"Lars, just stop fidgeting!" Sadie complained as she tried to attach a clip to the ace bandages wrapped around his chest.
"It's weird!" The redhead protested.
"Does it feel too tight?" Sadie asked nervously.
"Nah, it can't be any looser or it doesn't work." Lars shook his head vigorously.
"Okay, if you're sure." Sadie muttered, putting the last clip in place. "There!" Lars whirled around to face Sadie's full-length mirror.
"Wow." He put his arms up, flexing. "It looks good."
"Yeah! You look great Lars!" Sadie said excitedly. He smiled widely at her, then turned back to the mirror to admire his new flat chest some more.
"Now we just need to go down to the thrift store and get some real guy's shirts." He commented, turning to the side to see the lack of curvature.
"Definitely." Sadie agreed. "And some jeans. Girl's jeans will be a giveaway."
"Oh, yeah." Lars said, looking down at the dark wash, boyfriend cut jeans he was wearing. It was the closest thing to "masculine" he'd been able to find without straight up asking his mom for men's pants.
"You're going to look great!" Sadie laughed gleefully.
"Yeah." Lars exhaled. He was awestruck by his own reflection in the mirror, it was amazing how such a small thing could make him feel so better.
"Come on!" Sadie called, putting her shoes on. "Let's go right now."
"Okay!" Lars agreed, reaching around to undo the clips.
"Stop." Sadie insisted. "You should wear them to the thrift store!"
"You think so?" Lars ran his fingers through his hair nervously.
"Yeah, otherwise all the tops will look wrong." She pointed out.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Lars nodded. He began sifting through the pile of extra bandages for his forgotten T-shirt.
"Sadie, Laramie" Sadie's mom called from the top of the stairs. Both teens froze as her footsteps on the stairs began echoing in the basement.
"M..mom, wait!" Sadie rushed to the foot of the steps to head off her mother.
"I heard you girls laughing!" Barb said, beating her daughter to the bottom stair. "What's so funny down…" The smile disappeared from her face as she caught sight of Lars, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room with ace bandages wrapped around his chest.
"We…we were just…" Sadie stammered, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for why her friend, who as far as her mom knew was a girl, was half-naked with her chest bound.
"What is this?" Barb roared. The teens jumped, startled at her sudden ferocity. "How could you let this happen?" She turned to Sadie. "You should know better!"
"Ms. Miller, I'm really sorry!" Lars spoke up.
"No! You two should absolutely know better." She said, hands firmly planted on her hips. "I mean ace bandages? Do you know how badly you can hurt yourself with those?"
"Uhh..well.." Lars sputtered, confused by this sudden turn in the conversation. "You're not…you aren't upset?"
"That you've got bandaging wrapped around yourself tight enough to pop a lung? Hell yes I am upset!" Barb yelled.
"No…no." Lars shook his head. "You aren't upset that I'm…." His voice caught on the word.
"Laramie," Barb began softly. "Are you a girl, a boy, or something in between?"
"I'm a boy!" He shouted, tears streaming down his face.
"I'm not upset that you're transgender, if that's what you're thinking." She shook her head. "But, God, binding with bandages!"
"Mom, we just thought that…" Sadie trailed off as her mother turned to face her.
"Thought what?" She asked her daughter.
"That maybe, the bandages would help him feel less…you know..anxious about his body." She shrugged her shoulders. Barb sighed deeply.
"Kids, I understand why you did it. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I just…I was so afraid you would hurt yourself." She moved towards Lars, gripping him in a bone-crushing hug. "You're like my own kid Laramie!"
"Lars." Came a tiny whisper.
"What?" Barb asked, pulling back out of the hug.
"Lars." Repeated the teen. "My name is Lars."
"Okay, well Lars." Barb said carefully. "Take off those damn bandages and get dressed. I'll be waiting in the car." She released him, retreating to the stairs.
"Wait!" Sadie blocked her path. "You're not going to tell Mr. and Mrs. Barriga, are you?"
"Please, that's not my place. Although you should tell them." She said looking over her shoulder at Lars.
"Then where are we going?" Lars asked nervously.
"To wherever we can get you a real binder." She told him. "After that we'll get you some better clothes. Call your mom, you're spending the night."
"Seriously?" Lars said, his throat tightening as tears threatened to spill over. Barb gave him a gentle smile.
"Yeah." She sighed. "And then after that, we'll go to that ice cream shop on the beach. You remember, I used to take you two there when you were little."
"After soccer practice." Sadie nodded. Tears slipped down her cheeks.
"Oh come on!" Barb complained, eyes watering. "You know I hate to cry." She grabbed her daughter in a tight bear hug, motioning for Lars to join them. He too, was swept up into one of Barb's patented mom hugs.
"Thank you." He cried.
"I love you Lars."