Tommy was constantly being bullied in school by Randy on a daily basis.
Tommy's life completely changes when he meets
a mysterious girl after school while riding his bike.

This accidental meeting... led to something more!

by Kayla Don

---

Image Credits: Title Picture purchased and licensed for publishing from

123rf.com. The model(s) in this image is in / and are no way connected with this story nor supports nor conveys the issues and situations brought up within the story. The model(s) use is solely used for the representation of looks of the main character(s) of this particular story. ~Sephrena

Kelly's Fantasy Bedroom from fantasticviewpoint.com Used with site permission located here. ~Sephrena

Divider licensed for use in publishing from Photoshopgraphics.com ~Sephrena.

Legalities: Archiving and reposting of this story *unchanged* is permitted provided that: 1) You must have contacted the author, Kayla, and have asked permission first and received said permission to host this particular work. 2) No fee be charged, either directly or indirectly (this includes so-called "adult checks") or any form of barter or monetary transfers in order to access viewing this work *and* (3) PROVIDED that this disclaimer, all author notes, legalities and attribution to the original author are contained unchanged within the work. 4) The author of this work, Kayla, must be provided free account access at all times the work is hosted in order to modify or remove this work at her sole discretion.

The characters, situations, and places within this work are fictional. Any resemblance between actual people (living or dead), places, or situations is entirely coincidental.

This work is the copyrighted material of the respective author. ~Kayla.

---

 
 
Chapter 9

“RANDY!” Kelly's grandfather repeated gruffly.

Kelly kept her eyes squeezed tight, anticipating the blows that would follow.

There was a pause of silence and the sound of sandals on the concrete driveway as she felt her mother's arm on her shoulder as she was pulled into a protective hug against her mother's side.

Not being able to stand it any longer, Kelly slowly opened her eyes to find her grandfather's fetchers beholding the sight before him. He was studying her features, his gaze quickly darting about.

“Randy?” Kelly's uncle of fifteen years incredulously spat. “Is that really you?” A smirk of disbelief found its way in his smile.

“Hush boy!” her granddad snapped.

Kelly's uncle fell silent, but everyone could see he had an anger within him towards Kelly. All eyes were on the old man.

With her eyes beginning to water up, Kelly looked into her grandfather's eyes. She couldn’t detect any hint of emotion. Her heart began to beat faster. She glanced about, already trying to plan her escape by running hard and fast. The backyard seemed to be the best route of escape as it had a tree-line and scrub. Kelly suddenly found she couldn't move! She was now panicking as she found it harder to breathe. Her lungs seemed full of air already and she couldn't draw in anymore.

The old man raised his arm.

“Here it comes,” Kelly resolutely thought. She was now so light-headed that she couldn't feel anything. The hand was slowly coming closer to her and Kelly was inwardly realizing that time seemed to have slowed down. Her vision swam and blurred. Sounds muted down as a high pitched whine rang in her ears and sparkles of light filled her eyes.

Everything then went black.
 
 
Kelly collapsed out of her mother's grasp and her grandfather had caught her just before she would have hit the driveway.

Trudy immediately knelt down and helped lay Kelly down as her daughter's head rested on her grandfather's lap.

“Kelly? KELLY?!!” Trudy panicked as she tried to gently shake and wake Kelly up. The both of them saw her still breathing in rapid spurts and Trudy recognized that Kelly had probably just fainted. Kelly's uncle, still staring at the scene before him, snorted briefly as he tried hard to suppress laughing.

“Travis!” Trudy's father yelled at his son.

“Yeah daddy?” he replied.

“Help your sister...” then he paused.“...and niece... get their stuff out of the car and into the house. Then come back an' help me finish gettin' this cleaned up.”

“Yes sir.” Travis frowned and went to do as he was told. From behind the vehicle came Travis mumbling,“Never...in a million years...”
 
 
She slowly opened her eyes to find things strange. For one, she realized she was on her back on the driveway and staring up into the face of her granddad. Secondly, he was there with a gentle grin as his finger traced the side of her face.

Kelly was shocked beyond belief! She had always thought that his face couldn’t make any expression other than a scowl.

Even more surprising was when he pulled her into a hug. The dam behind Kelly's eyes broke and water poured forth.

She had always respected this man and knew him to be stern, but fair. He was a religious man and attended church every Sunday. How and why he was then smiling at her, knowing her situation, was beyond her comprehension! Instead of beating her, like she had expected, he was holding her!

Kelly balled up in a fetal position as her grandfather gently held her to his chest, patting her back. Trudy, too, was smiling out of relief.

“You know...Kelly,” he softly spoke into her ear, “A couple a years ago, I probably wouldn’t have given someone like you the time of day. But after losing a son and one of my grandchildren, I think I’ve come to see that some things in this world... are worth overlookin'.”

Kelly, calming down now, returned her grandfather's hug. She looked up at him with amazement as the old man talked.

“Now I don’t rightly understand why you would want to be a girl,” he put his finger under her chin,“and don’t ask me to try.” He then moved his finger to run it through some of her wig hair.

“Just know, I’m here for you.”

Kelly gulped. She couldn’t say anything, so she just nodded her head and wiped her eyes.

“Now let's see about gettin' you up off this ground and into the house,” He squeezed her hand and, between him and Trudy both, they lifted her upright to stand.

Kelly looked over at her mother to see her smiling back at her.

“Come on sweetie, lets go inside,” she said.

“You sure you can make it in alone? I don't mind helpin' my niece.” her Grandfather offered.

Kelly tested walking a few steps with her mother supporting her and did not feel dizzy anymore. Smiling, she quietly replied, “I'm fine grandpa! I think I can make it.”

He then patted Kelly on the shoulder and walked back over to the bucket and the halfway clean garage door where her uncle was now washing off the rest of the graffiti.

“Mom, I think I really need to lay down.”

“I was just going to suggest the same. You have been under a lot of stress and some rest will will do you some good. I'll help you on upstairs.”

They both went inside and headed up to her room.
 

 

As soon as she pushed open her door, her jaw dropped! She rubbed her eyes to see if she was just seeing things. Kelly stared with a look of amazement on her face as she surveyed the girl's bedroom of her dreams. “Mom! How? ...and when?!!” she asked. She felt a hand on her shoulder. “When you were in the hospital, I had to come here to get you a change of clothes. And while I was digging through your closet for a pair of shoes, I found this.” Trudy reached over to a nearby dresser and picked up a tinker bell notebook that Kelly knew all to well. “My dream book,” Kelly softly admitted while blushing. Her mom flipped through the notebook filled with glued on pictures that were cut out of various shopping catalogs and other books until she found the page that had the picture that had been used to model her room with. A really cool teen girl's room.

“Mom it's perfect.” Kelly said as she wiped the tears out of her eyes.“Thank you!”

She hugged her mom tight.

“Don’t thank me sweetie, your grandpa and uncle Travis did all the work.”

“They did?” Kelly asked in surprise.

“Yes they did. When I found this book and went through it, I realized that this must have been the room you have always wanted. It wasn't too hard to tell, with all those gold star stickers you put around this one.”

Kelly, embarrassed, sat down on her new bed and pulled a pillow to her chest and hid her face.

“Honey, there is no need to be ashamed. Every girl has her own vision of her dream home. Even I did. I wanted to try and surprise you. I didn’t know how I was going to get all of this done in time.”

“I was thinking about hiring a contractor the other day when your grandfather came barreling through the hospital. He didn’t know anything other than you were one of the two kids that had been shot at.”

“But I wasn’t shot! Tommy was.” Kelly said.

Trudy raised an eyebrow. “I know that, but he thought that you had been the one that had been shot. He was practically frantic trying to find you. All he kept asking was if you were okay. I told him that you were fine and had to pull him aside and explain everything to him. To his credit, he didn’t say a word until I had finished.”

“But how in the world did you convince him to do all this?” Kelly asked.

Her mom looked at her and smiled.
 
 
A Few Days Earlier...
 
Trudy was at her station talking to one of the nurses who had been looking after Kelly when a commotion down the hall caught her attention.

“Where’s my grandson? My grandson?!!”

“Calm down sir,” a nurse said to him, “Just tell me his name name and I will locate him for you.”

“His name’s Randy... Randy James Bishop!!” she heard the man yell her son's name. She picked up pace and rushed down the hall to the Emergency Room front desk. A shiver went down her spine as she saw who the man was.

It was her father.

“Oh my God!” she thought. Keeping her calm, she pleasantly greeted him.

“Hi Daddy! What's wrong?”

“Where's Randy at? I gotta see him!”

“I got this Janice,” Trudy said to the nurse that had started to look through the day's admissions. She gave a grin of relief back to Trudy and went about her work.

“Trudy, Where is he?” her dad said as he pulled her into a hug.

“He’s asleep right now. Please calm down,” she said. Her father suddenly pushed away.

“Calm down? Calm down?!!” he looked at her like she was crazy. “My grandson’s been shot and you want me to calm down?”

“Whoa! Whoa! Daddy no! Randy wasn’t shot! His...” she paused,“His friend was.”

“Whaaa? Then why the hell is he in the hospital?” George fumed. His face was beet red and worn with worry.

“Daddy we need to talk. Let's go in here where it’s private,” she said, opening a door to a empty room.

“Trudy what is going on here?” he asked as she shut the door.

“Daddy, I want you to sit down.”

He looked at a chair and then back to his daughter. He knew something serious had happened. The fact she was beating around the bush meant there was more to what had happened than what he read in the paper. Trudy had that look, the look that his late wife always had when she was determined to say something to him and wanted him to listen - whether he wanted to hear it or not.

“She looks just like her...” he thought as he sat down and stared hard into her face.

“Daddy you’ve always said a man is only as good as his word,” she began.

“Yep,” he said wondering what had gotten her so riled up.

“Daddy before I tell you what’s going on, I want you give me your word that you will not say anything until I’m done.” She knew that what she had to say was very likely to make him very angry and maybe make him cut off all relations with her.

“You have my word,” he stated.

“Well... you see, Randy is...”

She proceeded to tell him the entire story from the time she first found out about Kelly to the night that Tommy was shot. Throughout the entire time she could tell that her dad was getting more enraged by the second. But to his word, he held his tongue.

“And when she saw me she just fainted,” Trudy said and then went silent.

Gripping the chair's armrests, he said, “You mean to say that my only grandchild is... one of those... Things?!!” He stood up and looked his daughter in the eye. “And you’ve known about this the entire time and you didn’t bother to say anything about it to me or do nothing about stopping it?”

“And now you’ve let it get so bad he’s done gone full on queer on me!!” he yelled.

Trudy had had enough.

“Now you listen here you bastard!” Trudy yelled as she got into his face, “KELLY is my child!! I love her more then life itself! So if you ever call her that again or do anything to hurt HER, I promise you, I will move so far away from here that you will never see me or her again!!”

Trudy paused and gathered her thoughts on what next to say.

“You may not love her, but I DO! And I have no problem with kicking you or anyone else in our family out of our lives that thinks or behaves like you just did!” she angrily stated.

“Trudy, you know I do love you, the both of you! But...”

“But NOTHING! Like it or not, Kelly is your grandchild. Daddy... I love you, but either you accept Kelly for who she is or you will be out of our lives - forever.”

“Trudy you know I love you and Rand..err..Kelly. But I just don’t understand... how someone can want to do this?!!” he sat down. “It just ain't natural!”

George was trying not to show it but Trudy could see his heart strings were tugging on him. She knew from his religious upbringing he was going to have a hard time with this. He may have always seemed like a tough hard-faced person but she knew her dad had a good heart. It was going to take some time.

Her grandmother had told her that once way back before he joined the Marines and before the war.

She thought back to that warm Alabama evening, sitting on her Grandma Hanley’s front porch after she had had a fight with her dad.

“I just don’t know how he could be so mean!” Trudy cried into her grandma's shoulder.

“There, there sweetie.”

“You may not believe this, but your daddy wasn’t always like this. A long time ago, he had a heart of gold like no one else I had ever seen. That was back when he was younger. He was always very caring and always looked out for everyone and hated to see people he cared about hurt. Oh, and that smile,” her grandma looked longingly into the sunset.

“He had the brightest smile and it had never left his face,” she looked at Trudy.

“But if he use to be so nice, what happened?” she asked. Her granny looked off in the distance.

“War,” was all she said as she stood up and leaned onto the porch railing.

“The year was nineteen sixty seven, when he turned eighteen, and instead of getting drafted he actually darnation went on and signed up! I pleaded with him. I certainly didn’t want him to go, but I couldn’t do anything to stop him.”

“He was sent off to that God forsaken country as soon as he finished training.”

“Every day, I heard of the men going door to door telling people that their son wasn't coming home and I about went crazy just awaiting my turn, when I would get that little piece of paper saying that he was gone.”

“But then, one day in august of seventy two, a truck pulls up and your daddy climbed out. I was so happy! I ran up to him and hugged him before I ever realized his leg was in a cast. But when I looked into his face, he wasn’t smiling. His good natured smile was gone from hi mas if it had never been. I could just tell, he was.. different.”

“Look I know he can be a pain most of the time, but no matter what happens, and no matter how mad he may seem, he will always love you. Just you have to be patient, and also be stubborn as a mule too,” she smiled.

 
 
After that talk with her grandma, Trudy had started looking at her dad in a different light. In time, she started to see it. He did have a good heart but it took a lot to get him to show it. The one thing he cared about more than anything was his family. She knew that he wouldn’t be able to stand not being a part of their lives and that threatening to leave would hopefully get through to him.

He sat back down and stared at the floor.

“Daddy I’m not asking you to understand. I’m just asking you to be there for us, but if you cant do that... then I cant let you remain.”

He grabbed her and hugged her.

“By God, I may not understand, but it would kill me to lose you and...” he paused, “...Kelly. I’ve already lost one grandchild and I most certainly won't lose another!”

Trudy was hopeful as she let a tear make it's way down her cheek.

“Daddy can you do try to do your best and understand? I'm begging you not to hurt your granddaughter any more then she has been,” Trudy asked.

“Sweetheart, I give you my word that I’ll do my best,” he said as he gave her another warm hug.

Relieved, Trudy pulled her hair back behind her and wiped her eyes.

“Daddy, do you remember after Katie had died... that you said that if I ever needed anything to just say it?” Trudy asked.

He looked at her and nodded.

“Wait here one minute, let me go and get it. I'll be right back.” Trudy rushed out, shutting the door gently, leaving her father wondering what she wanted. A few minutes later, Trudy came back in and opened her large handbag. She pulled out a pink and purple note book that had glitter, fairies, and stickers all over it.

“I found this in her closet this morning,” she showed him as she set it in on the sink counter beside the bed. “Here, on this page. Take a good look,” she pointed to the picture of a bedroom with many gold star stickers framing it. Underneath it, in beautiful handwriting, was written “My Dream Room.”

“If you want to prove to me that you can accept Kelly for who she is, will you redo her room to look like this?” Trudy asked.
“Of course I'll be paying for the furniture and supplies.”

He picked up the book still studying the page. He looked at her face once again and back to the picture.

“No need Trudy. I'll take care of it,” he resolutely spoke as he closed the book.

Taken aback somewhat, Trudy paused and looked at her father, seeing into his heart. Slowly, she slipped out her spare house key from her wallet and handed it to him.

George took the notebook and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Stunned, Trudy slumped into the bedside chair and sighed.

“Maybe just maybe,” she thought.
 
 
Back to the Present
 
“So you see sweety? He does knows what its like to lose the ones that he loves, and I don’t think he could have stood loosing another grandchild... you,” Trudy smiled.

“Lay back and try out your new bed? It's a thick memory foam mattress. I think I am going to join you in taking a nap also,” she leaned over and kissed Kelly on her forehead.

Trudy then walked off into the hall toward her own room rubbing her watery eyes.

Kelly lay back and bounced a few times into the mattress. It was great!! It was sooooo soft and comfortable!! She sat back up and looked around her new room again, examining all the details. She thought about her grandpa, she knew he had lost grandma when she and Katie were six. And then his oldest son died three years ago in Afghanistan. So much pain.

And then tears came to her eyes when she thought about her sister Katie. An then it hit her! She remembered a small detail that just now became clear!

Not really thinking about it at the time, but she did remember seeing him during the funeral! He did stand off in the distance somewhat, but she did remember seeing tears glistening on his face below his reddened eyes. He did care.

It was the only time she had ever seen him cry.

It was also an important thing that had almost been shoved aside and forgotten because she herself had been caught up in her own grief at being alone, facing that void inside her that her sister had filled. Never again hearing her voice, her laughter, her wisdom, everything! Even down to the detail of the perfume that her mother had given for Christmas a few years back... Kelly loved her sister. Katie was a huge part of her life. And that life was now gone. Even now, she still struggled daily to cope and compensate.

“I have to be strong and carry on, for myself, and her,” she thought, “Maybe I did take my frustration out on Tommy too much. Maybe my attraction to him was invading the space in my heart for her. Maybe... I-I was bullying him... afraid that he would take over the space within me that I hold for Katie.”

“I'll have to talk with Tommy about that later,” she whispered quietly to herself.

She then got up off her bed and looked in her new dresser. She noticed that a lot of Katie’s things had been moved into the room along with some new things as well. She inwardly smiled as she grabbed a pair of sleep shorts and a tinker bell night shirt out and lay them on her bed.

As she undressed, she looked over at her new night stand and saw the picture of her and her sister. Katie's loving smile greeted her back. She could feel her sister somehow watching over her from above, always with her.

“I’m finally free sis!” Kelly said to herself with a renewed confidence.

She then finished dressing in her new night clothes and climbed into her bed, pulling the covers up to her neck.

Her tired eyes closed with a vague smile on her lips. She drifted off to sleep.
 
 
“Hey Trudy?” George's voice sounded from downstairs.

“Coming!” Trudy replied and went back downstairs.

Her father was standing at the front door. “We got most of the paint off, but it just ain't no good. I'm going to have to repaint the door. I'll head over to the hardware store and buy some. I'll be right back,” George said.

“Oh Daddy. You’ve done enough,” Trudy said.

“Now you know that a job ain’t done till it’s done. So me and your brother are going to town and then finish it,” he said as he grabbed his keys from his overalls.

“You two be careful,” she replied, giving him a hug.
 

 
As George and his son drove in his 2002 GMC pickup, Trevor, obviously agitated, looked like he wanted to say something.

“What’s on your mind boy?” he asked.

“Ah, I don’t know daddy. It’s just so damn weird, you know?”

“You mean your cousin Randy wanting to be a girl?” George clarified.

“Yeah!! I mean aren’t those the kind of people you would normally want to run out of town?” he said looking out the window. “I mean I’ve made fun of people like that and I know that I’ve heard you make comments about them before. But now one of them’s kin to me. I ain’t gonna lie - I don’t feel comfortable around HIM. I don't want catch no weird germs or nuttin!”

George ran his free hand down his beard. “Look Trevor, I don’t get it. And I don’t really agree with it. But after all the things I’ve gone through with losing your momma, your brother, and Katie... I know I’m pretty sure I can overlook that.”

“Where’d that come from pa? I mean just the other day, you called that funny little neighbor kid a freaky little faggot and now your acting all weird on me and stuff!” he said.

Upset, George stated, “Look, Kelly is your kin! I want her in my life. I am not going to have my daughter cut me out of her life and not let me see my granddaughter. If you have a problem with it, keep it to yourself and don't you dare do or say anything to hurt her. Now I MEAN it. If you want to be cut off from your sister, don't come back home. Just don't go messing up my life with my family.”

They drove on a bit more in silence as they both thought things over.

“Well I did a little research on the Internet last night and it got me thinking. There are actual biological reasons for people like your niece being how they are. And as I stand for the Bible and the good word of God, There is just too many doctors and those scientists that have insurmountable evidence that some people can be born in the wrong body or their body is somehow not formed right and needs fixing. I mean, if someone wants to live their life a certain way or needs their body fixed, then who am I to tell them they can’t? Isn’t that what I fought for? For me, you, and everyone else in this country? The freedom for people to live as they please?” George said.

Trevor looked at his dad weirdly. “Man what the hell's gotten into him?” he thought. “My cousin’s turned into a little pansy faggot and now my dad's done gone all weird on me. What the hell's wrong with everyone?!!”

Trevor frowned and stared out the window. He knew his father was stern, but fair. He knew his sister has had a lot of heartbreak in her life recently. “Guess maybe it won't do no harm to let it slide for now. Losing my place to stay and family isn't worth Randy wanting to be a girl,” he pondered.

“Yeah I guess I’ll get over it,” Trevor drawled out still looking out the passenger side window of the truck at the landscape rolling by. “But it’s still weird!”

“I’m sure you will son. You have to know what is really important to you. In this life, your family is important. I hope one day you will find it in your heart to learn that.”

They soon turned into the parking lot at Appleton's Hardware store.
 
 
Kelly woke up after about four hours later and decided to go downstairs, still wearing her new nightclothes. As soon as she hit the bottom floor, a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen assaulted her senses.

She walked into the kitchen and saw her mom setting up the table with oven roasted chicken, corn bread, mashed potatoes, cream corn, and butter beans along with some fresh made sweet tea.

“Mom? How could you have taken a nap?”

“Oh, hey sweetie! I was just about to wake you up. I felt guilty about your grandpa and uncle doing all that work and decided to cook everyone a good home cooked meal. Will you go get them both and let them know dinner's ready?”

“Sure mom,” she said as she walked out into the cool evening air on the front porch. George and Travis had finished repainting the garage door and were cleaning paint off of their hands when she walked out.

She was still intimidated by her grandfather, but she just stood there and watched for a second.

“Hey guys! Mom said supper's ready.”

Her grandpa looked at her. “Good! Tell her we’ll be in in a second, soon as the turpentine's washed off,” he said as he started to wash out his paint roller with the garden hose.

Trevor, though, gave her a quick strange look and went back to squeezing the paint out of his roller. She could definitely tell that he didn’t like her. A bit of a worry cropped up inside her as she turned around and went back inside.

Not long after both her and her mother sat down and patiently waited for them to come in, George and Trevor entered the kitchen with a faint odor of turpentine in their clothes.

They said grace, and began to dig into the feast before them. George and Trudy started talking about stuff while Trevor and Kelly sat quietly and ate.

After everyone was finished, George and Trevor decided it was time to go home.

Kelly said goodbye and stared at them through the bay window as they got into their truck and drove off.

Kelly turned her mind back to Tommy and sat down on the couch beside her mother to watch TV with her for awhile.
 
 

---

 
 
To Be Continued...