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The Brooks family is the average, small town family that seems to have been copied and pasted into every city. Their choice is Ogallala, Nebraska and they have two children - twins. Mr. Chuck Brooks works as a police officer in the local station, and Mrs. Tiffany Brooks is a teacher at the local high school. They are highschool sweethearts who started dating in their sophomore year. Bradie, their son, is the captain of the football team and his classes salutation. His sister is Laoise Brooks.
Or, at least, used to be.
Laoise is the dead name, the name that is wished to not be used, the name that SHOULDN’T be used, the name on the birth certificate, and the name that haunts Hunter every day in school. Laoise is the name that Hunter wishes everyone would just forget, the one he wishes was NOT called out every time they had a sub in school.
Like, right now, for example.
“Louise… LA-oui-ses? Ms. Brooks?” Hunters face went red as everyone in the class looked at him. He silently raised his hand, showing that he was in fact in the classroom. The teacher looked at him disapprovingly, and continued down the list. Hunter looked down at his lap, ignoring the eyes that were burning into his skin. By now, he was used to it.
The rest of the class went the same as it normally does with a sub. Everyone at Hunter’s table moved away as no one cared about assigned seats, leaving Hunter to put his headphones full blast while doing his work. Focus was lost off of him as class went on, and Hunter never even heard the substitute telling the class they were being too loud. The class eventually had to come to an end (which Hunter was completely fine with) and he left as quick as possible.
Hunter’s next few classes were boring but he actually learned something, and eventually it was time for lunch, Hunter’s favorite part of the day.
He claimed him and his friends booth with his backpack, before heading up to the lunch line to get food. Pizza was the option for that day (no surprise there) and when Hunter got back to his booth, 2 of his friends were already there. Sliding into the opposite side of the boys, the taller of the two boys let out a loud, obvious, over-exaggerated groan. Hunter raised an eyebrow at him as he began to explain.
“It’s only like, a week into school and I’m already overloaded with work!” Zeke whined, and Tyler laughed in response. Hunter stay’d silent, a small grin on his face whilst he watched the two banter about how its Zekes fault for taking such difficult classes Junior year (said by Tyler) and how teachers shouldn’t be that harsh so early in the tear (said by Zeke).
Eventually, the fourth member of their party joined, sliding in next to Hunter. She was the newest addition to the friend group, and therefore knew the least out of all of them.
“Hey Laoise!” Misaki greeted happily, turning to Hunter. Zeke and Tyler went silent, exchanging looks as Hunter gave Misaki a weak smile. So, maybe she’d only been sitting with them for a week… No biggie.
Misaki was a transfer student from Japan, and was here because her father got offered a better job, forcing the family to pick up and leave. So far she had told them amazing stories about Japan, her four siblings, and the sudden changes to her life. She was a very bubbly, talk-a-tive girl, therefor she was mostly the one talking at lunch.
That mainly meant Hunter didn’t really wanna come out to her. He was afraid she would accidentally out him to the whole school, something that was his deepest fear. It was scary enough coming out to Zeke and Tyler, and since his mom worked at his school, it was a no-go to come out at school.
And, Hunter didn’t even blame people for misgendering him. Since he’s only out to 2 people (his age, might I add) he hasn’t exactly had much change happen to him. He still has long hair, and he binds with 2 tight sports bras. He doesn’t get mad when people use his dead name mostly because no one knows it’s a dead name.
Due to where he lives, he lacks a lot of knowledge that could help him be safe with his transformation. He doesn’t know the damage he is doing to his ribs when he binds with the sports bras, and he doesn’t know the damage he is doing when he sleeps in the binds or when he wears them for prolonged periods. He’s unaware of the damage he is causing all because he is unlucky to live in a small town, where he has no one to turn to. He is unlucky to live in a small town where the fear of coming out comes with so many REAL consequences, that some people can only fear. For him, it would be the reality.
Hunter goes through each day being misgendered, and he can’t really do much about it. He goes home each night, and his only way he can feel okay with what he does is through secret instagram accounts and secret tumblrs and secret anything. It has to be a secret, he can’t let anyone know. He doesn’t show his face, only neck down, just to be safe. He doesn’t even have his dead name on the page.
“Did you hear about the secret transgender we have here?” Misaki says casually, going straight into gossip and making Hunter choke on his pizza. Misaki pats his back, and laughs.
“What?” Hunter replies weakly during his coughing fit.
“Someone on the soccer team found this instagram account of a transgender who goes here. They’ve posted pictures in our school.” Misaki continues and the boys sitting across from them are staying silent. “I feel bad for her.” A pang goes through Hunter’s chest (not from the binding this time).
“Maybe it’s better they stay in the closet.” Zeke finally says and Misaki looks at him like he’s crazy.
“It’s useless now. Everyone wants to know who it is, so they have little to no time before they are outed.” Misaki shrugs, like she has no care in the world. Anger burns through Hunter’s chest as he tries to stay calm, wanting to pull out his phone and delete the account. He racked his brain for all his posts, how he could have been so stupid to show the school he’s at. He couldn’t believe he had made the mistake. He was always so careful with each and every post, trying to make sure he never messed up.
Soon lunch was over and the friends went their separate ways, leaving Hunter to his own thoughts and the problem he needed to fix. He could just delete the account, but then he would lose contact with all of his friends. He could come out, but that would change his life completely. He didn’t think he was ready for that kind of change.
By the time Hunter was in his last class, the closeted transgender was all the kids were talking about. Everyone wanted to know who it was, and since the town was so small, they didn’t have many options to assume before they found out the truth.
The entire last class of the day, Hunter was overly uncomfortable. His makeshift binders were causing him more pain than usual, and he was trying his hardest to focus on his work. He tried, nonchalantly, to shift them but was even more self conscious knowing everyone was watching everyone else closely.
Halfway through class, the pain was unbearable and Hunter had his head in his hands with tears running down his face. No one noticed as Hunter wiped the tears from his face to make himself look more presentable. No one noticed as Hunter pushed his work to the side and put his coat on.
Someone sitting across the room noticed as Hunter adjusted the two sports bras to cause him the least pain possible.
And that’s when Hunter’s life was changed completely.
Everything moved in slow motion as the teacher left the room, and the kid who saw Hunter adjusting immediately said something. Hunter froze and all eyes were on him, and slurs were being thrown at him immediately. Kids were laughing, and some kids were even pulling his hair.
“If you’re a boy, why do you have boobs?”
“Tranny mess!”
“Boys don’t have long hair.”
Thoughts were running through Hunter head faster than he could process them, and Hunter didn’t feel anything as he ripped out of his seat, running out of the classroom. Their school was small enough that it would spread wickedly fast. He ran down the hallway and into the nearest unlocked bathroom as fast as he could, locking himself in a stall and bursting into tears. He had instinctively ran into the girls bathroom, as that was what he was used to using.
“Hello?” Someone said from another stall, and it was obvious they could hear Hunter’s sobs from his stall. He didn’t reply, instead trying to quiet his sobs to be less annoying. “Are you okay?” Hunter laughed through one sob, thinking do I sound okay?
“Y-yeah,” he reluctantly replied, trying to calm himself down but it felt like the world was spinning around him; it felt like the air was being pressed out of his lungs.
“Laoise?” Hunter finally recognized the voice, because of course Misaki was in the bathroom. He didn’t reply, and he heard Misaki opening her own stall and coming to knock on his. “Laoise, please, what happened?”
“Don’t call me Laoise…” Hunter whispered out, voice cracking as he held back more sobs. The sobs were from physical pain and from emotional pain, and the position he was sitting in didn’t help. He had his knees pulled up to his chest, so the double bind was digging into his skin.
Misaki was still standing outside his stall. “Why would I… What else would I call you?” She asked, obviously confused. Hunter let out another sob. He couldn’t bring himself to admit it aloud, as right as it felt for him, he was too nervous. He knew the whole school would know in no time, anyway, but it felt so much more real to say it.
Another voice answered for him.
“Hunter. You should call him Hunter.”
Hearing Tylers voice immediately gave Hunter so much relief, and he dug his face further into his knees. Misaki exclaimed something about how Tyler shouldn’t be in her, and how it makes no sense because Hunter is a boy name and how “Laoise” is a her, not a him. Hunter wanted to defend himself, but his voice was caught in his throat and he just kept crying. His world was crashing in on him and he didn’t know what to do. He no longer heard the conversation between Tyler and Misaki, until suddenly he was in someone’s arms.
He didn’t know who it was but he immediately hugged them back, crying into their shoulder. The person was obviously taller than him, therefore when Hunter wrapped his arms around his neck, his feet were slightly hovering.
After Hunter was calmed down, his feet were placed back on the ground, and he looked up to see Tyler. His shoulder was wet from Hunter sobbing into it, and Hunter was suddenly aware of his state. He had snot coming from his nose, eyes puffy from crying, and hair everywhere. He wiped his eyes, and turned away from Tyler.
“How’d you know where I was?” he murmured, still obviously recovering from his panic attack. He was jerky, and his breathing was slowly becoming more even.
“You ran past my classroom.” Tyler says softly, and Hunter looks down.
“Thank you for explaining to Misaki.” Hunter says, and he can see Tyler shrug out of the corner of his eye.
“You trusted me when you came out to me, so I’m here to support you.” Tyler says, but he wasn’t trying to explain himself. He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and that made Hunter give him a wet smile. “I’m assuming someone… found out it was you?” Tyler said, but his voice was quieter this time, like he was trying to be careful with his wording. Hunter’s throat tightened again but he swallowed the lump and forced himself to be an adult about this, nodding.
“They… they were yelling things at me, Ty. ‘dunno how they found out. Maybe... “ Hunters voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “I mean… i adjusted my binders…” he said quietly, obviously embarrassed to be talking about this to Tyler. Tyler didn’t flinch, however, didn’t even stutter at his next statement.
“How many binders are you wearing, Hunter?” He asked this one slightly sternly and Hunter looked up at him with confused eyes.
“O-one is never enough… so I… I wear two.” Hunter admits and Tyler’s eyes widen.
“Hunter, that’s… you can cause yourself a lot of pain doing that.” His tone changed halfway through the sentence, going from stern to soft. Hunter looked down, embarrassed that he didn’t know that. Tyler noticed it, and lifted Hunters head with a finger. “But, you had no way of knowing that.” He says sympathetically and Hunter gives him his signature weak smile.
Tyler leads them out of the stall, and out of the bathroom. He doesn’t say anything until they get to his car. Tyler opens the door for Hunter, and he slides into the driver's side. Hunter sits in the passenger's seat with his hands balled up together in his lap, and he doesn’t look at Tyler.
“Do you…” Tyler paused, obviously trying to choose his words carefully. “How do you feel about getting your haircut?” He says, raising his eyebrows with a cute smile on his face. (Not cute, just.. a smile. Hunter reminded himself)
Tugging at his long, blonde locks, Hunter looked at Tyler. “How about cut and colored?” It was the first brave suggestion of the day, and Tyler laughed.
“Whatever will make you feel better, babe,” Tyler chuckled, turning on the car and pulling out of the school.
♂ ♂ ♂
Months later, Hunter felt more comfortable in his own body than he ever did. He had no adult to talk to, no professionals, but he had Tyler, who tried his hardest to google things as soon as Hunter was confused.
Tyler got Hunter a proper binder and made sure he only used it for the correct hours, and he even let Hunter live with him after Hunter’s parents kicked him out. Hunter’s brother never looked at him in school, and the family acts like Hunter was never a part of their family.
Everyone at school judges Hunter every day, but most people have just stopped caring. Now it’s only those who have low grades or are overly religious who pick on him, as everyone else just wants to get out of the small town. Tyler puts the bullies down, pretty quickly, and doesn’t leave Hunter’s side the whole year.
Tyler is the best thing that happened to Hunter. As soon as Hunter was outed, Zeke no longer sat with them at lunch. Neither did Misaki, so that left Tyler alone with Hunter. Over the months, feelings were revealed, and now after Tyler tells someone to “piss off” after they picked on Hunter, the two walk away hand in hand.
Turns out, sometimes a friend (or, maybe more than a friend) is all the Small-Town Transgender needs.