If They Only Knew...

Chapter 3- Valeria

I didn't know the word for it till I was about eight years old. Third grade, in Halloween.
One of the little boys in my class had thought it would be funny to steal his twin sister's princess tiara and wear it on his head, as a joke, which prompted more than a few guffaws from the other students and a "What are you, trans?!" comment from one of his friends. And yet another fit of giggles.
I was confused.
I did not know what this word meant. Was it an insult? It seemed so, from the context.
I promptly approached the teacher to ask my questions, but she turned away. Ignored it, pretending not to hear, and moved on with her lessons.
I spent the rest of the day wondering what the word meant and why a mature adult such as my teacher would turn away at such a word. The only explanation could be that this was a bad word for adults, and as such, I would get the same result from every adult I asked.
So I'd have to ask a kid what it meant. One who seemed knowledgeable and informed on everything and could answer my query [more like queer-y, am I right? Hahaha :D]. Like my friend, Raven. She seemed to know everything.
And so, the next day, at recess, when all the other kids were preoccupied with their playing, and the teachers just making sure no one was getting into trouble, not really focusing on what was being said, I asked Raven my questions.
She looked at me with those big, dark brown eyes of hers, a skeptical look on her face before asking, "Why do you want to know?" She didn't sound accusing, just curious.
I muttered in reply, "I don't know, I don't like not knowing things..." which seemed enough to satisfy her.
   "It means when you don't feel like how your body is. When you are one gender but your body doesn't quite align with that. Does that make sense?" She looked down at me the half an inch it required, due to our height difference, eyes sparkling, which was almost mesmerizing.
I pulled my gaze away reluctantly and thought for a moment, staring out at the asphalt and playground before asking, "So like when people tell you that you are a boy, but you don't feel like one? - Or the same with someone being told they are a girl?"
   "Exactly," She replied, to which I raised an eyebrow, wondering how she would know such things.
She seemed to read my mind at that moment because she answered me with an explanation. "I asked my mommy what the word meant when I got home from school yesterday."
I nodded along, already coming to my own conclusions in my head about myself, which was fine, until the whistle was blown and we had to line up, breaking me from my thoughts. But just as I was about to get in line, Raven pulled me aside to tell me one last detail she had forgotten to mention.
   "Oh, and my mommy says that people like that get made fun of for being different. There's nothing wrong with them, people are just bullies." Then she pulled me closer, pigtail puffs blocking out the sun as she fixed me with a deathly serious glare, adding, "Promise me, Luis. Promise me you won't be a bully."
And staring at her, the full power of her state focused on me, I gave the best answer I could under those circumstances. "O-okay..."

Hope that chapter was okay, guys. I know I'm not exactly great at writing, but I try. & I really enjoy the characters, so that makes the process that much more enjoyable. Pay attention to Raven. No spoilers, but she does become relevant later. Also notice the casual transphobia that is elementary school. I don't know about you guys, but that along with the homophobia/transphobia in middle school is something I vividly remember. It may have been b/c I'm an early 2000s kid, so that was a different era than present kids, but still. It was pretty bad up until I went to high school, probably b/c it was a bigger school & by then, most people had matured enough to actually respect people. But that was just my experience. Idk about you guys... Anyways, see you later, byeeeee :3