New Names

8

I step into the men's bathroom and strip all my clothes off, and immediately dump them in the trashcan by the sink. I undo the tie in the bag and dump the contents out, pulling on a pair of boxers, putting the packer into place, and pulling my binder on, which takes a lot of struggling and grunting. I take a look in the mirror sideways, my chest already looks almost completely flat. My stomach swells with happiness. I pull the rest of the clothes out of the bag.

The first thing I think is how much better Adam can dress me than I can dress me. In the bag, Adam had put in a pair of jet black overalls, a white and black checkerboard tee-shirt, and the pair of black boots we got. I pull the shirt up and over my head, it was loose on my torso but held onto my shoulders, just as he suggested. I pull the overalls up and strap them onto my shoulders as well, then fix the shirt again. I pull on a pair of polka dot socks and put the boots on right afterward. I look back to the mirror and see myself for the first time fully in guys clothes. I smile brightly and fix the straps on my overalls before unlocking the bathroom door and heading out back to the center. Some of the kids have left, and others have come. Adam is sitting alone on a stool looking through his phone. I clap my foot on the ground to make him look up at me. When Adam sees me, he smiles.

"Looks like my plan worked out, you look great! Come on, let's go," He stands and brushes crumbs off his pants and heads out the door to the center. I follow behind to the hair salon. Adam holds the door for someone to let in.

"Morning Max," Adam quips cheerfully. The guy Max turns as he walks down the stairs and gives a dorky bow, then a small salute and a wink specifically to me before turning and dumping himself into a chair.

"New guy?" He asks. Adam nods and does something that I don't see before walking up and holding the door for me.

As soon as we get to the hair salon, we're stopped by Baz and Jesse. Jesse presses a wad of cash into the palm of my hand.

"If you need anything, you're always welcome here Wallace," Baz says, patting me on the back. I nod and give them a smile and they let me go. Adam and I walk outside.

"Who was that? The guy in the center," I ask. Adam unlocks the doors to his car.

"Max? He comes here all the time, basically lives here. Pretty cool guy, really dorky, most of the time. He was one of the first kids to come here, around our age."

I nod as Adam turns out onto the street again. I turn the radio on high blast and roll down the windows, remembering how much Adam wanted a convertible to do this in style, instead of his "damn gremlin of a car". I always laughed at him, but I kind of agreed now. I feel free now, for the first time in four years, and it's the best feeling in the world. I feel like its gonna be a good day for once.

"We should do something insane," I say to Adam. He looks over at me.

"Like what?" He asks, turning into our neighborhood.

"It's Sunday, Mom and Dad are at church. Do you have your stash of spray paints?"

Adam gives me a devilish smile and nods.

"And do you wanna steal Jordan for the day while we're at it?" He adds. I nod as we stop about a block away from my house. I fish my car keys out of my bag and Adam gets his bag of spray paints. We hop out of the car and head down the street. I pound my fist on the door to get Jordan out, and Adam passes me a spray can.

"I was thinking the trans symbol, and 'trans is beautiful' around it, cool?" I say, shaking the can. Adam nods and we get to work. Halfway through, Jordan appears in the doorway.

"Wallace?" He asks, pulling on a hoodie and walking over to us.

Jordan, other than Adam of course, was my best friend. We didn't grow up together, he was adopted when I was twelve and he was ten. We're more or less pretty inseparable.

"Hey, bud, what's up?" Adam says, finishing the trans symbol.

"What are you two doing?" Jordan asks.

"Getting back at mom and dad, and then we're out. Wanna come?" I reply. Jordan smiles.

"I'll go get some stuff, be out in five." Jordan disappears into the house again. Adam and I finish the graffiti and Adam heads down the street to get the car. Jordan comes back out with a bag and hops in the passenger side, throwing the bag in the back. I climb into the backseat.

"What do you wanna do for today?" I ask, Adam starting down the street to the house.

"The fair is ending soon, wanna hit that again before it closes?" Jordan suggests. I smile.

"You got our season passes?" I ask. Jordan nods and pulls out two cards from his bag. We pull into the driveway. He parks, and pops the trunk to start unloading my stuff.

Adam throws the bags of clothes into the back. I pull the trunk closed and lock the car.

"We're taking my car, you'res is full of your house," Adam laughs at his joke and pulls out his season pass card from the back of his car. Jordan stuffs himself in the back, and I take the passenger seat, and just like that, we're on the road again, singing along to old 80's rock music.