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One day, a small boy was born. He had a name, but no one knew it. No one knew the boy because on that same day, a little girl was born. Her mom and dad named her Kate and they ignored the boy. The children grew together. The parents always ignored the boy, but Kate didn’t ignore him. She never understood why her parents did, but was too scared to ask.
When they were both six, they started kindergarten. The other kids liked the boy, but the teacher only saw Kate. She wanted her teacher to know the boy, but didn’t know how to introduce him. Kate decided to name the boy KC. The boy liked the name and the other kids liked it too. KC made lots of friends, but all too soon, the school year was over and KC faded away along with his name.
First grade started the same. All the teachers loved Kate and no one knew the boy. He had lost his name, so he stayed in the background. Kate was sad that everyone ignored the boy. She cut her hair short to look more like the boy. For a while the boy was happy and the other kids played with him more. The teachers never talked to him, but that was fine because he had a friend. His name was D. D was friends with Kate, but he played with the boy too. Summer came quickly and the boy stayed in his room while Kate played with her family.
Second grade came and went. The boy had a friend, but he moved away. Over the summer the boy talked to Kate about cub scouts. Kate asked her parents if the boy could join cub scouts, but the parents only laughed. Third grade came and went just as quickly. D played with the boy again and the boy was happy.
Fourth and fifth grade were hard for the boy. The other kids made fun of him and called him his sister’s name. The boy cried. He missed D. Kate started a new sport and the boy tagged along sometimes. One boy named K liked the boy and played with him often. He was the only one who didn’t talk to Kate. K didn’t do it on purpose, he just like the boy more.
Middle school almost killed the boy. Kate started to grow and change, but he never did. No one talked to him, not even Kate. The boy stopped going to school and no one noticed. Kate got her ears pierced to blend in and she pretended that she didn’t have a brother. Everyone believed her. Sometimes the boy left the house, but the world was blind to his existence. By eighth grade, the boy had forgotten how to speak, he only watched his sister interact with other kids. He wished he was still five. He wished he still had a name. Just as he was about to give up hope, he met a funny boy who called him “dood”. The funny boy reminded him how to speak. The boy started going to school again, he even went to sports with his sister. K was happy to see the boy again and introduced him to a new coach. The coach like the boy too and named his Mars, after the Roman god of war. Kate still pretended he didn’t exist, but the boy knew she would remember him one day and be sorry the she had let him slip away.
High school was a scary place for the boy. Everyone was taller than him and the teachers were just as oblivious to his existence as his parents were. The boy was scared to show his face, so he hid in classrooms during lunch. One day, the boy felt brave, so he sat with some other people, but he quickly became scared and ran away. The boy didn’t speak for the rest of the year.
One day, over the summer, Kate began speaking to her brother again. She called him Ryan, but it didn’t quite fit. Ryan was still happy to have a name, but he still lacked someone to share it with. Ryan went to school more during his junior year. He sat with some people at lunch, but this time he didn’t run away. One girl called herself Apollo. She was kind and caring. Apollo told Ryan that he was her friend and he could be safe with her group. Ryan felt more comfortable with Apollo’s group. He started going to school and sports more often. He started talking to more people at sports. Kate introduced him to a girl named Julia and Julia gave him a new name that fit. Aiden, that was his name and he loved it. With his new name as armor and shield, he grew courageous. He made himself known to more and more each day and slowly let his sister Kate fade to memory.