Big Girls Don't Cry ✔️

Teen years are difficult

Jordyn

Mom deployed again, and it left Dad and me alone. I hated this so much. Every time was harder than the last. Saying goodbye to Mom and wondering if she would return, sucked. I got to attend a new school, oh yay.

Every school is the same. The people are the same. It was challenging to make friends, knowing I would end up leaving when Mom returned. Plus, I realized kids weren't friendly if you are an outsider and they knew if you are.

I opened my locker as some girls walked by and yelled, "Freak!" I sighed. I'm average size, brunette hair, and nothing like the girls I went to school with at my age. When people saw my parents, they would make comments. My dad has blonde hair, and my mom has dark hair. I look nothing like my dad but was similar to my mom's looks.

My parents told me I'm adopted. My parents didn't tell me who my birth mother is and I didn't ask. When I was old enough, they said explained my mom is transgender. I didn't know what transgender is until Mom taught it, and that was uncomfortable to hear. Imagine someone telling you they remove a body part and add a body part? I didn't want to know anymore. I was eleven at the time.

Now, I understand it better and realize. Mom didn't identify with herself former body, and she wasn't happy. It didn't matter to me; she's still my mom.

I came home from school and walked into the kitchen as Dad was prepping dinner.

"How was school?" He asked.

"The same as it always is," I sighed.

He looked at me and gave me an emphatic look. "Jordyn, one day you won't have to leave and will make friends," Dad assured me.

"It doesn't matter. The kids at school are stuck up snobs. Oh, look at my new outfit or my new phone," I mocked the girls at school as Dad chuckled.

"You are so your mother's child. She hated snobby people and well, so did I," he reminded me.

"You hates everyone," I told Dad with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, everyone except your mother," he said.

"Mom said you were mean to her when you first talked," I reminded him.

Dad rolled his eyes. "I told you mom I was sorry. I thought she was a priss," he said.

I shook my head; then we heard the computer. We fought to get to the laptop as Dad hit a button, and Mom popped up on the screen. She laughed.

"You two never change," Mom laughed.

"It's getting harder with Jordyn older. The kid is rougher now," Dad told mom as she laughed.

"You're just old," I retorted as Mom continued to laugh.

"Well, I have news for you both," Mom said as we stood there. "It's my last deployment; then I get to come home permanently."

Dad and I cheered.

"Sheesh," Mom said.

We laughed.

"Since I'm not returning to the base, that means you will have to move to a new house," Mom told us as we looked at her, surprised.

"Does that mean that this is my last school?" I asked Mom.

"Yep and the final move for you," Mom answered as I looked at her. "Jordyn, you need stability your senior year. You need to make friends, and you can't do that by moving all the time. I know life hasn't been easy with the constant leaving, but now now it will be," Mom assured me. I had my reservations.

"We'll just be happy to have you home, Kels," Dad told her as Mom smiled.

Then we heard someone yell for her. "I have to go. Talk soon," Mom said as she logged off.

I stood there and sighed as Dad looked at me with a sympathetic look. "I know kiddo," he said as he hugged me. I hugged him back.

Who knows when Mom would return?

*******
Angel

I was hanging with Linc and Jose when Sylvia walked up to us.

"Hey, Angel," she said to me.

"Hey, Sylvia," I greeted her.

"Did you want to go out?" Sylvia asked me as Linc and Jose looked at each other. She stood there as I tried to figure out what to say. "We could do dinner and a movie," she suggested as I thought about it.

I don't think dinner and a movie would hurt. Plus, it's just one date. If I turned Sylvia down, it would make her suspicious.

"Sure," I answered as she walked away.

Linc and Jose looked at me strangely.

"What?" I asked both.

"You know Sylvia is the last person you should go out with on a date," Linc advised me.

"I know, but if I keep her at arm's length, it will be fine. I don't need trouble before my surgery," I whispered.

"Angel, this girl is bad news," Jose reminded me as I looked at both. I sighed. I didn't have a choice. If I didn't go out with Sylvia, she would be her mission to create problems for me.

"Yo, Angel, party at my place," a guy said as he and other guys walked by us.

"Hey, Angel," Troy said as he walked by with members of the football team.

"What are we, chopped liver?" Jose asked me.

"When have I ever went to a party?" I asked Jose.

"Yeah, that's a good point. Are we still on to hang out," Jose asked me.

"Always," I said as we walked to class. People needed to realize that Jose and Linc are my best friends. I wouldn't drop them to be popular. Popularity means nothing to me, but friendship means everything.

Jose and Linc are the only ones that know I'm transgender besides my parents. Both found out when I refused to change for gym class, before that they knew me as a male. My friends accepted me as transgender and never treated me differently. That's why I won't drop them to hang with people who could care less about me.

I had a feeling senior year was going to bring issues I didn't need. It would also involve someone I had yet to meet but would show me to conquer hate you have to overcome it with love.