The Things About A Trans Teen

The Talk

Dad got home about twenty minutes after I did. His play didn't last long, and he ditched the greaser outfit almost as soon as he walked in the door. He changed into a pair of blue jeans and a white T-shirt to match. He called me out into the living room about ten minutes after he got home. He picked up sushi and rice on his way home, something I've never had before.

On my third piece of sushi dad started to explain that he worked in plays. It paid well enough to afford the apartment and nice furnisher, as well as the occasional night out. I wanted to tell him about me thinking about being transgender, but my hands began to sweat and I felt sick.

"You feeling alright? You look a little off," he asked between bites of rice and sushi, he ate fast for a little guy; he was only about 5'3, making me taller.

"Yeah, I just had some thoughts about what you said earlier. I looked into it, the transgender thing, and I think I may be transgender."

His face wasn't at all upset, or shock. He just nodded and kept eating, then finally spoke after his last piece of sushi was devoured, "I never doubted it, tomorrow I'll take you clothes shopping, then makeup. We'll get your haircut too." He smiled at me while he chewed, "that sound okay to you?"

I nodded and smiled, "yeah, yeah that sounds amazing. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, I'm not your mother, I'm nicer than that and not so religious. You'll also start school next month, and you'll get a job with Mrs. Beth this summer; we already talked about it," he smiled, standing to throw away his now empty Chinese food dish.

After dinner we caught up on life. My father moved to Akron after leaving my mother, which I already knew, but he also took up acting lessons. He now preformed in many major plays (the one today was Grease) most of the week. He took off the weekend, and because my arrival he also took off Wensday to be with me once during the week. I asked him to explain his obsession with matching Ikea furniture, to which he replied "it's the simple things that make us the most happy." Little did I know how much that saying would play in the upcoming year.

For the rest of the night we watched Star Wars, ate random junk food, and talked about our lives. I told him about how the counselor was a smug bitch, and how the principle was one of the hottest men on the planet; he laughed at me. He told me about how he was constantly either in a play or practicing for one. He would often get hired to put on a performance at a birthday, and even by the hospital for sick kids from time to time. Obviously enjoying his work, there had to be a down side: he barely ever actually ate a home cooked meal. All his time was put into sleep, practice, and work. It made me laugh, and I offered to cook him a meal tomorrow night. He refused stating he already had dinner plans for us.

He asked about the neighbors and what I thought of them. "Mr. Hilly is a bit weird, and a bit of a horder, but he has a good attitude and is very nice. Mrs. Beth is very nice, but why does she have that scar?"

My father's look turned into sadness, "she used to be a horrible alcoholic, and the doctors link her drinking while pregnant to Sarah's OCD. One night she was drunk and arguing with Jackson over driving under the influence. Jackson tried to stop her, and in the process caused them to crash. She went to rehab after that, and while she was gone for the year Jackson ran the store with his sister and took up the smoking habit. There was no damage to either of them that couldn't be fixed, but she has to live with the scar for her life now." My father looked out the window to the store below.

I looked at my thumbs as I twiddled them around each other. Sarah was my age, and she's been through so much. I looked up at my father, "and their father?"

"He left two years before the accident," he replied. "It's what caused her to pick up drinking. Jackson acts all cool with it, but he's not. As an actor, I know when someone is acting, and whenever his mom would bring up his father you could see the sadness and hatred in that kid's eyes."

I looked back down at my phone. 12:32. I stood and stretched, "we should get some sleep, we got a big day tomorrow."

My dad laughed and stood, "shouldn't that be my line?" I laughed and he hugged me and kissed my head. "Goodnight princess, see you at seven sharp," he shut the door to his room as I did mine. I slouched down onto my bed and sighed. Poor Sarah and Jackson. I wonder if he would ever talk to me about his father? I also wonder if he would introduce me to his father if he knew I was transgender.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~hey! For anyone reading the book (first of all thank you! This is a big thing for me!) I'm sorry for the lateness of this part and the parts to follow. I have the rough drafts done, but writing them is so time consuming, and my little bro just had surgery along with other family things going on, so parts may be a bit delayed. Thank you for your patience and I would encourage you all to follow me (I follow back xp) and give me your opinions on the book. Thank you!