Trapped (egobang trans)

Chapter 50 - She

< Danny's POV >

Danny was walking home after band practice when his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to pull the folded piece of paper Arin had given him out of his pocket. He wasn't sure what to expect. The first thing he noticed was the picture, a beautiful sketch of a unicorn, the finished product of what he'd seen Arin drawing yesterday. He smiled at that, a pleasant surprise.

Then, as his eyes admired the drawing, he spotted some writing. First, a neatly written "For Danny," followed by a obviously more quickly written note that caused Danny's smile to drop.

"I'm like you. I'm a girl who was born as a boy."

He stopped dead in the street, rereading to make sure. His grip tightened on the paper, creasing the edges as his breath picked up slightly when the weight of those words hit him. Arin was transgender... just like him?

It seemed too much like a coincidence, and Danny pulled out his phone. He tried texting and calling Arin, but neither were answered.

Sighing to himself Danny continued walking. Tomorrow was Friday, so he'd be able to see Arin then, and maybe they could talk about it. Still, it was hard to believe. He could understand not coming out for a while, he'd been in the same boat, but why had it taken this long since Danny came out himself? He would've thought that, if it really was true, Arin would have told him then.

He decided not to think about it too much, trusting that he'd learn more by talking to Arin instead of making his judgement now.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Danny tried texting Arin again. There was still no reply, and Danny couldn't help but worry; he knew that Arin tended to run away from responsibility and was probably trying to avoid being confronted about it.

He arrived at school as usual, maybe even a little early in his eagerness to see Arin. There was no sign of that familiar pink sweater, so Danny decided to go and wait with Brian at their usual spot by his locker.

"Morning Brian," he greeted with a smile as he took up his usual position leaned against the lockers.

Brian closed his own locker, returning the smile.

"Hey, how's Arin?"

Danny blinked in surprise at that question. It was then he saw the worry in Brian's blue eyes and he gave a sad smile, sympathising since he was equally worried after what happened yesterday.

"I'm not sure, sh- uh, he hasn't answered any of my texts. I was hoping to talk to him today."

Despite his previous scepticism of the whole thing, Danny still found himself almost using female pronouns. He stopped himself since he knew that Arin didn't want anyone else to know, but in his own head his image of Arin was already starting to change. The more he thought about it, the more things fell into place and the more "he" turned into "she". Maybe it was true...?

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. You really seem to be able to get through to him," Brian mused, snapping Danny out of his thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"He's always so comfortable around you, and whenever he gets like this you can always turn it around somehow. He's never been this bad, though. I wonder what happened."

"Yeah, I wonder..."

Not long after that TWRP appeared. Sung too expressed worry about Arin, and Phobos and Havve both nodded in agreement. Meouch didn't seem too bothered, but Danny assumed this was his way of remaining optimistic. The bell for first lesson went eventually, and Arin was still nowhere to be seen. Danny put on a brave face and assured himself and the others that he was probably just late, but it was a stretch.