This Is Who I Am

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Description:"I could be like a superhero at school and defend the people who are too afraid to speak up!"

Jack's mum chuckled and ruffled her son's hair. "You can be whatever you want to be."

"I need a cool name though..." Jack stared into space for a moment as he contemplated a name. Then he randomly blurt out, "Jackieboy Man!"

TW: Transphobia.

"Jack, are you sure of this..?" Jack's mum questioned. She wasn't trying to put her child down; she just wanted to ensure that it was really want he wanted.

"Yes, mum! How do I look?" Jack's grin was reaching from ear to ear as he did a small twirl for his mum. His hair had recently been cut short enough that he could style it into a quiff and his clothing was a bit more androgynous than usual. With skinny jeans and a large red hoodie, he was unlikely to be misgendered. His mum had recently gotten him a binder too so his chest was flat underneath his hoodie and to say that felt immensely relieving would have been a massive understatement.

"Handsome," Jack's mum smiled at her son before leaning forward and pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. "You can do this!"

-

Jack walked into school with a smile on his face. On Friday, he had gone home as Jackie, a timid 'girl' that didn't talk to anyone except one close friend and constantly felt subconscious. On Monday, he had returned as Jack, a brave boy that was going to be so much more confident and outgoing. He smiled at his friend who he always met at his locker in the mornings and his friend had to do a double take. "Jack, is that you?" He asked, mouth wide open.

"Yes!" Jack replied, practically jumping up and down on his feet. Mark, his friend, was doing the same before he wrapped Jack in a long hug.

"So you came out to your mum?"

Jack nodded, looking down at his trainers with a smile constantly stuck on his face. "She was really nice about it. She keeps slipping up with my pronouns but I know it isn't easy to just suddenly start referring to me as something different to what she had been referring to me as all her life. If that makes sense. Does that make sense?"

"It does! I'm so proud of you, dude."

"I'm proud of me too!"

-

Jack had been walking out of school when he heard someone shout his name. He turned, curious, to find that a group of boys in his year were staring at him. "Is there something you need?" Jack asked, his voice calm, despite his trembling frame and the fear filling his body.

"You're disgusting," One of the boys said, stepping right up to Jack and taking a fistful of Jack's hoodie. Jack recognised him from his science class to be a kid called Harry. Everyone knew he was the last person you wanted to annoy. He was towering over Jack, making him feel extremely vulnerable. "You're a girl."

"I'm not. I'm a boy."

"Freak," Jack was then shoved back so hard that he stumbled and almost fell. "You were born a girl, therefore you are a girl. It's basic biology. I thought you were meant to be top of the class, nerd."

"I'm transgender. It's when-"

"It's when you're a freak, trust me, I know." Harry pushed him again and that time he was sent tumbling to the ground. Jack put his hands on the ground to pull himself back up to his feet but one of the members of Harry's posse kicked his arm so he couldn't put weight on it. He yelped out in pain. "You're a pathetic waste of space. It's a miracle your parents haven't abandoned you yet. You have some serious mental health problems if you think you're a boy."

"It isn't a mental-" Jack started to defend himself but failed to finish as someone kicked his chest. He winced and curled in on himself, moving his hands to cover his face.

"You want to know what gender you are? Easy, you're a girl. Ask anyone." Harry was laughing but it wasn't very funny. For some reason, his posse were laughing along with him like he was some sort of mighty power... which he wasn't. He was just like everyone else. Someone just needed to take the first step and stand up to him. "I think we should just leave her here, right guys?" Harry purposely put emphasis on the incorrect pronoun and it made Jack wince. Harry let out one more arrogant laugh before turning and walking away with his posse in tow.

As much as his body argued with him, Jack got up. His arm was on fire but the adrenaline helped to distract him from the pain. "Harry, you're wrong. I'm a boy and I know that. That's all that matters. This is who I am and you can't change me." Harry's face turned bright red in anger and he was suddenly up in Jack's face again.

"How dare you speak to me like that, freak? I could crush you." His voice was full of venom but, for some peculiar reason, Jack wasn't scared anymore.

"You think you're so much better than anyone else but you're not. You call all of us freaks when, in reality, you're the one who could be classed as a freak. You get people to follow you and you enjoy people's pain. That's a little freakish to me."

"You're calling me a freak?" Harry sent a punch flying towards Jack but he ducked just in time to avoid it. Harry looked surprised at his quick reaction: his eyes widened and his jaw dropped open ever so slightly.

"I am... because normal people don't like to cause pain. Normal people want to make others happy." Harry attempted to punch Jack again but he managed to dodge it for a second time. Harry wasn't even trying to defend himself anymore, he was just trying to hurt Jack and shut him up. He lunged at the boy and almost got him to the ground but the adrenaline was heightening Jack's reactions and strength. He pushed Harry backwards, clenched his hand into a fist and then hit Harry square in the face. Harry's hand shot to cover his bleeding noise and his eyes began to glisten with what appeared to be tears. "People are too scared to stand up to you but I'm not. I'm not afraid to defend myself."

Harry's posse had long since fled the situation once they realised Jack was prepared to fight back. It showed how cowardly they truly were. Clenching his noise and huffing dramatically, Harry also fled without another word. Once the danger was gone, Jack found himself breathing heavily and scrunching his face up due to the pain he felt in his arm. Maybe it wasn't his best idea to punch someone after getting kicked in the same arm.

He picked his backpack up from where it had fallen, pulled it over his shoulders and headed home. His mum was waiting for him in the living room, arms folded and a concerned expression on her face. "Where have you been? School finished an hour ago. You should have been home ages ago!" She said but appeared more relieved than angry. It took her a moment to notice how Jack had tears tracked down his face and was holding his arm close to his chest. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"This guy wasn't being nice to me..." He mumbled with a short sigh. "He was going beat me up, mum... but when he walked away, I had to let him know he was wrong." Jack's mum ushered for him to sit down on the sofa so they could discuss what had happened further. Jack complied and leant onto her shoulder. "I called him back and I punched him. He ran off but now I feel guilty. What if I hurt him? His nose was bleeding so much."

"Oh, Jack... he probably deserved a punch. He sounds like an absolute jerk and he deserved to know how you felt about what he did to you. Odds are, if he tried to hurt you, he has tried to hurt others. Maybe he'll stop now he knows you can fight back."

"Yeah... and if he tries to hurt others, I can protect them. I could be like a superhero at school and defend the people who are too afraid to speak up!"

Jack's mum chuckled and ruffled her son's hair. "You can be whatever you want to be."

"I need a cool name though..." Jack stared into space for a moment as he contemplated a name. Then he randomly blurt out, "Jackieboy Man!"

"Yes, Jackieboy Man," Jack went to punch the air with his bad arm but it just resulted in him crying out in pain again. "And even superheroes can hurt themselves. We need to take you to the doctors."

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