𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘱.

One.

NATASHA POV

When we are young we often think that we are going to be happy forever and have a good life, but of course, as we grow older life is not what we expect it to be.

My name is Natasha. I am a 15-years-old bisexual female and I am a sophomore in high school. I live in a society where there are certain standards you must follow to fit in.

Those things are to be born with natural beauty and to be thin, to not wear a certain type of clothing or clothes that makes you a "slut". You can't love the same gender as your own or you are automatically considered "sinning". There are many things expected of you. Unfortunately, I am none of that and I get bullied for the way I look and for who I am because I do not fit the standards of what society wants me to be.

Today is the first day of my junior year and I am not ready. Sometimes I wish the world would stop for a minute. I live with my mother and my brother. My mother works hard for both of us because my father was abusive and hurtful which made mom decide to leave him, with me and my brother, to another country.

Before we lived in New York, but now we are in Japan for those reasons. Life is a bit better and I'm thankful for my mother because even though she's alone, she continues to work hard for me and my brother. I know it may be hard on her so I try my best to help her as well and make her proud.

I stood in front of the mirror and threw on my blouse, buttoning it up. I pulled up my skirt and knee-high socks. I combed out my shoulder-length burgundy hair and grabbed my bag and cellphone. I was nervous for my first day back. I only hope that I don't run into my bullies.

"Bye Mom! Bye Kevin! Have a good day at work and in school!" I said to my mom and brother before leaving. Every day I took the train to school since I lived far from where my school is.

After reaching the school I got my new schedule and went to my first class. Unfortunately, for me, one of my bullies was in the same class as me. I prayed that she wouldn't notice me. I kept my head low on the desk and waited for more people to come in.

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JORDANS  POV.

Growing up I had a good childhood, but there were times where I'd feel unhappy and jealous because I saw the boys in the neighborhood playing with each other. I had always wanted to play along with them but my mother never allowed me to. She said that I had to play with the girls. I didn't want to do girly things and I didn't want to play with girls or wear "girl's clothes".

I've always known deep down that I am a boy and that's who I am. I can't change that and nothing ever could, and I don't want it to change. I ended up always wearing jeans or sweatpants and a black shirt with a hoodie almost every day. One time as a kid I attempted to cut my hair short.

My mom had asked me why I was doing such things, but I wanted to try and make it obvious to her. That was the only way she'd know because I don't have the guts to say it myself. Thinking about it frightens me. What if she doesn't accept me? What if I'm disowned? How do I make her understand what I can't even understand? Up until this day I haven't told her and don't know where to begin when I do.

I'm not out to my family and I'm not prepared to be. My parents don't see the signs. My sister has hints since I've teased her about it, saying I prefer he/him pronouns. Despite having not told her, I feel she would be understanding and accept me for who I am.

I have two uniforms I wear, my uniform in front of my parents to make sure they wouldn't find anything out, and the one I wear to school. I keep the other one that I would wear to school in my bag. I take the bus to a restaurant and I always change into the other uniform before I go to school. I'm a completely different person when I am in school, I have different identities apart from home and school.

My name is Jordan, I am a 17-years-old trans man, and I am finally in my senior year of high school. I live with my mother and sister. Sometimes on the weekends, I go to visit my grandmother. She's such a loving person, honestly. I always play games with her and I feel like my grandmother and I are close. We get along well with each other and we talk about many things all the time. I felt that if I came out to her maybe she would accept me.

I am still in disbelief that I am in my senior year. I am comfortable with the new grade, so I am not even nervous. I'm just happy and excited to see my friends again after so long. I go into the school and I get my schedule, heading into my first class.

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As Jordan enters the room Natasha slowly looks up and makes eye contact with him by accident. He scoffs and looks away annoyed. She looked at him and sighed "What's his problem? Jeez." She mumbled as she wondered who he was. She's never seen him before. Maybe he was a new student in her class.