Anomalies (working title)

Chapter 13

Skye

Days at the House for Anomalies passed with a similar dynamic to a regular house. The main difference was that sometimes, a regular girl or boy would turn into a mermaid, or you could get whacked in the face by a pair of wings if someone dropped a plate.

In his last few days at the House for Anomalies, Skye had one goal he wasn't telling anyone about. He had the materials, he was almost done. Getting privacy in a place like the House was hard, so staying underground about this was hard. Especially hiding it from Hayley, his twin sister.

The thing about having a twin is that they just get it. They get it better than anyone else. That's how it had always been, for Skye and Hayley. They had the same problems, same interests, same situations. But there was always one thing she didn't get. And that thing was one of his biggest issues.

The fact that he had been born as a girl.

Hayley got the girl part (obviously). She had boobs and a uterus. Long, blonde hair and a warmer complexion. Giggly, happy, with a high, feminine voice. Everything about her screamed "girl." That's just how it is usually. You look at someone, and they either look like a boy or a girl, unless they make an effort not to do so. Even if they are the opposite gender in their head, they can't help the fact that their body looks like their birth gender.

Skye had never liked girly things. He never liked dresses, or long hair, or makeup. Makeup made him want to scream. It was sticky and didn't even stay on that long. But growing up as a fairy made knowing how to do makeup inevitable.

His birth name had been Stella. Ms. Lynn had found him and Hayley in a box with a return address for Sky High Children's Charity but didn't like the name Skye for a girl. So he was named Stella Charity Brightling, and his sister Hayley Ann Brightling.

As he grew older, and his body grew with him, the more he hated certain aspects of himself. The way his chest swelled, the gentle curve of his hips and butt... It all made him want to rip them off. Nothing felt right. So he would purchase sports bras that were too small, so they would make his chest smaller. Not much he could do about his hips, so he wore mostly baggy shirts and pants. Finally, on his and Hayley's 11th birthday (they had the last birthday of all the Venificus Freshmen), Ms. Lynn had taken their group into her bedroom, and told them about the LGBTQ+ Community, explaining that they may like girls, boys, or all genders, or two of those genders. She explained that they may not feel like they had a gender, or that they were a different gender. And then it just clicked. He could practically see it clicking for everyone else as well, certain things just set into place in their heads.

So he started dressing more masculine. He cut off his long, dark hair so it was nice and short. He ditched makeup for good.

He was Skye.

His project was soon to be complete. Only a few more seams and it would be there.

A binder. A real binder, for his chest.

As soon as breakfast was done, he couldn't stop smiling to himself. He always looked forward to working on the binder, with materials he had bought one night when he was supposed to be studying.

There was money left over from the odd jobs business, and his wings were itching to fly. So he did. The sales clerk didn't wonder why he was buying such thick cardboard with such soft fabrics. Skye was grateful for that.

"Yo, Skye, do you know where I put my makeup bag?" Hayley called out, halfway into their closet.

"You left it on the desk," Skye pointed out, feeling under his mattress for the almost complete binder.

"Oh, thanks, sorry. I'm dumb," Hayley swung out from the closet, her hand on the side of the wall so she didn't fall.

"I know, I've always been the smart twin," Skye joked, hiding the binder under the blanked. He always had a feeling that Hayley noticed he was working on something, but she never asked. Skye didn't know why he was hiding it, Hayley knew he was trans. But something about the binder was just... His.

"Shut up, you're just a nerd. Doesn't make you smart," Hayley tossed the makeup bag onto her bedside table.

"Okay, wannabe James Charles."

"At least I don't leak my own nudes," Hayley pointed out.

"At least you don't have an excuse to take nudes," Skye shot back, smiling. Hayley rolled her eyes.

"The g- Boys don't know what they're missing," she said, dabbing primer onto her eyelids.

"Sure, hun, whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Speaking of which, what have you been doing at 2 AM? Your phone flashlight is always on," Hayley asked.

"Nothing. Just reading," Skye lied.

"Ah, yes, the joys of literature. Find anything worthwhile?" Hayley said sarcastically.

"Just a lot of sappy romance novels," Skye had read quite a few of those. Something about summer just made him want to read about either toxic or unrealistic relationships.

"You're such a dork," Hayley said, starting on her eyeshadow.

Skye jumped at a loud rapping at the door.

"The littles are getting antsy. I'd suggest getting out here before they try to have another parade," came Reya's voice from behind the door.

The littles liked to have parades where they would bang on pots and pans with stolen makeup smeared all over their face. They also liked to shred up paper and throw it around like confetti. Said parades were messy enough that Ms. Lynn had to employ both the littles and the middles to help clean up, and the middles liked to ditch. So that meant the bigs got to pitch in.

"Gotcha. Statues in the Garden?" Skye suggested, standing up from his bed and praying that the binder would stay hidden underneath the sheets. Luckily, it did.

"Sounds good. I'll grab the wolves, Jo's on the 'maids. You and Hayley can grab the fairies, if you don't mind, Reya's on demon duty."

Skye padded out of the room, his socks barely making a sound against the wooded floor. Hayley was wrapping up her mascara and followed hurriedly behind him.

"I think they're out in the garden, trying to make gnome houses," Hayley said. Skye glanced out the window and discovered that she was correct.

"How'd you know?" He asked, confused. Hayley never paid much attention to the littles.

"They stole my shoeboxes again," she sighed.