Don't Be Ashamed Of Who You Are

by Windrises

Charlie has her parents start a college. Alastor is the Principal and while Charlie is just a student, she tries to help every single student. Vaggie is the school's newest student. She's transgender and her gender identity leads to her being unfairly mocked and judged. Charlie tries to do what she can, to help Vaggie feel proud of who she is. An AU story.

2. A New Friendship

A few minutes later, Principal Alastor stepped into the cafeteria. He had a big smile on his face, while twirling his cane and playing music on a radio, to get the students' attention. After a majority of the students were looking at him, he turned the music off and said, "Greetings, my charmingly-odd students. As you know, I run this nightmarish school and I like to do more, than just scare you, although I do love the frightened sounds of youngsters." He did an evil laugh, before saying, "Anyways, another activity, that I like to indulge in, is introducing you to each new student. I believe introductions are one of the most important parts, of a person's life. If you give a bad first impression, you're doomed." Hearing Alastor say that made Charlie feel bad. She looked ashamed of herself.

Alastor started walking closer to Vaggie, while saying, "Today, we got a new student. I noticed a lot of you guys haven't been paying much attention to this student. I don't blame you. We have a shy student and I believe every shy student needs a spotlight."

Alastor snapped his fingers and Sir Pentious understand what Alastor was asking. He started shining a spotlight on Vaggie. Vaggie felt extremely awkward, while a bright light was shining on her and a bunch of students were looking at her. Alastor pointed at her, while saying, "This is Vaggie, our newest student."

Suddenly, Alastor screamed, "Microphone!"

Cherri Bomb instantly handed Alastor a microphone and said, "There you go, boss."

Alastor smiled and replied, "Thank you."

Sir Pentious nervously said, "I could of given you your microphone. I might of taken a few seconds longer, but I would of gotten you a much better microphone. I could of gotten you one, from back in my day."

Alastor replied, "Be quiet, you overpaid geezer." Sir Pentious sighed, while Cherri Bomb laughed at him.

Alastor pointed the microphone at Vaggie and said, "Grab this and speak into it. I'm sure you want to introduce yourself, to the other students."

In a quiet tone of voice, Vaggie replied, "I'd rather not."

Alastor replied, "I insist. You wouldn't want me to give you a detention, on your first day, so be a good student and do what I ask of you."

Vaggie shyly grabbed the microphone and looked at her students, while saying, "Hi, everybody. I'm Vaggie. Um, it's nice to meet you."

Angel Dust had a confused look on his face, while asking, "Why does she sound like a guy?"

Charlie whispered to him, "She's the girl, that I was telling you about."

Angel Dust replied, "My bad."

Alastor nudged Vaggie and said, "Say more." Vaggie shook her head. Alastor said, "Say more or you'll get a detention, after school."

Vaggie said, "This is my first day, at the Hazbin College. I hope you'll accept me, for who I am."

Sir Pentious looked uncomfortable, while looking at Vaggie and asking, "Why do you sound like a guy?"

Vaggie nervously said, "Because I'm transgender."

Sir Pentious replied, "I've heard of transgender people and I don't get what their problem is. If you're born as a guy, stay a guy. Changing your gender isn't going to make things better. It's just icky and off-putting."

Vaggie looked sad, while saying, "It's my own choice. I can be who I want."

Alastor said, "Vaggie, what gender do you date? Guys? Girls? Do you only date other transgender people? Those must be hard to find."

Sir Pentious replied, "I'm glad they're hard to find. They're freaks."

Vaggie heard lots of people saying offensive terms and saw people giving her awkward looks. She couldn't stand it. She ran out of the cafeteria, while having tears come down her eyes. Charlie quickly got up and left the cafeteria, too. Alastor rubbed his hands, while saying, "What juicy drama" He laughed.

Charlie noticed that Vaggie stepped out the college's front door. She quickly stepped outside and saw Vaggie sitting on the steps. Charlie asked, "Why are you on the steps?"

Vaggie said, "I figured I'd sit and rest, before going home."

Charlie said, "Home? The school day isn't over, yet."

Vaggie had her head down, while replying, "I'm not going to finish this school day. I'm leaving this stupid school and I'm never coming back. I just want to hide. I hate my voice and my life." She continued crying.

Charlie sat on the steps and said, "I'm probably one of the last people you want to be talking to, right now and I can understand why. I admit I don't know much about transgender people, but today, I did learn something and that's that transgender people deserve more respect. There's nothing wrong with what you are. You're a lovely woman, Vaggie. It doesn't matter, that you used to be something different. You can be a woman, now. You can put the past behind you."

Vaggie replied, "Yeah right. The school laughed at me. I never want to talk to another person, ever. I just want to die."

Charlie started sitting closer to Vaggie, while saying, "Although I've never gone through what you have, I know how you feel. There was a time in my life, where I wanted to die."

Vaggie tilted her head up and looked extremely surprised, while replying, "No way. You're like the bubbliest girl, in the entire school."

Charlie said, "I didn't used to be as happy. I love my parents, but they can be rather greedy and they never really spent much time with me. They didn't bother to find friends for me. I tried to socialize with people, every now and then, but I was terribly awkward and didn't know how to start up a conversation. That's something I still struggle with. Even though I had my parents, I felt all alone and I don't like being alone. I love making people smile. I like partying with people. I like dancing with people, but I didn't have a dance partner, nor did I have any friends."

Vaggie started feeling sorry for Charlie, while asking, "How did you deal with that?"

Charlie said, "One day, I realized I was tired of being alone. Despite how bad I can be, when it comes to socializing, I was determined to make friends with people. I decided to talk to the other kids, who lived in my area. A lot of them rejected me, but a few were impressed by me, which could be because I baked them cookies, but I think they kind of enjoyed my company. Ever since then, I've been working really hard, to try to make friends." She lightly chuckled and said, "I probably go overboard, by trying to make friends with every student. I wanted to become friends with you, but I blew it, by being shallow and clueless. I'm really sorry, Vaggie. I know you'll never be able to forgive me."

Vaggie asked, "Why do you think that?"

Charlie sighed and said, "Principal Alastor said if you make a bad first impression, you're doomed."

Vaggie replied, "Alastor's full of crap. He's the one I'm mad at, not you. I can tell you didn't mean to offend me. Alastor, on the other hand, gets a sick amount of pleasure, from other people's misery."

Charlie put her hand on Vaggie's shoulder and said, "I wish I could tell you the world will become a completely fair and open-minded place, someday. However, they'll likely always be those, who unfairly judge others, for the stupidest of reasons. However, those people don't deserve your time and you shouldn't care what they think of you. You should only care about what your family and friends think of you."

Vaggie sighed and said, "My family's been accepting enough, about my gender, but I don't really have any friends, that I can talk to."

Charlie smiled, while saying, "You have me." She paused and said, "If you don't want to be my friend, because of how I acted, I totally understand. However, if you're willing to forgive me, I'd love to be your friend."

Vaggie lightly smiled, while replying, "That sounds nice."

Charlie stared at Vaggie. Vaggie was one of the most beautiful women, that Charlie had ever seen and she had learned to forgive Charlie. Charlie was heartbroken, that such a wonderful person was being mocked and humiliated, just because of some gender stuff. Charlie said, "Vaggie, I know I owe you, rather than you owing me anything, but I do want you to do something for me."

Vaggie asked, "What is it?"

Charlie said, "Don't give up on life. Whether people know it or not, everybody has a reason to live. Some people think otherwise, but I believe anybody can achieve great things, if they never give up. I know things will get tough, Vaggie. People will act weird around you, because of your gender. However, you shouldn't let those jerks stop you from living your life." She stuck her hand out, while saying, "You won't be alone. I'm here and I swear I have no problem with you being transgender. In fact, I'm proud of you."

Vaggie shook hands with Charlie, while saying, "Okay, Charlie. I'll try to be more optimistic."

Charlie paused and said, "I never realized what a jerk Alastor is. I always thought he was a respectable gentleman."

Vaggie said, "Charlie, I don't know if I can go back inside. I don't want to face Alastor, again. You really did make me feel better, but I fear I can't deal with that monster."

Charlie smiled and gently rubbed her friend's back, while replying, "Then I'll take you home."

Vaggie looked surprised, while asking, "Really?"

Charlie stood up and said, "It'd be my pleasure."

Vaggie asked, "What about school?"

Charlie said, "My parents run this place. If Alastor gets mad at us, there's nothing he can do about it. Let's go."

Vaggie replied, "Okay." Vaggie stood up and started following Charlie.

Charlie and Vaggie walked to Charlie's car. It was a purple car, that was decorated with rainbow stickers and pictures of unicorns. Charlie and Vaggie went inside the car and Vaggie started giving Charlie directions.

Ten minutes later, Charlie finished driving to where Vaggie lived. The two women stepped out of the car and looked up. Vaggie lived in an apartment building, that looked pretty old and dirty. However, Charlie wanted to be polite, so she said, "It looks like a pretty nice building. I'm sure it's cozy." Vaggie rolled her eyes.

Charlie and Vaggie walked into the building. They tried to ignore any weird smells or noises, as Vaggie grabbed her keys and opened her apartment. Charlie looked inside and saw a messy living room, that had a broken couch, an old TV and a bunch of random stuff on the floor. Charlie said, "Um, this is a very cute apartment."

Vaggie sighed and replied, "I know it sucks. Thank you, for giving me the ride." She let out a light smile, while saying, "Also, I'm grateful, that you talked to me, today. I really needed to hear what you had to say."

Charlie responded, "You're welcome. I'll see you, tomorrow morning."

Vaggie said, "Okay, Charlie."

Charlie said, "By the way, I think you're beautiful. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Being transgender is a choice, that all people should be allowed to make."

Vaggie replied, "Thank you, Charlie. I often feel ugly, but I'm glad you think otherwise."

Charlie said, "I hope you have a good afternoon, Vaggie." She waved to Vaggie and stepped out of the apartment. While heading out of the building, she said, "You know what? I think my new friend could use some company."

A moment later, Charlie stepped back into Vaggie's apartment. Vaggie looked up at Charlie. Charlie awkwardly smiled at her, while trying to work up the courage, to say what she wanted to say. After a moment of silence, she said, "I know I just took you to your apartment, but would you like to get out of here?"

Vaggie asked, "Where would we go?"

Charlie said, "We could go to the mall and if you want, we could see a movie."

Vaggie shyly replied, "I don't know. They'll be lots of people. They might say certain things, about me, that I don't want to hear."

Charlie smiled, while saying, "If anybody dares mock you, I'll defend you. I can understand why you'd want to hide, but you can't hide, forever."

Vaggie stood up and said, "Then let's get going." Charlie and Vaggie stepped out of the apartment and started heading back to Charlie's car. For the first time, in a long while, Vaggie didn't feel afraid or ashamed of who she was. As for Charlie, she was so glad she met Vaggie. Vaggie was more than just a good friend. She taught Charlie that transgender people are wonderful and deserve to always be treated fairly and respectfully.

Charlie took Vaggie to the nearest mall. The mall had both human and non-human people shopping around the mall. Charlie and Vaggie got out of the car. Charlie looked over at Vaggie, who was still looking shy. Charlie gently placed her hand on Vaggie's shoulder and said, "You don't need to be worry, about what others think."

Vaggie shyly asked, "Are you sure?"

Charlie said, "I can't guarantee that things will be easy, but I believe you'll be okay, as long as you stay optimistic. Can you try to be positive?"

Vaggie said, "I often try to think positively, but trying and succeeding are much different concepts." Vaggie sighed and avoided eye-contact, while saying, "Maybe it was a mistake, to go here. I feel like I don't know what I'm doing, anymore."

Charlie looked back at Vaggie and said, "I believe in you. You can do this. We're just going to a mall. There's nothing to be scared about."

Vaggie replied, "You're probably right. I'm sorry. Hanging out with me must be difficult."

Charlie shook her head and said, "I enjoy hanging around you." She stuck her hand out, while asking, "Are you ready to go into the mall?" Vaggie nodded her head and started holding Charlie's hand.

Charlie and Vaggie walked into the mall. The mall was filled with stores, restaurants and customers. It also had a movie theater. The inside of the mall was white, although some other colors started appearing on the walls, due to the work of graffiti artists. The customers included a variety of species, including bats, ponies, moths and fireflies.

The first store, that Charlie and Vaggie went into, was the perfume store. The two women walked inside and instantly got sprayed with perfume. The perfume clerk was a woman, who sprayed the newest type of perfume at her customers. She figured this would be a good way, to let people know about the new perfume and she hoped it would motivate people to buy it. However, several customers didn't have a very positive reaction, to perfume being sprayed on them. Sometimes, the perfume got in their faces, which led to eye damage and several angry customers.

Charlie grabbed a napkin out of her purse and started wiping perfume off of Vaggie's face, as well as her own face. Charlie had a concerned look on her face, while staring at Vaggie and asking, "Are you okay?"

Vaggie said, "I guess so, but that perfume crap stings."

The clerk shook her head and said, "Stings? That couldn't be right. This new style of perfume is nothing short of wonderful. It'll make you smell better, than ever before."

Vaggie looked at Charlie, while saying, "You know what? I don't think I need any perfume. Let's check out some other store."

Charlie replied, "Okay." Charlie and Vaggie started walking out of the store.

A moment later, Angel Dust walked into the store. As usual, he was in a calm mood, but that quickly changed, when the perfume clerk sprayed perfume at him. Angel Dust stared at the clerk, while asking, "What's your problem?! You could seriously damage somebody's eyesight, with that crap."

The clerk shook her head and replied, "That's not possible. This store's perfume makes every part of the body smell better, including the eyes."

Angel Dust smirked, while saying, "Really?" He took the perfume bottle away from her and sprayed the perfume at her. The clerk gasped and quickly used a towel, to wipe the perfume off of her. Angel Dust chuckled, while walking away.

A few minutes later, Charlie and Vaggie walked to the nearest clothes store. After going inside, they saw the store was having a sale on dresses. Charlie looked excited, while saying, "Vaggie, the dresses are on sale. It seems like this our lucky day, after all."

Vaggie casually browsed through the store, while Charlie quickly ran around, while being overly-enthusiastic. Charlie quickly started searching through the various dresses, that the store had. In less than a minute, she found five dresses, that she wanted to try on. Vaggie saw Charlie running like a streak of light, as she headed towards the changing room.

In less than a minute, Charlie changed into a purple dress. Charlie stepped out of the changing room and walked up to Vaggie, while asking, "How do I look?"

Vaggie stared at Charlie. She tried to not look flustered by Charlie's beauty, while saying, "The dress looks pretty good."

Charlie put her hand on her chin, while saying, "Pretty good? That's not bad, but I can do better." She quickly ran back to the changing room and changed into a green dress.

Vaggie briefly glanced at some of the things in the store, before Charlie returned to her. She stared at the second dress, that Charlie tried on. Vaggie said, "You look really pretty." She paused and said, "Um, I mean the dress looks pretty."

Charlie said, "Am I not pretty?" Vaggie feared she had accidentally hurt Charlie's feelings, while Charlie said, "It's okay, Vaggie. You don't have to call me pretty. As long as you don't call me ugly or anything like that, it's no big deal."

Vaggie shyly replied, "I do think you're pretty. In fact, you're beautiful."

Charlie's face started getting a little red. She smiled and said, "Vaggie, you're going to make me blush."

Vaggie nervously said, "I didn't mean to comment on your looks. I was just trying to tell you how the dress looks, because that's what you asked me to. I guess I got distracted."

Charlie started blushing harder, while asking, "You were distracted by my good looks?"

Vaggie put her hand on her forehead. She was starting to feel like she couldn't say anything to Charlie, without incorrectly wording herself. Charlie saw Vaggie, with her hand on her forehead and assumed she had a headache. She grabbed a headache pill out of her purse and offered it to Vaggie, but Vaggie said, "Charlie, I love you, but I don't think I can get through a conversation, without saying something wrong."

Charlie's blush was growing, at a dangerously-high level, while asking, "You love me?"

Vaggie paused and realized what she had said. A blush started appearing on her face and she had a bit of sweat coming her face, while saying, "No, Charlie." She paused and said, "I'm not saying I don't love you, but I'm also not admitting anything." She blushed harder and said, "It's not like I have anything to admit." She took a deep breath and said, "You know what? I have to use the restroom. Please, excuse me." She quickly walked to the restroom.

Angel Dust walked into the clothes store. He started roaming around and quickly noticed that Charlie was also in the store. He ran up to her and said, "I heard there's a sale."

Charlie was feeling distracted, by her and Vaggie's awkward encounter. She tried to snap out of it, while saying, "Uh, hi, Angel Dust. The dresses are on sale."

Angel Dust asked, "Really? Is it a good sale?"

Charlie said, "As to be expected, some of the dresses are only ten-percent off. However, some dresses are half off."

Angel Dust replied, "That's a good sale." He nervously smiled, while asking, "Do you think it would be okay, if a guy tried on some dresses? I mean, I know it's not the most normal thing in the world, but I occasionally like wearing dresses."

Charlie smiled and responded, "There's nothing wrong with that, Angel Dust. Any gender can wear any outfit they want. Who cares about being normal?"

Angel Dust high-fived Charlie and said, "I appreciate your input, Charlie." He took a closer look at his friend and noticed she was looking worried, so he asked, "What's going on?"

Charlie said, "I'm afraid things are getting a little confusing, between Vaggie and I."

Angel Dust asked, "Did you offend her, again?"

Charlie said, "No." She paused and said, "I'm pretty sure I didn't. I love that girl, but sometimes, it's hard to understand what she's trying to say."

Angel Dust raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did you say you love her? You've only known her, since this morning."

Charlie looked at the clock in the store and noticed that the school day wasn't over, so she looked back at Angel Dust and asked, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in school."

Angel Dust replied, "The same could be said for you and Vaggie."

Charlie nervously chuckled and responded, "I suppose that's true." Charlie was starting to fear she wasn't being a very good role-model, to Vaggie. However, given how trans-phobic Principal Alastor and Sir Pentious were being, Charlie didn't regret leaving the school, early.

Meanwhile, Vaggie was staring at her reflection, in the restroom's mirror, while talking to herself. She said, "What's wrong with me? I just met Charlie and I'm already calling her beautiful and saying I love her?" She groaned and said, "I can't believe I'd say such things. Charlie's going to start thinking I've got a crush on her, which I totally don't. I just think she's a nice, caring, attractive -" She paused and asked, "Did I just call her attractive? I've gotta stop saying that crap. Charlie's the sweetest person I've met, in a long time. I can't scare her away."

A blue-haired woman, who was also in the restroom, overheard Vaggie. She whispered, "That voice sounds like a man's voice. Is there a guy in the restroom?" The blue-haired woman stepped out of the stall and started washing her hands. She looked at Vaggie, while saying, "I think I heard a guy's voice. Did some dude sneak in here?" Vaggie shook her head.

After the blue-haired woman walked out, Vaggie put her hand on her face and asked, "Why does life have to be so hard? I can't have a conversation, without things getting weird and I can't even speak, without people assuming there's a guy in the room." A few tears came down her stressed-looking face.

Charlie stepped into the restroom and saw Vaggie crying next to the sink. Charlie looked very worried, while asking, "What's wrong?"

Vaggie wiped some tears off her face, before saying, "Just leave without me, Charlie. Drive home. I'll just walk. You don't deserve to hangout with an emotional wreck, like me."

Charlie put her hand on Vaggie's shoulder and said, "There's no way I'm going to leave you behind. Please, tell me what's wrong. I'm not going to make fun of you or make you feel bad. I'm here for you."

Vaggie replied, "Listen to the sound of my voice, Charlie. I might consider myself a woman and I might actually be one, but I don't sound like one. It's never easy, for me to meet new people. They see me and they think I'm a somewhat normal woman. Then they hear my voice and that either upsets them or scares them. I've tried to sound like a woman, in the past, but it hardly sounded convincing. It sounded so forced and awkward."

Charlie said, "Vaggie, a voice is such a trivial feature. The reason, that people have been so judgmental of your voice, is either because they're shallow or they're unaccepting of people, who are different than them. Do you want to let those people bring you down?"

Vaggie said, "No."

Charlie replied, "Then just ignore them."

Vaggie said, "Charlie, you can't just ignore them. It's not that easy. You should know. You mentioned you wanted to befriend everybody, that goes to the Hazbin College. Surely, there must of been some rude or biased people, that you tried to get along with."

Charlie replied, "That's different. I believe everybody deserves a fair chance, so I give all my classmates the chance, to strike up a friendship."

Vaggie had a guilty look on her face, while saying, "I'm sorry, Charlie. I know I'm being the opposite of fun. I guess I'm too sensitive. Also, I'm sorry I called you beautiful."

Charlie replied, "Vaggie, I don't want you to be sorry. You're dealing with some painful emotions and you deserve to have somebody, who listens to you and cares about you. As for calling me beautiful, I certainly didn't hearing that. In fact, I was rather flattered. However, I think you're more beautiful."

Vaggie scoffed and said, "That's not possible. I'm nothing special."

Charlie gently lifted Vaggie's chin up, while saying, "I usually don't say people's opinions are wrong, but in this case, I must. Vaggie, you're more brave, than you think you are. Changing your gender is a very bold thing and you had the courage and determination, to change who you are. Bravery is a rather beautiful attribute. Try not to be so hard on yourself."

Vaggie smiled, while replying, "Thank you, Charlie. I've been a woman, for a good amount of time and I'm still not fully used to my new body or my new life, in general."

Charlie said, "Some people take longer, to get used to this sort of stuff and that's okay. Just keep being brave and don't give up on being yourself."

Vaggie replied, "I'll try."

Charlie wanted to help Vaggie take a break from her pain, so she asked, "Would you like to do some more shopping?"

Vaggie sighed and replied, "I don't really feel like doing more shopping."

Charlie said, "Then how about a movie? It could help distract you, from the rough emotions you've been dealing with."

Vaggie replied, "You know what? That sounds nice."

Charlie and Vaggie started holding hands, while leaving the restroom and heading towards the movie theater.

Angel Dust, who was walking around the mall, saw Charlie and Vaggie and walked up to them and asked, "Are you okay?"

Charlie said, "I think we are. We're going to go see a movie."

Angel Dust replied, "Sounds good. I might see a film, too."

After Charlie and Vaggie walked away, Angel Dust's cellphone started ringing. Angel Dust looked down and saw that Principal Alastor was calling. He feared he was in trouble, for leaving school, before the school day was over.