Everything seemed as if it was a dream afterwards. Daphne became increasingly popular even though she was trans and we soon received many checks in the mail to help us get gender changes. I learned some html and created a website for her with a blog and photos of her. The site grew larger and larger and many other trans people thanked us for giving them the support that they felt they needed to come out.
Jennifer, or Jen as we called her, was a great help to Daphne and I took videos of her training. They were extremely popular on YouTube, which was where we put them, and more comments and favorites than we could reply to poured in.
At some point, people wanted to know where I was and why I didn't show up on screen or on her website. They wanted to see me and ask me questions. (I was always doing filming and programming. Daphne was the only one who showed up in the videos and she was the one who wrote the replies. I just typed them for her since I typed faster.)
So I created a second website with my information on it, with links to Daphne's website. It was insane. I couldn't believe that all these good things were happening to us.
Still, we did get hate mail. I did my best to get rid of them before Daphne got a chance to see them. Sometimes I couldn't remove them fast enough and she saw them. She didn't let that discourage her though.
But there were enough haters to make her come in second place in American Idol. She didn't care one iota. She just smiled and said that this would give us a chance to get our gender changes done without the paparazzi after us 24/7.
It didn't exactly work out that well. We did get our gender changes done without the paparazzi but soon after, we had reporters at Jen's doorstep trying to interview us (mostly Daphne though) and trying to get pictures of our new selves.
We couldn't stay inside all the time, but we did our best to ignore the reporters. It seemed to make them only more interested to get our story.
Finally, enough was enough.
We both created IM accounts for the first time and opened up a chat room. There were plenty of reporters waiting for that to happen and we had many interviews. Daphne definitely got more though.
Our interviews ended up on newspapers, though not on the front page. We had fans, but society still had problems with the fact that we were trans.
Since Daphne couldn't get a singing job, we recorded her when she wanted to. Eventually, she began creating her own songs and both Jen and I helped to create background music for them.
They turned out to be rather popular and someone finally wanted Daphne to record for them.
Everything was absolutely amazing.
I still pinch myself when I wake up in our house. (We moved out of Jen's when we turned 20. We're 25 now. She still visits us often though. And she's got a lot of singing students because of Daphne.) Then I pinch myself again when I see Daphne's beautiful face in the sunlight, still sleeping, next to me. I can't believe that we've gotten this far in life.
Through all the difficulties and hardships, we've manged to this stage in our life without bodily harm from trans haters. I love her, and she loves me.
Our parents haven't contacted us since we've come out, except for that time when my mother came to the movie theater. Not that we care that much. We feel bad about the trouble we've caused our parents though we still harbor hard feelings for how they reacted to our coming out.
But could life be any more perfect than this? I can't imagine so.
AN: This is the end. It's a little short, but it's done now.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Singing Training? (Chapter 11)
I calmly walked back to the house. It was around 12 now, but it was Daphne's free day so she would be home now, unless she had decided to get up and go shopping or take a spare job. I wasn't angry at my old manager, she had only done what was best for business. What I worried about now was how Daphne and I were going to be able to support ourselves. We had been able to actually make money because we were taking extra jobs. Our regular jobs did give us some money, but not quite as much as the extra ones did. With my regular job gone, I wasn't sure if we would be able to live here much longer.
When I got home, I ate quickly, just enough to stop the rumbling in my stomach. Then I sat and waited. And waited. I got bored quickly and began doing push-ups and crunches. She finally arrived at 5.
"Where have you b-"
"I did it! I was so afraid I couldn't do itandthenIdiddoitand-"
"Slow down a second! You did what?!"
"I made it into American Idol!"
"What?! That's great! But you didn't tell me that-"
"I wanted it to be a surprise but I didn't want you to be disappointed if I didn't make it in!"
"But you never told me you wanted to sing!"
"Well..." She blushed. "I didn't think I was good enough before."
"Do people know you're trans?"
"I decided to tell them even though I knew that it might ruin my chances."
"Oh Daphne, you're so brave."
"No, I just wanted to be true to myself..." Her ears turned red all the same.
"Excuse me. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave this house." We both turned to see the owner. So not only was my manager firing me, the owner was kicking us out.
"Wha-?" Daphne began.
"We'll get our things and leave right away." I dragged Daphne by the arm upstairs and began stuffing our things into bags and backpacks.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"My manager fired me and I guess it spread."
"What spread?"
"My mother showed up at the movie theater and she wanted me to go back but I told her I wouldn't come back until she accepted that I was trans. And then she screamed in the theater that I wasn't her child and stuff. Same old, same old. Anyways, I'm out of work and I assume that you will be soon as well."
"Oh Jacob." She stopped her packing and hugged me. I felt a great warmth through my body from where her body touched me.
~*~
Sure enough, her boss fired her the next day. And now we were back to square one; homeless and work-less. But this time we had more money.
We were sitting on the sidewalk as we watched cars pass by on the second day. The first day we spent walking to where we were, but we were just had no motivation on the second day.
But one black car was different than all the others. It drove past us like all the others, but it stopped and drove back towards us. At that, we both stood up and backed away from the road, wary of the person in the car. For all we knew, the person would mean bad news for us.
"Are you Daphne?" We shot each other glances as we looked at the middle-aged, brown-haired woman in the car.
"Um... Yes?"
"And you must be Jacob!"
"Yes..." We were still unsure of what this person wanted.
"Please, come into the car and I'll give you a place to live." I wasn't sure that was the best idea, but Daphne seemed to trust the woman. And I wasn't about to leave Daphne, so I had no choice but to slip into the car next to her.
"I'm a big fan of yours and I really think that you can make it!" Daphne blushed a little.
"Thank you, Ms..."
"Just call me Jennifer."
"Pleased to meet you Jennifer." We both chimed in unison.
"Sooo cute!!!" Jennifer cooed. Daphne's mouth dropped open and I swore that my eyes were going to fall out of my head.
"Um... Thanks?" I said, incredulous.
"I have absolutely no problem that you two are trans and I'm actually hoping to help you!"
"What?!" we both screeched. She winced but continued.
"My brother, sister now, was also trans and she struggled to deal with our parents. She lives far away now, but I learned a thing or two. Also, I want to give you singing training."
"Singing training?" Daphne whispered, eyes growing wider than they already were.
"Yup! I was sure that I would be able to be a singer when I was younger, and I pursued that dream until... Let's just put it this way; I wasn't very successful. But I got a lot of training, and I hope to pass that down to you."
"Why me? Why not someone else?" I said nothing, only tried to pinch myself to check if I was dreaming.
"Because you're here, suffering, and I think you sound better than all the other people." The two of us both sat in the back in shock for the rest of the ride.
AN: I am planning to end this really soon... I just started a new story called The Other Side, so I want to wrap this one up and finish TTT.
When I got home, I ate quickly, just enough to stop the rumbling in my stomach. Then I sat and waited. And waited. I got bored quickly and began doing push-ups and crunches. She finally arrived at 5.
"Where have you b-"
"I did it! I was so afraid I couldn't do itandthenIdiddoitand-"
"Slow down a second! You did what?!"
"I made it into American Idol!"
"What?! That's great! But you didn't tell me that-"
"I wanted it to be a surprise but I didn't want you to be disappointed if I didn't make it in!"
"But you never told me you wanted to sing!"
"Well..." She blushed. "I didn't think I was good enough before."
"Do people know you're trans?"
"I decided to tell them even though I knew that it might ruin my chances."
"Oh Daphne, you're so brave."
"No, I just wanted to be true to myself..." Her ears turned red all the same.
"Excuse me. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave this house." We both turned to see the owner. So not only was my manager firing me, the owner was kicking us out.
"Wha-?" Daphne began.
"We'll get our things and leave right away." I dragged Daphne by the arm upstairs and began stuffing our things into bags and backpacks.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"My manager fired me and I guess it spread."
"What spread?"
"My mother showed up at the movie theater and she wanted me to go back but I told her I wouldn't come back until she accepted that I was trans. And then she screamed in the theater that I wasn't her child and stuff. Same old, same old. Anyways, I'm out of work and I assume that you will be soon as well."
"Oh Jacob." She stopped her packing and hugged me. I felt a great warmth through my body from where her body touched me.
~*~
Sure enough, her boss fired her the next day. And now we were back to square one; homeless and work-less. But this time we had more money.
We were sitting on the sidewalk as we watched cars pass by on the second day. The first day we spent walking to where we were, but we were just had no motivation on the second day.
But one black car was different than all the others. It drove past us like all the others, but it stopped and drove back towards us. At that, we both stood up and backed away from the road, wary of the person in the car. For all we knew, the person would mean bad news for us.
"Are you Daphne?" We shot each other glances as we looked at the middle-aged, brown-haired woman in the car.
"Um... Yes?"
"And you must be Jacob!"
"Yes..." We were still unsure of what this person wanted.
"Please, come into the car and I'll give you a place to live." I wasn't sure that was the best idea, but Daphne seemed to trust the woman. And I wasn't about to leave Daphne, so I had no choice but to slip into the car next to her.
"I'm a big fan of yours and I really think that you can make it!" Daphne blushed a little.
"Thank you, Ms..."
"Just call me Jennifer."
"Pleased to meet you Jennifer." We both chimed in unison.
"Sooo cute!!!" Jennifer cooed. Daphne's mouth dropped open and I swore that my eyes were going to fall out of my head.
"Um... Thanks?" I said, incredulous.
"I have absolutely no problem that you two are trans and I'm actually hoping to help you!"
"What?!" we both screeched. She winced but continued.
"My brother, sister now, was also trans and she struggled to deal with our parents. She lives far away now, but I learned a thing or two. Also, I want to give you singing training."
"Singing training?" Daphne whispered, eyes growing wider than they already were.
"Yup! I was sure that I would be able to be a singer when I was younger, and I pursued that dream until... Let's just put it this way; I wasn't very successful. But I got a lot of training, and I hope to pass that down to you."
"Why me? Why not someone else?" I said nothing, only tried to pinch myself to check if I was dreaming.
"Because you're here, suffering, and I think you sound better than all the other people." The two of us both sat in the back in shock for the rest of the ride.
AN: I am planning to end this really soon... I just started a new story called The Other Side, so I want to wrap this one up and finish TTT.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Problems (Chapter 10)
Our lives fell into a pattern for the next 6 months. I would wake up at 5, eat breakfast, jog, change, and then go to work. I would come back, eat lunch with Daphne (who would wake up at around when I got back) and then she would go to work. I would go shopping if necessary, clean our living quarters, and exercise some more. I'm not quite sure what Daphne did when she got home, because I was usually showered and fast asleep by then.
Daphne and I both got pay raises over time and we grew to like our jobs. Our bosses were both good people and treated everyone fairly. Or at least, that was the impression that we got while working with them.
I learned to live with little sleep and managed to stay up past 12 on more than one occasion to talk with Daphne. Though the time spent with her on a daily basis was shorter than we would have liked, we grew closer and closer to each other, learning to trust one another and sharing secrets about our past. We chuckled together in our midnight chats on funny things that had happened in work and we fought to smother our laughter when we talked about how much the owner of the house was like a pampered cat that was unruffled by the slightest disturbance. More than once we were scolded by the owner to be quiet.
We never exactly got very close to her, and those I used to know her name at one point, when we had first rented the house, but by now, I had forgotten her name. The thing we learned about living with her was this- we stayed on our side of the turf, and she stayed on her side. She did say hello to us sometimes or tell us how the kitchen appliances (we couldn't figure out how her oven worked once and it took a ten minute explanation from her for us to finally learn how to use it) worked, but other than that, not much conversation passed.
Life was good. Daphne and I had more freedom than we ever had before. And we stopped going to school. We were old enough, since I was 18 and she was 17, and so we just discontinued our trips to school. Besides, with our jobs, we couldn't really afford to go to school anyways.
Thinking of which, we were able to save up a good amount of money. The amount we used was alarming at first, but we managed to scrape up a little more than 8500. Fine, you say we only saved up around 2500 but it was a good amount of money that we saved up after 6 months, especially considering all the things we were paying. Our jobs didn't create that much money though.
We took odd jobs here and there so that we could earn some extra money. Besides, I had time and she had time, though at different periods in the day. And they killed some time anyways. I was proud of how much we saved up.
All went well until the end of the 7th month.
~*~
"Jona, I wish you would come back. I miss you. Kathy misses you." I stared blankly in shock at my mother pleading for me to come back. Then I regained control of myself and smiled slightly, trying to remain friendly.
"So you want me to come home?"
"Yes! I love you, my eldest daughter..." I stiffened.
"Daughter?"
"Of course, that's what you are?"
"No. It isn't who I am inside."
"Don't talk nonsense!" She was starting to look irritated.
"You can't change who I am. If you can't accept who I am inside, then no, I'm not going back."
"This is just some crazy, delusional idea that you have! Tell me that you miss me and that you'll come back and be a good daughter!" At this point, some of the other people in the theater began to notice what was going on. There was a break in the mass of people because people were inside watching at the moment, but there still were some stray customers and staff.
"I do miss you, but I can't say that I'm your daughter. This is not some crazy idea and until you and everyone else in the family accepts it, I will never come back."
"Fine! I always loved Kathy better! You were always the disobedient one!"
"To be quite honest, I never loved you like a mother; I only respected that you were the one who brought me into this world."
"And I will regret forever the day that you came into the world!"
"And I will never treat you with the little respect I managed to give you."
"GO TO HELL YOU DEVIL SPAWN!" She gave me the middle finger before she stormed away. She didn't use any worse language than she had when she had first made me leave "her" trash alone, but that one simple gesture was enough to make me erupt into laughter. It took me a good minute or two to stop my laughing.
When I looked up again, I found myself face to face with my boss.
"Is there something I need to do?" I was honestly confused what exactly my boss was here for. I normally didn't see her and to be looking straight at her now, I wondered if I had done something wrong.
"No, but..." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm extremely sorry about this, but I'm going to have to fire you."
"What?! What did I do?"
"You're trans, right?"
"You picked that up from the arguement with my mom?"
"Yeah. Unfortunately for you, your mother shouted loud enough for most people in the theater to hear even over the movies. I normally don't have a problem with people being trans but if word of this were to get out..."
"You would lose most of the customers."
"Yes. It's unfair, and I know, but I really can't afford to any customers."
"I understand."
"Here." She whipped out a checkbook and scribbled out a check to me. "Here's your last check and some. I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your life." She turned, but before her face was completely away from me, I saw the glimmer of a tear in her eye.
"Thank you for everything." I said before I left the movie theater for the last time.
AN: WAAAAAHHHH!!!! This was planned from the start, but it still kills me.....
Daphne and I both got pay raises over time and we grew to like our jobs. Our bosses were both good people and treated everyone fairly. Or at least, that was the impression that we got while working with them.
I learned to live with little sleep and managed to stay up past 12 on more than one occasion to talk with Daphne. Though the time spent with her on a daily basis was shorter than we would have liked, we grew closer and closer to each other, learning to trust one another and sharing secrets about our past. We chuckled together in our midnight chats on funny things that had happened in work and we fought to smother our laughter when we talked about how much the owner of the house was like a pampered cat that was unruffled by the slightest disturbance. More than once we were scolded by the owner to be quiet.
We never exactly got very close to her, and those I used to know her name at one point, when we had first rented the house, but by now, I had forgotten her name. The thing we learned about living with her was this- we stayed on our side of the turf, and she stayed on her side. She did say hello to us sometimes or tell us how the kitchen appliances (we couldn't figure out how her oven worked once and it took a ten minute explanation from her for us to finally learn how to use it) worked, but other than that, not much conversation passed.
Life was good. Daphne and I had more freedom than we ever had before. And we stopped going to school. We were old enough, since I was 18 and she was 17, and so we just discontinued our trips to school. Besides, with our jobs, we couldn't really afford to go to school anyways.
Thinking of which, we were able to save up a good amount of money. The amount we used was alarming at first, but we managed to scrape up a little more than 8500. Fine, you say we only saved up around 2500 but it was a good amount of money that we saved up after 6 months, especially considering all the things we were paying. Our jobs didn't create that much money though.
We took odd jobs here and there so that we could earn some extra money. Besides, I had time and she had time, though at different periods in the day. And they killed some time anyways. I was proud of how much we saved up.
All went well until the end of the 7th month.
~*~
"Jona, I wish you would come back. I miss you. Kathy misses you." I stared blankly in shock at my mother pleading for me to come back. Then I regained control of myself and smiled slightly, trying to remain friendly.
"So you want me to come home?"
"Yes! I love you, my eldest daughter..." I stiffened.
"Daughter?"
"Of course, that's what you are?"
"No. It isn't who I am inside."
"Don't talk nonsense!" She was starting to look irritated.
"You can't change who I am. If you can't accept who I am inside, then no, I'm not going back."
"This is just some crazy, delusional idea that you have! Tell me that you miss me and that you'll come back and be a good daughter!" At this point, some of the other people in the theater began to notice what was going on. There was a break in the mass of people because people were inside watching at the moment, but there still were some stray customers and staff.
"I do miss you, but I can't say that I'm your daughter. This is not some crazy idea and until you and everyone else in the family accepts it, I will never come back."
"Fine! I always loved Kathy better! You were always the disobedient one!"
"To be quite honest, I never loved you like a mother; I only respected that you were the one who brought me into this world."
"And I will regret forever the day that you came into the world!"
"And I will never treat you with the little respect I managed to give you."
"GO TO HELL YOU DEVIL SPAWN!" She gave me the middle finger before she stormed away. She didn't use any worse language than she had when she had first made me leave "her" trash alone, but that one simple gesture was enough to make me erupt into laughter. It took me a good minute or two to stop my laughing.
When I looked up again, I found myself face to face with my boss.
"Is there something I need to do?" I was honestly confused what exactly my boss was here for. I normally didn't see her and to be looking straight at her now, I wondered if I had done something wrong.
"No, but..." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm extremely sorry about this, but I'm going to have to fire you."
"What?! What did I do?"
"You're trans, right?"
"You picked that up from the arguement with my mom?"
"Yeah. Unfortunately for you, your mother shouted loud enough for most people in the theater to hear even over the movies. I normally don't have a problem with people being trans but if word of this were to get out..."
"You would lose most of the customers."
"Yes. It's unfair, and I know, but I really can't afford to any customers."
"I understand."
"Here." She whipped out a checkbook and scribbled out a check to me. "Here's your last check and some. I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your life." She turned, but before her face was completely away from me, I saw the glimmer of a tear in her eye.
"Thank you for everything." I said before I left the movie theater for the last time.
AN: WAAAAAHHHH!!!! This was planned from the start, but it still kills me.....
Sunday, June 22, 2008
First Day of Work (Chapter 9)
I groaned as my watch alarm blared into my ear. Being the very smart person I was, I slept on the arm that my watch was on and it so happened that it was next to my ear when it went off at 5 in the morning. Turning it off, I looked towards Daphne's general direction-she hadn't woken. I changed quickly into the (hideous) uniform for work (a weird orange and red striped shirt, a matching red visor, and black pants) and then tiptoed down the stairs.
As I heated some water up in a pot, I grabbed an instant oatmeal pack, a tea bag, and an apple. I munched on the apple until the water boiled. Then, I turned off the fire, waited for the water to settle down, and poured the water into a bowl and mug. I stuck the tea bag into the mug and dumped the instant oatmeal package into the bowl. The tea bag was left in their for a half a minute before I pulled it out and put it in a small bowl. It could be reused at least one more time.
I mixed up the instant oatmeal with one hand and used the other to finish off the apple. The core was thrown into the trash can and the oatmeal was slurped down within seconds. The tea was hotter than the oatmeal, but went pretty fast as well. Still slightly thirsty and hoping to quash some of the hunger I still felt, I heated up some more water and drank another cup of tea, this time depositing the tea bag into the trash can.
Checking my watch, I found that it was 5:10 and I still had time. So, I changed back into the clothes I had worn yesterday and jogged around the block until it was around 5:45. I headed back inside, cooled off, and then changed into the uniform once more. I walked slowly to the movie theater, knowing that it would only take around ten minutes to get there. Sure enough, I arrived five minutes early. The manager looked slightly impressed but didn't say anything. She handed me the name label I was to wear every single day and I quickly stuck in on the uniform. Then, I waited for the first customer to arrive.
It was a boring day. All I did was sell snacks and try to maintain a cheerful expression. Which apparently worked, because a lot of people came to my side of the theater rather than the other side, which also sold snacks. The manager seemed very pleased, congratulated me on my good work for the day, and then I left. I wished that I could get a pay check at the end of every week, but the pay checks were only given out every month.
I walked back to the house and then went upstairs to find Daphne still sleeping. It was amazing how someone could sleep so much. Not wanting to bother her, I slipped back downstairs and made myself lunch-instant mac and cheese. The containers only had a puny amount of food and I ended up eating two containers. Even after that, I was still slightly hungry, but it would have to do.
Daphne finally came downstairs around 4 and was changed for her job. She made her own lunch, which was one of those frozen sandwiches. It looked pretty good, though slightly small in my opinion. It seemed to fill her though, for she looked content after eating it. She downed a cup of water before sitting down across from me at the table.
"So, Jacob, how was your first day of work?"
"It was good. The manager seemed to like me and I sold a lot of stuff."
"That's great!" She sounded genuinely happy, but she could have been faking it.
We talked about work and how some guy at the movie theater wouldn't stop talking loudly even after other people had asked him nicely to quiet down a little. (I heard him through the doors where the movie was, if you can believe that. He eventually got kicked out.)
At around 4:40, she left to go to work, for Mario's was a little farther than the movie theater. I went upstairs, got out of the uniform, and hung it up to air out for tomorrow. I planned on washing it on Monday, my only free day. I did some simple exercises and then jogged outside again until it started to rain. I didn't think that Daphne had brought an umbrella, so I grabbed the one that we had bought the other day and went to Mario's to bring it to her. She looked a little surprised, but thanked me anyways. I jogged back to the house in the rain.
Completely soaked, I quickly changed my clothes and dried off my hair. I also quickly cleaned up the trail of water I had left before the owner came back.
At around 7, the owner came back, made herself dinner, ate, and then headed into the shower. As she was showering, I ate my own dinner that I heated up in the microwave. (I also chopped up some vegetables, cooked them, and put them in my microwave dinner to add nutrition to my diet.)
I had no idea what the owner of the house did for work, but she made no attempt to talk to me, so I kept my mouth shut. She didn't seem too friendly anyways.
There was nothing to do, so I doodled in a notebook until around 9, when I crept downstairs to grab a banana as a snack. I took a shower at around 9:30 and then prepared for bed. At 10, I turned off the lights, for it was supposed to be lights out at that time and tried to remain as quiet as I could. I wanted to stay awake to make sure Daphne was alright, but I fell asleep before I heard her come up the stairs.
AN: This is a slightly shorter chapter than some of the other chapters I have written, but I felt it was necessary to convey what sort of work day the two characters had. It's not an easy life. You can probably tell that Jacob is pretty much constantly hungry, despite the fact that he eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He eats only enough to make sure he's not starving, but he tries not to eat up all the food at once. Daphne, however, has a smaller stomach and doesn't require as much food as Jacob and seems fine. Poor Jacob... I hate being hungry all the time. It happens to me on school days...
As I heated some water up in a pot, I grabbed an instant oatmeal pack, a tea bag, and an apple. I munched on the apple until the water boiled. Then, I turned off the fire, waited for the water to settle down, and poured the water into a bowl and mug. I stuck the tea bag into the mug and dumped the instant oatmeal package into the bowl. The tea bag was left in their for a half a minute before I pulled it out and put it in a small bowl. It could be reused at least one more time.
I mixed up the instant oatmeal with one hand and used the other to finish off the apple. The core was thrown into the trash can and the oatmeal was slurped down within seconds. The tea was hotter than the oatmeal, but went pretty fast as well. Still slightly thirsty and hoping to quash some of the hunger I still felt, I heated up some more water and drank another cup of tea, this time depositing the tea bag into the trash can.
Checking my watch, I found that it was 5:10 and I still had time. So, I changed back into the clothes I had worn yesterday and jogged around the block until it was around 5:45. I headed back inside, cooled off, and then changed into the uniform once more. I walked slowly to the movie theater, knowing that it would only take around ten minutes to get there. Sure enough, I arrived five minutes early. The manager looked slightly impressed but didn't say anything. She handed me the name label I was to wear every single day and I quickly stuck in on the uniform. Then, I waited for the first customer to arrive.
It was a boring day. All I did was sell snacks and try to maintain a cheerful expression. Which apparently worked, because a lot of people came to my side of the theater rather than the other side, which also sold snacks. The manager seemed very pleased, congratulated me on my good work for the day, and then I left. I wished that I could get a pay check at the end of every week, but the pay checks were only given out every month.
I walked back to the house and then went upstairs to find Daphne still sleeping. It was amazing how someone could sleep so much. Not wanting to bother her, I slipped back downstairs and made myself lunch-instant mac and cheese. The containers only had a puny amount of food and I ended up eating two containers. Even after that, I was still slightly hungry, but it would have to do.
Daphne finally came downstairs around 4 and was changed for her job. She made her own lunch, which was one of those frozen sandwiches. It looked pretty good, though slightly small in my opinion. It seemed to fill her though, for she looked content after eating it. She downed a cup of water before sitting down across from me at the table.
"So, Jacob, how was your first day of work?"
"It was good. The manager seemed to like me and I sold a lot of stuff."
"That's great!" She sounded genuinely happy, but she could have been faking it.
We talked about work and how some guy at the movie theater wouldn't stop talking loudly even after other people had asked him nicely to quiet down a little. (I heard him through the doors where the movie was, if you can believe that. He eventually got kicked out.)
At around 4:40, she left to go to work, for Mario's was a little farther than the movie theater. I went upstairs, got out of the uniform, and hung it up to air out for tomorrow. I planned on washing it on Monday, my only free day. I did some simple exercises and then jogged outside again until it started to rain. I didn't think that Daphne had brought an umbrella, so I grabbed the one that we had bought the other day and went to Mario's to bring it to her. She looked a little surprised, but thanked me anyways. I jogged back to the house in the rain.
Completely soaked, I quickly changed my clothes and dried off my hair. I also quickly cleaned up the trail of water I had left before the owner came back.
At around 7, the owner came back, made herself dinner, ate, and then headed into the shower. As she was showering, I ate my own dinner that I heated up in the microwave. (I also chopped up some vegetables, cooked them, and put them in my microwave dinner to add nutrition to my diet.)
I had no idea what the owner of the house did for work, but she made no attempt to talk to me, so I kept my mouth shut. She didn't seem too friendly anyways.
There was nothing to do, so I doodled in a notebook until around 9, when I crept downstairs to grab a banana as a snack. I took a shower at around 9:30 and then prepared for bed. At 10, I turned off the lights, for it was supposed to be lights out at that time and tried to remain as quiet as I could. I wanted to stay awake to make sure Daphne was alright, but I fell asleep before I heard her come up the stairs.
AN: This is a slightly shorter chapter than some of the other chapters I have written, but I felt it was necessary to convey what sort of work day the two characters had. It's not an easy life. You can probably tell that Jacob is pretty much constantly hungry, despite the fact that he eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He eats only enough to make sure he's not starving, but he tries not to eat up all the food at once. Daphne, however, has a smaller stomach and doesn't require as much food as Jacob and seems fine. Poor Jacob... I hate being hungry all the time. It happens to me on school days...
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Renting (Chapter 8)
I stared at the olive colored door as I waited for the owner to open the door. Daphne, nervously biting her nails (a habit that took me forever to grow out of, despite my mother's constant bothering), stood behind me, also waiting. The door opened and a young woman (not what I had expected) looked at us confused from the doorway.
"Hi, I'm Jona and this is Noah. We're here to rent the upper level of your house and access to your kitchen." I hesitated slightly with the names, but I chose to use our given names. We had used them when we had gotten our jobs and we'd most likely survive longer if we maintained them. I felt that we'd be safer if we pretended that we weren't trans for now. It felt like hiding our true selves, but if that was what we had to do to protect ourselves, then it was what would have to be done.
"Oh come right in. Let me show you the rooms that you can use and what the rules are." I cautiously stepped into the extremely clean house with Daphne close on my heels. She gave me a look to tell me that she understood why I had chosen to use our given names once again, just like I had when she had chosen to use Noah at Mario's.
"First off," I snapped back to the real world from my thoughts and paid attention to her words as best as I could. "you have to clean up after yourself. Trash is put into the trash bins and put outside on Mondays. I will check on Sundays that the rooms upstairs are clean. The top half of the refrigerator is yours to use. Same goes for the freezer. You may use the kitchen when necessary. Lights go out at 10 and waking time is 7 at the latest." She began to head up the stairs. When she reached the top, she waited until we seemed ready and listening again.
"Here is the second floor. This is the top floor unless you count the attic, which you are not allowed into. Try to keep it quiet and no permanent decorations. The pay is $250 per month. These are the only rules I ask you to follow. Is that clear?" We nodded silently and she slipped back downstairs to leave us to our own devices.
"Let's take a good look at what's up here then, shall we?" Daphne looked slightly weary, but her eyes were bright with excitement, so I agreed. There was only one bedroom with only one bed, a couch, a small table, two chairs and a spacious closet. It was a good thing that there was a couch or else I would never be able to sleep. A small bathroom was next door. Other than that, there was a small empty closet near the bedroom and a balcony. (It seemed that this closet was used for towels and stuff, but I never really paid attention to things like that.)
"Well, it's a decent place. Relatively clean and spacious. It'll do for now." I thought that we had gotten a pretty good deal for $250 a month.
"Can we afford it though?" Daphne's gentle voice reminded me that we had to watch the money.
"Well... I think food might be around $150 a week. Other things, such as toilet paper and such, probably will be around $25-$50 a week. You make $1100 a month and I make $950 a month so we should be able to make it."
"So we'll make a little money at least?"
"I should hope so. We may have to eat sparingly though."
"Well, I wanted to watch my figure anyways." We laughed, though weariness and sadness tinged our laughter.
There wasn't much to unpack, and we were done by around 2. Then we headed out to buy supplies. By then, our stomachs were starting to growl, and to stave off the hunger for a while, Daphne opened up the chips, and we ate as we walked to Costco. We didn't say anything at all as we walked; the only noises we made were that of chewing.
Daphne headed off to find the things that she needed and I went off to find what I needed. When we met again, she had a basket full of things and so did I. Then we got some simple snacks. The total cost ended up being $189.48, more than I had expected. But it was just for the beginning. Most of the things would be used for an extended amount of time. Even so, I worried.
~*~
At around 4, Daphne and I made it back to the place that was to be home for a while. We ended up going to the supermarket and buying a lot of microwave-able foods. Probably not very healthy, but it was food all the same. I also picked out some fruits and vegetables we could eat for snacks and such.
The freezer section that we had been allowed ended up being almost completely full, while the refrigerator section only had fruits and vegetables and was mostly empty.
Daphne wasn't very hungry and only had a small appetite, but I was ravenous. She ate half of her microwave dinner and I ate mines and the other half of hers. Even after that, I was still hungry. But the meal filled me enough so that my stomach was no longer growling, and that was all that really mattered.
I did a few crunches and push-ups while Daphne was taking a shower. (I also set the alarm on my watch to 5 in the morning.) When I got out of the shower after her, I found that she had organized our things. She showed me where everything was and then collapsed onto the bed. I settled for the couch.
It wasn't too bad after adding a pillow and a blanket. It was a little small and lumpy, but it was fairly good. I tossed and turned all night. Daphne was asleep, I could tell, for her breathing was peaceful and slow. It wasn't that the couch was uncomfortable, it was more that...I had too many things on my mind. Yet, I wasn't really thinking about them, stuff was just floating around in my mind.
I wondered how much a gender change would cost for the both of us, if we would be able to survive, if we would be able to save up enough money to do a gender change, if we would ever be accepted as trans. And there was more things going on in my mind, that I think I won't mention.
It must have been past 12 when I finally fell asleep, for I remember looking at my watch at 11:38 and not being able to sleep for a long time afterwards.
"Hi, I'm Jona and this is Noah. We're here to rent the upper level of your house and access to your kitchen." I hesitated slightly with the names, but I chose to use our given names. We had used them when we had gotten our jobs and we'd most likely survive longer if we maintained them. I felt that we'd be safer if we pretended that we weren't trans for now. It felt like hiding our true selves, but if that was what we had to do to protect ourselves, then it was what would have to be done.
"Oh come right in. Let me show you the rooms that you can use and what the rules are." I cautiously stepped into the extremely clean house with Daphne close on my heels. She gave me a look to tell me that she understood why I had chosen to use our given names once again, just like I had when she had chosen to use Noah at Mario's.
"First off," I snapped back to the real world from my thoughts and paid attention to her words as best as I could. "you have to clean up after yourself. Trash is put into the trash bins and put outside on Mondays. I will check on Sundays that the rooms upstairs are clean. The top half of the refrigerator is yours to use. Same goes for the freezer. You may use the kitchen when necessary. Lights go out at 10 and waking time is 7 at the latest." She began to head up the stairs. When she reached the top, she waited until we seemed ready and listening again.
"Here is the second floor. This is the top floor unless you count the attic, which you are not allowed into. Try to keep it quiet and no permanent decorations. The pay is $250 per month. These are the only rules I ask you to follow. Is that clear?" We nodded silently and she slipped back downstairs to leave us to our own devices.
"Let's take a good look at what's up here then, shall we?" Daphne looked slightly weary, but her eyes were bright with excitement, so I agreed. There was only one bedroom with only one bed, a couch, a small table, two chairs and a spacious closet. It was a good thing that there was a couch or else I would never be able to sleep. A small bathroom was next door. Other than that, there was a small empty closet near the bedroom and a balcony. (It seemed that this closet was used for towels and stuff, but I never really paid attention to things like that.)
"Well, it's a decent place. Relatively clean and spacious. It'll do for now." I thought that we had gotten a pretty good deal for $250 a month.
"Can we afford it though?" Daphne's gentle voice reminded me that we had to watch the money.
"Well... I think food might be around $150 a week. Other things, such as toilet paper and such, probably will be around $25-$50 a week. You make $1100 a month and I make $950 a month so we should be able to make it."
"So we'll make a little money at least?"
"I should hope so. We may have to eat sparingly though."
"Well, I wanted to watch my figure anyways." We laughed, though weariness and sadness tinged our laughter.
There wasn't much to unpack, and we were done by around 2. Then we headed out to buy supplies. By then, our stomachs were starting to growl, and to stave off the hunger for a while, Daphne opened up the chips, and we ate as we walked to Costco. We didn't say anything at all as we walked; the only noises we made were that of chewing.
Daphne headed off to find the things that she needed and I went off to find what I needed. When we met again, she had a basket full of things and so did I. Then we got some simple snacks. The total cost ended up being $189.48, more than I had expected. But it was just for the beginning. Most of the things would be used for an extended amount of time. Even so, I worried.
~*~
At around 4, Daphne and I made it back to the place that was to be home for a while. We ended up going to the supermarket and buying a lot of microwave-able foods. Probably not very healthy, but it was food all the same. I also picked out some fruits and vegetables we could eat for snacks and such.
The freezer section that we had been allowed ended up being almost completely full, while the refrigerator section only had fruits and vegetables and was mostly empty.
Daphne wasn't very hungry and only had a small appetite, but I was ravenous. She ate half of her microwave dinner and I ate mines and the other half of hers. Even after that, I was still hungry. But the meal filled me enough so that my stomach was no longer growling, and that was all that really mattered.
I did a few crunches and push-ups while Daphne was taking a shower. (I also set the alarm on my watch to 5 in the morning.) When I got out of the shower after her, I found that she had organized our things. She showed me where everything was and then collapsed onto the bed. I settled for the couch.
It wasn't too bad after adding a pillow and a blanket. It was a little small and lumpy, but it was fairly good. I tossed and turned all night. Daphne was asleep, I could tell, for her breathing was peaceful and slow. It wasn't that the couch was uncomfortable, it was more that...I had too many things on my mind. Yet, I wasn't really thinking about them, stuff was just floating around in my mind.
I wondered how much a gender change would cost for the both of us, if we would be able to survive, if we would be able to save up enough money to do a gender change, if we would ever be accepted as trans. And there was more things going on in my mind, that I think I won't mention.
It must have been past 12 when I finally fell asleep, for I remember looking at my watch at 11:38 and not being able to sleep for a long time afterwards.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Trying to Survive (Chapter 7)
I woke to find Daphne safely in my arms, sleeping soundly, her head against my shoulder. Her sleeping face was twisted into a worried and sad expression, sending a pang of pain to my heart. She and I were on our own now and we both knew it.
My father had kicked my out of the house and my mother would never accept the fact that I was trans. Kathy most likely would be shielded and might even be told that I ran away from home.
Daphne's parents I wasn't so sure about, but they had turned her out, so I guessed that she wouldn't be able to go back either.
"Jacob?" I looked down at Daphne's beautiful face, eyes full of so much pain. Instinctively, I pulled her close to me. I never wanted her to be hurt; I wanted to protect her.
"We can never go back, can we?" she said mournfully. My shoulder had become damp and I guessed that she was crying again.
"No, I don't suppose we can." I whispered, kissing her forehead gently.
"We should at least try to get some of our things." Daphne shifted herself out of my embrace and stood up. Her eyes were slightly red, but other than that, you couldn't tell that she had been crying.
"Meet you back here afterwards?" She nodded in consent to my suggestion and we parted ways.
~*~
I didn't even have to go inside. Apparently, my room had already been emptied of its contents. Scavenging around, I found a backpack and filled it with whatever essentials I could find.
They had dumped my safe outside, not knowing how to open it. Thank goodness for that. Sighing with relief (what little relief I could feel), I opened it and took out the $2000 I had saved up over the years. There was also some jewelry that had been presents from Christmases and birthdays past. I could probably sell them for money or perhaps give them to Daphne if she wanted.
I had just barely finished putting all my finding into the backpack when my mother stormed out of the house.
"Get away from my trash." She looked ready to kill someone.
"If it's trash, then you don't want it. So why can't I take it?"
"SHUT UP! LEAVE THIS HOUSE ALONE! DON'T EVER COME BACK!"
"And so a mother abandons her child." I commented dryly before turning away from her.
"YOU'RE NO CHILD OF MINE! GO BURN IN HELL!" I suppressed a snicker, despite the fact that this wasn't the time to be laughing. This was the worst I'd ever heard from my mother.
"I'll say hi to the devil for you!" I shouted to her as I walked away from the house I'd lived in for all my life. I would never return to that house.
~*~
It took Daphne around 10 minutes to arrive after I had made it to our designated waiting spot. She was carrying a filled bag.
"Any luck?" She nodded at my question and put down her bag.
"I got clothes, some money, and a bag of chips. You?"
"Clothes, money, and jewelry. Where'd you get the chips?"
"My dad let me in for a little, giving me the cold shoulder the whole time, but got me out of the house ASAP."
"Lucky you. My stuff was already outside."
"Already ou- Oh Jacob, I'm so sorry."
"There's nothing to be done about it." I replied bitterly.
"Where will we go now?"
"I don't know. How much money did you bring?" I honestly didn't know what we were going to do.
"$4000. Why?"
"First off, we need to find a place to live and secondly, we need money for food. Finally, I don't know if you're interested, but I was considering on getting a gender change as soon as possible."
"If you get a gender change, I'll do mines at the same time."
"We have to get enough money first. Do you know how much it costs?"
"No... But we can find out, right?"
"Yup. I suggest we try to get jobs though."
"Where?"
"I don't know. Where ever we can, I guess." I headed off towards the center of town, where there were stores that could possibly have job openings. Daphne followed behind hesitantly, unsure of what to do. To tell you truth, I didn't really know what to do either, but I tried my best.
It took a long time and a lot of persuading to get Daphne a job at Mario's as a waitress. (Actually, the job description was for a waiter, but I say waitress because I consider Daphne a girl. She applied as Noah though.) I was glad that we were both old enough to have jobs otherwise we would have been in quite a bit of a pickle.
The manager set out to teach Daphne how things worked and I told her I'd be back at 1 (it was around 11). Then I tried to get myself a job. The only job available was selling concessions at the movie theater. I accepted the job (a little reluctantly, for it wasn't a very appealing job) and told the manager I'd begin tomorrow after she had explained how everything operated.
Upon checking my watch, I found it was only a few minutes until it was 1, so I quickly made my way to Mario's. Daphne was already outside waiting for me.
"So everything is all set?" I asked, wanting to make sure things were okay.
"Yeah, I begin tomorrow, from 5 to 11 at night."
"You got the night shift?"
"Unfortunately, yes. It's a good thing I don't usually fall asleep until 12 at night. What about you?"
"Selling snacks at the theater from 6 am to 3 pm."
"Jeez, we only see each other for a couple hours, if at all."
"It'll be hard, but we'll have to make it work. We have no choice."
"I know..." There was a pause.
"We should look for shelter now, shouldn't we?" I looked at Daphne, then nodded in agreement.
"Someone might be renting a room or two if we're lucky." Picking up the town newspaper (someone had left it on a nearby bench), I looked at the ads.
We got lucky. Some lady was renting out the upper level of her house, plus access to the kitchen.
My father had kicked my out of the house and my mother would never accept the fact that I was trans. Kathy most likely would be shielded and might even be told that I ran away from home.
Daphne's parents I wasn't so sure about, but they had turned her out, so I guessed that she wouldn't be able to go back either.
"Jacob?" I looked down at Daphne's beautiful face, eyes full of so much pain. Instinctively, I pulled her close to me. I never wanted her to be hurt; I wanted to protect her.
"We can never go back, can we?" she said mournfully. My shoulder had become damp and I guessed that she was crying again.
"No, I don't suppose we can." I whispered, kissing her forehead gently.
"We should at least try to get some of our things." Daphne shifted herself out of my embrace and stood up. Her eyes were slightly red, but other than that, you couldn't tell that she had been crying.
"Meet you back here afterwards?" She nodded in consent to my suggestion and we parted ways.
~*~
I didn't even have to go inside. Apparently, my room had already been emptied of its contents. Scavenging around, I found a backpack and filled it with whatever essentials I could find.
They had dumped my safe outside, not knowing how to open it. Thank goodness for that. Sighing with relief (what little relief I could feel), I opened it and took out the $2000 I had saved up over the years. There was also some jewelry that had been presents from Christmases and birthdays past. I could probably sell them for money or perhaps give them to Daphne if she wanted.
I had just barely finished putting all my finding into the backpack when my mother stormed out of the house.
"Get away from my trash." She looked ready to kill someone.
"If it's trash, then you don't want it. So why can't I take it?"
"SHUT UP! LEAVE THIS HOUSE ALONE! DON'T EVER COME BACK!"
"And so a mother abandons her child." I commented dryly before turning away from her.
"YOU'RE NO CHILD OF MINE! GO BURN IN HELL!" I suppressed a snicker, despite the fact that this wasn't the time to be laughing. This was the worst I'd ever heard from my mother.
"I'll say hi to the devil for you!" I shouted to her as I walked away from the house I'd lived in for all my life. I would never return to that house.
~*~
It took Daphne around 10 minutes to arrive after I had made it to our designated waiting spot. She was carrying a filled bag.
"Any luck?" She nodded at my question and put down her bag.
"I got clothes, some money, and a bag of chips. You?"
"Clothes, money, and jewelry. Where'd you get the chips?"
"My dad let me in for a little, giving me the cold shoulder the whole time, but got me out of the house ASAP."
"Lucky you. My stuff was already outside."
"Already ou- Oh Jacob, I'm so sorry."
"There's nothing to be done about it." I replied bitterly.
"Where will we go now?"
"I don't know. How much money did you bring?" I honestly didn't know what we were going to do.
"$4000. Why?"
"First off, we need to find a place to live and secondly, we need money for food. Finally, I don't know if you're interested, but I was considering on getting a gender change as soon as possible."
"If you get a gender change, I'll do mines at the same time."
"We have to get enough money first. Do you know how much it costs?"
"No... But we can find out, right?"
"Yup. I suggest we try to get jobs though."
"Where?"
"I don't know. Where ever we can, I guess." I headed off towards the center of town, where there were stores that could possibly have job openings. Daphne followed behind hesitantly, unsure of what to do. To tell you truth, I didn't really know what to do either, but I tried my best.
It took a long time and a lot of persuading to get Daphne a job at Mario's as a waitress. (Actually, the job description was for a waiter, but I say waitress because I consider Daphne a girl. She applied as Noah though.) I was glad that we were both old enough to have jobs otherwise we would have been in quite a bit of a pickle.
The manager set out to teach Daphne how things worked and I told her I'd be back at 1 (it was around 11). Then I tried to get myself a job. The only job available was selling concessions at the movie theater. I accepted the job (a little reluctantly, for it wasn't a very appealing job) and told the manager I'd begin tomorrow after she had explained how everything operated.
Upon checking my watch, I found it was only a few minutes until it was 1, so I quickly made my way to Mario's. Daphne was already outside waiting for me.
"So everything is all set?" I asked, wanting to make sure things were okay.
"Yeah, I begin tomorrow, from 5 to 11 at night."
"You got the night shift?"
"Unfortunately, yes. It's a good thing I don't usually fall asleep until 12 at night. What about you?"
"Selling snacks at the theater from 6 am to 3 pm."
"Jeez, we only see each other for a couple hours, if at all."
"It'll be hard, but we'll have to make it work. We have no choice."
"I know..." There was a pause.
"We should look for shelter now, shouldn't we?" I looked at Daphne, then nodded in agreement.
"Someone might be renting a room or two if we're lucky." Picking up the town newspaper (someone had left it on a nearby bench), I looked at the ads.
We got lucky. Some lady was renting out the upper level of her house, plus access to the kitchen.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Coming Out (Chapter 6)
Daphne and I met for several months after that. She soon became skilled at the crafts I had taught her and quickly surpassed me. We found that her backyard worked for sport practice, as her father never paid attention to anything much but the tv and her mother was usually at work. I tackled the challenges will relish and she claimed that I was now better than her, though I wasn't a very good judge of such things. I suppose I would have been biased since I felt that anything she did was amazing.
Concerning our relationship, it didn't move much farther. The night that I had been knocked out had been purely a gut feeling that I followed. I enjoyed it though, and wondered how our relationship would turn out in the future. We did get past the touch barrier, and we were comfortable just casually putting an arm around the other and those kinds simple acts. The only thing was that we were scared to let our parents know that we were in a relationship. And we were also scared of having other kids our age find out. We stood a relatively decent distance apart in public but in private, we were much more comfortable and relaxed about everything.
We kept our relationship in the dark to the world. But then one day, everything changed.
"Jacob?"
"Is something wrong Daphne?" I stopped bouncing the soccer ball up and down on my knees, catching the whirling ball of black and white.
"It's not that something is wrong, it's more...don't you feel that this is wrong?"
"What feels wrong?"
"Hiding all this from the world. I want to be able to hug you in public. I want to be able to do things that 'normal'" (She scowled at the usage of the word, but I knew what she meant.) "couples do that aren't usually questioned by society."
"How do you want to go about this then?" I walked over to where Daphne had been absentmindedly embroidering a piece of cloth and sat in front of her.
"I want us to come out." I had been taking a breath in, and somehow I had managed to choke on my own saliva. It took a minute to recover from the coughing fit that followed.
"You want us to what?!" I hoped that I had heard her wrong.
"I want us to come out." I hadn't. If we were to come out, we would go through extreme bullying. A lot of problems would come up from our coming out.
"But...are you prepared for what will happen if you come out?"
"Of course I am."
"Are you really sure about that? I know the whole process will be hard, especially on the parents."
"Yes, I'm sure. Oh Jacob, please say you'll do it with me!"
"I..." I didn't really, but I found myself gazing into those gorgeous brown eyes and I felt myself give in. "I'll do it with you." I eventually said, knowing I'd probably regret the decision later.
"Thank you soooooo much Jacob!" she squealed, quickly hugging me.
"You're welcome." I murmured softly.
We hung out for a while more before it was around time for me to go to dinner. She made me promise that I would talk to my parents before the week was up. I did and then I headed home with dread weighing me down.
~*~
I couldn't bring myself to tell my parents on the first night, nor the second nor third. I only had a fourth and fifth night left. On the fourth night, my parents were so ecstatic about something Kathy did (I wasn't really listening), that I thought it unfair to intrude in their rejoicing.
Finally, I managed to bring it up at the dinner table.
"Um..."
"Don't say um!" snapped my mother.
"There's something I need to tell you."
"It isn't something bad is it? You haven't gotten yourself pregnant or done drugs?" my father inquired as I winced slightly.
"No, I'm not pregnant or on drugs. But it might be hard to take this."
"Shall we sit down properly and expect the unexpected?" My mother was the control freak she was as usual.
"That would be a good idea." The family scooted around until they were completely in their seats.
"This may come as a shock to you and I want you to think about it when I tell you." I could hear my pulse rushing through my ears. "You may have noticed certain changed about my hair and attire." My hands grew sweaty and damp. "There has been a reason for this change." I think my heart stopped for a moment here. "This is because I am a boy inside."
"That's a good joke, Jona!" Kathy said, smiling.
"No. It's not a joke. I was born a girl, but I should have been born a boy."
"Kathy. Please leave the room." My father looked ready to kill someone. Kathy, always the obedient one, left the room and headed to her bedroom.
"You freak of nature." my mother shot at me, her eyes cold.
"Get out. GET OUT! YOU AREN'T MY CHILD, GET OUT!" I had never heard such a commanding, harsh tone in my father's voice before. The only things I was able to take with me were what I was wearing and the cell phone that was in my pocket.
"THAT'S RIGHT, LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK YOU FREAK!" I could hear my father's voice in the distance as I ran to Daphne's.
When I knocked on the door, I was told that Daphne (well, her father said Noah) was gone and that I probably wouldn't find her here. And then the door was slammed on my face.
I ran to the first place I could think of; our little place in the woods behind my school. She was already there, sobbing into her hands.
"Daphne." I called softly, not wanting to surprise her. She looked up, her chocolate eyes ringed with red and tears falling from them.
"Jacob!" she cried out and ran to me. I folded my arms around her protectively, pulling her towards me as she sobbed into my shoulder.
I had never been as close to my family as Daphne had been, but the fact that my parents threw me out of the house hurt all the same. Poor Daphne though, her family was tight and it probably hurt her more than it hurt me.
We stood there for a while; her crying and me trying to comfort her. There was no where we could go when the sun finally set and the stars came out.
AN: This chapter just about killed me. I am feeling so bad for the characters' whose lives I just destroyed.
Concerning our relationship, it didn't move much farther. The night that I had been knocked out had been purely a gut feeling that I followed. I enjoyed it though, and wondered how our relationship would turn out in the future. We did get past the touch barrier, and we were comfortable just casually putting an arm around the other and those kinds simple acts. The only thing was that we were scared to let our parents know that we were in a relationship. And we were also scared of having other kids our age find out. We stood a relatively decent distance apart in public but in private, we were much more comfortable and relaxed about everything.
We kept our relationship in the dark to the world. But then one day, everything changed.
"Jacob?"
"Is something wrong Daphne?" I stopped bouncing the soccer ball up and down on my knees, catching the whirling ball of black and white.
"It's not that something is wrong, it's more...don't you feel that this is wrong?"
"What feels wrong?"
"Hiding all this from the world. I want to be able to hug you in public. I want to be able to do things that 'normal'" (She scowled at the usage of the word, but I knew what she meant.) "couples do that aren't usually questioned by society."
"How do you want to go about this then?" I walked over to where Daphne had been absentmindedly embroidering a piece of cloth and sat in front of her.
"I want us to come out." I had been taking a breath in, and somehow I had managed to choke on my own saliva. It took a minute to recover from the coughing fit that followed.
"You want us to what?!" I hoped that I had heard her wrong.
"I want us to come out." I hadn't. If we were to come out, we would go through extreme bullying. A lot of problems would come up from our coming out.
"But...are you prepared for what will happen if you come out?"
"Of course I am."
"Are you really sure about that? I know the whole process will be hard, especially on the parents."
"Yes, I'm sure. Oh Jacob, please say you'll do it with me!"
"I..." I didn't really, but I found myself gazing into those gorgeous brown eyes and I felt myself give in. "I'll do it with you." I eventually said, knowing I'd probably regret the decision later.
"Thank you soooooo much Jacob!" she squealed, quickly hugging me.
"You're welcome." I murmured softly.
We hung out for a while more before it was around time for me to go to dinner. She made me promise that I would talk to my parents before the week was up. I did and then I headed home with dread weighing me down.
~*~
I couldn't bring myself to tell my parents on the first night, nor the second nor third. I only had a fourth and fifth night left. On the fourth night, my parents were so ecstatic about something Kathy did (I wasn't really listening), that I thought it unfair to intrude in their rejoicing.
Finally, I managed to bring it up at the dinner table.
"Um..."
"Don't say um!" snapped my mother.
"There's something I need to tell you."
"It isn't something bad is it? You haven't gotten yourself pregnant or done drugs?" my father inquired as I winced slightly.
"No, I'm not pregnant or on drugs. But it might be hard to take this."
"Shall we sit down properly and expect the unexpected?" My mother was the control freak she was as usual.
"That would be a good idea." The family scooted around until they were completely in their seats.
"This may come as a shock to you and I want you to think about it when I tell you." I could hear my pulse rushing through my ears. "You may have noticed certain changed about my hair and attire." My hands grew sweaty and damp. "There has been a reason for this change." I think my heart stopped for a moment here. "This is because I am a boy inside."
"That's a good joke, Jona!" Kathy said, smiling.
"No. It's not a joke. I was born a girl, but I should have been born a boy."
"Kathy. Please leave the room." My father looked ready to kill someone. Kathy, always the obedient one, left the room and headed to her bedroom.
"You freak of nature." my mother shot at me, her eyes cold.
"Get out. GET OUT! YOU AREN'T MY CHILD, GET OUT!" I had never heard such a commanding, harsh tone in my father's voice before. The only things I was able to take with me were what I was wearing and the cell phone that was in my pocket.
"THAT'S RIGHT, LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK YOU FREAK!" I could hear my father's voice in the distance as I ran to Daphne's.
When I knocked on the door, I was told that Daphne (well, her father said Noah) was gone and that I probably wouldn't find her here. And then the door was slammed on my face.
I ran to the first place I could think of; our little place in the woods behind my school. She was already there, sobbing into her hands.
"Daphne." I called softly, not wanting to surprise her. She looked up, her chocolate eyes ringed with red and tears falling from them.
"Jacob!" she cried out and ran to me. I folded my arms around her protectively, pulling her towards me as she sobbed into my shoulder.
I had never been as close to my family as Daphne had been, but the fact that my parents threw me out of the house hurt all the same. Poor Daphne though, her family was tight and it probably hurt her more than it hurt me.
We stood there for a while; her crying and me trying to comfort her. There was no where we could go when the sun finally set and the stars came out.
AN: This chapter just about killed me. I am feeling so bad for the characters' whose lives I just destroyed.
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