Aaron's POV part two
It was before the first day of 9th grade at my new school with new people. I didn't want to move but my mom got a job promotion as an editor at the town paper in Ohio. My mom is having dinner with her boss at our house and my mom wants me to help her pick out a new dress. But there's only one problem, I hate dresses. My mom drove us the mall in her new prius, which I just love. We park our car in a front parking space and walk inside. In the mall, we walk around until my mom sees a dress in Belks. While my mom looks at the dresses I keep finding myself looking at the shirts and khakis in the guys section. "Aaron" my mom calls "come try on this blue dress!! It's gonna look SO cute one you!!" I knew complaining wouldn't do much so I tried on the dress. I got it out of her hand and went into the dressing room. I got a number, went into my stall and put on the dress. I came out if my stall to my mother and she gasped, "You look so beautiful!"
"Mom..." I groan
"Ok ok ok ok." "But doesn't she just look gorgeous in this dress???!!!" She says turning to the dressing room attendant.
"Yes, that's a very cute dress and it looks fantastic on her." Wow, this girl is fantastic. She has long brown hair, big blue eyes freckles sprinkled on her nose, and a great body. I shoot her a flirty smile, and to my surprise she winks back. "And" the girl continues "it's on sale for $10."
"Oh that's wonderful!!" My mom says and I go back into the dressing room to change. My mom finds a long, shimmery red dress that hugged curves just right with a daring neckline. I'm starting to think this wasn't just a meeting, maybe it was a date. My mother buys the dress and my blue dress and we head out the door.
We have 10 minutes till my mom's boss gets here. My mom yells at me to put on my dress. In my new room I look at the dress on my bed. I can't help thinking 'This isn't me' so I put on a button up shirt with a bowtie, some khakis, and my sperry's. I put my hair in a bun, take the scissors from my dresser and cut my hair. I take some styling gel from the bathroom and style my hair into a quiff. I sweep up my hair and out it in the trash can. I look in the mirror, take a few deep breaths and walk downstairs.
"Aaron" my mother says "This is my boss Jenni and her daughter Payton. Oh my gosh!! It's the girl from Belks!!! I slowly walk into the dinning room. My mom looks up and gasps "Aaron."
"What's wrong with her?" Jenni asks.
"Oh..." My mom answers, "It's a disease that makes her hair fall out..... Honey what's it called again?" She looks at me expectantly with a look that says "we'll talk about this later" But I won't do this anymore, I can't play along any more....besides, what do I have to lose? So I answer "Well mother" my voice is spiked with spunk and attitude, but my heart is lurching with fear, pain, and anxiety.
I continue "It's called transexual."
My mom takes me into the kitchen and slams the door with an infuriated look on her face.
"What was that? I thought I told you to wear that blue dress I bought you?! And what have you done to your hair??!!!" She whisper-yells at me.
"That was ME mom! Who I really am and still am, you need to see who I am, the real me."
She replies by slapping me smartly across my face leaving a hot, burning, and stinging sensation in my cheek. I feel the blood rush to my face, and she begins to whisper-yell at me again, but this time with a softer, gentler look saying "You are a woman you here me? A BEAUTIFUL young woman who one day will give birth to another beautiful baby." Her face turns hard again and she grips my arm hard, her nails digging into my skin "And I will not let you throw it all away because of this PHASE YOUR GOING THROUGH! Now go get a wig from my room, put it on, and change into that blue dress or else!" She releases my arm and I run to my room crying.
Suddenly, I remember an old friend from middle school who also moved to Ohio. What was his name? That's right, Chris. He understands, and I'm so happy we've kept in touch like we said we would. I call Chris up and ask him were he lives, he tells me 123 maple dr.
"We don't live that far away from you" I tell him"I live on 110 maple dr."
"Wow, that is close" he says
"Yea, I'll be there in a few minutes"
"Ok, but why? Are you ok Aaron?"
"No." And with that I hung up, climbed out my window into the pitch black night with a flashlight and start running down the street to Chris's house.
I knock on his door and when he answers the door with worry in his face...........I just lose it and start to cry.
"Aaron?!" He says "What's wrong?" I can't get a word out I'm crying so hard, so he lets me in and shuts the door behind him. He leads me to the couch and his living room and for a while we just sit there and he holds me as I cry. When my crying becomes silent and my breathing is normal, he gets me a blanket and leaves me lying there for a moment.
Chris returns with a tray and sets it down in front of me. On it is a cup of tea, some peanut butter toast (my favorite), a cup of milk and a pb and j. But before I can say thank you, he leaves and comes back with a pillow and spare blankets.
I discover I can't speak without crying again so I just hug him tightly and he whispers in my ear
"Your berry berry welcome." I smile and a laugh escapes my lips, he's so stupid.
After finishing my wonderful food platter, and listening to Chris talk about everything he can to make me laugh, he finally asks the tough question "So Aaron, what happened?" But then he thinks about it for a second and says "Y'know only if you're ready..." I put up a hand and give him a look that says "just shut the hell up and let me talk"
I explained to him what had happened with my mom and her boss and how'd I'd jumped out the window.
"Wait," Chris says "Isn't you're room on the second floor? So you jumped from that high up and didn't hurt ANYTHING?" I nodded. "Damn Aaron, I didn't know you were such a bad ass, you're manlier than me." This coming from him....I felt AMAZING. I smile and he hugs me again, he's such a big friendly giant. After about 2 more hours of cuddling and feeling sorry for myself Chris says "C'mon, let's get you home "Aaron."
"Yea ok 5 more minutes." We sit there for another 20 minutes, "We really should get going." Chris tries
"10 more minutes, then I'll leave promise." We sit there for another 45 minutes, but this time Chris has leverage.
"C'mon Aaron."
"15 more minutes." He gets up and puts out a hand.
"You promised."
When we get back to my house my mother greets me with open arms apologizing for over reacting, hugging me tightly and kissing me all over. She finally takes her eyes of mine for a second and looks behind me at Chris.
"Chris Vagabottom!!! You've gotten SO BIG!!!" She begins to obsess over him and thanks him for bringing me home, I sigh with relief that she's not focusing on me anymore. I hate being the center of attention. But that didn't last long, cause soon she's grabbing my hand and saying "We're gonna figure this out together" and she smiles. And i want to believe her, I really do, but I can't right now, it just hurts too much. But despite all of this I answer with an "Okay."
She hugs me and Chris simultaneously and fixes the collar on my shirt. We tell Chris goodbye and she thanks him one more time and he leaves. I say goodnight to my mother, walk up the steps and walk to my room. I change into some shorts and a t shirt, grab my iPod and let my music take me off the clouds of reality.
