Her name was Chrysanthemum, after the flower, but she went by Chrys for short, she was sixteen and at the moment she gazed dreamily out the car window. The maddening blur of emeralds, olives, jades, and deep viridian sped by as they went farther and farther into the bowels of the forest. The trees that danced their way past her seemed to reflect the turmoil she was feeling inside. This, move wasn't exactly a happy one, but with aunt Abigail, her favorite person in the whole world at the wheel, she knew everything was going to be alright. It was Aunt Abby's idea that the pair needed to get away and have afresh start, Forks Washington just happened to be the first place she found work.
It was as Chrysanthemum stared out at her wild new home that Abby reached out slapped her niece's knee playfully. "Hey there girlie!" she said in a playful tone. Chrys jumped, shaken from her thoughts and spilling her water all over the front of her blue sundress. "Oh!" the two cried in unison as Chrys began fumbling about for some napkins. "Sorry babe, you ok?" her aunt asked sparing glances as Chrysanthemum dried herself. You seem pretty glum-pty dum-pty!" Abby asked in a lilting voice, pouting for emphasis.
"Yeah," the girl said forcing her voice to be light, and managing a grin. "Just- you know."
Abby watched her for a long time. Glancing over to her aunt a look pasted between them, as Abigail's hazel eyes filled with remorse. "Yeah, I know, it's-" the woman paused, finding it difficult come up with the right thing to say, something that had been happening between the two a lot. "I'm so sorry sweetie!" she sighed after a while tears beginning to form in her eyes.
Chysanthemum looked at her again, she was the only family that she had left in the world. A sharp pang of guilt and sorrow tore through the girl as she reached out and gave Abby's hand a squeeze. Abby looked at her very seriously then, and pointing a long, well manicured nail in her direction called out sharply. "No crying! Got that! We are not going to cry and mess up our make up, new town, new start, new lives, got it!" she said as firmly to herself as her companion. "Besides, we might meet some hot new beaus while we're out and about!"
Chrysanthemum's smile wavered slightly her heart began to pound slightly. It was her secret, the biggest secret of her life and she just knew she'd kill herself if anyone found out. The girl opened her mouth and was about to express her feelings to her when they rounded a corner and Abby grabbed her. "Look, look, there it is!" she squealed excitedly.
Chrys knew that this was the first house that Abby had ever bought and let her enjoy her moment, before actually getting sucked in. "I'm so excited!" she gushed.
It was a quaint little thing from the outside, white washed with exposed stone for an aesthetic effect near the bottom and two stories high. The house had wood flooring throughout, and a large open living room with a grand window, that took Chrys' breath away when she walked through the red painted door. There was a joining kitchen, a bathroom with a killer vanity and even a den with a fireplace on the first floor. Upstairs were the bedrooms, each roughly the same size, another bathroom.
The best part was that at the end of the narrow hall which separated the rooms was a grand balcony the view wasn't the greatest, a couple trees were growing a bit close, and the neighbors had been clearly throwing some of their trash in the yard but the fresh air and freedom was amazing! Abby even let Chrys choose which room she wanted. Dust covered pretty much everything in the house, which wasn't much after all. The only furniture in the house included a range oven, a refrigerator and in one room an antique standing mirror, that was the room she chose.
It wasn't long before the two got to work, but by the end of the day Chrys' muscles ached terribly after hauling beds a dresser up the stairs, as well as chairs into the living room. When they were done however the small house still felt empty, it wasn't exactly a lack of stuff or even an over abundance of space, but more something she felt in her heart.
It was while Aunt Abby sat down stairs flipping through the phone book that Chrysanthemum went up stairs to change for the evening. Peeling off her dress the girl closed her teary eyes tightly before pulling off her bra and underwear. She hated it, didn't want to look at how disgusting she was, but she couldn't help herself. Looking in her new mirror her stomach knotted sharply as she gawked at it dangling there. It was thick and gross, and despite what her DNA said it sure as hell wasn't hers! Her eyes trailing upwards she sobbed. She was disgusting, a dick between her legs and no chest at all. Why did she have to be born like, this?
It was as she looked at herself that she saw the scar, almost fully healed, pink and shiny yet every time she thought about it, it burned like hell. She'd come out to her family as a girl for the first time, back when her name had been Richard and her dad pushed her into football. She closed her eyes and remembered everything with perfect, terrible clarity. Mom cried and blamed herself, said she was a terrible mother. Dad, dad called her a faggot, a queer, said he didn't have a son, hoped Chrys would enjoy her time in hell, then stormed off. She could hear things breaking in the other room.
Jess, Chrys' big sister laughed at her, laughed and laughed until she finally realized there was no joke to be had, then she was speechless. Glass shattered as mom smashed Chrysanthemum's class picture to the floor, it was then that dad came back, with the gun. Time seemed to slow down then, the bullet tore through her chest, just below her left shoulder then exploded out of her back. She couldn't remember much after that, except for some of the legal stuff, court, her dad going to jail, and Aunt Abby petitioning for guardianship.
"Hey Chrysie, I was wondering if you wanted some piz-" Abigail's words were cut short when she happened upon the nude youth sitting on the floor crying. "Oh baby!" Abby said, she couldn't help but be a bit taken aback by Chrys' nakedness.
Abigail couldn't pretend to know what her nephew, no, she corrected her mental thought process, no, her niece. She couldn't pretend to know what her niece was going through but she was going to help her get through this. Chrysanthemum didn't know yet but her aunt had already contacted a physician about hormone pills in addition to finding her a psychiatrist. This move was going to work, she was determined to make it work, Chrys deserved happiness after the life of lies and pain that she was forced to live, and then what her father had done.