The Skeletøn Bøy

TWENTY-SIX

"Letting go doesn't mean that you don't care about someone anymore. It's just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself." ― Deborah Reber

++ C H A P T E R | T W E N T Y - S I X ++

Elliott closed her eyes as a blush rushed to her cheeks. "Don't say that. Don't call me a girl!" Elliott pleaded with Anna.

"But that's what you are!" Anna closed her eyes shut for a moment. Everything was suddenly making sense. Elliott had always looked different from her brothers. And know she realized because Elliott was in fact a different gender.

Elliott shook her head, fear coursing through her body. She wasn't a girl. She wasn't a girl. She wasn't a girl.

That's what mother always said.

"Don't say that. I'm not a girl, really. I promise. I'm a guy." Elliott leaned against the wall, trying not to cry. Everything was falling around her - the secret she'd been dying to keep in was now out, and Anna knew.

She wasn't a girl. Mother had made sure she became the perfect son. And she wasn't. Not in any stretch of the imagination, because she wasn't a boy.

"Elliott, I won't even ask why you're hiding it, or how long. I don't care. I know what you care about, though. I have tampons in my bathroom, okay. How about you go use that bathroom and clean yourself up."

Elliott was five seconds away from pulling out her hair. Anna knew. It was all over. Elliott knew Anna wouldn't want to keep her - Elliott was a damaged girl. It was obvious that Anna, like mother, liked boys. Why else would she foster three?

Anna might be different, Elliott couldn't help but think, but even she knew it was a false hope. Elliott couldn't trust anyone. But, Anna's offer did seem logical and reasonable. So, with her head down, Elliott waddled to the bathroom in Anna's room and cleaned herself up.

Anna leaned against the door, tired. Mark wrapped his arms around her and kissed the crown of her head. "It'll be fine, Anna."

Anna spun in his arms. "Fine? My son just became a girl. And I've always wanted a daughter, but I don't know what to do! Elliott was raised a boy. There is no way he'll switch genders. If anything, he'll keep it a secret again."

Mark just held her closer, trying to sooth the woman in his arms. Anna was shaking, still trying to process the information in front of her. How had she been so blind? Of course Elliott was a girl.

Anna could feel the headache coming on. "You should go. I don't want Elliott knowing you know. And Mark, you can't tell anyone, okay? Promise me."

Mark nodded, but didn't respond with anything but a tight hug. "We'll talk later, alright?" He placed a finger under her chin to tilt her face up. "You'll be fine. You're a wonderful mother, Anna."

Mark kissed her and then backed away, leaving Anna flustered with rosy cheeks. She was too attached to Mark, but she didn't care. He was her first real boyfriend, and she would take him. He was everything she had ever wanted in a boyfriend, and she would be stupid to not see that.

Elliott came out of the bathroom, her hair wet and a towel around herself. Anna wasn't even phased - she just helped Elliott into her room to get dressed wordlessly. And when Elliott finally emerged from the bedroom, she was dressed in normal attire.

"You weren't supposed to be home." Elliott accused.

"I got out of work early." Was all she could muster.