My Name Is Harper

ii

"I'm going now!" I called by the front door, about to turn the handle. 

"Goodbye sweetie!" mum called back.

"Bye Callie." my brother Caleb called. 

I left. Mason wanted to tell me something. Scenarios built up in my head, toxic thoughts scared me. What if he confronts me about something? What if he tells me that he hates me? What if? I put my headphones in to take me from my thoughts.

Eventually, I got to the cafe that Mason wanted me to meet him in. I looked around. I looked at the old woman who is a regular with her latte and ham and cheese toasty, the parents with their newborn baby, the single hipster in the corner with the laptop. Then my eyes stopped on Mason. His brown tuft of fringe sticking out of his dark olive green beanie. He was looking at his phone and he moved his glasses further up his nose so that they weren't falling down his face anymore. He wore a black hoodie which was unzipped and a dark blue shirt underneath it. "Hello stranger." I smiled after walking over to his table. Mason smiled back. He gestured to the seat opposite him and put his phone away. I sat down in the other seat on the table, "What did you want to speak to me about?" I asked. Mason seemed to take a deep breath.

"Callie...I uh. I'm sorry." He laughed. 

"It's okay." I replied softly. A random thought made me realize how adorable Mason really is, his cute side smile and his freckles and his emerald eyes. Mason put one of his hands on one of mine as it was on the table. 

"Callie...I-I think I a-a-am in love with you." His words took me back for a second. In love? With me? Finally, I managed to form a sentence. 

"I'm flattered Mason, I really am. Just so you know, I think I may be in love with you as well." Mason smiled and looked down. He giggled slightly. Mason stuttered more than usual for his next sentence. 

"C-C-Callie, do you wa-want to go out with me? Like b-boyfriend, girlfriend?" He asked, his pupils dilated when he looked at me.

"Yes! I would love to!" I grinned ear to ear and threw myself across the table to hug him. Mason's arms wrapped around my waist. After a few seconds of an embraced hug I sat back down. 

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3 months later

Mason was one of the most amazing people in my life at that time. He was not only my boyfriend but my best friend, the person I trust the most. I loved everything about him. His smile, his laugh, the way his voice cracks when he's happy. I even loved his stutter.

I went out to meet him again. It was an amazing day, we went to his house and played video games on his Xbox One. Days we spent together were simplistic but memorable.

I opened the front door, still on a high from seeing Mason again. "Callie! In here now!" My father shouted loudly. His tone was angry. I crept into the living room and my mother sat on the sofa, her long blonde hair covering her face, my brother and father standing side by side. Dad looked more angry than Caleb. "What's this?" my dad demanded before showing me a picture on Caleb's phone. It was me and Mason. Kissing. I stumbled on my words, I didn't know what to say, what to do.

"I-I-I." I trailed.

"You fucking kissed a girl!" My father screamed. 

"He's not a girl!" I shouted back .

"Don't you yell at me young lady!"

"Stop saying that Mason is a girl! He's a boy and I love him!" I yelled back. Dad's face grew redder and rage built inside him.

"You don't know love! You are too young to know love! You will never have love with that 'Mason' or whatever her fake name is! You will never love another female in that way you understand me? Faggot!" With every sentence, father drew closer to me, his face right up in mine.

"You're pathetic." I said in a final battle of retaliation. 

"You can never see her again Callie! You are not leaving this house apart from school! You can't text or talk to her! You understand me?" 

"Stop calling him a she! He is not a she!"

"Get upstairs now faggot!" The final sentence was said, I walked up the stairs and slammed my bedroom door shut. I screamed and punched the wall so hard, it felt like the entire house shook. I punched it again and again. I punched the stupid wall over and over until blood appeared on it. I took my hand away, my knuckles were covered in blood and burning. 

"Fuck f-fuck."I mumbled. Mason meant so much to me and now he's being ejected out of my life. One final call to him was all I needed.

"Callie. Hi." Mason said as he picked up the phone. His voice was so beautiful, almost angelic. 

"M-Mason?" I started welling up. My hands were shaking like crazy. 

"Callie?" He said, concern in his voice.

"My dad. He found out!" I cried before the tears started to flow down my face like a river. 

"W-w-what did he say?"

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry." I repeated.

"Wh-what?" Mason's voice was also shaking.

"He won't let me stay with you. He wants me to cut all ties with you!" I cried harder now, I can't even think about a world without Mason.

"Why?" Mason asked in an upset tone. 

"Because you're trans. He still thinks you're a girl so he won't let me stay with you."

"O-oh my god!" Mason shouted down the phone. He sniffed. I was pretty sure he was crying too. 

I heard my father coming up the stairs. "Mason I love you so much but I have to go." I said quickly.

"I love y-you." Mason replied. I hung up and led down on my bed before my dad came in.