23
Ripples

The rest of P.E. went off without a hitch, without anybody commenting on the fact that I was trans. I suppose people were scared off by Liz and Lauren. Liz really did appear threatening in front of everyone, I was a little surprised, I had never seen her that angry before.

I was surprised the school was as accepting as it was. I heard most all-girls schools were quite conservative, so I really didn’t expect them to be as accepting as they were. I suppose I got lucky.

“Katie, hello,” Sam said, shaking my shoulder. “Are you there?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, turning to her. “I’m here, just was lost in thoughts for a second.”

“Great, okay, we have to go to study hall,” she said, going to the stairs. “Are we going to be in the library like usual?”

“I’m a little scared to be around that many people today, especially without Liz and Lauren,” I said. “Let’s go to one of the private study rooms.”

“Oh, sure, we better get going then,” Sam said, heading to the stairs. “Those rooms fill up pretty quickly.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” I said, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. We made our way down to the private study rooms, and luckily there was one that was empty. We headed inside, putting down our backpacks and sitting down at the desk there. The room was quite luxurious, having white soundproofing panels on the wall and a big central desk with several chairs around it. Some of the people taking music classes used these rooms sometimes, which is why I supposed they soundproofed things.

“Do you have anything to study today?” Sam asked, taking her laptop out of her backpack. “I have a bit of homework I have to do.”

“Not really, I’m all caught up on homework,” I said, looking around the room. “I’m mostly just worried about how things will go later during lunch.”

“Oh yeah, lunch will definitely attract some curious people,” Sam said, looking around in her backpack for some papers. “But it’s okay, you’ll have everyone ready to defend you.”

“Yeah, Liz was real scary there in the locker room,” I said, giggling.

“She can be scary when she wants to be,” Sam said. “You should’ve seen her when that drama in our old group happened, she was furious.”

“Oh, about that,” I said, curious. “What exactly happened with your old group?”

“Typical high school drama,” she said, sighing. “It was real stupid. Lauren and Rachel, who were like the two group leaders, started fighting over something. I don’t even remember what it was, but I’m pretty sure Lauren was in the right. Even when Lauren tried to get past the drama, Rachel kept on bringing it up and stuff. Lauren, Liz, and I packed it up and left since we didn’t want to deal with it, but Liz yelled at Rachel and everyone who sided with her before we did.”

“Wow, so, she sounds like a drama queen,” I said, giggling. “Bringing things up again and again.”

“Yeah, she’s a drama queen for sure,” Sam said, rolling her eyes.

***

“If there’s one constant in our lives, it’s that Rosewood will always serve us the worst food possible,” Liz said. Today we were being served fish sticks, and the color of the breading was a deep brown with how dirty the oil was.

“At least that’ll never change,” I said, taking a bite of the fish sticks and almost gagging at how bad they tasted.

“I need to convince my mom to start packing me lunch,” Lauren said, putting down her fork and shaking her head. “I can’t deal with this much longer.”

“If it isn’t Lauren,” I heard someone say as they made their way over to our table. “Long time no see.”

“Rach,” Lauren said, scowling. “What is it? I don’t want to deal with any more of your crap.”

“Wow, I just came to congratulate you,” Rachel said.

“Congratulate me for what?” Lauren asked.

“Leaving us to be friends with the tranny, that’s what,” Rachel said, smiling evilly at me. It hurt a lot, I’d been surrounded by accepting people until now, and actually being called a slur felt like getting hit.

“You did not just call her that,” Liz said, standing up so quickly she knocked over her cup.

“I did, what are you going to do about it, huh?” Rachel asked, a smug expression on her face.

“Shut up Rachel,” Lauren said, her eyes flickering with anger. “If you have any beef with me, settle it with me. Don’t bring Katie into this.”

“Is it really Katie, or is it Tyler?” Rachel said, smirking at me. It stung hearing that name again, how did she even know what my dead name was? “Yeah, that’s right, I talked to Jack. He told me some interesting things about you. Sounds like you were quite the personality.”

“I’m not him anymore,” I said, eyes tearing up. “I’m not like that now.”

“Sure, you can say that but deep down you’re the same person you always were,” Rachel said. “Once a disgusting boy, always a-”

She was cut off by a loud smack, as Liz’s hand hit her cheek. “You don’t know the first thing about Katie, don’t you dare say that,” Liz said.

“Ow, what the hell,” Rachel said, holding onto her cheek with a hand. “I’m going to report you.”

“Yeah, report me and I’ll report you back for what you said to Katie,” Liz said, sitting back down confidently. “The school has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and bullying, you know.”

“Ugh, defend him all you like but he’ll get what’s coming for him,” she said, taking her hand off her cheek to reveal a red mark. She turned around and stormed away, clearly not happy with how things turned out.

“Lots of bark but no bite,” Liz said, laughing a little to try and lighten the mood. “I’m lucky a teacher didn’t see me.”

“Is this how everything’s going to go from now on?” I asked, pushing away my food now that my appetite was gone. “I don’t want everyone to hate me.”

“It’s just because it’s the first day since Jack messaged everyone,” Lauren said, reaching over the lunch table and putting a comforting hand over mine. “Things will calm down soon.”

“I hope so,” I said, carefully wiping a tear from my eye.

***

I walked into art class with Lauren. Art was always really chill and the teacher was nice so it was one of my favorite classes. I’d improved at drawing a lot too, I wasn’t exactly good, but I was a lot better than I used to be. As soon as I walked into the class, everyone stared at me for a few seconds. I suppose I was starting to become pretty famous. I heard some whispers and apparently, Rachel called Liz a “psycho bitch.” That made me laugh a little bit.

I looked around the art room and breathed in deeply, the smell of paint and clay filling my nose. The room was filled with drawings all over the walls and sculptures displayed prominently. The familiar room was a great source of comfort to me after the mess this day had been so far.

We had free drawing time today, which was my favorite since we could do whatever we wanted. I spent the entire time drawing noses since I was absolutely terrible at drawing them. I needed some practice and practice I did.

“How many noses have you drawn?” Lauren asked, leaning over and looking at the multiple pieces of paper scattered across my desk. “There’s like, a thousand.”

“There’s not a thousand,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Maybe like a hundred, max.”

“Still that’s a lot of noses,” Lauren said. “You did improve though, I can see the difference between these first ones you drew and the current ones.”

“Thanks,” I said, smiling. “I’m glad I’m becoming pretty good at drawing.”

“Maybe one day you will reach the level the great Lauren is at,” she said, puffing out her chest.

“Maybe I will,” I said, giggling.

***

Algebra 2 ended without anybody confronting me, which I was relieved about. I was walking out of the class with Sam, and we made our way to the first floor when she spoke up.

“Oh, I have to use the restroom,” she said, pointing her thumb toward the washroom. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Oh, sure. Bye, Sam,” I said, waving at her.

“Bye, Katie,” she replied, waving back.

I walked out of the school and was about to walk toward the busses when someone grabbed my shoulder.

“Who is it!” I yelled out, scared. Was someone about to attack me for being trans?

“Katie, relax, it’s me,” Matthew said as I turned to see his face. “Sorry, I probably should’ve said it was me first.”

“What, Matthew?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“Yeah, it’s me,” he said, a smile on his face.

“How’d you even get here?” I asked, giving him a tight hug. He reciprocated and gently ran his hand through my hair, which felt oddly satisfying.

“I may have skipped the last class of the day to arrive here,” he said, chuckling. "Your mom drove me here, which was nice of her."

“Oh, my mom’s here too?” I asked, smiling. “That’s a relief, I really didn’t want to ride the bus today.”

“Well, you’re not going to have to, her car’s right around here,” he said, as we started walking with him leading me by the hand. The warmth of his hand felt really nice.

“So, how was today?” Matthew asked, glancing back at me for a second. “I hope it wasn’t too bad.”

“Oh, it was pretty bad,” I said. “Got called a freak, a slur, and my friend Liz had to slap a girl to defend me.”

“Seriously?” he said, stopping in his tracks. “Damn it, I wish I could’ve been there to protect you.”

“It’s okay, not like you can really go into an all-girls school,” I said.

“That’s true but still,” Matthew said, letting out a deep sigh. “It sucks that I can’t do anything while you’re being harassed and stuff.”

“It’s okay, I’m just glad you’re here for me,” I said, squeezing his hand.

“And I’m glad you’re here with me too,” he said, leaning in and giving me a kiss on my forehead. I blushed deeply, enjoying the feeling of his lips on my skin. “You’re the best girlfriend I could’ve hoped for.”

“Aww, thanks, you’re the best too,” I said, smiling up at him. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said, a wide grin on his face. “We should get to your mom’s car though, she’s waiting for us.”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” I said, as we started to walk again. We made our way to the parking lot and I saw my mom’s car parked right in the front. I opened the back door and stepped inside.

“Hi Mom,” I said. I usually sat in the front, but I wanted to be next to Matthew, so I slid into the back seat this time.

“How was today, sweetie?” Mom asked, taking a look at both Matthew and me.

“Pretty bad, but it’s better now that I have Matthew,” I said.

“Why was it bad?” she asked, worry in her voice. “Your aunt didn’t say anything bad happened to me.”

“Well, I got called a lot of bad things, and my friends had to defend me.”

“Who said bad things to you?” Mom asked, her hand clenching on the steering wheel in anger. “Why didn’t you report them?”

“Well, I don’t want Liz to get in trouble since she slapped one of the girls who called me a slur,” I said.

“Liz slapped a girl and you were called a slur?” she asked, putting a hand on her forehead and sighing. “Let’s talk about this more later, I might get so angry I won’t be able to drive.”

“Okay, don’t worry about me though. I feel a lot better.”

“We can’t just ignore that you were called a slur, Katie,” Matthew said, shaking his head. “That’s terrible.”

“I guess, but I feel better now, mostly because of you,” I said, stretching out my hand towards him. He grabbed it and smiled at me. I was busy staring dreamily at Matthew when I noticed something wrong.

“Wait, Mom, where are we going?” I asked, looking out the window and realizing we had taken the wrong turn. We were meant to make a right at this intersection, but she had just made a left. Was it a mistake?

“Well, Matthew’s parents wanted to say hello to us,” Mom said, gently laughing. “So we’re going to meet them.”

“Oh,” I said, gulping in nervousness. I hadn’t seen Matthew’s parents in ages, and I didn’t know what they’d think of me dating their son. I let out a shaky breath, hoping things would go okay.

***

“We’re here,” Mom said, signaling for us to exit the car. “I hope this isn’t too much for you after the school day you just had, Katie.”

“No, it’s okay, I did have to meet them eventually,” I said. “It’s just a little scary.”

“You know my parents are pretty chill, it won’t be much of an issue,” Matthew said, as we made our way onto the porch. He pressed the doorbell and we waited.

I heard some Korean on the other side of the door before the door opened revealing Matthew’s mom.

“Hi, welcome,” she said. Her voice was slightly accented, but she sounded very sweet overall. Just as I remembered. “It’s good to meet you again, Katie.”

“Hi Ms. Choi,” I said, giving a quick wave. “It has been a long time.”

“Yes, you used to come over all the time,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard you two were reconnecting again. And then dating? Definitely not what I expected.”

“I can’t say I expected all of this to happen either,” I said, giggling slightly as I thought of all that had happened the past couple of weeks. “If you told me that I would be a girl and dating Matthew before all of this happened, I would’ve called you crazy.”

“Call me crazy, because I didn’t expect any of this,” she said, laughing heartily. “Okay, you all should come in, it’s cold outside.”

“Yeah it is, we need to start changing to winter clothes now,” my mom said, stepping inside of Matthew’s house. She looked around for a second before commenting. “This place really hasn’t changed since I’ve last seen it.”

“Yeah, it really hasn’t,” I said, looking around too. It was a typical two-story house, but definitely felt more Asian than my house. From the decorations to the general atmosphere, there was much more of a Korean presence. Probably because Matthew’s parents were first-generation immigrants. We left our shoes at the front and walked into the kitchen.

“I don’t know if you all are hungry, but I prepared some light food,” Matthew’s mom said, bringing over a plate of pasta for each of us.

“Thanks, I didn’t eat much at school, so I’m feeling a little hungry,” I said, taking the plate from her hands and placing it in front of me.

Matthew’s dad lumbered into the kitchen with a cup in his hand. He scratched at his hair before speaking. “So you’re Matthew’s girlfriend,” he said.

“Yes I am sir,” I said, a little nervous. He seemed a lot more intimidating than Matthew’s mom for some reason.

“Well, that’s fantastic,” he said, clapping his hands together. His cold expression suddenly turned happy, which was a relief but also kind of scary at the same time. He turned to Ms. Choi. “Our son’s really growing up, huh? Having a girlfriend and everything.”

“I can’t say I was surprised,” my mom said. “Those two were so obviously crushing on each other before they started dating.”

“Mommm,” I said, blushing bright red in embarrassment. “They don’t need to know that.”

“I still can’t believe you’re the same person,” Matthew’s mom said, laughing gently as she looked at me. “You’re so different now.”

“Yeah, I did change genders after all,” I said, giggling.

“I heard you fell in with the wrong crowd for a while,” Ms. Choi said, shaking her head. “I’m glad you left them.”

“Me too, they were all terrible,” I said, sighing as I thought of Jack. Not only Jack, but the rest of the “gang” were all pretty bad people looking back. Not that they even cared about me much beyond having someone to play Valorant with.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see Katie now,” my mom said, smiling at me. “She’s so much happier, it’s like she’s glowing at times. Compared to how things were before, it’s such an improvement.”

“Matthew’s been a lot happier too lately,” Mr. Choi said, smiling as well. “Probably because of Katie.”

“He’s the best boyfriend I ever could’ve asked for,” I said before stuffing some more pasta in my mouth. Matthew’s mom was really good at cooking because this tasted delicious.

“Thanks, I do my best,” he said. “You’re the best girlfriend I ever could’ve asked for.”

“I’m not that good,” I said, internally feeling happy he called me that. It still felt nice to be called his girlfriend. I really was a girl now!

“Aren’t they just adorable?” my mom whispered to Matthew’s mom, making me blush in embarrassment.

“They are,” Ms. Choi said, laughing.

***

We finished eating, and Matthew’s mom was taking the empty plates back to the kitchen. My mom and Matthew’s dad were talking about us, which made me a little nervous. I turned to Matthew, who was right beside me and decided to talk.

“So, Matthew,” I said, playing a little with my hair out of boredom. It was getting really long now, I was due for a haircut. “I’m glad your parents are okay with us dating.”

“Well, you know them, if anything they’d be happy I’m dating you, instead of some bad influence,” he said, shrugging. “They’re pretty chill.”

“Yeah, it’s a relief, if your parents were against us dating I don’t know what I would do,” I said shaking my head from side to side.

“It’s a relief, isn’t it,” he said, chuckling.

“About Jack though…,” I said, my voice trailing off.

“What about Jack?” Matthew asked.

“I’m going to have to confront him,” I said, sighing deeply.

“You’re going to talk to him again?” he asked, his voice raising in volume out of shock. “Katie, just leave him alone.”

“I need to clear things up,” I said, determined. “I need to confront him and finally get rid of who I used to be.”

“I’m not going to be able to change your mind, am I?” Matthew said, looking disappointed.

“Not at all,” I replied. “I think this is like the final step I have to take to truly become me.”

“Just let me go with you?” he pleaded, clearly worried about my safety. Jack had the potential to get physical with things, and I wouldn’t be able to defend myself anymore. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have been able to defend myself against him before all of this even happened.

“Okay then,” I said, outstretching my hand. “We’ll confront him together.”

“Together,” he said, grabbing my hand and nodding.