euphoria

one

'eu·pho·ri·a

yo͞oˈfôrēə/noun

a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness.'

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The day that Avery came out, euphoria was not the word he was looking for to describe his emotions. There was a wide arrangement of other words, but euphoria was not one of them. As expected, there were tears, and tears in an abundance that he did not think was physically possible for one person to release.

His mother loved him for who he was, not who he was portrayed as in society. She didn't exactly know a lot about the transgender community, but in order for her child to be loved and accepted as she wished, a change had to be made. So, every few weeks both Avery and his mom went to a trans support group. She was given proper materials in order to be read up on the trans community, and gradually began to call him by the right name and pronouns.

Though euphoria was not the emotion experienced in the beginning, the next few months were exactly that. Every day he woke up, he was greeted with the right name and pronouns, and a quick kiss from his mom. As soon as he got to school, though, everything changed. He had been at the same public school for 4 years, and those 4 years were very unforgiving. Every day he experienced negative messages written with Expo markers on his locker, or snickers from people beside him in his classes. He had to hear the words 'tranny' or 'freak' on an everyday basis, always followed up by a not-so-nice shove with a shoulder in the hallways. At school, euphoria was not experienced; it was desired. 

The school system itself was not very accepting, and did next to nothing about the regularly reported acts of bullying towards Avery. Every time, they conveniently never had enough proof to punish the person bullying Avery. Nobody was punished for the crimes against him, and the culprit walked the hallways to continue their actions as if Avery had never been hurt. Avery, of course, knew exactly who it was. He knew that half of the football team was against him, the other half too stupid to even know he existed. He knew that the people writing on his locker were once the very same people who he had considered to be his friends throughout middle school. It was funny, he thought, how as soon as someone came out, these supposed friends ended up turning away from him and ignoring his very existence unless it meant tormenting him every single day for who he was. As soon as he started bettering himself, they came back and degraded him as if emotions were a nonexistent thing to them.

To Avery, euphoria was not existent in his school. And whenever he told his mom that, she was determined to change his surroundings. Open enrollment was her first decision, but she didn't think that Avery should have to be put through such a grueling and long process. So, she had packed their bags and decided to move to a better place; Florida. And so, the journey to becoming comfortable with himself began, and so did Avery's new life.

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As soon as they reached Florida, Avery's mother wanted to see the beach. Avery himself couldn't complain, so he did the next best thing and succumbed to his mother's wishes. He had always loved the beach, but after living in a place like Washington for so long, he hadn't been able to experience it as he desired. So as soon as they got there, neither of them wanted to start the moving process. They just wanted to lay in the sand and watch the tide roll in and out.

'Mom?' Avery murmured after a few minutes of sitting in the sand. He glanced over at her, a grin on his face as he pushed up her large sunglasses and saw her dozing off. He playfully jabbed her side, earning a high pitched yelp as she tossed sand at him.

'Avery! You know I am far too old for you to be doing that to me. I could've had a heart attack.' She grumbled at him, her face already starting to burn a bit as she pushed herself up and rested on her arm. 

'Mom, you're not even old. You're at the ripe age of 40.' Avery teased, raising an eyebrow at her as he mimicked her position and sighed.

'And with a son like you, I'll start to get gray hairs eventually.' She complained, getting up and dusting the sand from her clothes. 'Now come on. We have to go see the landlord and I don't think he much approves of us being late for being beach bums.'

'He already thinks we're crazy, mom. I mean, we are, but still.' Avery shrugged, shaking his head to get the sand from his auburn curls. He had gotten a haircut, but as a result of his genes, his hair grew in as soon as he had cut it. Along with growing quickly, it was often a tangled mess and was sticking up everywhere. Silently, he glanced up at the sky and playfully cursed his dad with a smile.

'He thinks you're crazy, not me. And with the way you just acted, I agree. Why're you looking at the sky?' She teased, nudging his shoulder.

'Dad. These curls are getting crazy.' He complained, nudging her back and walking with her to the car, his flip flops loosely hanging from his hand.

'Ah yes. The trademark curls of the Smith boys. Thank your father.' She said quietly, a fond smile on her face as she absently fiddled with the dog tags hanging around her neck. After a few moments of silence they eventually reached the car, and started driving to the condo they were soon going to call home. And as soon as they got there, they were greeted by their landlord, who always conveniently had something to complain about even though they hadn't moved their things in yet.

'Laying around the beach, I see. Very productive.' The landlord chuckled, noticing a bit of sand on Avery's shoulder and lightly dusting it off. 'Now, we have a few kids here to help you move in your things. Mrs. Smith, have your son be productive and lift a few boxes.' He glanced at Avery and gave him a wink, a faint smile curling his lips. He then sharply barked out a few names, and a group of kids Avery's age quickly rushed up beside the landlord.

'Avery, these are some kids who will be going to school with you. And what better way to become friends than to move boxes with them, right? Now get working.' He said with a nod, walking off to his own home, which was just a few houses down.

Avery just blinked with mild confusion, glancing around at the group of kids before shrugging and walking to the U-Haul truck that they had driven to Florida. They trailed after him, whispering to themselves before stopping whenever he turned to glance at them.

'You're new, right? Better not get on his bad side. We all already are, and trust me, it isn't fun.' One of them snorted out, a grin on his face. 'I'm Malachi, by the way. Nice to meet you.' He held his hand out, and Avery quickly took it. 

'Malachi, don't act so formal. The only reason Mr. Adams hates you is because you turned his sprinklers on when he was trying to get his mail.' One of the girls rolled her eyes, a grin on her face. 'Now, I'm Sammi. Unlike Malachi, I'm actually responsible. Most of the time.' She added, shrugging ever so slightly.

'I'm Jake. I'm the homosexual of the group. And, finally, not the only trans person. Nice to meet you.' Jake grinned, his hair a mess as he took Avery's hand and shook it quickly.

'Now. Let's get moving, yeah?' Malachi said loudly, clapping his hands and starting to grab a few boxes.

Avery just smiled to himself, nodding faintly as he started to grab a few boxes himself. After a few minutes, Avery's day had easily improved, and he was actually eager to go to school.

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this was just the beginning of the story. i didn't necessarily know what to write, so this came to me as a whim, and it kinda worked out. i still need a cover, so if anyone is willing to make me one, i'll give you the appropriate credit.

much love,

emmett