Free Adam by Ariel Schrag Page A

taking T is making Max all aggro. That is seriously fucked.”
    â€œYeah, like you become a guy, so of course you’re suddenly an asshole.”
    Everyone kept talking, and all of a sudden it hit Adam. He got it. The lesbians here weren’t hermaphrodites—they were girls who wanted to be guys. And somehow this was possible. He looked back over at Boy Casey, whose arm was now wrapped around Casey’s shoulder. Boy Casey wasn’t a boy; he was a girl who became a boy. But how much of a boy? Did he have a penis? And why the fuck didn’t Casey just tell him all this from the beginning? It was so like her: she just loved having something cool and different that she could think Adam wouldn’t understand. Fuck that. He was going to pretend as if he knew all along. He’d bring it up all casual, like,
“So, since Boy Casey used to be a girl . 
.
 .”
No big deal. Fuck her. He would
not
give her the satisfaction of thinking she was revealing something special and shocking to him.
    The show chugged on as Adam tuned in and out, returning to the fantasy of Brad’s potential visit. Brad would knock on the apartment door, and Adam would be in the middle of having sex with his hot redheaded girlfriend.
“Oh, shit! Brad’s here!”
he’d say, and Redhead would exclaim,
“Where are my clothes?!”
They’d open the door all flustered and half-dressed, and Brad would totally know what was up. He’d give Adam a
“you asshole”
grin, and Adam would give a cocky grin back.
    Everyone in the room was getting riled up again. On the screen, the woman and man from the pool scene were now alone in a bedroom, making out. The man took off his shirt.
    â€œEwwwwww!!!” everyone shouted.
    The woman caressed the man’s chest. Everyone was making gagging noises. Adam could feel himself getting hard.
    The woman and man fell onto the bed, and the man pulled the woman’s underwear off. It looked like he was about to go down on her.
    â€œN-n-n-n-n-n-no,”
the woman said. “That’s not what I want.”
    A girl next to Adam snorted.
    The woman and the man stood up and stared into each other’s eyes. She reached down into his underwear.
    The room was surprisingly quiet. Adam was definitely hard now.
    The man lifted the woman up and started fucking her against the wall. She was moaning and gasping as the guy thrust himself inside her.
    This was amazing.
Adam had thought he’d see lesbians having sex, but this was a million times better.
    Someone made a faint repulsed sound.
    â€œâ€˜Do-me, red-faced man!’” said June.
    And everyone laughed.
    ***
    On the walk home, all Casey could talk about was Boy Casey and the date they’d planned to go see
Donnie Darko
, which played every Saturday at midnight at some theater. June was overly enthusiastic, telling Casey, “Don’t worry, he’s
obviously
into you.”
    â€œHe is, isn’t he? Oh my god.”
    When they got back to their building, Adam realized he was starving again.
    â€œHey, do you think that sandwich place is still open?” he asked. Another liverwurst sandwich sounded perfect.
    â€œEverything’s still open in New York,” said Casey.
    â€œI’m gonna go hit it again,” said Adam.
    â€œWhat are you getting?”
    â€œTurkey sandwich.”
    For some reason, he didn’t think he should tell them he was eating liverwurst.
    â€œPick up some toilet paper and paper towels while you’re there,” said Casey.
    Adam did not want to pick up toilet paper. What if he ran into those girls again?
    â€œHey, you got a light?”
    â€œNo, but I’ve got some toilet paper.”
    â€œFine,” he said.
    Casey and June went into the building, and Adam was alone on the street. It was after 11:00 P.M. but the air was still sweet and warm. It made his limbs feel antsy, keyed up. Adam had a sudden, crazy idea. He would text