Erin woke up that next morning, extremely tired. He hadn't slept the until 3:20 in the morning due to Sammy sending him a few videos to watch. Erin yawned and stood up, stretching his arms above his head. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and sighed. He usually tried to avoid mirrors in the morning until after he had his binder on, but he wasn't so lucky this morning. His eyes skipped over and ignored the scar on his collar bone, trailing down to the sports bra that enclosed the mounds of flesh that he hated, then down to the chubby stomach and wide hips that created a feminine build. Erin wasn't skinny by any means, unlike all the trans men online. All the cis, trans, and even androgynous people, were skinny and gorgeous, or the men were built athletically. Erin can't remember seeing a plus size trans guy online. He's tried losing weight but it never works out. Erin wouldn't mind being thick if he looked more like a guy. The chubbiness just adds onto the femininity of his body. Erin sighed and quickly changed from his sports bra to the binder. He hopes to get TransTape to replace his binder or just get Top surgery, the tape would be cheaper.

Erin pulled out a pair of ripped black jeans from his dresser and his packer. He gets dressed and situates the packer so it's comfortable. The packer was a weird purchase because his mom walked in on him researching them and thought it was a sex toy, after a quick explanation it was ordered the same day as the binder. Erin would have ordered the TransTape instead but hadn't discovered it until a few days ago. Erin stood in front of his mirror to make sure that his chest was flat enough. Once it was deemed flat then it was time for a shirt. Erin grabbed a wide strap black tank top and a purple and black flannel his mom had bought him a couple months before her death. Erin stopped where he stood to remember back to three weeks ago.

It had been a horrible day, Erin woke up late that morning and missed the bus. His mom had to drive him into school. He had been sulking in the passenger seat and his mom had decided to stop by the donut shop to get him breakfast, causing him to be even later for school but he had missed breakfast so he didn't argue. She pulled into the parking lot and walked inside with her son. Janice had smiled at the man behind the counter as he pulled the donuts she asked for. Once they gotten their food and had sat in the car to eat it Erin had perked up a bit. Janice had a huge grin on her face as she polished off the chocolate strawberry donut she had gotten. Erin smiled as his mom pulled out of the parking space and onto the road. She only looked away for two seconds to see the time, but it doesn't take much time for an accident to happen. "MOM!" Erin yelled as a car came speeding ten miles above the speed limit and directly into the driver's side of the car.

Erin shook his head to clear the thoughts as a tear rolled down his cheek. He wiped his face and screamed in anger as more tears rolled down his face. Erin wiped his face again and took a deep breath, calming himself down. He put his shirts on before walking over to his dresser. He started brushing his hair and styling it, moving it around until it was how he wanted it. He put his glasses on then his piercing before grabbing his backpack and leaving the room. Erin made his way down the stairs and out the door.

Kye woke up early that morning and smiled at himself in the mirror as he got dressed. He put on his black skinny jeans and his red wide strap muscle shirt. he ran his white belt through the loops and grabbed the scarlet beanie and slipping it over his the back of his chest nut curls, leaving his bangs out. He tuck the front left side of his tank into his jeans and slipped his custom scarlet and violet shoes. Kye grabbed his hearing aids and put them in his pocket. He looked around to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything and walked out of the room and grabbed his backpack off the hook.

"Mama, I'm leaving." Kye yelled as he grabbed his lunchbox off the counter, he was about to open the door when he felt something soft hit the back of his head. Kye turned around and signed to his mother.

" What?!"

"Don't you dare say goodbye without giving me a hug first."

Kye sighed, his mom always wanted a hug before he left the house for anything. Kye walked over to his mother and gave her a small hug before she enveloped him in her arms and hugged him tight. Kye smiled and kissed his mother's cheek before walking out the door to his bus stop. Kye stood underneath the tree that grew on the side of the street and watched the wind blow through the trees. He stood in silence, until the ringing started. Kye winced when the tinnitus kicked in and stuck his fingers in his ears. He knows it doesn't do anything but it was a habit he had acquired from before he went deaf. Once the bus pulled up Kye climbed up the steps and saw Erin sitting in the back, in the same seat as yesterday. Kye knew he was smiling but he didn't know why, deciding to ignore it and making his way to the back.

Erin looked up and saw Kye making his way to him. "What do you want?" Erin said and kye paused before sitting down, staring at Erin's face. Right, he's deaf, Erin thought closing his book. Erin splays his hands palm up in front of him in question.

"I told you yesterday. That's my seat, you're in it so I sit here now. Juniors and seniors sit in the back."

"Fine. whatever."

"Why are you so closed off? I just want to be your friend"

"Because I've had some bad experiences getting close to people. I have trust issues, like most teens nowadays."

Erin was getting tired of signing and gestured for Kye to put to put his hearing aids in.

"Why don't you give me a chance? I think you're cool and I feel drawn to you."

"Fine, I guess I don't have nay actual reason to shut you out, but the first sign of trouble and I duck out. I'm not putting any two bit friendship above my mental health."

Kye smiled and felt heat rise in his cheeks. Erin returned the smile with a half cocked grin. "One of these days I'll get you to smile completely, maybe even laugh."

"yeah right, good luck with that. I smile for no man." Erin chided before returning to his book, leaving Kye to watch as the trees passed by outside the window.

Erin and Kye walked off the bus together, talking. Finely waved at his friend but got no reaction as the two walked right past him still talking. Finely slipped the show off his foot as his peers watched him, unfazed by this action. Kye tends to hyper fixate on things and not notice anything else. Once Finely gets his aim set he chucks the sneaker at his friend, hitting him square in the back.

"Mother fucker!" was heard across the court yard of the school

"Mr. Thomas please keep that language off school grounds, or at least quieter."

"Sorry, Mr. Jenkins."

Students were laughing as Finely walked over and put his shoe back onto his foot. Erin just watched, not laughing or anything.

"What will it take to get you to laugh?" Kye exclaims, causing Finely to laugh but Erin just walks inside leaving the two teen boys to argue back and forth as Erin searched for Mae.|

Mae was found eating at a table in the corner of the cafeteria by herself. Her clothes were exceptionally different than yesterday's. Black and teal checkered crop top, black shorts and fishnets. Her eyes were a bright teal, obviously contacts.

"This is different."

"It felt right for today. I thought the contacts would be good for a little extra flair."

"Yeah, they look great." Erin smiled at the girl.

"Thanks. I have like five different pairs of colored contacts."

Erin was about to speak until two bodies slammed into the seats beside Mae and Erin. Kye sat next to Mae and Finely sat across from him, next to Erin. Erin sighed and plopped his head onto the table. Mae laughed and lifted the boy's head back up and poked his nose. Erin snapped his teeth at her and she just laughed more.

The four teens sat and chatted during breakfast until the bell finally rang, signalling the start of first period. Erin and Kye walked to first hour together and sat down. As soon as the second bell rang the teacher was taking roll and starting class. Erin tapped his pencil on his desk as the teacher droned on about polynomials. Erin didn't hate math but he wasn't as good at it as he'd like to be. Algebra and geometry was never his strong suit, in fact the only math Erin was ever good at was finance. Erin took personal finance because it was a required class for sophomores. It was also a needed class for the things he wanted to accomplish in the future. He was in college prep and business classes to better prepare for his future. Ever since the seventh grade Erin wanted to run a safe space. He had journals full of plans for it. It would be an apartment building. The bottom floor would be a coffee shop, completely LGBT+ themed with local artists' art decorating the walls along with flags. The rest of the building would be apartments for homeless youth and even adults. Teens would room with teens while they go to the nearest school. The adults would work in the coffee shop part time to earn pay while they search for a more reliable source of income. Erin didn't know how possible this dream of his would be but he was determined to complete it. He wanted to make a difference and help people.

Kye watched as Erin zoned out and stopped paying attention. Erin sat with his chin in hand and stared at the wall, his brown eyes glazed over and not moving as he was lost in thought. Kye continued to sneak glances at Erin, while also taking his notes so he didn't fall behind. Kye was never good at any math or science but he had to keep his grades high so that he could get into a good college. Kye had big plans for his life, He was going to go to college on a basketball scholarship, and learn to become a teacher. Specifically he was going to teach ASL in schools so that deaf and mute kids could be understood a little easier. He would teach weekend and night English classes to non English speaking citizens. His grandmother was barely able to speak English, but she understood it. Kye and his mother was fluent in Spanish and in English. He grew up in a multilingual house and he planned to use the knowledge of the different languages he knows to help other people communicate.