Introduction

I don't know when I truly realized when I was not what I seemed on the outside. All I know is that I know that my old body did not show who I was inside.
It took a lot to get to this stage in my life. It wasn't as hard for me, but for the love of my life, it was hard. I helped as much as I could, but my love had to go through most of it alone, for it was not my battle. It killed me every time I saw all the suffering and pain that happened. I wish that I had done more about it at the time, but... I was young. I was naive and inexperienced. Not only that, I felt as if I was alone in the world.
At school, it was difficult. The school consisted of boys with short hair and girls with long hair. Not a single girl had short hair. So when I cut my long golden hair off into a more boy style cut, there was extreme shock. That wasn't the only thing that was difficult. All the girls either wore skirts or dresses, no matter what the weather. When I started wearing jeans, it was....interesting, to say the least.
I suppose I was an outcast in the first place, having just moved there recently. Taking advantage of a new school, I promised myself that I would make a different impression on this school. My parents were shocked, but they thought I was just going through a phase. They had no idea really. I tried several times to bring it up, but I just couldn't.
My mother continued to take me out shopping, when I clearly had no interest whatsoever on the topic of clothes. My father was never really home, so it wasn't too bad, but when he was home, he expected me to act like a dignified young lady, despite the fact that I wasn't wearing a skirt or dress. I wanted to eat like a slob and just wolf down my food, but my father always made sure that I cut my food into tiny bits before taking delicate bites of food and chewing slowly. The whole process of dinner drove me insane.
I should have been grateful that my parents at least accepted the change of hair and clothes, but I felt like my life was a living hell.
The school was often separated into two part. One side of the cafeteria would always be guys, and the other side would be girls. It wasn't until school ended that they would mix. I always sat on the girls' side, but I felt out of place. I longed to be with the guys, laughing and joking and slapping each other on the back.
Sometimes I would be caught staring at the boy side of the cafeteria, though that wasn't too much of a problem, because the girls just automatically assumed that I had a crush on one of them. Actually, I had a crush on several of the girls, but I couldn't tell them that or else they would think I was lesbian, which would just make the situation worse, since this school was completely homo-phobic.
When I wanted to do school sports, my mother and father complained that it was unlady-like and they would bother me so much that eventually to make them shut up, I would just walk away from the whole argument. All kinds of sports fascinated me. I longed to feel the rush of adrenaline from the wind blowing past. I wanted to taste the satisfaction of winning.
The only sport that I managed to convince my parents to let me do was cheerleading. I felt stupid as I did my flips and tumbles and watched the football team place. I wanted to be on the team but all I could do was cheer for them and hoped they would win.
I couldn't find my place in the world until I met Daphne.