Becoming Her (Trans)

Chapter 31

The next day I'm packing up for a few days at Josh's house. Out of all the friends Kelly had called, Mandy is the only one who, a) had answered Kelly's call with herself and not her voicemail, and b) had said yes to the visit.

From how my sister and I have been acting around each other and around Mom, you'd think I was going on Witness Protection program in a town away from here. (Now that I think about it, that doesn't sound like a bad idea.)

"Got your stuff?" Kelly asks, walking into my room. Despite her advising me to be a little discreet around Mom, she's decked out in a loud outfit. "Mandy said something about their parents being out of town for a week. So if you need to come out to more people, at least the adults aren't going to be there."

I nod, understanding. "Do you know when Mom's leaving?" I'm pretty sure she's away from where I am, but I don't feel comfortable talking about her in a loud voice. 

My sister shrugs. "If she doesn't leave soon, I'll use all my tricks and make her leave."

I give her a puzzled look. "Wait. Are you planning to kick her out or be a disastrous brat?" 

Kelly flicks my arm, but smiles in amusement. "You'll see if you have to," she tells me. 

We go downstairs, me with my bag, and Kelly raids the pantry. She throws me a granola bar and grabs one for herself. I take the time to analyze her. She pretty much looks the same, except the fact she's not wearing her trademark lipstick. Has she stopped and I didn't notice? 

My sister catches me looking. "Is there something on my face?" she asks, reaching up to touch her cheek. "At least, anything that's not supposed to be there?"

"You're not wearing your black lipstick," I point out.

"Oh." She shrugs. "I grew tired of it."

Huh. 

Kelly scarfs down the rest of her bar and throws the wrapper away. She checks the time above the stove. "You ready to go?" she asks me. I nod, putting my own uneaten bar on the island. 

"Mom, we're leaving! Bye!" Kelly pushes me outside of the house. The bag's slung over my shoulder. If I'm not mistaken by the hardness of the bag, the heels are hitting my side. The pair's now sporting a couple of scratches from last night, but other than that it's still good. 

As soon as we're on Josh's porch, the front door swings open, revealing Mandy. She lets me and Kelly in without a word. "Is Josh here?" I ask Mandy. She shakes her head. My shoulders slump. "Does he even know I'm--"

"Yes, hon," Mandy says softly. "He's running some errands. Josh'll be back in about a half-hour." 

She leads me to the living room. Making a gesture that I was to sit on the couch for the time being, Mandy goes to Kelly and they whisper back and forth. I cross my arms in annoyance as I hear my guy name from one of them. I should be a part of the conversation; I'm not four. 

While I wait for them to settle down, I reach over to grab a magazine on the coffee table. I know it's Josh's, what with a football player grimacing on the cover. Better than nothing, I think as I open it to read what's inside. 

Time goes by enough that I don't hear Josh coming home with a bag of groceries. I do, however, growl when Josh rips the magazine out of my hands. "Do you mind?" I ask him.

"Nope." Josh looks at it. "Whoa. You were reading a Sports Illustrated." He stares at me with a wide-eyed expression. "Who are you, and what have you done to Matthew?"

I laugh at the wording. "I was bored," I explain.

"Sure, but the Matthew I know would rather French-kiss a moose than read this."

Making a face, I say, "That's disturbing on so many levels."

"You know it's true."

I think about it, and admittedly nod. "Yeah."

"So," Josh starts, flinging the Sports Illustrated on the couch. "What brings you here?"

"I, um, may want to be away from my Mom for awhile," I say slowly. 

He raises an eyebrow. "Why?" he asks. "What happened?"

I bring my hands up to twiddle with my thumbs. I don't even look at him. "She found out about something about me that she doesn't approve of," I say.

" . . . Like what?"

Oh boy, I say in my head. "You know what 'transgender' means?"

"Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with--" Suddenly Josh stops talking. I look at the couch pattern as if it's the most amazing thing in the room to look at. One, two, three long awkward seconds go by. 

Mandy steps away from her conversation with Kelly to see what's going on. "Josh, what did you do this time?"

"Um, nothing, actually," Josh responds, pausing after each word. I'm pretty sure his view of me is now permanently altered. "Matth--um, I don't know what your name is, but this really isn't your year."

I manage a half-hearted laugh. "Yeah," I say. I look up in time to see Mandy shoving Josh out of the way to give me a tight hug. "Um, hi. Too close," I rasp.

"Sorry, hon." Mandy loosens the hug. 

"That's a little better."

Because my head's in a position where I can't see what's going on behind Mandy, I have to use my ears to hear what's going on. Kelly's getting close to Josh, and saying, "Try your best not to hurt my sister, either mentally or physically. I know how to fight now."

I can imagine Josh's surprised expression. "You can fight?"

"Uh-huh." Kelly sounds proud about it. 

"Well, fuck."

"You two, shush." That's Mandy now. "She and I are having a tender moment."

Josh snorts. "Oh yeah, like you two were ever close."

"We're hugging, aren't we?" Mandy shoots back. "Do you remember the last time I bothered even holding your hand?"

Kelly laughs. "Miya, I think you're in good hands," she says. I wiggle myself out of Mandy's clutches and give my sister a hug. She giggles again. "You're not getting rid of me easily. Calm down."

"I am calm," I say. "I'm simply being polite."

"Polite, my ass."