Butterfly Effect (Kyle's Lost Twin)

Leaving Home

The last of July air blows through my window. Looking over my barren room feels odd. My stuff has already either been given away or placed on a truck ready to be shipped off to LA, then Denver and finally South Park.

I was the first to get my shit together, I'm not really one for material things. The only things I have with me are clothes for the long trip ahead of me and the first few days at South Park all of which are packed in my suitcase. In my carry-on bag for the plane flight over I have a few of my favourite books and an iPad which has my favourite shows on it in case the inflight entertainment is shit. It also has my toiletries and Bluetooth headphones but that's about it.

I glance over at my beaten-up Nokia flip phone, I could just use one of the smartphones I've gotten from sponsors but I wouldn't know where to start. We don't have great internet where I live and I only use my current phone to text/call two people. Everyone I've ever known and cared about has been here, I've never needed anything else.

Sighing, I grab my phone and check the notifications. I have a few texts from my cousin Leo who lives in South Park but that's it. Frowning I check the text chain I have with my boyfriend and indeed there's nothing.

I don't know why but he's been increasingly distant lately. In all honesty, I've been more and more tempted to sign up for Instagram on my iPad just so I can see what he's doing. I had the idea a while ago but he freaked out when I told him.

I don't get it, he was the one who bought VIP tickets to my match just so he could talk to me, he was the one who asked to be in a relationship.

Deciding it's best not to dwell on it and get angry all over again I click out of A/n (Any name) messages and into Leos.

Leo Stotch is a recent addition to my family. My Uncle Andrew, my Mum's younger brother, married a guy named Blake Stotch. Uncle Drew and Blake had their wedding over here and some of Blakes's family flew over with him for the celebration. One of those few family members was his nephew Leopold.

Leo and I are the same age so we hung out during the wedding and got along really well. He gave me his number and that's when I decided to get the Nokia I have now. I figured a Nokia was the best choice of phone as it's the hardiest and I do a lot of dumb shit.

"Hey, N/n! The guys and I can't wait for you to get here! I had an alright day today, I hope packing everything up wasn't too much of a hassle for you. Did you remember to pack the new earbuds Google gave you? It's okay if you gave them to someone else, but if you're still happy for me to have them that'd be awesome! Anyways, I should be going to bed. I don't want to get grounded again. TTYL!"

"Hey, Leo! I managed to pack up everything okay and yes I've got the Google buds for you, they're in my carry on so I can give them to you when I get there! Tell the guys I'm excited to finally meet them, TTYL."

The guys, Leo talks about them incessantly. First, there's "the four" or "Stan's Gang" which consists of Stan, Kyle, Eric and Kenny. Then there's "the two gays" Craig and Tweek who tend to hang out with Clyde, Tolkien and Jimmy. Jimmy hangs out with a kid named Timmy and lastly, there's Scott who has diabetes. I think there's also a British dude named Pip but I think he moved away or something because one day Leo just sorta stopped mentioning him. Oh, and the "son of Satan" Damien but he isn't mentioned much anymore either.

While Leo talks highly of them none of them really treat him with much respect. I've tried pointing this out to him but he ignores me, I think it's because he feels like he would be alone without them. I wish I could have done more for him, but I'll be able to do more once I get there.

Apparently, South Park is the exact opposite of here which I'm not looking forward to. Leo calls it a "little town" and "in the middle of nowhere" so it's "kinda rural" but the houses are next to each other! And they have shops within walking distance! That's not fucking rural that's suburbia! 

Not only that but apparently it snows all the time! I live in the damn equator, I've never seen snow in my damn life! I highly doubt it's going to be as pleasant and fluffy as they make it out to be in movies. It's ice for fucks sake, it's going to be crunchy and cold and I'm really not looking forward to it.

Either way, South Park is where I was born so I should adapt to it right? At least that's what my Mum keeps saying. "Hey, Y/n?" Soft knocks meet my ears and I turn to see my Mum gently opening my door. I put my phone away to show she's got my full attention. "So, you know how you've got all your shit packed up? Well... Lily is struggling... Could you help her? I still need to finish up with Jake's room." Lily is my older sister. 

My Mum had a very difficult pregnancy with Lily and ended up becoming infertile after giving birth. She always wanted three kids though, which is why she and my Dad went all the way to Colorado thirteen years ago to adopt me who was two at the time and Jake who was a newborn. Jake looks like our Dad and with our sister being our parent's bio kid, I look like a chicken among ducks at times, but I don't mind. I love my family.

"Sure Mum, I'll go help out now," I reply, getting up to stretch as I do. "Thank you, sweetie," my Mum holds the door open for me and I head off toward Lily's room while Mum heads towards Jakes.

"Hey Lil, Mum said you needed- woah." Opening the door I see the usually neat room in complete shambles. Lily is on the floor lying in a pile of clothes, defeat on her face. "I did the calculations for our travel time..." Lily begins, I sit next to her on the ground and begin folding clothes and placing them in neat piles. "Oh?" I reply. Lily is indecisive at the best of times. With how stressed she is about moving it's no wonder all her shit is everywhere.

"It'll take thirty-eight hours. Thirty-eight FUCKING HOURS! One and a half hour flight first, then three and a half hour flight, then FOURTEEN HOURS TO LA and finally two hours and a half to Denver, but it's not over! We then need to drive all the way into South Park! With wait time and driving time included it's THIRTY EIGHT HOURS!" Lily rambles out her stress about the trip, travel times, possible loss of items in transit, crowds, plane crashes, etc.

As the eighteen-year-old rants, I calmly and carefully pack her comfort clothes in her suitcase while putting all her other clothes and anything she doesn't need on the plane into boxes. I hum and nod in response when needed, even adding a few "I know"s here and there.

By the time she's done ranting and finally chilled out I've finished packing her shit. She goes to start panicking again and wants to take everything out so she can check I did it right but the tape is down and she knows better than to rip the freshly placed tape. "Lily, I promise I packed everything perfectly and if you lose anything I'll just buy it again for you, who knows? A sponsor might even be willing to give it to me for free. So just chill."

I get a lot of free shit, I'm happy to pay or it's just people like to send me stuff so they can say they sponsor a trans person in sports. God knows it's only because I'm a trans man, if I was a trans woman with the success I have, I would be crucified.

I'm hoping I'll be able to make a difference for trans women eventually but for now I'm at least making a start by kicking the shit out of cis dudes.

"Alright..." Lily replies as she reluctantly grabs a box to take out to the moving truck. Thirty-Eight hours here we go...