Becoming Her (Trans)

Chapter 26

Since the secret I've kept for so long was big, I'm actually surprised to see my sister handling it well. And by 'handling it well', I mean Kelly's not showing a single tell on her face to give away the fact she knows something uncommon. Sure, for the past couple of days she's sneaked in a slice of pie whenever she could and snuggled up to me (her word, not mine) when I looked like I needed it. Mom and Dad assumed it was a reaction to me waking up after a few days. 

I've had about enough of Kelly's affection when she tried to help me get to my room when I come home. Mom and Dad have some places to go, so they can't be with me. I'm hoping they're not going together. 

"I've got it, thanks," I say. Grabbing the stair rail, I pretty much drag myself up to the top. I stumble a bit, but manage to get to my bed before my body decides to collapse and make me sleep. Or further the pain. Whichever comes first.   

After a couple of glances around the room I notice it's neater. Mom must have been doing the house-cleaning while I was at hospital. I dismiss the fact and close my eyes. At least until I remember the heels under the bed. 

As fast as I could get up, I lift up the blanket and look under the bed. I reach my hand under and feel around for the heels. 2 minutes later, my heart stops as my hand comes up empty. Where did Mom put them? And what did she think when she found them?

My phone rings, and I groan. The missing heels are helluva lot more important than the call, whoever it's from. I answer. "Yeah."

A loud sigh. "Thank God you're here," Josh says. "I've been getting worried. Are you okay?"

I lay on my back on the bed, touched by the call. "Yeah, I'm fine," I say. "I just came home from the hospital today."

"How bad did the guy beat you up?" is Josh's next question.

I shrug. "From a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say about a 6."

"Damn." My best friend pauses. "I shouldn't have taken the booze at the party."

"Dude, you didn't know it was going to happen."

"True." Josh doesn't seem convinced. "Say, why did the guy hurt you?"

I don't know how to respond to that. I doubt he'll stomach "Before he went psychotic we were making out while I was pretending to be a girl, and oh did I tell you I'm really a girl?" I tap my fingers on my chest as I think. 

"Are you still there?"

". . . Yeah. Honestly, it's a complicated answer."

"I have 2 hours. Tell me."

Before I take the opportunity to lie to him, I hear at Josh's end some violent shuffling, a couple of cuss words, and Mandy's voice telling him off. The shuffling stops, and Mandy starts speaking. "Matthew! I'm so glad you're back!"

I laugh a little. "Hey. What's happened lately?"

"Give me my fucking phone back!" Josh's voice bellows in the background. A slam follows, and then a locking sound. "Come on!" I assume Josh is pounding a door. 

"Let me talk to Matthew, God damn it!" Mandy says. "What were you saying?"

I repeat my question. 

"Oh. Nothing much. Aside from the fact Josh is being a turd!" Mandy shouts out the last part to her brother. 

"Takes one to know one!"

"As fucking if!"

"Guys!" I say. "If I wanted to hear you fight, I would've gotten my ass over at your house."

Mandy directs her attention to me. "I thought you can't move a lot."

"Exactly," I say. "So make up or pretend you guys don't exist to each other."

Mandy repeats my order to the other side of the door. I can hear Josh grumble a protest. When it sounds like the fighting is over, I start talking again. "The one thing I can tell you is the bruises and such are a lot more painful than I originally thought."

"Tell me about it," Mandy mutters. 

I raise an eyebrow. "You've had your ass handed to you?" I ask.

"Hell yeah. God, I think it was about 2 years ago? Yeah, some girl thought I was coming on to her."

I snort. "Were you?"

Mandy huffs. "I only said the outfit she was wearing looked good on her. It was a completely innocent comment for fuck's sake."

"We're in the 21st century," I remind her. "You can't say a lot of things without someone accusing you of being an asshole of some sort."

"If only I've known that piece of wisdom during my school career."

Both Mandy and I talk about some other things, and 5 minutes later we hang up. I place my phone on my chest, then pick it up again, turning the phone around. The Ninja Turtles are grimacing at me, their weapons out and ready. 

I slowly sit myself up. I reach for the nightstand and open the drawer. The abandoned Hello Kitty case winks at me. Not bothering to debate with myself, I take off the Ninja Turtles case and pop the pink one in place. I put away the other one in the drawer and close it. 

"Decided to change back?" I look up to see Kelly. She has a bulky plastic bag at her side. She notices me staring and pulls out the contents. "I've been meaning to dye my hair again. Wanna help?" 

Keeping my eye on the light blue dye, I nod. "But only if I can get mine colored, too."

My sister smiles. "Deal."

______

An hour later, Mom comes home. Both Kelly and I (after I've taken a couple of painkillers) come downstairs to greet her. Mom smiles a little, but the smile fades when she sees our hair. Kelly's used the green, and I called dibs on the blue. "Do you really think it's a good idea?" she asks. 

My sister's back to her pissy self. "It's our hair," she defends. "You don't get to make decisions for us."

Mom sighs. "Fine. Don't go complaining to me if someone gives you negative feedback on it."

Kelly smiles. "I won't. They'll sport a black eye before they finish their insult."

"Fighting's not a good solution."

"Whatever." Kelly takes out her phone and starts texting. Mom shakes her head. 

"Did Kelly put you up to this?" she asks me. 

I shake my head. "I wanted my hair dyed," I say. I want to ask her about the heels, but I have a feeling she's say something I don't want to know. So I keep silent. I'll find them on my own.

She doesn't pay attention to my answer. She starts muttering to herself as she walks past me. I grip onto a chair and keep myself steady. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll feel well enough to go to school. If not, then I'll have to start doing the homework that was assigned on the days I was absent.

I shudder. This is not how I like to start my first day back.