Erin woke up Monday morning in an unfamiliar bedroom, until he remembered. This was his new room in his father's house. Erin hated living with his father but he didn't have any other family members. All his grandparents were dead or out of country, both his parents were only children. The courts sided with his father since Erin admitted that his father was never abusive towards him and so he had no reason to not live with the man. Nathan Eyler refused to accept his son as his son, only addressing him as his dead name and using girls' pronouns despite Erin's mother having legally changed his name to Erin Laemar, using her maiden name. Erin had come out to his parents ,Nathan and Janice, as trans and pansexual when he was 13 and they had gotten divorced when he was 15. The two parents had been drifting apart for years and the coming out was the last straw for Helena. Erin's mother could not stand how her husband was acting and divorced him as quickly as she could. Nathan still got to see his son for a few days out of each month and Erin hated it. Erin was happy with his mother, she got his name changed the week of his sixteenth birthday and he's been on testosterone for three months now. Erin's father was pissed to say the least, but legally there was nothing he could do. So when it came time to enrolling Erin into New Rye high school, all the attendance sheets say Erin Laemar.
Erin started his morning routine, binder first, clothes second, then hair and teeth. He grabbed his glasses and put in his piercing before heading out of his room to the kitchen. Nathan hadn't woken up yet so Erin could eat some of the leftover donuts without argument. Erin looked and saw a small wrapped gift on the table. Erin rolled his eyes at his father's attempts at being kind. Sure, Nathan loved his child and bought him things when asked, but he was constantly tearing Erin down and telling him he'd "regret becoming a boy" and that "he was so pretty as a girl". Nathan was obsessed with this image of a perfect daughter, he was disappointed that his only child was transgender and pan on top of that. Erin opened the small box and noticed that it was a clean, new copy of ,The adventures of Vorria, a fantasy book about Orcs. Erin sighed and left a thank you note for his father, he would at least try to be civil.
Kye Thomas woke up to his mother,Isabel, shaking him and smiling her bright smile. Her dark brown ringlets of hair hung in Kye's face as she leaned over him to wake him up. Kye groaned and rolls over as she walked away from the bed. Kye couldn't hear her but he knew she was doing the same thing she did every morning, making her way to the kitchen while Kye slowly rolled out of bed.
"don't forget your umbrella today. it's pouring." Isabel signed to her son as he went to close his door.
"Yeah mama.," He answers verbally.
Kye has some issues talking but he's in speech therapy for it. He's not entirely deaf like some people think. Everything sounds muffled and there's always a ringing in his ears which makes it extremely hard to understand what people are saying. When he wears his hearing aids the ringing stops and he can hear just fine, for the most part. Some sounds are too quiet, like birds chirping or whispering. Without his hearing aids he can hear anything between 85-140 decibels, while with them he can hear 50-140.
Kye walked out of his room with his backpack on and his hearing aids in their protective case, in his pocket. Isabel was standing in the kitchen waiting for her son.
"Did you grab your umbrella?" Kye shows her the umbrella "You don't want to miss the bus." She ushers him out the door.
Kye hurries to the bus stop and stands under his umbrella waiting.
The bus finally pulled up after fifteen minutes. Kye climbed onto the bus and started making his way to the back, when he noticed a new face, sitting in his usual seat. well f**k, he thought to himself as he took the seat next to the new person and shot a look their way. The teen in the one person seat was a feminine looking boy, about 17. The wavy brown hair that sat on his head was cut off at shaved sides. A ring pierced his lip and his glasses sat on his nose as he read his book. Kye put in his hearing aids so he could hear the new boy.
"Hey, what book are you reading?" no answer"Hey." He says again, still nothing.
"What are you, f*****g deaf?" Kye says jokingly, that got a response.
"No, I'm not deaf. My eyes may be bad but my ears are just fine." He closes his book and turns to face Kye. "Most people would have stopped trying to talk to me after the second time of me ignoring them." He continued Kye looks at the new kid and suddenly asks.
"How old are you?"
The other boy looked appalled.
"What kind of question is that?! You don't even know my name."
"Ok, so what's your name?"
the other teen rolled his eyes and sighed.
"It's Erin." The other says crossing his arms. "I'm 17."
Kye raises one eye brow.
"I'm Kye, I'm 18. I am a junior because I started school later than most, I'm actually deaf."
He sticks his hand out for a handshake but doesn't get the same gesture from the other boy. Erin returns to his book and Kye frowns.
"Just wanted to be your friend, but if you're gonna be a dick never mind."
Kye turns back to face the front and ignores the side glare that Erin sent his way.
Kye got off the bus and saw his friend Finley waiting under the awning out of the rain
"Good morning loser." Finley signed with a grin.
"Good morning Finn." Kye signed as Erin slowly walked towards the two, last off the bus.
Erin watched the two sign at each other.
"There was this new kid on the bus. He was kind of a jerk, he said his name was Erin."
Erin frowned and walked up to Kye, tapping him on the shoulder.
"I would appreciate if you didn't talk about me with your friend here." Erin signed and watched as Kye stared.
"You know sign?" Kye said verbally, putting his hearing aids back in.
"Yes, my mother worked with deaf kids at a daycare, she took ASL in college. She taught me and I learned on my own. I'm basically fluent, but that's not why I came over here. I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about me behind my back."
"Yeah, sorry. I won't talk about you anymore." Kye said with a lopsided grin.
"Do you want to sit with us at breakfast?" Finley said and Kye shot him a look.
"No thank you, I'm going to walk around the school and learn where the library is. Maybe next time." Erin left the two alone.
Erin made his way through his first four classes without any issues. Kye was in two of those classes and insisted on talking to him whenever possible. Erin tried to be polite the first class and casually talked with the deaf boy in sign language. When it came to the second class they had together Erin was less annoyed, he didn't consider the other boy his friend but he could talk to him and not be a jerk. Kye didn't know why, but he was determined to get the new kid to like him. The few times he got the other to even show a small hint of a smile, his heart grew with pride and he wanted to see him fully smile.
Kye sat in his fourth hour English bored out of his mind. His teacher looked at him obviously not listening and gestured towards one of his classmates to get his attention. Kye felt someone tap his shoulder and turned to the girl next to him. She pointed to the teacher and felt his face heat up.
"Do you have your hearings aids in Mr. Thomas?" The teacher signed.
"Yes Mrs. Helen, they're on I just zoned out I'm sorry," He answered.
The teacher returned to the black board and the boring lesson she was teaching.
Kye watched as the clock hit 12:00 and the bell rang. He grabbed his bag and quickly walked to the cafeteria. Kye walked into the cafeteria and saw Finley already sitting at their usual table. Kye ran over and tossed his lunch box in front of his friend.
"Ready for the daily surprise box?" Kye says jokingly.
"Of course. Your mom always makes the best food," Finley said.
Every morning Kye's mother wakes up really early to make him some traditional Mexican food. Kye's great-grandmother was an immigrant from a small town in Mexico that Kye can never remember the name of. Isabel was born and raised in a town on the outskirts of Oklahoma city, working in her grandmother's small restaurant, serving traditional Mexican food. She was raised speaking Spanish and English, so she raised Kye the same way. Kye smiled and slowly unzipped his warm lunch box.
"How...how is it always so warm?" Finley inquired as Kye opened the container and shrugged. "yes! She made Pozole,"
Finley stares at the stew longingly.
"You know, mama would make you lunch too if you asked," Kye stated when he saw the look on his friend's face.
"Your mom does so much for me already. Don't tell her OK, she doesn't need to worry about my family too," Finley begged as he tore his eyes away from the deaf boy and his food.
Finley's family was having a really hard time financially ever since his dad lost his job. Isabel had heard and offered both his parents jobs at her mother's restaurant, *Reúnanse y coman. Finley would work there, if he didn't spend most of his time watching his younger sister. Kye worked there, cleaning tables and dishes. On rare occasions he would take orders or work register, but his mother was head chef. She ran her business the same way her mother taught her, treat all staff like family. Isabel was always kind and understanding to her staff, and newbies would mistake that for her being gullible, but they're dead wrong. She was stern, she treated all her workers like her children, Kye could confirm. The two were conversing as Erin walked into the cafeteria awkwardly. Kye's eyes were drawn to the boy across the room watching as he got his lunch tray from the line.
"Oof, Kye stop staring," Finley said and Kye turned to his friend.
"Shut up Finn. I'm gonna invite him to sit with us," Kye said as he made his way over to said boy. Erin saw Kye walking towards him and sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Dude, why are you so intent on being my friend?" Erin asked, annoyed.
"I thought you seemed pretty cool," Kye remarked.
"Well, you barely know me. What if i'm an a*****e or some kind of pervert?"
"That's for me to find out isn't it."
Erin was taken back. No one was really ever so determined to be his friend, sure, he had friends at his old school. Those were his friends since elementary school, but they had known him for years. Erin couldn't help but be impressed by his determination, and annoying kindness.
"Fine, I'll sit with you." Erin followed Kye to his table and sat down next to him.
Erin sat with the two boys for the entirety of the lunch period. What's weird is that, he actually enjoyed himself. He would never admit it to them but he enjoyed their company, somewhat. When the bell finally rang for the students to leave Erin sighed. Happy and sad at the same time, happy that he was done socializing and sad that he had to stop socializing. He wanted to continue talking about music with the two boys, but he also wanted to hide in his hoodie and not talk to anyone. Erin's head could never settle on one thing for too long. Erin headed to his fifth hour and took a seat in the back. He pulled out his book from this morning and began reading as other students filed in. One girl sat next to him and smiled, Erin promptly ignored her. She frowned and turned away from him. Erin sighed and returned to his book, ignoring all other people who tried to talk to him. The teacher finally started class and Erin stored his book back in his bag. The teacher was reading roll when she got to Erin's name she called him up to the front. "S**t." Erin said under his breath, so only he could hear it. "You need this rubric." She said and handed him the paper, Erin let out a breath and took the paper before heading back to his seat. He sat down and stuffed the paper into his backpack unceremoniously. He turned to listen to the teacher talk about physics. Erin sighed and started writing notes about momentum. The bell for seventh hour to start finally rang and Erin sat in his chair, last class of his first day. A few students other than Kye and Finely had talked to him, but none were as persistent as Kye was. Erin was reading his book, as they had no work that day, as the door opened and a student quickly walked inside. A plus size girl about 5'5, a mass of colorful braids running down her back. She apologized for being late and turned to walk towards her seat, only to stop when she saw Erin.
"You're in my seat"-she sits in the seat next to Erin.-"but I'll just take this one instead."
This class was fairly small and all the seats surrounding Erin's corner of the sitting section of the home EC room had been empty, until now. The girl smiled and Erin found that he couldn't get angry, she was kind of adorable. She wore a pastel yellow sweater crop top with black holey jeans, her hair was pink and teal braids. It stood out against her dark skin and pale sweater.
"So, You're new," She states suddenly.
"Yeah, I'm Erin."
"I'm Mae." .
She glances at the board before turning her gaze back to Erin.
"So, no work today?" Mae turns in her seat to face the other teen, "Makes sense though, it's only the third week of school. Most teachers of course, would have already started all the lessons. But electives are a lot less hectic."
Erin is starting to get annoyed with how much rambling this girl is doing but she suddenly stops and is staring at Erin like she's studying him.
"So, why have you moved here?" She asks setting her chin in her hand.
"Why do you care?"
"I know you're probably tired of annoying people, who know nothing about you, trying to be your friend. You probably just want to get through these next two years without hassle, you think you don't need friends. You're wrong of course. Humans are social animals, that's why solitary confinement does more harm then good. You need friends or your mental health will start to deteriorate. It was proven in depth in a recent psychology study, back in March. People who go to long without close relationships start to gain mental issue, like depression, anxiety, and negative intrusive thoughts. Of course if you have a good relationship with your parents you can avoid needing friends, but who has that these days," She continues to talk in a long stream of sentences but Erin is captivated by everything.
"That's really cool that you know all that. Do you like psychology?"
"Yup, I hope to be a psychiatrist one day. Now, why have you moved to New Rye?"
"My mom, passed away about a week ago and I had to move in with my dad," He mutters
Before she could respond Erin snaps.
"But I don't want any of your pity. None of that 'sorry for your loss' bullshit."
He got enough of that s**t at the funeral and he didn't want to deal with it.
"Wasn't going to say that. I was going to say I'm sorry you moved in with your dad." She said as she doodles in her notebook.
"Why do you say that?" Erin asked fixing his glasses that had started to fall down his nose. "Well, your parents were obviously split up. Given that you're a junior I'd say you were old enough to have heavy sway with who gets more custody of you, so obviously you chose your mother and not your father. There for you preferred her over your dad, so I'm sorry you had to move in with him." She said turning her attention from her notebook back to Erin.
"Why do you think my parents were split up?"
"You wouldn't have stated that you had to move in with your dad, if you already lived with him. So I made an assumption" Mae explains scanning his face.
"You are really smart."
"The teacher's wouldn't agree with you. I was failing my classes last year. That's because I lacked motivation to do any of their work. If I'm not motivated I can't do the work, only Mrs. Laisier thinks I know anything. She is the psychology teacher. I hate that even smart kids fail. They don't try and motivate students so even the really intelligent ones fail classes and aren't seen as such."
Erin just shrugs, being one of the kids with average grades. Mae sighs and leans back in her chair.
"So, I saw you sitting with Kye and Finley at lunch today. Are they your friends?"
"I think they want to be my friend, and I don't mind them but I wouldn't call them my friends, at least not yet,"
"Tomorrow I'll come sit with you three at lunch, we can create our own little tight knit group and hang out," Mae turns to the boy with a grin. "Sound good?"
Erin would prefer to say no, that he just needs one friend, but she looks so excited he can't say no to the big dopey grin on the girls face.
Kye climbed off the bus and walked into his apartment building, tossing his bag into the alcove next to the doorway. He made his way to his bedroom in the back of the apartment and closing the door. Kye took his hearing aids out of his sore ears and sighed in relief. "Stupid things." Kye said as he toss the devices, in their case, onto the desk and then promptly face planted onto his bed. he groaned and felt the vibrations travel from his mattress to his face. The only sound was the dull constant ringing, at least it would fade for a while. Kye sat back up and looked around his room for something to pass the time, spotting his game console. He smiled and started up the device, putting the disk in. Kye watched the title screen play silently as he waited.
Erin walked into his father's house and gripped the shoulder strap tighter when he saw his dad sitting on the couch.
"Callie you're home." Erin cringed at his father's words.
"My name isn't Callie anymore dad, it's Erin. Mom got it changed, I have the new copy of my birth certificate if you want to take a look, again," Erin spoke the last word with venom dripping from his tongue.
"You'll always be my little calico," Nathan replied with a soft smile. Erin's anger ebbed at the old childhood nickname.
"Please dad, My name is Erin," Erin spoke firm and Nathan frowned.
"Can I at least still call you calico? You used to smile so wide when I'd call you that." Nathan's eyes held no sadness or remorse, yet Erin relented, nodding at his father and leaving the room.
Erin resisted the urge to slam the door and instead shut it lightly before looking around his room. Unopened boxes still littered the room. The only boxes Erin had opened had been his clothes, his dresser was full of his jeans and shirts. The brunette sighed and opened some more boxes. His dad allowed him to bring everything he owned and it was surprisingly a lot. He had seven large boxes in his room and five more downstairs. Three of the boxes were clothes, another two held books, while the last two held the things he had decorating the office at his old house. His bookshelves were up in the attic along with some of his mother's things, and some beanbag chairs. Erin opened the box with the decorations and stared at them. "No spare room here." Erin looked around his room and spotted his closet door. it seemed pretty big, Erin sat on the floor and stretched his legs out across the area. "Perfect." Erin climbed back out of the closet and started to pull out the Christmas lights and thumbtack them to the walls, not yet plugging them in. He ran downstairs and searched all the boxes until he found the one with his extra blankets. He carried the box upstairs and started laying blankets down and piling pillows into a corner of the closet. when he decided the small space was up to his standards he plugged the lights in and smiled.
Erin was sitting in his new safe space when his phone went off. Looking down he noticed it was a text from Mae.
Hey Did you know that blind people who became blind later in life can still see images in dreams. Erin smiled and replied
No I didn't
12% of people dream in black and white
That's cool.
The conversation went on about dreams and trailed into the human Psyche. Mae knew a frightening amount about an array of weird topics. Erin smiled to himself as another text came thought.
Did you know in ancient Greece they put people in bronze bulls and roast them to death. It was set with tubes and stops so when people screamed it sounded like the bull was raging.
Erin stopped for a second, he did not want to know why or how Mae knew that information and decided not to question it. Deciding to change the topic Erin replies.
Why do you want to become friends with Kye and Finley
Oh...I like the idea of a tight knit group of friends. A family that I chose. I've never really had that, it sounds nice.
Yeah.... i guess....
Erin sighed and figured that Mae was right, a few friends wouldn't hurt. Erin texted Mae goodbye and went downstairs to find his father cooking.
"Hey dad, what's for dinner?" Erin asked grabbing a pop from the fridge.
"Chicken and rice." Nathan answered. Erin nods at his father before sitting in the large chair, draping his legs over the side.
"Why can't you sit normal?" Nathan says from the doorway.
"Because I'm really comfy like this." Was the teen's response
Erin then proceeds to sink further into the chair to show just how comfortable he is, and to spite his father who was obviously displeased.
"Fine, just don't ruin my chair." Nathan leaves the room and goes back to the kitchen.
Erin turns his phone on and scrolls through Instagram. He likes all his friends' posts and sighs. "I miss them," He mumbles to himself as his father calls him to the table for dinner.
Dinner was quiet, Erin had decided to ignore his father when he tried to start conversation.
"How was school Callie? Nathan asked between bites of chicken.
Erin didn't answer, he chose to eat in silence. It was their first actual dinner together since the funeral and Erin wanted to be civil by at least staying at the table. Nathan doesn't ask anymore questions and Erin excuses himself from the table. After washing his plate Erin heads back to his room, shutting himself in the small space he made for himself. Erin grabbed his laptop and messaged his friends.
Hey guys- Erin
Oh hey dude what's up? How's the new school?-Denise
It's only my first day -Erin
k. Fine but I expect a full report by Friday-Denise
Suuurre, Ill make sure to do that-Erin
What are you two arguing about this time-Samuel
what'sup Sammy miss me yet?-Erin
you wish doofus-Sammy
Who invited you Sammy?-Denise
I did. I invite myself DeNICE-Samuel
Real mature Sammy-Denise
I thought it was funny, I mean we've all been calling you that since we found that video back in the third grade.-Erin
Yeah Denise we were just poking fun-Samuel
Can you three stop arguing I am trying to actually get some work done. -Gunther
Sorry Gunther-Erin
sorry Gunthy-Denise
Sorry gunth-Samuel
Why am I friends with you guys?-Gunther
Cause you can't get rid of us -Samuel
Erin logged out of the chat after a few hours of talking with his friends from Jaycen. He sighed and laid back against the wall silently. Erin checked the time, 9:32.
"I should shower soon." he spoke out loud to himself as he started gathering clothes and a towel. Once he had everything he needed Erin walked down the hall to the bathroom.
*translation-Get together and eat
if I'm wrong please correct me in the comments
4245 word count (not including footnotes)
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