Tavros stood in front of the bathroom mirror his mind racing in excitement and joy as he looked at the bandages wrapped around his small chest. His brother Rufioh stood behind him becoming slightly impatient with the small Puerto Rican boy standing there in front of the mirror smiling like a goof at himself like he had been for the past five minutes.
"Dude are you going to unwrap the fucking things or what?!" He exasperated loudly startling Tavros enough to make him jump.
"S-sorry Rufioh I'm just excited," he spoke in a voice lacking any sense of confidence whatsoever that made Rufioh sigh as he apologized for scaring poor Tav.
"I'm sorry Tav it's just that I am just as excited to see how it all turned out as you are that's all."
Tavros nodded turning back to the mirror and taking a deep breath before he reached up and began to gently unwrap the bandages that had been wrapped around his chest ever since he had the operation. He had waited so long for this and now it was finally happening! He was one step closer to being his true self! When he was done he let the bandages fall to the floor to reveal his new postoperative self.
He was a small boy with light brown skin; his chest was flat with two scars just below his nipples, the only evidence of the operation. Just not too long ago he had not been the flat chested boy you see before him but the shell of someone that he was never meant to be. Freshmen year of high school Tavros or Tavris at the time came out to Rufioh as a Transgender male. Rufioh had accepted him for the male that he was without a second thought doing everything he could to help him which included paying for his testosterone and top surgery.
The rest of the community that they had lived in had not been so accepting however. Tavros had experienced severe bullying the past three years, between the name calling ,the threats, and even the time Tavros had been jumped and beaten on his way home from school Rufioh had began to fear for Tavs wellbeing, but that all changed now.
Suddenly from behind Rufioh grabbed his younger brother's shoulders and yelled excitedly, "BANGARANG! You look awesome dude!" He grinned, happier than he had been in a very long time and turned to hug his brother who had helped him through so much. He felt a sharp pain in his chest from the contact with Rufioh which made him flinch back just a bit as he looked up into his older brothers eyes.
"Thank you Rufioh, thank you so much you have no idea how much this means to me I…" his voice trailed off as he began to choke on his words emotion grabbing hold of him and forming a not in his throat as he felt the sting of tears in his eyes. Rufioh hugged him back very gently rubbing small circles on Tav's back to calm him. The young boy had been through a lot lately and he had done the best he could to support him through the hard times. He eventually got Tav to calm down and whispered to him very softly, "I know it has been an emotional night dude, but you need to go and get some sleep you have your first day of school tomorrow."
Tavros had almost completely forgotten that tomorrow was the first day of his senior year at his new school. He had been less than reluctant to leave their old home and when Rufiohs job had demanded that they move here he didn't even give leaving the hell hole that was that town a second thought. Tav nodded wiping the tears from his eyes and slowly walking off to his room. He stripped down to his boxers and hugged his favorite stuffed animal, Tinkerbull. Before drifting off to sleep he whispered softly to the stuffed animal, "Everything is going to be alright Tinkerbull, everything is finally going to be alright." With that he smiled and slowly drifted off into blissful sleep where for once it seemed like the nightmare that had been his life for the past couple of years seemed to finally be over and the dream was able to begin.
Tavros walked down the street to school his brown book bag slung over his shoulder and a swing in his step. Today was the first day of his reinvention! He was no longer the Tavris who had been so harshly mocked and bullied, he was now Tavros the person he had always been meant to be.
When he arrived at the high school it was much bigger than he had expected it to be and he found himself to be slightly intimidated by the large building in front of him. He took a deep breath and spoke to himself, "You can do this Tavros this is your chance you finally get to be who you are meant to be," and with that he walked forward into the busy hallways of the school.
He made his way through the large hallways apologizing and shrinking back whenever he bumped into someone. He finally made it to his first period class after becoming lost several times in the massive school.
He took a seat in the back corner of the empty classroom and waited for the other students to arrive, it dawned on him that he was probably rather early. He set his bag down and waited.
When the bell rang kids began to flood into the class quickly filling every seat. Many gave Tavros an odd look considering that he was new and no one had seen him before, but their stares still made him uncomfortable causing him to look down at his desk to avoid any accidental eye contact with anyone.
Class began with the teacher calling roll and giving Tavros the book that they were about to be reading . Everything seemed fairly normal until there was a loud bang of the door being slammed open.
Tavros nearly fell out of his seat in surprise but no one else seemed to be even the slightest bit phased as they worked on the assignment for the day.
The boy who had burst through the door was quite odd looking compared to the rest of the kids he had seen in the school. He had a thick mane of curly black hair, A purple hoody, purple polka dotted pants, and was that clown makeup?
"Gamzee motherfuckin Makara reporting for class." The boy spoke in a low growl and did not seem completely sober which he might have not been for all tavros knew.
The teacher looked up from his desk at gamzee seemingly unsurprised at the tardiness, "Well so glad that you could join us but it seems that your seat has been taken by our new student." He motioned to Tavros in the back corner.
Gamzee looked over with his lazy gaze and walked over, "No problem I can just sit on the motherfucking floor," and he did as he sat right down on the floor next to Tavros smiling.
Tavros shifted a little uncomfortable now not wanting to start on the wrong foot with someone he leaned down and whispered quietly to the curly haired boy, "um…you can have your seat if you like, I swear I didn't know that it was yours."
Gamzee didn't answer him or even show any acknowledgement that he had even heard the boy in the chair as he took out his headphones and put them in blaring what Tavros could make out as rap music that made him smile just the slightest as he mouthed the words to the familiar song.
The rest of the day was went by rather quick as Tavros went from class to class not really talking to anyone or drawing attention to himself, he hated being the center of attention. He was walking down the empty school hallway his footsteps echoing against the tile floor when suddenly he was pushed up against a locker hard knocking the breath out of him as his back slammed against the hard metal. He looked with scared eyes to see the boy from his first period class, the one whose seat he had taken. What was his name? Gamzee? Whatever it was he did not seem happy at all.
"What the motherfuck is your motherfuckin problem walking into this mother fucking school and acting like you motherfucking own the place? I mean taking a bros chair like that? Pretty motherfucking unmiraculous," He had one hand pressed against the locker as he leaned in closer to Tavros to the point where the smell of smoke was blatantly apparent on the boys breath. "Whats your motherfucking name anyway?"
Tavros swallowed his eyes wide as he looked up at the large boy and didn't speak for a second out of fear the words caught in his throat, "um…m-my name is T-Tavros….Tavros Nitram. Please don't hurt me I didn't know it was your seat I promise that it won't happen again I'm sorry."
Gamzee was looking him over almost inspecting him, "yeah I'm sure it motherfucking wont. Now get out of here."
Tavros nodded and walked away quickly but before he was out of earshot he called back to the boy, "um Gamzee?"
"what?!"
"I um… liked that song you were listening to…" with that he turned around and was gone.
He ran all the way to his house quickly running up to his room and throwing his things down and sitting on the edge of his bed.
Tavros took a deep breath trying to calm down from his run in with Gamzee, it was just one incident everything was ok. He reached over and grabbed Tinkerbull hugging him gently his chest still very very sore.
"Well Tinkerbull no one even guessed about me." He smiled at that thought, "no one even questioned me about it…" He squealed gleefully completing forgetting about the run in with Gamzee Makara and told Tinkerbull all about his first day, So far things were looking bright for Tavros Nitram.
