Work Text:
The walk home from the bus stop isn’t usually so quiet. The two seventh graders usually always had something to talk about, whether it was their favorite TV shows, The sports they played, crushes on their fellow classmates, or anything else. Today, though, the walk is quiet, and Braeden can tell that his best friend is thinking pretty hard about something. The bus ride was quiet, too. He doesn’t say anything, letting it stay that way. The sound of the town moving around them and the sound of their feet on the ground is all that he can hear, and it’s far too quiet. At least half of their walk goes by like this. He glances over at Caleb every few minutes, trying to silently tell him to break the awkward silence.
Finally, his friend says something. “…Bray, would you still be my best friend if I was a girl?” Caleb asks him, and Braeden takes a minute to think, before laughing.
“What? Of course! Are you so quiet because you think I hate girls?” He asks, and Caleb shakes his head. Braeden tries to figure out his expression, but Caleb isn’t looking at him. He’s quiet again. After a few more torturous quiet minutes, Braeden speaks up again. “…Can you just tell me what’s wrong?” he asks, and Caleb sighs.
“Do you think that a boy could turn into a girl?” He asks. “Like if they didn’t feel like a boy..?” Braeden thinks about it for a minute. What does that even mean?
“I don’t know? I’ve never heard of it before.” He says. “…Why?”
“I… don’t think I’m a boy.” He says finally. Braeden still doesn’t understand what’s going on, and he gives his friend a blank expression.
“So like… you wanna be a girl instead?” he asks, and Caleb nods.
“Yeah. Being a boy makes me feel… gross. Like I can’t look at myself because my body is different than I want it be.” He explains
“…Oh. So you think… being a girl would make you like your body more?” Braeden asks.
“Yeah. I looked it up on google, and there’s lots of people who do it.” Caleb says. “And dad says it’s okay, too… I just… wanted to make sure you’d still like me after…”
“We’re always gonna be friends dude. Just because you’re a girl doesn’t mean we can’t be.” He says, and Caleb looks relieved. “Should I call you a girl now? Like ‘she’? Do you want a different name?” He keeps asking questions while they get near his house. “D’you wanna tell my moms?” he asks.
“I think I wanna try being a ‘she’, yeah, and… I don’t know what different name I would want yet, I still need to think about it.” He—She hesitates. “Also, yeah, I wanna tell your moms.”
Braeden smiles, heading up the path to his house. “Okay, awesome! They're gonna be home soon, let's go eat something while we wait.” Caleb nods in agreement. The two head inside.
--
It’s not until a few weeks later that Braeden gets a call about his friend’s name. It’s around 7:30, and the family is finishing dinner when the phone rings. Braeden answers it, and hears her excited voice on the other end once he says hello.
“I picked a name!” She says, telling him what it was.
“That was your mom’s name, wasn’t it?” Bray asks. Her mother had died shortly after she was born, and her dad had raised her on his own.
“Yeah, Dad actually helped me pick it. He cried a little bit.” She explains. “I gotta finish my science project now, but I wanted to tell you. See you tomorrow!” She says.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow, bye Amanda.”