Meeting Amanda Ch. 2 - The Next Day

Amanda laughs out loud! “Hahaha, it’s fine! I don’t mind you asking. Tucking dear Ben. Tucking!”

“Amazing!”

“So, are you ready to go?” Tess asked a bit annoyed. “Or do you have more awkward questions to ask?”

“Sorry, I just had to know,” I apologized to her. “She’s quite well equipped and I was just wondering…”

“Yes, fine Ben!” she cut me off, both annoyed and slightly amused.

“No worries, I didn’t find it awkward. Not with you two at least, you can ask me anything. You respect me for who I am. And it was just some healthy curiosity I guess,” Amanda replied.

We left the apartment and walked to the car. It was about a half hour drive to the trail. Curious to know, I asked Amanda if that was her mother on the photo.

“Yes, that was my sweet mother. She passed away just before I moved here.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I replied a bit ashamed I so bluntly asked about what seemed to be a delicate subject.

“Thanks, but it’s fine. I like talking about her. She was the only one that always supported me,” Amanda said.

Without encouraging her, she continued. “You know, it’s not easy growing up in a small town if you’re a bit different. Obviously, I was born as a boy but never felt like a boy. I remember my mom telling me that, as I young kid, I kept asking her when that thing would start growing inwards.”

I grinned as I could just imagine that: a small curious boy, asking his mother questions about his peepee.

“Most kids on school made fun of me,” she continued. ”A boy, a red headed boy, acting all girly and doing girly things. Never interested in typical boy stuff. I really hated school these days.”

She paused for a moment. Thinking back on that horrible time obviously was hard for her. Eventually she continued, “High school wasn’t any better. School was located in a nearby city, and most kids from my town went to the same high school. So the bullying continued, even by kids who didn’t even knew me. I was weird, in their eyes. Most boys were in to basketball, baseball and other sports. I had long hair, often in a ponytail and hated sports. I’d rather become a cheerleader, although I obviously never tried or told anyone as it would have my life really hell on earth.”