"But Mom - I haven't been invited to any other parties this year. All the cool kids are going to Josh's party and it's my first party in Middle School. Please - I really want to go!"
"Well then, you'll have to wear that nice dress I bought you!" replied Winona.
"Oh Mom! I really, really don't want to wear a dress. You know how much I hate them. Can't I please go wearing my normal clothes, but smartly dressed?" begged Cyn.
"Cynthia Ann Kirk! You know the rules. You're not allowed to go to any parties in anything other than a dress."
"But Mooooom... I can't stand dresses. They make me feel so bad. Please, don't make me wear one!"
"That's enough, young lady! You have two choices: either you wear the dress and go to the party, or you stay home. You choose."
Cyn didn't go to that party. No matter how much she desperately wanted to socialise with her friends, she just couldn't cope with being forced to wear a dress again.
-\\/,-
Cyn looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Ugh, how on Earth could this be right? Look at those disgustingly wide hips. Those... things... on her chest.
"Those aren't mine." she thought to herself. "They can't be. That's not me. That's somebody else's body. A girl's body. It's all wrong. It's so unfair!"
And now the latest insult had been added to injury. That afternoon, whilst relaxing on her bed after school, her stomach had started to ache. She ran to the bathroom to deal with the problem... only to find her underwear was stained red. She hadn't hurt herself, so it could only mean one thing.
She'd sat on the toilet for 20 minutes, crying in despair.
Cyn cleaned herself up and put on her baggy jogging pants. And her brother's large, oversized T-shirt. There. That's a bit better. Now nobody could see those disgusting curves any more.
A/N: My family photo album contains quite a few pictures of a miserable girl with her hair done up nicely, wearing a party dress. My mother would insist that I could only attend parties if I wore a dress and let her do my hair, so I had to put up with it until I just couldn't stand it any more.
Next chapter: Jim realises he's trans. There is light at the end of the angsty tunnel. It gets better. :-)