Troy leaned back and watched the scenery pass by. After a couple of miles, he spoke up without looking at his mother. “Mom, is it wrong?” He asked, then he slowly turned his head to face her.

“Is what wrong?” Maggie asked as she drove.

“Being Tracy, I mean. All of this, these pictures, the phone calls....should I just stop?”

“Baby, like your grandmother said, you should never let anyone make your choices for you.” Maggie patted her child’s knee. “And if you stop being yourself because of some asshole and his pictures, then you're letting him make a choice for you.” She turned onto their road and kept driving.

Once again, Big thanks to Djkauf for the editing
More of the fallout from the pictures.

:Continued

Vance was headed out of the bathroom that was by the offices as the bell sounded, ending what would have been his current class. He knew he had five minutes to get to his next class. As he passed it, he could see the lunchroom had emptied a few minutes earlier and he knew Peter and Mary Beth would be back in their classes by now.

He was almost to his next class when one of the boys from that he had seen in Mrs. Burn's class stopped in his path. He sneered at Vance and in a mocking voice, one that kids use in the first grade as though their opponent was a baby, he spoke so everyone could hear him. “Did wittle baby have to tell the principal? 'Fraid we'd hurt your fagot brother?”

“So, do you wear dresses with your fag brother?” Another asked.

“You share a room with him, don't you?” A third asked. “So the two of you sleep together?”

“Just drop it.” Vance said as he tried to move around them, but they moved and stayed in his path.

“What's wrong, you want in here? This is a no fag room. You sleep with one, so that makes you one.” The first boy said as he shoved against Vance's chest, causing him to take a step or two back.

“Alright, back off now before I kick all of your asses.” Vance puffed out his chest and readied himself for a fight, but he didn't get the chance to defend himself, or his family.

A shadow fell over all of them as Mr. Walkley stood there. “Boys, you can come into the room. I don't intend on holding class in the doorway.” It was his way of defusing the situation. They knew he was watching and he knew yelling at them would get no where, so he defused it with humor. “I doubt we could all fit in one doorway.” He gave then a smile and stepped out of the way, but he made sure they all noticed that he was still standing nearby. Vance stood his ground as the other two boys glared at him, knowing that they were blaming him for this as well. When it was clear, Mr. Walkley looked to Vance and nodded slightly. “You have any troubles, just come see me. I may not know what's going on with your brother, but I abhor fighting.”

“Thank you, sir.” Vance said in an almost whisper as he went to his desk. He kept his eyes down, waiting for that stray foot to try and trip him.

~o~O~o~

The bell rang, signaling the last recess of the day and Troy looked to his mother. The lady from the main office had been delayed a bit and was finally there, finishing the papers to get Troy into home schooling. “Mom, could I go to Mr. McCoy's room and get my stuff out of my desk?”

She looked to Mr. Harper who was helping Maggie finish up the last of the paperwork. “We're done here.” He stated. “But, Troy, are you sure you want to go in there?” This caused the lady from the school board office to raise an eyebrow and cast an inquisitive look to the Principal.

“Can I ask what happened?” She asked.

“There's been some threatening notes and pictures being sent to Troy and his family and friends here at the school.” Mr. Harper explained.

“Maybe it will blow over in a little while?”

Mr. Harper shook his head slightly, staying away from the truth of the conversation. “There have been phone calls, too. Bad ones, so his parents want to keep him away from here and near them.”

“Oh. That's why the home-schooling?” The lady asked.

Maggie spoke up with a nod. “Yes. We feel it is the best and safest.”

“Well, you got to do what you can when the kids are in danger.” The lady replied. “What are they threatening him over.”

Maggie looked to Troy, then frowned at the other woman. “That's personal. I'd rather not go into it with someone I don't know. No offense, it's just not something I want to share with everyone.”

She nodded. “Okay, I can respect that. God knows if someone threatened my children, I'd want to keep them safe too.”

“Thank you.” Maggie said. She looked to her son and put a hand on his shoulder. “Tell you what. I'll go get your stuff.” Maggie said with a smile. Then she looked to Mr. Harper. “If you don't mind me leaving Troy here for a moment.”

“Not at all.”

“Are we done?” Maggie shifter her gaze to the other woman.

“Yep. As of now, Troy is home-schooled. We'll get a hold of you for when the testing will take place and here....” She pulled out a paper from a satchel. “This is the subjects that he needs to be focusing on. If there's any questions, you can always call the school board office and ask for me. I'll let you know what is required.” She pulled out another piece of paper. “These are listings of places that you can get school books from. They sell the teachers copies too.”

“Thank you.” Maggie offered her hand to the other woman, who shook it.

“Not a problem. You two have a wonderful afternoon and I'll talk to you later.”

Maggie stood as the other woman left the office and she patted Troy on the shoulder. “I'll be right back, kiddo.”

~o~O~o~

Maggie was headed to the room while recess was still in full swing. She went straight to her son’s class and looked inside, knocking on the door frame when she saw the teacher was inside at his desk. “Can I come in?”

Rodney looked up and tired to place the face of the woman. He had seen her around a month or so earlier and he gestured her inside. “Maggie, right? Troy's mother?”

“Yes.” She nodded while she came in.

Rodney had expected to see one of the Pattersons. He wasn't sure which it would be, but as Maggie came closer, he thought it seemed logical that it was the mother. ~Dad's probably at work in the mill.~ He thought to himself. He recalled an English lesson where the kids each wrote down what their parents did. He knew between the two of them, Maggie had the more flexible schedule. “I'm going to guess this is about those pictures we found?”

“In a way, yes.” Maggie said with a nod.

“I must admit, I only found them an hour ago, I didn't expect to see you this soon.” He said as he leaned back in his chair.

“To be honest, we were already here.” Maggie forced a smile. “But I didn't hear that you had found them.”

“Yeah, I caught Alvin at lunch time.” Rodney replied. “I felt he needed to see them.”

“Thank you.” Maggie’s smile got warmer as she felt a wave of relief pass through her. Here was a teacher and he wasn't preaching to her about her son or the pictures.

“So, what can I help you with?” He asked.

“I need to clean out Troy's stuff from his desk.” Maggie stated.

“Is he moving classes?”

Maggie shook her head. “No, we're putting him in home-schooling. Those pictures you seen were just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Trouble from another direction?” Rodney asked. He knew about the phone calls, but he wasn't going to let on that he knew.

Maggie was hesitant for a moment, then she nodded. “Yes. There was some threatening phone calls yesterday.”

“So this is why he wasn't feeling good after lunch yesterday.” Rodney got up and went over to Troy's desk with Maggie. As Maggie opened it up and began to pull out the non-school owned stuff, Rodney sat on the top of a desk nearby. “Maggie, can I ask a question? I'll understand if I'm out of place. Trust me when I say I'm not judging, I just want to understand what I saw in those pictures.”

Maggie stopped pulling out her son’s stuff and placing it in her purse long enough to look at his teacher. “It depends on the question.” She replied. “I may answer, but if it's personal, I need you to understand.”

“Totally.” Rodney stated. He got up and went to the door, then shut it, giving them some privacy. “I've been thinking for a while that something was wrong with your son. Like maybe there was abuse at home or something, but he always insisted that nothing was wrong. He's been quiet and kept to himself, unless Peter was around, then after he came back after Christmas, he lightened up around Mary Beth too.”

He went to the corner of his desk and sat down, facing her. “When I saw the girl in that picture, I had a hard time believing it was Troy, mostly from the huge smile on her face, but I finally saw him in the eyes. Then I got to thinking. That wasn't taken around here, Chico's mall doesn't have that store that you stood in front of. Plus there was an ad in a window for a New Year’s sale, so it had to be after Christmas. So this wasn't a Halloween costume, was it?”

Maggie didn't respond, she went back to cleaning out her child's desk. “Maggie, I know this is hard, but believe me when I say, I won't judge him. This has the scientist in me curious.”

Maggie sighed and looked up. She knew rumors would start to fly and Mr. McCoy was asking questions, that was a good start. She took the leap of faith and answered. “No, it's not a costume.”

“Troy picked that out himself?” He asked, not sure how to proceed with the questions.

Maggie nodded. “He did.”

“I see. So those pictures? Was that the first time he dressed like a girl in public? He seemed so unafraid and normal people would have seemed timid or withdrawn.”

“No.” Maggie answered. “She spent a week in Livermore with friends her age as a girl. That was before Christmas.”

“Interesting.” Mr. McCoy sat up straight on the end of the desk and cocked his head to the side, trying to recall something from a month ago. “So the stories about Bruce? The ones of Troy in a dress?”

Maggie shut the desk and shook her head. “I'd rather not talk about that. That day isn't a good topic for me.”

“I can respect that.” He said. The bell signaling the end of recess rang and Maggie jumped slightly. Mr. McCoy got up, offering his hand to her. He had more questions, but he knew the students would start coming in and he didn't want to let them overhear anything. “Well, In case I don't see you, or your youngest again, It's been good knowing you.”

Maggie hesitated a moment, then she shook the offered hand. “Thank you. You may see him again. Something about monthly tests.”

“Ah yes. Well, maybe I'll see him then.”

“Possibly.” Maggie said as the door opened up and a few students trickled in. “Thank you again, Rodney.”

“Not a problem Maggie. Tell Troy I said hi.”

Maggie stopped by the door, long enough to let some of the kids in. “I will.” When she was outside, a small girl stepped in her way. Mary Beth stepped up and hugged her, then whispered.

“Tell Tracy we'll try to see her soon”

Maggie nodded and gave the girl a quick hug back. “I will.”

~o~O~o~

Maggie pulled out of the school's parking lot. Troy looked at her, as they drove home. “Do you have to go to work?”

“I was going to use some sick-time, but I figured I'd just take an hour off for the meeting. I'll drop you off at home and go back to work, then on the way home, I'll buy those books.”

“Oh, cool” Troy leaned back and watched the scenery pass by. After a couple of miles, he spoke up without looking at his mother. “Mom, is it wrong?” He asked, then he slowly turned his head to face her.

“Is what wrong?” Maggie asked as she drove.

“Being Tracy, I mean. All of this, these pictures....should I just stop?”

“Baby, like your grandmother said, you should never let anyone make your choices for you.” Maggie patted her child’s knee. “And if you stop being yourself because of some asshole and his pictures, then you're letting him or her make a choice for you.” She turned onto their road and kept driving.

Troy's jaw dropped as his mother swore. It took him a moment or two to gather his mind up and shake his head, before he responded. “But what if people find out?”

“People know.” Maggie replied. “Who knows how many people saw those pictures.”

“But what if more people find out, like in town?”

“I don't know. I do know that being yourself makes you happy and to me that's all that matters. If we force you to be Troy, just because of some closed minded idiots, then we're no better then they are.”

Troy leaned back in his seat and thought for a few moments. “So you want me to keep being Tracy?”

Maggie sighed and pulled the car off the road and into their driveway. “Baby, only you can choose to be Tracy. This isn't about what you think is best for the family. This is about what's best for you. We all get affected by choices the others make, but you can't live your life trying to keep us safe, or everyone else happy. You have to live for yourself.”

“So, I...” He leaned back in his seat and shook his head. “I don't know what to do.”

“Baby, no one needs an answer today. I'll take you to your grandmother’s, then I got to go to work. While you're there, think about it. You have time.” She turned off the car and opened up the door. “Now do you want to change, or are you good like that?”

“I'm good like this.” Troy replied after a few moments. “I'm...I'm a bit nervous. After those pictures, I'm afraid someone else will see me.”

“Okay. No one's pushing you. Let's get you to your grandparents and then I'll see you later.”

“Okay Mom.” Troy replied, then he leaned over and hugged her. “Thank you.

“For what?”

Troy smiled at her. “For being you.”

~o~O~o~

Emily May and her sister got off the bus and walked down the driveway to their house. Mary Beth had kept quiet ever since she had went back to class. Emily May threw an arm around her sister and pulled her close. “Hey, what's wrong?”

Mary Beth sighed and leaned into her sister as they walked. “I just feel bad for Tracy. I wish I could tell who that voice was, but I can't.”

“I feel bad too. It's funny, for the past few years, I always wondered why Troy seemed so dead to the world. I mean he smiled and played, but nothing like how Tracy was.” Emily May stated.

“Yeah. And Tracy is a cute girl, isn't she.”

Emily May nodded. “No one would know those pictures were of, if, if Troy's name wasn't written on each one.”

Mary Beth made a fist and growled. “I find out who did that and I'll smash his nuts flat.”

Emily May raised an eyebrow, then chuckled. “Flat?” She asked as they got to the door. She reached to pull it open, but it was already moving. As she saw her father, she smiled at him and let go of her sister. “Hey, Dad.”

“Don't hey Dad me. I want you two in the living-room and I want you there now.” He turned and stormed away and the two sisters just looked at each other, unsure what was going on. They slowly made their way into the living-room and their dad just pointed at the couch. “Sit, I have a few questions for you both.”

The sisters gave each other a strange look, but sat down. Their father pulled out an envelope and produced a picture from it and turn it to face them. Both girls could see the now familiar picture of Tracy and Emily hugging. Once again, black ink was used on the bottom. “This is a boy in a dress, not a girl.”

As they looked up at their father, they could see he wasn't happy. “I got this in the mail today. Care to explain where you went a couple weeks ago? The last time you wore that outfit was when you went to see that friend a week or two ago.”

“We were visiting a friend.” Emily May stated.

“I know that.” He said through clinched teeth. “Is there anything I need to know? Like is that friend really a fag in a dress?” He fought to keep his anger in check. He swore he had raised his daughters better then this.

“Dad, it's not like that.” Emily replied. “Tracy is a girl.”

“Then what does this mean?” He pointed to the words at the bottom of the picture.

“It's...well.” Emily started, looking for the right words.

“Is this a boy, in a dress?

“Not exactly.” Mary Beth replied.

Their father clinched his teeth together and glared at her. “What the fuck does that mean? Is this a boy or not.”

“No.” Mary Beth started to answer, but then she amended. “Well, kind of but not totally.”

The big man grunted out an angry breath and turned away from them for a moment. “Let me make this simple for you two.” He turned and faced them. “Does the person in this picture have boy parts? And you better tell me the truth, I will know if you lie to me. And you both know what happens if you lie to me”

Emily May looked at her sister and they both lowered their heads. “Yes.” The older sister stated.

“So it's a fag in a dress.”

“Dad, he was born a boy, but he should have been a girl.” Emily blurted out.

Their father took in a deep breath and held it as he glared at his two children. Then he let it out and spoke, mostly to himself. “I knew I should have never let you go to your Aunt's house. I don't need that kind of element around my daughters.”

Mary Beth began speaking, mouthing engaging as quickly as it could. “Dad, there's nothing wrong with Tracy....”

“STOP!” He held a hand up and bore his gaze onto his youngest. “First of all, it's a boy, so don't call it a girl. Secondly, you have any idea what could have happened. For all you know, that fag could have raped you. He's probably using the dresses to get close to girls his age so he can attack you.”

“Dad, it's not like that!” Emily snapped. “He won’t do that!”

Their father pointed a finger at her, jamming it in her face and growled. “You don't know that. Perverts like that strike at those they call friends.”

“Dad! He won’t do that. He can't do that!”

“You don't know that!” Their father yelled. “As of now, that freak is off limits, understand me?” Neither daughter replied at first, instead they slumped in their seats and looked to the floor. They knew it was pointless to argue with him when he was in a mood. “UNDERSTAND?”

“Yes, Daddy.” Mary Beth replied.

“You both are grounded for the next two weeks for lying to me when you left that day. When you get to go to your friend’s houses, I will be calling them to make sure you're there.” He crumpled up the picture and threw it to a trash can, instead of going in, it hit the side and fell to the floor. Their father glared at it, the stomped over and picked it up, a sour look on his face as he touched the picture, as though he'd catch something. Then he dropped it in the can. As he stood up and looked at them, he pointed a finger at one child for a moment, then the other. “I don't want you anywhere around him at school, understand?”

Both girls kept their gaze on the floor and replied. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Good. Now get on your homework. You'll both have extra chores for lying to me as well.” With that he left the room, leaving the two sisters to sit in silence.

~o~O~o~

Mr. Harper walked into the staff lunchroom as the teachers assembled. He held onto one each of the pictures they had taken from students, so he could give the teachers an idea what was going on. He knew there would be more like Mrs. Burns, but he was hoping for more like Mr. McCoy and Mr. Walkley. It was packed, but he didn't want to do this twice. He stopped near the door and cleared his throat to catch all the teachers attentions. “Thank you all for staying late. I know a lot of you have things to do, but this will only take a few moments, then you're all free to finish up your days.”

He looked around the room as he held a breath for a moment, then he released it and started talking. “Yesterday at lunch a student had pictures left in his desk and backpack while he was at lunch. This afternoon, several more pictures were found, this time aimed at a sibling of said child and a friend. I also found out that the child has received threatening phone calls at home. So, because of the fact he received the pictures while on school grounds, I had to inform the county sheriffs. Plus, with other children included, my hands are tied.” He took a moment to catch his breath as he scanned the room. So far the only angry one he saw was Ms. Burns.

“I am tasking all of you, that if you find any of these pictures, you need to bring them to the office right-away.”

One of the teachers in the back raised a hand and asked. “What are these pictures of?”

Before Mr. Harper could reply, Mrs. Burns spat. “A boy in a dress.”

Alvin glared at her and raised an eyebrow. “Janice.” He warned and let it drop there. He looked back to the room and handed the pictures to the teachers closest to them. “They are of a boy in a dress, but let me stress something right now. Our personal feelings on this matter Do. Not. Matter.” He stressed each word as he looked around the room. “If we decide that because this child's clothing choices, we don't have to do anything, I can think of at least four people who would suffer from antagonism because of it. This is in our hands and we will deal with it."

“Troy Patterson?” One of the eighth grade teachers asked as she looked at the pictures. “Is this that kid that got attacked in November?”

“The same.” Mr. Harper replied.

Another teacher pipped up. “Wasn't there a rumor about him in a dress back then? Maybe this is why he got attacked?”

“Before we go off on speculation, I don't know. That is a matter for the courts, not us. All that concerns us is that a student in this school is leaving these pictures, which I, and the school board will be treating as threatening, on school property.”

“Why should we do this?” Janice Burns asked. “He made this mess by prancing around in a skirt in public, why should we have to protect him?”

Mr. Harper sighed and shook his head. “Because, it's not just him that has been threatened.”

“Well if they knew about his....” Her lips curled and when she spoke, her voice dripped of distastes. “perversion, then they should have stopped hanging out with him. Why should we protect everyone he knows?”

Mr. Harper glared at her and she seemed to shrink in her seat. “Because, Janice, just because they know him, doesn't mean they control him. If we go with your thinking, each kid he talks to, or is friendly to is a target and we shouldn't lift a finger to help them. So that puts his whole classroom in danger, all of his grade and most of the school. That puts anyone he talks to on the list. And the last time I checked, we're here to give the children a safe place to get a good education. If we start ignoring certain children, we may as well start looking for a new job.”

He looked around the room and held up his hand. As he spoke, he ticked off the reasons with his fingers. “Fact one, At no point has Troy Patterson came into the school and broken our dress policy. We don't have one, other then torn clothes, very dirty clothes and lewd or nasty phrases on shirts. And he's never broken that rule.”

A second finger went up. “Troy, and at least one of the students who received these pictures are what would be considered a model student. Good grades and causes very little trouble.”

“What about that fight in November?” Mr. Carter asked. He recalled it well, having been the teacher to break it up. “I recall Troy and his brother fighting with Bruce and that Frankie kid.”

“If you recall, Bruce was caught stealing and he attacked Troy, who ran and ran into his brother.” Mr. Harper answered. “You caught the end of Troy defending himself.” He waited a moment, then held up a third finger. “Third, what he does hasn't affected his health, or his welfare so I can't call the social services. And I do believe that he is actively seeing a therapist due to the attack in November.”

“Fourth, no matter what we believe, we are not here to teach the children our personal morals. They get right and wrong speech at home. We're here to enforce the rules of the school and give each child the best Education that we can.

Mr. Carter tapped a finger on the table, then pointed at a picture. “That’s why he got attacked, isn't it?”

Mr. Harper shrugged. “I don't know that and speculation won’t really matter at this point.”

“Wait...Doesn't Bruce have a younger brother?” Mr. Carter asked.

“Clark, yes.” The principal nodded.

“Could he be the one spreading the pictures?”

Mr. Harper shrugged. “I'm not sure, and honestly, that's a matter for the cops now. Our job is simple. Give a good education and make sure those pictures stay out of the hands of the students.”

“Okay.” Mr. Carter nodded. “What about Troy. Will he still be attending classes? I mean we can't watch one child all the time.”

“And we won't have to.” Mr. Harper answered. “As of this afternoon, Troy Patterson has been moved to home-schooling. Until they can figure out who is calling the house and threatening him, his parent's aren't taking the chance that he'll be attacked again, not so soon after the last one.”

“So then why the meeting?” Janice asked. “If the....child.” She spoke the word and her face showed her growing distaste for Troy and his fetish. “no longer goes here, why worry?”

“Because, there are at least four children left that are connected to him, two of which have been threatened already. Until it either dies off on its own, or we catch who's doing it, we're collecting pictures.”

“Which four kids?” Mr. McCoy asked.

“Vance Patterson is staying in the school. Only Troy is leaving. And as you can see from that one picture, Emily May Higgins has been targeted. With that, her sister Mary Beth will most likely become a target and then there's Peter Lowery.”

Mr. McCoy chuckled. “Can't forget Peter, Those two are inseparable.”

“Precisely. So, until this ends, we have a responsibility to keep all children, even those who are friends with children we may not agree with, safe.” Mr. Harper looked around the room once more. “Any questions?”

“I'll be guessing that we're keeping this quiet” A small teacher in the back asked.

“As quiet as we can. We don't need the person responsible knowing we're watching.” Mr. Harper replied.

~o~O~o~

It was six in the evening and Tracy sat at the table with her parents, grandparents and brother. They had done one big meal together to go over with Tracy's grandparents what had happened during the meeting. When Maggie finished, Modine spoke up. “So, Monday through Thursday, we have Tracy from morning until you get home and Vance when he gets home from school?”

“Please?” Maggie asked.

“Maggie, I agreed to do the teaching for Tracy. I knew she'd be over here, so it's not a problem. Same goes for Vance.” Modine replied. “I'd rather they be safe, than trust that nothing will happen.”

“Thank you Mom.” Maggie replied.

“Do we have anything to teach her with? Any rules to follow?”

Maggie opened up a bag that sat in front of her and pulled out its contents. “This has the list of what she needs to know for the testing at the school.”

Modine looked it over and nodded slowly. “Okay, I can do this.”

“Thank you. You're a lifesaver with this.”

“Dear, it's not a problem. She needs her education and the schools out. I'm glad to help.

Honest, It'll pass this day soon.