After class

School records can be wrong. So while I considered the "F" next to "Gender" in my gradebook and attendance app, I also considered the vests, the close-cut hair, the chosen nickname, and last year's work founding our rural school's first Gay-Straight Alliance.

I had never asked anyone before (never had call to, really), but I felt like I should, and after wrapping up a one-on-one discussion of writing process, I did.

"By the way, I certainly don't want to pry, and I hope you don't mind my asking. What are your preferred pronouns?"

A quiet moment. A blink or so.

"You know, no one's ever asked me that before. Thank you... I prefer 'he,'" he said.