Unqualified by only-mj
"I can't believe my stupid sister convinced Lancer to make this my punishment…" Danny muttered, shivering across the desk from the school's new counsellor. "And can we please turn up the heat in here?! I can see my own breath." He snapped, not having the patience to deal with this woman.
"Wow you do complain a lot…" Ms. Spectra muttered, clasping her hands in front of her face, elbows propped up on the desk. "So… Your sister tells me you've been in therapy before. Is that right?" She asked seemingly concerned.
Danny rolled his eyes, of course Jazz would tell her that. Why would't she? "Yeah… I started therapy when I was twelve, I think…" He thought, nodding to himself. "I stopped… Probably about a month or two ago." He shrugged. "Jazz has been bugging me to go back but I just don't have time for it anymore. And besides. I'm fine." Danny added adamantly.
"Why were you in therapy before?" The woman asked, taking an interest in this information, looking for anything she could use.
Danny hesitated. Something about this woman didn't sit right with him, unfortunately, he could not quite put his finger on what was off about her. Still, the school had hired her to help the students, and Mr. Lancer had said she was highly respected in her field. She couldn't be too terrible, right? He sighed, maybe he did need to talk to someone again. "I have Gender Disphoria." He stated simply, although self-consciously. "I was, uh, assigned female at birth. I was in therapy for a while and I began my transition about a year or so ago…"
Ms. Spectra sat back in her chair, pushing her glasses up her face. She could definitely work with this… "So… You're really a girl?"
Danny stared at her wide-eyed, caught off guard by the uncouth comment. "I guess…Wait. I mean…" Anger began to burn in his chest as she spoke to him in such a way. Who did she think she was? Was this woman even qualified to handle his situation? "No. No! I'm not. I'm a boy." He snapped, giving the woman a dark glare.
She nodded to herself, making a few mental notes before continuing. "And when you say 'began your transition', you mean began living as a boy, right?" Spectra asked, waiting for Danny to give her a nod. "And so you're identifying as a boy. And everyone is going along with it?"
Danny blinked. "I-I don't… What do you mean?" Something about her tone put him on edge. He was sure he did not like where this conversation was going.
"I mean your parents, your sister, your friends, heck, the entire school faculty seems to be catering to this…" She waved her hand, motioning to the teen before her. "Little game of yours…"
Blue eyes wide, the boy leaned back in his chair, trying to put as much distance between himself and the woman as he could. "G-Game? I'm not—"
"Now Danny… I'm sure you didn't mean anything by this…" Spectra continued, rising to her feet and approaching the teen. "But don't you think it's a little selfish to ask everybody to help you be something you're not?"
"But I—"
"I want you to answer me something honestly, Danny." She cut him off once more, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you happy right now? Really?"
"I-I…" He lowered his head. Red flags going up in his head, making it difficult for him to focus. This was stupid, trivial, even. He knew he was happy this way. He knew that this was the way he was supposed to be, and he knew that starting high school as a male was the first steps to being the person he felt on the inside. At the present time, though, with Ms. Spectra looming over him with her hands heavy on his shoulders and waiting for an answer he truly felt miserable. He had not felt this horrible since middle school, before coming out, before becoming 'Danny'. Was he happy? Right now? "I…" He shook his head. "I feel miserable." He admitted.
