Becoming Her (Trans)

Chapter 35

I've never expected bowling to be fun. Or entertaining to watch, for that matter. Kelly struggled with trying to get her ball in the lane long enough to hit a pin. At some point she pouted her way into getting the gutters blocked so she can get an even chance.

It still didn't work, which then pissed her off.

"You need a lot of practice to be able to play well," I say to her as she goes to one of the chairs to sulk in. 

"Easy for you to say," my sister responds. "You've done this a lot more than I have."

"Not as much as you think," I admit. "Come on, I'll teach you what little I know about getting a strike." 

Kelly gives me a confused look. "As in, 'strike 3, you're out'?"

I shake my head. "Wrong sport, hon."

"They all sound the same to me," Kelly mutters under her breath.

_______

"Josh, do you know if Mandy will be home today?" Kelly asks impatiently as we're all getting into Gwen's car to leave the bowling alley. "It's been, like, too long since I last saw her!"

Giggling, Gwen teases Josh, "Now we'll have to go to your place. From how often Kelly talks about your sister, Mandy sounds nice."

"I'm pretty sure that's what one of the angels said to God about Lucifer," Josh says. "Trust me, it's not worth meeting her."

"Aww, not even to keep us from bothering you for a while?" Gwen takes a turn out into the busy street. "It'll only take about 10 minutes. Or 15. Most likely 15 minutes."

From the passenger seat, I can hear Josh muttering under his breath about an incident that involved brownies and Josh's sports magazines. I'm pretty sure there was a cuss word here and there, but it's not important enough for me to listen. 

Gwen smiles and turns on the radio, changing the stations immediately. A couple of stoplights in, she finds a country station and leaves it there. Kelly would've complained about how Gwen chose a "genre meant to target rednecks" (her words, not mine), if I haven't given her a warning look. She slides down her seat with her arms crossed. By now, she's probably focusing her irritability on her lack of talent to make a strike, even with my tricks in mind.

As soon as Gwen parks next to Josh's driveway, Kelly forgets about both the music and the bowling. Zipping to the porch, she waits until Josh unlocks the door with his key. "Mandy! Are you here?" Kelly calls out.

"Remind me to never give her sugar," Josh says to me as the rest of us enter the seemingly empty house. Too late, he sees Mandy giving Kelly one of her cookies. He groans at the site, while I on the other hand laugh at the irony. 

"What's so funny?" Mandy questions. I shake my head, getting her to change the subject. "Where have you guys been off to?" Kelly finishes a cookie and reaches for another. Mandy reacts by smacking the hand away. My sister hisses. 

Gwen tentatively puts her purse on the tabletop before reaching a hand out. "Hi, you're Mandy, right?" Mandy gives her an odd look, but takes the hand and shakes. "Hi, I'm Gwen. I don't know if Josh had told you about me or . . . "

Mandy widens her eyes a little out of realization. "You're his girlfriend," she states. 

"Oh. He did," Gwen says, smiling. 

"Yep." Mandy puts on an evil smile. "Now I can tell you face-to-face embarrassing stories about Josh--"

Josh interrupts. "That's not going to happen!" he claims. "I'll tell your friends about that time with the orange--" He doesn't get a chance to finish his sentence when Mandy's eyes turn into slits. 

"Like hell you will," she says. 

"Then I assume you won't be telling stories around the campfire?"

Mandy takes her time to think about it. "I'll have to consider the options and consequences."

I'm watching the conversation go back and forth when I see Day upstairs, most likely waiting. She beckons me to come, and I excuse myself from the conversation-turned-argument. Day walks into a room I can only describe as an office. "What's up?" I ask when the silence is too long.

She shuffles some papers on her desk until she finds the ones she's looking for. "I did some research," she starts. Day takes her sweet time to skim over a few things. "In some cases, well, why don't you read this and tell me what you think?" Handing over a paper, I take it and read over a few questions equipped with long answers. 

I skip most of the questions ("Can I appoint a legal guardian for my own children?" and such), and go straight to one, "How do I establish guardianship of a child?" The answer's 3 paragraphs long, but basically Day and Steve can file papers in court, one of them being a letter of consent from my parents. This is followed by interviews with both sets of parents, and a possibility of a criminal background check.

For obvious reasons, I start feeling heavy. This can actually happen to me, I think. If my parents hate who I really am, they can sign their guardianship away without hesitation, or even a discussion. With shaking hands I give the sheets back to Day. "Do, do you know how long this'll take?" I ask. 

Day shakes her head no. "Hopefully it'll be quick," she says. When she notices my state, she gives me a hug. It's comforting, but it doesn't help much. I carefully pull myself away from the hug.

"Um," I say, quiet now. "I'm going back downstairs."  

The argument has fizzled down, and Mandy and Gwen are talking about something or other. Kelly's got her phone out and is texting. I go to her first and put my head down on hers. 

"Hi, person," she greets. I haven't gotten the name of who she's talking to when she shuts down the app and puts it away. "What happened?"

"It's not something I want to talk about," I say. 

My sister shrugs. "Fine by me," she says, ignoring the tone. She moves away from me, and opens her purse. She shuffles through it. "I'm painting your nails orange. And don't try to excuse your way out of it!" Kelly takes out the nail polish. 

I chuckle. "I want glitter this time," I respond. 

Kelly thinks about it, and then takes out a bottle of glitter. Josh notices the bottles and rolls his eyes. "I'm staying out of it," he says, moving towards his sister and girlfriend. 

"You wish," Mandy says. To Kelly, she asks, "Got hot pink?"

"Surprisingly, yeah." Kelly passes her purse to Mandy. "Have fun," she tells Josh, who's now looking sad. 

I grin as Kelly starts working. If all fails, a little sister can do the trick.