I was sitting on my bed. The piece of paper Devin gave me was lying next to me. I had added him to my phone but I didn't know what to send. What do you send to someone you don't really know? We only talked for like five minutes.
"So, why were you late?"
No.
"Hey, nice guy I met in detention!"
Nope, definitely not.
I let out a groan of frustration. Why was this so difficult! I wanted to leave a good impression. Devin was nice to me, and never knew me as a girl. Even the people who are supportive often look at me like a girl, I can see it in their eyes, their reaction when I talk about stuff that is considered boy-ish. This is a fresh start, I don't want to mess that up.
"Hey, how are you?"
I sent it. It was a neutral sentence. Just a simple: "How are you," no crazy context, no extra y's or a weird emoji. Just a normal text.
He saw the message not even five seconds after I sent it. He was typing now. My heart was pounding in my chest.
"I'm good, how about you?"
A smile spread across my face. I sighed. He didn't seem to think that the message was weird. That was good. I was ready to answer when my text was interrupted by someone knocking on my door. I quickly turned my phone off and put it down next to me, screen facing the matress.
My mom came in with a girl that looked like a barbie doll.
'Hey Madelyn, this is Isabel. She offered to teach you how to put make-up on.'
She lightly pushed the girl inside and closed the door behind her. She was gone just as fast as she came in. Leaving me and the girl alone in my room.
Isabel had long blonde hair and her face was covered in about fifty layers of make-up. She was wearing a tanktop and a skirt both in pastel colours.
'You better go,' I said 'I'm not interested in learning how to put on make-up,'
'What? But your mom said-'
'My mom says a lot of things,' I interrupted. 'She knows nothing.'
Isabel smiled nervously.
'Alright, so what will we do instead?'
I looked her up and down, I don't think we have much in common. I can't think of anything that we'd both enjoy.
'I don't know, tell me if you have any ideas.'
'Your name is Madelyn, right?' she asked.
'Nick,'
She frowned.
'Wait, are you transgender?'
'Uhm, yes, I guess you can say that, why?
Her eyes lit up and her lips formed a smile of excitement.
'Have you ever heard about masculine make-up?'
Isabel had told me to close my eyes while she started to apply a bunch of make-up to my face. She had put a video on where they explained where to place all the brushstrokes and stuff like that. They used a bunch of make-up terms that I didn't understand. I recognised some of the words but had no idea what they referred to.
I felt a fluttering feeling in my stomach, I was excited, for once in my life I was excited about make-up, can you believe it? I asked when I could open my eyes on which she just answered: 'Not long now'
It felt like I was waiting for hours until Isabel finally told me to open my eyes.
The light that shined through the window outside blinded me for a moment. I blinked while my eyes adjusted to the brightness. When I could finally see the room properly I looked at myself in the mirror. My face looked different. My cheekbones were accentuated and my eyebrows thicker. I looked like a guy, a real guy. I couldn't help smiling. I felt this overwhelming sense of happiness and confidence. Who I saw in the mirror looked so good. I looked so handsome. I looked like me.
'Oh, don't cry or you'll ruin it,' I heard Isabel say behind me.
'I'm sorry,' I laughed nervously while wiping away a tear that escaped my eye.
I didn't know what to say. I looked at Isabel who gave me an encouraging smile.
'I-I don't know how to thank you,' I said.
'It was no trouble really. I love applying make-up, by myself, and by others.'
'Can I hug you?' I asked unsure.
Isabel smiled and opened her arms. I wrapped mine around her. The warmth of her body made me feel safe and loved. I only met her today, but it felt like I knew her much longer than that.
'Thank you,' I said. 'Thank you so much,'
'No worries,'
I let go of the hug, I accidentally left some make-up on her pink tank top.
'Oh, I'm so sorry,'
'Oh don't worry about it, It'll come off,'
She smiled widely.
'By the way, how late is it actually?'
I looked at my phone.
'Almost five, why?'
'Shit, I have to go. Maybe next time I can teach you how to put it on yourself?'
'You'd do that?'
'Ofcourse!'
'Thank you,'
YOU ARE READING
Unapologetic (LGBTQ+ Trans MxM)
Teen Fiction"God made everyone perfect, right? Then why is my existence a sin." Nick is a trans boy who is just trying to be himself. But sadly not everyone excepts him that way. His parents try really hard to get him to be a girl and after he got into a fight...
