teacher asked a question —

“Why did the Titanic — which was apparently the strongest, largest vessel ever built — why did it sink?” The teacher being the nosy type asked Zoe

“Because there is a God. I heard that scientists thought this great contraption would never sink. Did you know that more peasants on the great vessel survived than the rich ones?”

Everyone looked at Zoe. They were spellbound. But The teacher who was called Hans Van Beuren said “Brilliant. That’s what my mother thought too.”

Ruth couldn’t help but smile to herself sheepishly. She knew her friend was really good at saying things like this. Zoe was normally weird, bordered on queer but she knew who she was.

Ruth Bader knew that no one messed with Hans Van Beuren. He usually liked to ask questions at the drop of a hat. There was no way to appease him, other than to say something that would please him.

Zoe went home and looked up “Queer” on the internet. “It just said odd or different it doesn’t necessarily mean I am a lesbian because I like to run.” She thought out loud again.

Zoe happened to have a Bible on her bed. She normally crashed after school and fell asleep without eating her lunch. She decided to open the proverbs section. It had some really neat sayings!

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

That seemed like more Literature than the Titanic could ever be. Why did Zoe Fernandez ever have to kiss a girl? She must have been really upset that day. Zoe felt her skin all irritated.

Zoe thought to herself that she just was different. She was not gay. She felt a special Love for Jesus Christ because he was different too! He stood up for all that was right, yet, they rejected him coz he came from Nazareth, and was apparently a carpenter’s son

The next day Zoe and Ruth decided to revisit the counselor lady’s office. Zoe knocked on the door. And she beckoned them to come in. Zoe told her all about what happened the previous day since by now she had founded some sort of trust in the counselor. Everything from how Ruth affirmed that everything the counselor said ‘was magical’ to what ‘Zoe said in class’ to what Zoe thought about herself and even what she coincidentally saw in the Bible when she was on her bed.

The Counselor happened to be a Christian woman too. That seemed to be a ‘surprise’ to Ruth, who happened to vouch for all things good without ever intending to mean them in that way. The Counselor took a liking to Ruth because she always seemed to tell the truth!

The Counselor mentioned to them that Ruth’s telling the truth seemed to have changed Zoe’s destiny. Zoe was a bright, promising individual who could probably do great things with her life. Being queer did actually mean ‘just odd or strange’. Maybe turning lesbian was a bad idea.

Zoe went home, and re-read what she read in the book of Proverbs that spoke to her in a personal way. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

Zoe decided not to turn towards extremes in life — she wanted to remain pure, like the Young man in the Bible. It seemed almost cool to do it. She also decided to apply to Life everything she had been learning in life from the good friends who had always stuck by her side. Wasn’t it good that Ruth told the truth? Well, almost Magical! That was indeed, a different sort of magic!