Trans Love

Chapter 4

Several days had passed since the night that he stayed with us. He had moved back into his house alone leaving me with my crazy family. I was almost tempted to move in with him but, of course, my mother was completely against it. She had finally gotten the idea that Max is what he is and that she nor God was going to change anything. She even began to call him by his name. Because of this, however, she now thinks that it is wrong that I move in with a man since we aren't even together. I would roll my eyes every time she would tell me how wrong it is. 

Max still picks me up every day for school, and with graduation around the corner, I needed him to be there more than anything. We were prepared to submit our final decisions to be presented during graduation. Max and I were going to take the next year or two to travel around and do some shit before going to college. I had decided to go into a musical career while Max was still undecided. 

"I'm just saying, I think you would do really good at graphic design or acting."

"Yeah, I know Amy. But like I said, we will see where I end up after a year on the road."

We laughed as we sat side by side on the stage. As our main speaker began to conclude, Max reached over and took my hand. It was a little sweaty and he was bouncing his knee so much that the whole stage was practically moving. I smiled at him and nodded to see if he was going to be ok. He nodded back. We sat there hand in hand as the speaker concluded. The principal then got up to start reading the names of the students. Our classmates got up one by one as their names were read. When they got to Max, it was a surprise. 

"Now this student, despite the hardships and the attitude that claimed he was the boss, his hard work and dedication to his friends are what pulled him through this year. He suffered greatly recently with the loss of his parents but it is today that we are proud to see him be able to pull through and continue his life with the same love, dedication, and hard work as he had at the beginning of the year. Max Peter Jones, ladies, and gentlemen."

The whole crowd stood up as Max walked down to the principal and took his hand. From my small distance, I could see tears begin to build up as the principal hugged him. As we grew closer to the end, the energy that Max had gone up. We all lined up in the aisle, prepared to move our tassels and throw our caps. As soon as we threw them, it was like a weight had been lifted off our shoulders. Max and I hugged each other and congratulated our other classmates on their accomplishments. 

"Genevieve... no hard feelings about all the things we said in the past right?"

"I don't know Max... sure. Looks like when you come back from your road trip, we might see each other again. I'm heading to the same place as y'all."

"That will be nice. We will be sure to meet up with you when we get back."

"Sure thing Max. Hey... when you actually get a dick, I want to be the first one to suck it, you hear." She said with a wink.

Max just smiled with a nod before turning to me. We walked a few steps away before he whispered to me "There is no way I am letting her give me a blowjob." 

I couldn't help but laugh at the comment. They had been trying to kill each other throughout high school and now that we had graduated, she shows interest in him? Yeah right. She was not his type and I would know. After saying goodbye to the teachers and the other students, we headed home for the night. The very next morning, we were going to hop into the truck and head out for the open road. 

I managed to convince my mother that night to let me go over and stay with Max for the night as we were going to leave early the next morning. I began to pack my things when Julie stopped me.

"You are going to be gone for almost a year. Promise me that you'll call me now and again?"

"I promise you I will call you."

"Good. Here, I want you to have this." She handed me a necklace with a dragon on it. The dragon was embedded with purple gems and was shaped as if it were flying and you were watching it from above. "I have one like it. It will help me to stay close to you."

"Oh, Julie... thank you so much," I said as I clipped the chain around my neck. "I will wear it all the time."

We hugged each other before I packed the last of my things. My father took them out to his car while I hugged the rest of the family goodbye. Dad was kind enough to drive me to Max's house for the night. I hardly got to spend time with my dad and whatever time I did spend with him was usually at dinner and then just before bed. We were quite the whole way there but he held my hand tight while the other was on the wheel. I would look at him occasionally to see him holding back tears. I loved my father more because of his tender heart. When we got there he stopped me from getting out of the car.

"I want you to be safe when you are out there, you hear. Remember your combat lessons that I taught you, and how to use a knife?"

"Dad, I will be ok. I trust Max and he is more than capable of taking care of himself and me."

"I know that. I just worry about you that's all."

He rubbed his fingers against my cheek with a smile before helping me carry my things to the front door. Max was waiting for me. He grabbed the bags and took them inside while I hugged my father goodbye. That night was going to be our first time spending the night together in a house alone. I think it was fair enough to say, that it was a wild night. As soon as my father was out of sight, we ordered pizza and broke out the pot. By the time the pizza got there, we were stoned like crazy. We were laughing and talking about the people that we would catch doing things in the bathrooms of school. We even laughed about the time we caught the math teacher fucking the PE teacher in the equipment room during an assembly. They were so embarrassed because they had forgotten to lock the doors before digging right into it. The two of us eventually fell asleep on one another on the couch. 

When I woke up I had a major headache. As I began to stir, I realized that Max was still asleep underneath me. I didn't want to wake him up so I continued to lay there with my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and his lungs fill with air every time he breathed. His heart was like a small drum, beating to the sound of a small lullaby. When he began to stir, I lifted my head to see his blue eyes looking down at me. We laughed as we shifted to let the other person get up. We quickly got ready for the day with showers, breakfast, and last-minute packing before hitting the highway for a long year of traveling. We didn't know where we would be off to but where ever the road took us was going to be fun. Max and I had figured that if we hit the majority of the lower west side of the country, we would be able to get to the upper east side and find the best surgeons in the states to do his surgeries within the next two years. We would have to take our time and spend quite a bit of time in each city but we were going to make it work out somehow. 

We hit the road with music blaring and home sweet home in our rearview. We had a tank full of gas, some in a canteen if he needed some mid-highway, lots of snacks, and plenty of time. We were not in any hurry whatsoever.  As he rolled down the road we kept looking at each other with a smile. We were finally allowed to be on our own, doing our own thing with no one to tell us that we weren't allowed to do something. We didn't live under anyone's roof and didn't have to follow someone else's rules. We could finally be ourselves without someone judging us for it. We were both very excited that we were free to do and be whatever we wanted without holding back.