I'm spread-eagled on my couch, picking through a near-empty bag of Doritos, when my buddy Jason walks into my house. I hear him clattering around in the doorway.
"Hey, I'm here," he calls as he walks into the living room. He's tall and lithe, with light brown hair and glittering blue eyes.
"Hey, you made it! Long time no see!"
"Yeah, totally. So what have you been up to?" he asks, shoving me over on the couch so that he can sit down next to me.
"Nothing, man. Seriously, I've been watching
Hell's Kitchen
reruns all afternoon. Pretty sure I could do a killer Gordon Ramsay impression by now," I reply, nudging his ribs with my elbow. He nudges me back so hard it actually hurts.
"Yeah, probably, but I came over here to hang with you, not get bored to a comatose state," Jason says, pushing me further down the couch and flashing his award-winning grin. He's handsome, I have to give him that. We've been friends since grade school, but I haven't seen him since I started testosterone a couple of months ago. The changes aren't too noticeable yet, but since he always used to say I was "one of the guys" anyways, I'm not super worried about coming out to him. I grin and grab a handful of Doritos from the open bag.
"There's something I should probably tell you, man."
"Uh, yeah, sure. What is it, bro?" the concern on his face is genuine. just another reason I love him - he's a sensitive guy.
"Uh, I'm transgender. Like, I'm a dude with a pussy. And since we've been buddies for a while I just thought I should tell you that..." I offer him my best smile, but I know it falls flat.
"Hang on, so what, are you a guy or a girl right now?" he moves down the couch subtly, but I can tell he's trying to get away from me. His eyes are rolling across my body with disgust. My hand freezes on its way back to the chips. "I at least deserve to know that."
"I'm a guy; I'm on testosterone. But I've still got tits and a pussy."
"So what, you felt like a guy so you decided that instead of being a girl you'd change?" Jason basically sums it up to a T, but he's giving me a weird, cautious look.
"Yeah, pretty much," I chirp a little overzealously, tipping the crumbs from the bottom of the chip bag into my mouth.
"Well, that's just fucked, in my opinion," he replies, finding a half of a stale chip between the couch cushions and tossing it leisurely into his mouth. I freeze, startled.
"It's... fucked, Jase, really?"
"Look, I'm being fucking honest, you were hot as a chick and now you've just gone and fucked it."
The sensitivity I love so much about him has given way to an unfamiliar iciness.
"I... I didn't know you felt that way."
"Well, I always have, I always thought you were hot. But now you're changing, you've just gone and fucked everything."
I shut my eyes tight for a moment to prevent the tears from welling. "Maybe you should just go, Jason."
"No, you know what? I'm here, I'm not leaving." He smirks and swings his legs up onto the couch with us. I run a hand through my hair and sigh, confused and frustrated by his behaviour.
"C'mon, Jason. If you feel that way, just get the fuck out of my apartment."
"Well, maybe I need to stay; it's pretty comfortable and it's started to rain. You're gonna have to deal with me until tomorrow." He points to the big living room window, and - damn him - rain's falling in fat, soaking droplets onto the ground. He takes out his phone, effectively ignoring me. I study his relaxed pose on my couch and let a breathy sigh escape me when I realize that I'm going to have to be the one to break the silence.
"I mean... fine. Leave tomorrow. Just... I'm going to go to my room. You can sleep on the couch."
There's something animalistic in the way he grabs my wrist, snarling: "No, you stay with me. For the whole damn time." He jerks me close until I'm flush against him.
"Jase, what-?"
"You heard me. You stay with me. You know - company," he smirks, and his hand morphs into a vice grip on my arm. I try to pull my hand away but his hold only tightens, threatening to snap my wrist. "Don't be a bitch."
I keep pulling at my hand, not deterred by his expression. "Jason, come on, dude. Let go."
He stands, drawing himself to his full height. He's at least a head taller than me. He raises a hand, and I barely have time to flinch before his palm connects against my face with a
slap!