Yngve Jarl

Quote

“I want you to but …” I bite into my lip. Trite pop floats on the wind from a party. One of my classmates’ boat. “Dag, I’m trans.” I search his face, expecting him to pull away. Instead, he turns me to face him.

Questions

What's your name

Yngve Jarl

How old are you

I'm sixteen

What do you look like

Afro mohawk with shaved patterns on the sides of my head, enough chains-and-studs to be seriously in trouble in a fight with Magneto, still-too-feminine features, and hazel eyes. A copper dragon climbing through and around my right ear, a ring through my left eyebrow, and a stud through my tongue. For other piercings, we’ll need to get better acquainted

Where were you at the start of the story

Celebrating summer by watching my peers, alone

What did you want, when the story started

To make a true connection, if only for a night

Who are your parents

Please don’t remind me. Dad’s in prison for killing my sister (though her body’s never been found, and he denies it, not that I believe him), and mom couldn’t handle the stress of that and me being trans (“both my girls are gone!”), so I was shunted into foster care when I was twelve

What was your education like

Okay, I guess. I’ve been through a few schools, but Tanum's is decent enough

Do you make friends easily

Not really. They’re generally too busy gossiping to care about me

Do you have a best friend

Nope

Can you get people to do what you want them to? If so, how

Don’t make me laugh

Do you have scars? Where did they come from

Plenty, both burns and cuts from dad, but also a few scarification tattoos. My favourite is a series of runes on my right shoulder

Can you navigate without getting lost? To what degree

Sure, we used to sail a lot before Mia-Maria disappeared

Can you bake a cake

Not well, at least

Do you know how to perform basic maintenance on a car

No, but I do know boats

Is there something you do that most other people don’t

I dunno

What is the most formative moment in your past

Coming out as trans—and my sister’s full acceptance, my sister’s disappearance and the trial against my dad, or being abandoned by my mom

Do you have any phobias

No, not really

What are some of your bad habits

I don’t think I have too many

Do you have a moral code? To what extent are your actions dictated by this code

Doesn’t everyone have some kind of code not to hurt people if they can help it?

Excerpt

My peers mingle on the docks and streets below my mountainous perch. Music from the clubs littered along them blend into a cacophony of mating calls. I observe their rituals; alone.

Steps drum an even beat against the red granite. “I’m Dag.” His scent of sweat and musk flows over me.

“Go away. I’m not a girl.” In the distance, a boat sails towards the open ocean.

“I hope not.” The deep timbre of his voice sends shivers along my skin. “Do I want to know why you needed to say that?” He flashes white canines. I fiddle with my phone. He’ll probably go away in a moment. “Why did you?”

“The last hot guy thought I was a girl.” The moment the words leave my mouth I wince. Hot guy? Smooth, Yngve, real smooth.

“I don’t.” At the vividness of his blue eyes as he leers at me, I stare down at the phone again. “I’ll go if you want me to, though I prefer to stay.”

Come on, come on, say something witty. “Sure, if you want to.” Too late. I slip the phone away, my dignity dropping off the side of the cliff. “I’m Yngve.”

He’s tanned, though not as dark as my sepia shade, with a ponytail the shade of rye to match his trimmed beard. He towers over me, with broad shoulders and slim hips.

“Nice to meet you.” His right arm hangs, unusable, at his side. “Why aren’t you partying?”

I shrug. “I needed to get away. Some fresh air.” I run my fingers over my black mohawk. With his tight chinos and dress shirt I wish I looked fancier. Instead, I have torn jeans, a leather vest that obscures my forms, and enough studs and chains that Magneto would have an easy match with me.

“Something to do with hot guys thinking you’re a girl?” He flashes his canines at me again, offering me a hand up. “Let’s go down. We can dance.”

“Sure.” I wet my lips, butterflies somersaulting in my stomach. My legs tremble, and his fingers burn against my hand.

I was right. I reach his shoulders, only matching him in height if I count my mohawk. He slips his arm around me. My body goes stiff; what if he feels it? I pull away to lead us down the path.

Hot, gay—or at least bi—, and into me. What’s the catch?