Big Girls Don't Cry ✔️

Graduation and a new apartment or not

Kelsey

The rest of the school year flew by, and Martin graduated. My parents and I cheered him on. It was a big deal for him, and he needs a cheerleading section. I would cheer for him no matter what.

After he received his diploma, my parents took pictures, and we went to dinner. The four of us celebrated, just like we would celebrate when I graduated. People treat milestones like these as a relief; I prefer to treat them as stepping stones. We have to take each step to be where we need to be. I knew that better than anyone.

After dinner, Martin took me to show me his apartment. He opened the door, and I walked inside, and my eyes widened.

"I know it's not much, but I don't need much," he mentioned as I turned and looked at him.

"Martin, it's a dump," I winced.

"I didn't have much money left because of my aunt and uncle, and I still need to pay for school," he replied as I felt terrible for my comment.

"If you need to stay with us longer, I can talk to my parents," I offered.

"Kelsey, I want to be able to support you. How can I do that, if I'm still living with your parents?" He asked me.

"Martin, sometimes we have to put out pride aside and take the help. It doesn't make us weak, but it shows us, our strength," I reasoned.

My parents arrived shortly afterward. They took one look at the place, shook their heads and told Martin he was not staying here. Yeah, there was no arguing with my parents. Martin sighed as I looked at him.

"Martin, there is no reason for you to stay in a place like this when you can stay with us," dad reasoned.

"I know, I'm just trying to stand on my own. One day, I will need to be able to support Kelsey. I can't do that if I'm living with her parents," he said.

"There's more to supporting someone than living in a place that I would let my dog live in," mom told him as she looked around, then stepped on a bug.

"We don't have a dog," I reminded her.

"Well, if we did, I wouldn't let it live here," she retorted as I tried not to laugh. "Martin, you're coming back home with us and forgetting we ever set foot in this place."

Mom left as dad shrugged. I guess mom has spoken. We returned home, and I know Martin felt defeated, but it was better for him in a decent place.

We walked into the house, and he sat down on the couch as he placed his chin on his palm. I sat down next to him.

"I feel like a failure," he mumbled.

"Why? Because you're not going to be living in a dump?" I asked him as I grinned. He looked at me strangely. "Martin, you're not a failure, plus you have to focus on school. At least, if you're here I get to see you every day," I mentioned as he looked at me.

"Then maybe I'm not as a failure as I thought," he said as I smiled even more. He leaned over and kissed me. That might have been a minor setback, but it wasn't permanent.

*********

Through the summer, we hung out, and Martin did get a job so that he could save some money. He started designing web pages for people to get practice. I even helped him so that we could have some fun.

We even went to the beach, and I made sure to wear a bathing suit that hid certain areas. I couldn't wait for my surgery. Some people were beautiful, being transgender, and not having reassignment surgery, but I wanted to be a complete female. It was important to me.

We had a chance to talk about it since he wasn't aware of what entailed with reassignment surgery. I explained how it was part of the process, and not everyone does it. It was a personal choice.

"I know we've talked about this many times, but when did you know you didn't feel like a male, but a female?" He asked.

"I was young. I think I was a toddler at the time. I had no interest in male things, such as toys or clothes. When people find out the biological gender of the baby, they tend to associate them with either male or female items. The problem is when you're developing; your brain isn't seeing you as the biological gender you're born. It sees you as the gender you think you are. It's called body dysmorphia. I spent a lot of time in therapy to understand this," I explained.

"I find it interesting that you were able to decide who you truly are. Most people are still figuring it out," he says to me.

"There's always a fear of not being accepted by people. People have a fear of transgender people doing inappropriate things, but that's not true. We are like everyone else. We have insecurities just like them," I reasoned.

"I think it's because people don't understand it," he said.

"We can't force people to understand or accept us, but we can try and educated them," I countered as he nodded.

"Well, I don't care what people think, to me, you're Kelsey, an amazing person," he replied as I smiled.

He leaned over and kissed me as we heard someone say, "Disgusting." We broke from our kiss to see Bryn standing there with her arms crossed.

"Excuse me?" I asked as she gave us a disgusted look.

"Everyone knows you're a freak," she said as I furrowed my brows.

Martin stood up as did I. "The only one here that's a freak is you. No one gives a shit what you think, and your bitchy attitude is appalling. Run along." He shooed her.

She stomped off in a huff as I rolled my eyes.

"She's a pain in the ass," he commented.

"No, she's a bitch," I remarked as he chuckled.

People like Bryn are the reason why people like me won't tell anyone that we are transgender. She's a closed-minded bigot. It didn't matter anyway; it wasn't any of her business that I was transgender. The only ones that needed to know were my family, and I was okay with that. That included Martin because one day, he would be my family.

Get ready for a time jump as we move forward a year.