Chapters 56 - 58. The final part of the story of Jason, a young boy that is coming to terms with his transgender nature, and his mostly supportive family.

Authors Note: Thanks to Joni W for editing this section for me!

Chapter 56

"That is good news." Richard Anderson said.

"It gets better. He said that when he got suspicious he went into his house and he peeked out through some curtains. He said that the pickup came around again, stopped in front of your house. A boy, maybe fifteen or sixteen, got out, took the brick and tossed it through your window. He saw the man egging on the boy and then gave him a high five when the boy jumped back in after breaking your window. He did not recognize them, so we will have him pick them out from a lineup."

"Who is the witness?" Richard asked.

"Mr. Weller," the detective replied and then added, "his statement is important, because assuming it really is Brad and his father, we can charge Brad with throwing the brick and we can charge his father with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and possibly other things. The DA is already working on getting a warrant so we can pull them in and get Mr. Weller to ID them."

The next morning Mr. Anderson was outside with the glass repairmen, when Mr. Weller walked across the street and said, "Good Morning, Richard."

"Good morning, Sean. Excuse me one second," he said to Mr. Weller and then turned back to the repairmen and said, "Ok. Go ahead and fix it." He signed the estimate authorizing the work. Then he turned back to his neighbor.

"Sean, I have to thank you for coming forward last night."

"Richard, I know that you are aware that I am not comfortable with the decisions that you and your family have made regarding Jason and that as a devout Christian, I find it distasteful. However, violence is never the answer, and if I did not come forward, I would be just as guilty as that boy and his father. Also it needs to be stopped here and now, before it gets out of hand."

"Sean, I respect your beliefs. That is why I appreciate you even more, that you took a stand and spoke with the detective last night. I know there are those in this town that will not approve of your turning them in. Kelly has already been attacked at school and had her leg broken and now this with the window. As you said, it needs to stop here and now."

The two men shook hands and Mr. Weller headed across the street to his home.

Later that afternoon, the Andersons, Mr. West, Mr. Martin, Officer Dowling and the detective held a meeting at the High School.

Mr. West said, "Thank you all for coming here to the school. Obviously the first day of school did not go off quite as well as we had hoped it would. Kelly, I am sincerely sorry for what happened in gym class yesterday, I think you are aware that Courtney is serving after school and lunch time detentions all this week, and has been warned that any further incidents will result in suspension, and possibly expulsion. We are also aware of the incident at your home last evening, which is why the police have been invited. Can we get an update on that from you, detective?"

"Yes, Superintendant West. The warrants for Brad and his father were served this morning and they were charged with several counts. They of course denied that they were anywhere near your home last night and claimed to have been out of town. They were put into a lineup and Mr. Weller came and picked them out from the lineup. They have posted bail, and the DA is pushing to get at least Brad's case in front of the juvenile judge as soon as possible. We were also able to get some fingerprints off of the note. Funny they went to so much trouble to use newspaper clippings, but they just used a piece of notebook paper, probably from one of Brad's school notebooks. It was covered in fingerprints."

"Thank you, detective. Ok, so that leaves us with how do we protect Kelly and your family? I knew we had some strong opinions out there, but I really wasn't expecting this much violence in our town. I'm actually shocked by it." Mr. West said.

Officer Dowling said, "We are going to increase the frequency that our patrol cars go past the Anderson's house, for starters."

Mr. Anderson said, "At their urging, we are also looking into having security cameras installed to provide us with coverage, so that we don't have to rely on luck and Mr. Weller."

Mr. Martin said, "As for here at the school, I have already had an additional staff meeting and the staff will be even more vigilant. I know that Kelly was hurt in Gym yesterday. It would have been difficult to prevent that, since it was done as part of a field hockey match. Of course, at least for the next few weeks, as a result of that injury, Kelly will be excused from Gym. With the extra care in the halls and classrooms, I believe she is safe here at the school. My bigger concern is the walk to and from school. There is very little we can do to protect her on her way home."

"Well for the moment, I have had to arrange for her to get a ride, to and from school anyway, since she is not about to walk two miles on crutches. She should be safe enough, at least for now." Mrs. Anderson said, and then she asked, "I have to say gentlemen; I'm more than a little scared right now. The violence yesterday was fairly mild. How do we keep it from escalating?"

"All we can do is be on the alert. From what I heard from the staff, the one good thing about what happened yesterday and last night is that the reaction of the vast majority of the students was that no matter what they think of Kelly, that Courtney and Brad were over the top. That swings sentiment towards Kelly. More importantly, peer pressure is very strong. Courtney found herself being given the cold shoulder by the vast majority of the student body today. I suspect Brad would have too, but he was not in school today. That will help deter future outbreaks." Mr. Martin replied.

"Mom, I have to agree with that. I can't tell you how many of the people, that were downright cold to me yesterday, came up to me and told me they were sorry for what had happened. Not everyone of course, but it was noticeable."

"Kristine, we are going to have to just see this through."

"I know, Richard, but Kelly is sitting here with a broken leg, we had our house attacked last night, what makes anyone think this is going to just stop?"

"No one has said that it is going to stop, Kristine. We have to take every precaution we can, and make sure we don't let them have an opportunity for anything more."

They all just sat there quietly.

"Mom, I have friends in every one of my classes. They are not going to let anyone hurt me without a fight, and I can take care of myself. I did so as Jason, and I will do so as Kelly."

"You shouldn't have to!"

"No Mom, I shouldn't. I should not have been betrayed by my Aunt and my cousin either; but I was. I forgive them, because I won't sink into their hatred and bitterness. I'm going to hold my head high, and face whatever comes. I have to do this Mom."

"Kris… I'm as worried as you are, but Kelly is right. She can't let them chase her away from here. She would not be able to respect herself. Everyone in this room is committed to keeping her safe. We will just have to be vigilant."

Kristine looked at them all and finally said with a sigh, "Fine. But Kelly, you have to promise me that any form of harassment needs to be reported. If things start to escalate, we need to know about it and figure out how to make sure to keep you safe. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am, it is perfectly clear."

Chapter 57

"So what do you think of high school so far, Kelly?" Julie asked. They were sitting in the Anderson's kitchen, working on their homework.

"Oh, you know, boring. Nothing exciting has happened yet." They both chuckled.

"Well, I'm finished with my homework now. Why don't we go into your room and pop on a CD?"

"That sounds good to me."

They packed up their homework, grabbed their soft drinks and headed into Jason's room. As Julie looked around, she said, "You know Kelly, it's kind of funny coming into your room."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, look around. On the one hand this is a typical boy's room. The color scheme on the walls, the curtains, even the bedspread, are all very masculine. Then you have all of those sports posters. It looks quite a bit like my brothers room. Then you have your makeup mirror, all of your makeup, etc. on your desk. When we look in your closet you have a bunch of boys clothing shoved in the back and then you have all your new Kelly clothing. It looks like you are just visiting here and you're staying in this room, but it really isn't yours."

"I see what you mean. I kind of feel like that sometimes. I have been Jason my whole life and I've only really been Kelly for a couple of months. On the one hand, I feel really, really, comfortable as Kelly. I can relax and be myself; I don't have to be this macho 'boy.' But I don't feel like a different person, it's more like I feel like myself. I like being called Kelly; it makes me feel accepted. But I always have to stop to realize what it means to me. You know yesterday, Kirsten called me Jason and it was Kathy that jumped all over her for it. I remember thinking at the time; it was funny that she was bothered by it more than I was. I was fully expecting people to call me Jason still, after all, how would they know what to call me. You know, I never really thought about a new name until Mom said I would need one the day we went to the mall, and you caught me."

"Well you sure don't look like a Jason now."

"I know that. But Jules, I have to admit, part of me is scared. Sometimes I feel that taking this new name is a loss of me, Jason, like by changing my name to Kelly, I'm not going to be me, Jason, anymore. I don't know how to explain it."

"You know, I might understand. Mom and I talked about something similar once. She told me that it was really tough for her when she got married. She had been Shelly Gartner her whole life, and when she married dad, she gave that up and became Shelly Sanders. She said it really bothered her, like she was losing her identity. She seriously considered keeping her name. But as you know, mom and dad are pretty conservative, and daddy would have felt incredibly rejected by that, so she did it. I wonder, if what you are feeling is similar?"

"Maybe. I'll let you know if I feel the same when I marry you and have to give up Anderson." Jason said with a grin.

Julie looked startled, and then laughed. "Well that would make my parents heads spin again. Don't tell them that, there still trying to get used to us, as it is!"

"Your parents have actually been great. Much better then you thought they would be."

"Yes, I suppose they have. I guess I was wrong and it probably would have been better if I had just talked to them myself. A good part of the worst of it was, that they were upset about that blasted picture."

"You should remember that the next time you have something to tell them you don't think they are going to like."

"Yeah, you're right." She conceded.

Chapter 58

"How are you feeling, Kelly? You had quite a welcome into High School, I hear." Dr. Daniels asked.

"I'm fine. It was a rough first day, but it has settled down some, since."

"Well that is good to hear. Yet, you look troubled, is there something you want to talk about?"

Jason told him about his conversation with Julie about names, his room, and who he was.

"So do you think that you are just visiting?" Dr. Daniels asked.

"No, I don't. I can't see going back."

"Ok. What is the real change? What is the difference between being Jason and being Kelly?"

"Nothing, really. Two names for the same person."

"But there is a difference, think about it."

"To me, there isn't. I'm Jason, I'm Kelly, my likes and dislikes are the same either way."

"Ok, if that is the case, just keep the name Jason."

"I can't! I can't tell people that I'm Jason, when I'm dressed like this."

"Why not, it's your name and there isn't a difference?"

"Because they won't accept me as Jason, it would just make things more difficult."

"But they will accept you as Kelly?"

"Not necessarily, but it is certainly more likely."

"Why?"

A dawning of comprehension came on Jason's face, "Because, they perceive me differently as Kelly, then Jason."

"Yes they do."

"So the difference between being Kelly and being Jason has to do with their perceptions of who I am?"

"Yes. But what does that matter to you?"

"Because how they perceive me dictates how I'm treated."

"Correct. How do you want to be treated? Do you want to be treated as Kelly, or as Jason? You are the same person, but how do you want others to treat you?"

"I never thought of it like that."

"Well, our time is up. I suggest that you think about it."

Jason tossed and turned in his bed later that evening. He kept thinking about his conversations with Dr. Daniels, and Julie.

"Who am I?" He thought to himself.

"Am I a boy, am I a girl? Am I both? What do I want?" Jason thought hard about how he wanted to be perceived. He tried to think of what he missed about being Jason, these past couple of months. He could not think of anything. "I am me!" He thought.

"Yes, but who am I?"

"I am Jason," he thought, picturing himself as a boy.

"I am Kelly," he thought, as he pictured himself as a girl, he started to get a warm happy feeling.

"I am Jason," he tried again, the happy feeling diminished, replaced by a decidedly uncomfortable feeling in his gut.

"I am Kelly. I am Kelly." The warm happy feeling returned.

"Who am I? I am Kelly." The warm happy feeling continued to build. "I am Kelly."

"I am me, and I AM Kelly!" With a crescendo of emotion, the warm happy feeling became an overwhelming wave of acceptance.

"I AM KELLY," Kelly shouted.

She shot out of bed, grabbed her bathrobe, and hobbled on her bad leg to the kitchen. She opened the cabinet under the sink and got out the large black trash bags.

"Kelly, what is going on? Are you ok?" Her mother asked looking frightened.

"I'm great Mom. I AM Kelly!" She said crying.

"I know you are honey, but what are you doing? Why are you crying?"

"I'm happy Mom. I am just really, happy. I know who I am; I'm me! I'm still me, but I am Kelly! I need to bag up Jason's clothes. I'm not just visiting, I'm here to stay and I want my room to be my room."

"What are you talking about?"

"Mom, I love being Kelly, but I was afraid that I was going to lose myself. It's funny, I yelled at Dad for treating me like I was somebody else just because I was Kelly, but I think it was because I was afraid of it too and did not want to think about it. It was keeping me from really accepting myself. But no more, I AM Kelly and I am still me. I'm not going back, and I need to bag up all of Jason's clothes, and purge them. We can give them to good will."

"Can't it wait until morning?"

"No, it can't. I have to do it right now."

"Let me get my bathrobe, I'll come and help."

"No, I need to do this myself. Mom, I want to redecorate my room; I'm here to stay! Can you help me with that? I don't want it to be a boy's room anymore."

"It might take some time; we can certainly make some changes that will make it yours."

"I love you, Mom." Kelly gave her mother a big hug.

It did not take her long to bag up all of Jason's clothing. She took the bags out of her room and down the stairs to the garage and left them by the car. She said, "Goodbye, Jason."

She turned around without looking back and went to HER room.

Authors Note:

This is where Jason's Story comes to an end, and Kelly's story begins. I'm not sure what the sequel will be called, since there is a Kelly's Journey already on the site, I will try to come up with something different to avoid confusion. Thanks to everyone that has given me encouragement and feedback, I hope that you have enjoyed, Jason's journey to Kelly. Kelly certainly has lots of trials ahead of her, and that will continue in the sequel.

I want to especially thank Joni W for all her help in editing each section since she took on that job. I truly appreciate her efforts!

Kristy