She was thankful her son's more feminine look was confined to the weekend. He still wore the black eyeliner and the earrings to school to school, but no sign of the the lipstick, light makeup or the nail polish. His clothes, the jeans and the black shirt, they were pretty much gender neutral.

Her son's "new look" unnerved her a little bit, but she was more concerned about his safety if he dressed more girly at school. For now, she was somewhat comforted by what one of Jacob's best friends description.

"He's just considered one of the punk-freak crowd," Micah Dutton told her once when she ran into him at the store. "They're pretty much left alone. I think everyone's kind of afraid of that kind of crowd after what happened at Columbine."

"You're very reassuring," she sarcastically told her son's one time friend. She honestly thought he was a bit young to know anything about the tragic shooting at the Colorado high school more than a decade ago.

Micah and Jacob were inseparable from preschool until just a few months after the assault.

"People change," Jacob told his mother as to why he no longer hung out with Micah. "I still consider him a friend. We just don't hang out."

She told her son about the Columbine remark just to see what he'd say.

"Oh please, Mom," Jacob snapped back. "We're not that kind of a group. We're not going to all of the sudden going to gun down our classmates. Micah just doesn't understand. You know why we don't hang out anymore? Because he don't know what it's like to live through a Law and Order SVU episode."

That was the first time in a long time she'd heard him remotely mention what happened to them. She wondered how much that came into play with the changes he seemed to be going through.

"People cope in different ways, Liz," Joan told her during one of their therapy sessions. "It may explain why he's suddenly has more of a dark personality. It may explain why he seems to be taking an interest in more feminine things, I don't know. He sort of shrugs things off. He won't tell me about Jade. He won't tell me about this mysterious boy who bought him the ring."

The therapy sessions consisted of his mother going one-on-one with Joan. Jacob also had an individual session. And then they had a family session. Both Liz and her son went to rape support groups. Joan led Liz's group. But a young woman, Heather Myers, led the support group for teenagers.

"We try to keep things confidential in our group," Heather told his. "But I can tell you he's starting to open up some. It was hard for him at first, you know. He's the only boy in the group. I think he's just now beginning to get comfortable."

Wednesday was support group day for the both of them. Liz normally came up wiping away the tears from her group. They normally went for yogurt afterwards and even a little shopping.

She noticed at the yogurt shop that Jacob was wearing the ring.

"Let me see," she said as she pulled his hand away. He seemed to be trying to hide it from her.

"You know, it is pretty," she said. "You don't have to hide it from me."

Jacob cracked a small smile and pushed a few strands of hair out of his face.

"His name is Lincoln, in case you're wondering," Jacob said.

She was stunned, to say the least.

"Do you...well...like him?" his mother asked. "I mean, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"I sort of do," he said, being a little coy. "You don't hate me for it, do you?"

"Jacob, I don't hate you for something like that," she said. "You know me better than that. But I am worried about where that might lead."

"Don't worry, Mom," Jacob said. "I like him. But I really don't know in what way I like him. Is that weird?"

"No, I think that might make you a normal teenager," she said.

Her son cracked a smile again.

"I've missed your smile, kiddo," she said. "What do you say we go shopping? I know I promised you a new pair of jeans."

"Can I get a new shirt, too?" he asked. "The gang is supposed to go see The Hunger Games this weekend."

She told him that would be okay. He also told her he still had some of his birthday money his grandmother gave him.

"I'd like to get a pair of boots," he said.

"Since when do you wear boots?" she asked.

"Like now," Jacob said. "I really think they're cool."

She wondered if he was going to surprise her with anything else, like a request for a nose piercing, or a tattoo.

But she was glad he seemed to be in an upbeat mood. Of course, she was in for another surprise when they got in the car. She pulled out her lipstick as she looked in the rearview mirror to freshen up.

"That's a good color Mom," he said. "You don't mind if I try it?"

"Well," she said as she pushed his hair back. "I guess it won't hurt any."

Liz wondered if there would be any stares as they walked into Stringers Department Store. But Jacob had been in there before with black lipstick, and her lightly pink lipstick wasn't nearly as pronounced.

They got a buggy out. She asked Jacob to "humor" her as she picked something out in the women's department.

"No big deal, Mom," he said. She was surprised he offered her honest opinions and seemed to be interest in her taste.

" 'Gag, me', that's what you used to say," she said.

He laughed.

"I was what, 10?" he asked. "And you did sort of dress dorky back then. But you're a little more hipper now."

"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically. "Guess now we can head over to the men's department and pick you something out."

Even though he wasn't large for 13, she couldn't believe they no longer shopped for his clothes in the boys' department.

"Actually Mom, I saw a pair of jeans over in junior department," he said in a tone of voice that seemed a little coy and a little begging.

"Are you sure?" she said. She thought, but didn't say, that it was the teenage girls department.

They went over to the jeans rack. To her relief, none of the jeans Jacob looked at were really girly. They could easily pass for stylish boys' jeans. Liz had no problems with the jeans Jacob settled on.

"And these shirts will go nicely with them, don't you think?" he said as he pulled two shirts off the rack. It was a two-for-one sale.

"They are cute," she said. They weren't earth-shattering tops. But they were girls tops nonetheless. And she was very surprised he knew what size he needed. He also picked out a metallic belt to go with the jeans.

"That wasn't entirely the word I was hoping for," Jacob said. "But I like them."

He put them into the buggy and walked over to the underwear rack.

Jacob looked a little embarassed. She walked over to him.

"You're not serious," she whispered.

"You said I needed some new underwear, that mine are getting holes," he said.

"I know, but I don't this is what I had in mind," she said.

He sensed her disappointment.

"I'll go get something in the boys department," he said as he walked slowly in that direction as if he were facing a firing squad.

Before he could get over there, he heard someone call "Hey Jade!"

It was Lincoln. He was looking at sneakers in the shoe department.

"I'm here with my Mom, too," Lincoln said. "She's around here somewhere."

Jacob motioned for his mother, who tried not to be over obvious in spying on her son.

"Mom, this is Lincoln," Jacob said. "I told her about you today."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hunter," he said.

He was somewhat punkish like Jacob's other friends. He was almost 15 and a little more physically mature than Jacob.

She was stunned by how polite he was. She over heard him whispering an apology to Jacob about calling him Jade in front of his mother.

She noticed Jacob blushing.

"Text me later," Jacob said. "I've got to go pick out some boots."

"I will," Lincoln said. "Your Mom doesn't mind I'll be hanging with your crew for The Hunger Games does she?"

"No, I don't mind," she said.

Jacob was still blushing as Lincoln walked away.

"No need to be embarrassed," she assured her son.

This was turning out to be an interesting trip shopping.

"You tell me about Jade and I'll let you pick out a pack of panties," she whispered to her son.

"Deal," he whispered back.

In his support group, they talked about new beginnings, a finding of a new self, a new voice.

Jade, Jacob told his mother, was his new voice.

"But why a girl?" his mother asked.

Jacob told his mother he couldn't explain it.

"I just roll with it," he told his mother as he picked out a pair of boots in the women's department,
"Raven has a pair like these," he said. "I thought they looked cool on her."

She wondered how much of Jade Jacob would show as he picked out a small a small purse to go along with the clothes, and some makeup.

"Being Jade, Mom, helps me make it through the day," he said sobbing as they returned to the car.

Jade was a warrior, about like Katniss Everdine, his heroine from The Hunger Games. Being her helped him fight the nightmares "about that moster who stole my virginity."

"Wow, that's a new look for you," Heather Myers said when Jacob and his mother showed up at self-defense class.

"I asked mom if she'd do it," he said of the french braid. "Keeps my hair out of my face when we're kick-boxing."

"Oh, so you're not making a fashion statement?" His support group leader asked.

"Come on Heather," he replied. "What kind of fashion statement can I make in a t-shirt, sweat pants and tennis shoes?"

"Nice to know you're really opening up, there, Jade," she said as she gave him a hug. "It's a little different than the reserved, 'can't get anything out of you' Jake."

He shrugged his shoulders and went over to tapped his mom on her back. She was in deep conversation with another member in class.

"So Mom, you going to kick butt tonight?" he said with a laugh. "Shelley tells me we get to beat up on a cop tonight."

"Why sure buttercup," she laughed and faked a karate chop.

"Remember when you used to have to drag him from the car?" the woman his mother was talking to asked.

It almost took an act of Congress to get him from the house to the YMCA for class. The class was required for both support groups. And kind of frightening. He was the only boy out of about 20 women and girls ranging from preteen to teenage.

And his presence at first made some of them uncomfortable. Some attitudes toward men ranged from fear to anger.

But they came to realize he was as much a victim as any in the room.

His mother wondered if Jade's emergence had anything to do with her son possibly having similar feelings. She whispered as much to him as they were doing crunches during warmups.

He giggled. She never really heard him do so before. He remained silent and groaned out the last few remaining situps.

"You think I'm Jade because I hate men," his whispered to his mother as he reached the end of the situps. "I fear the thug who did this to us. But I don't hate men."

"That's a relief," his mother said as they stood up to do jumping jacks.

"I just don't want to become one," Jacob whispered as he put his arm around his mother.

Don't want to become one? What did he mean by that she wondered as they gathered around the policeman at the mat. He went over some moves they could try if an attacker bigger than they were tried to grab them. He then asked for volunteers.

Nearly everyone was surprised when Jacob raised his hand.

"OK, Miss, you first," the young officer said.

Jacob didn't say a word to correct. And shockingly, neither did his mother, Heather or anyone else in the group.

"Kick his butt, Jade," shouted his friend and fellow "victim," Shelley.

The young officer grabbed him. Jacob caught him by surprise by executing one of the moves perfectly and flipping the young officer to the mat.

The group applauded.

"That's my....girl?" his mother said as Jacob walked back over to her, grinning from ear-to-ear.

Jacob nodded, then curtsied.

"Yes, I'm your girl, Mom," Jacob said. "Your turn. Go kick his tail."

The young officer seemed mildly embarrassed as his mother approached him.

"My daughter, Jade, she's just now starting to learn to be aggressive," she said to him.

"She's a fast learner," he said with a laugh, then tried to put a move on his mother, catching her by surprise. But she also remembered the move Jade put on him, and flipped him to the mat.

"Way to go, Mom!" he shouted as she watched his mom pull the officer up off the mat.

Her mother came over and hugged him.

"You inspired me, Jade," she said.

*****

"I'm evolving, Mom," were the words her ever-changing child said as they walked over to Starbucks after class.

There was the evolution of appearance, although still not radically feminine. There was the evolution of attitude and to a degree, confidence.

A cell phone call while her child was in the bathroom alerted her to that next evolutionary issue: Pronouns.

She was warming to Jacob's evolutionary movement into Jade. While she was beginning to see the girl in her child, she still saw the boy as well. Jacob was making a gradual shift toward feminity. Despite the looks with the french braid, her child choose to go to the men's room.

He left his cell on the table. The phone call seemed to be a wakeup call for mom.

"No, Jade's in the bathroom," his mom told Raven.

"Can you tell her that we'll be by to pick her up at nine for The Hunger Games," Raven said over the phone. "We want to get something to eat before the show."

It was the premeire at the big movie theater in town.

"Raven called," she said when her child returned from the restroom. "She said they'll be by to pick you up at nine."

"Cool," Jade said. "That'll give me enough time to shower, change and get my makeup on."

Her son, turning daughter, noticed his mom's uneasy silence.

"You want to talk to me about something, don't you?" Jade ask.

Truth is, she had several, starting with getting a handle on Jade persona. She also wanted to ask her child about Lincoln, and the full nature of their relationship.

But first things first, the use of the English language. The use of pronouns.

"What do I call you?" she asked. "What pronouns do I use?"

Jade giggled.

"You have that look on your face because you want to know what pronouns to call me?" Jade giggled.

As had been the case over the past few weeks, her child seemed coy about giving a direct answer.

"Well, I went into the bathroom and saw the urinals on the wall," her child said as if talking in some sort of parable.
"I thought, I can't believe I used to stand when I peed. How lame is that? I sat down, did my business, and felt like I was in a strange land the whole time."

Not entirely a direct answer. But she remembered her child's words at the gym.

"I don't hate men," Jade said at the gym. "I just don't want to become one."

She watched as her child practiced her name on a piece of scrap paper.

More detail was put into the writing. It looked more girlish than her child's handwriting ever looked.

Jade Naomi Hunter were the words written on the paper with a heart dotting the i in Naomi.

"That's me," her child said. "That's want I want to be called."

"Naomi, that's for your grandmother?" she asked.

"Yup," Jade said. "She's the second strongest woman I know."

"Who is the first?" her mom.

"That's for you to figure out," Jade said.

*****

"Your ride is here!" she yelled up to her child's room.

Raven's mother was the chaperone in an SUV with soon to be seven teenagers, the usual five-member crew, Lincoln and Lincoln's sister.

"Bye Mom," Jade said as she tried to sneak out the door.

"Hold it right there, buster ... I mean buttercup," she said, catching Jade as she tried to slip out the door. "Let me get a look at you."

Jade sported the punk-girl look with the clothes they bought at the store the other day, the jeans, the black shirt, the metallic belt and the books. The way she had her hair, the makeup, hoop earrings, even the painted nails didn't really shock her.

Seeing her child with what looked like breasts did.

"What are those?" her mom asked.

"Breastforms," Jade replied stoically.

"Where did you get them?," her mom asked.

"Shelley got them for me, said she had them at her house," Jade said. "I'm sorry Mom, hope you're not mad. Please let me where them."

They weren't large. They seemed to be about the size for a girl Jade's age. She knew if Jade seriously yearned to be a girl, she'd want breasts. She didn't know what to say. She relented.

"Thanks. Mom," Jade said as she gave her mother a hug and went running out the door.

"Have a good time!" her mom shouted.

She suddenly knew the answer of the great pronoun question.

She wondered around the house, pondering the many unanswered questions about her child. She also thought about her own fears.

She walked up to her child's room and saw the computer on. There was a page still open. It was from "Jade Naomi's Journal of Her Journey."

"I saw her naked, bruised and weeping the way little boys should never see their mother. I saw her cry and scream as he made me watch. I cried. I screamed. I saw her fight when he went inside her like he did me. I saw her fight and claw to get out of the ropes when he did to me what he did to her. She never gave up. She is strong for me. She is my hero. She's always told me I can be anything I choose to be. That last night with him, I knew what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a strong woman like her."

Chapter 4

It was supposed to be a day of fun at the skateboard park.

The gang of five usually had the park to themselves. It wasn't really a place where jocks showed up.

That's why Jade thought she could be herself when her friends came by the house to ask her to come along.

She wasn't dressed too girly, just a ponytail, makeup and her middriff showing. She could be sort of a goth-punk chick. Her friends didn't care.

They were dressed about like she was, well except not the guys, they weren't dressed girly at least. And it started off fun.

That was until a few jocks showed.

"I didn't think they liked skateboarding," Paul said.

"I didn't either," Raven replied.

"Let's just mind our own business," Jade said. "And hope they mind theres."

No such luck. They heard laughter. At their expense.

"What are you creeps laughing at?" Paul shouted.

"Four freaks and a queer," one of the boys shouted back. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Come on Paul, just walk away," Jade said pulling his arm.

"Yeah, listen to the queer, or is it fairy?" another boy shouted.

It was too much for Paul. He lit into one of the boys. Spencer tried to pull him off, but another boy grabbed Spencer.

It was more than Jade could bear. She tried to grab one of the boys on top of Paul. But he turned around and grabbed Jade by the hair.

"How about a little kiss, you sweet fairy!" the boy teased.

"Not on your life, you creep," Jade replied, then put a move on him she learned in self-defense. She flipped him, which drew laughter from the other boys taunting them.

Another one of the embarrassed boys friends tried to come to his aid. The other girls tried to help Jade, but they were pushed away. Raven received a slap in the mouth.

Paul and Spencer were being held as two boys grabbed Jade and held her for their friend who had been embarrassed. Paul and Spencer could not get free. The boy punched Jade in the gut and then in the face.

That was the last thing Jade remembered.

****

"Don't you think things might be a little easier if you went back to being a boy?" Jade's mother told her as she wiped her head.

"I'm not a boy," Jade said groggily from the hospital bed.

She had a black eye, a few bruised ribs and a swollen lip. She had a little lump on her head and suffered a concussion, which was the reason the hospital was keeping over night for observation.

Her mother hugged her tight.

"I guess you don't like choosing the easy route," she told her daughter.

Just then a nurse came in.

"You charts look okay," the nurse said. "If all goes well, the doctor says you'll be out in the morning. You're one brave little girl from what I've been told."

Jade rolled her eyes and told her thanks.

Just then, a familiar face walked into the room. Detective Amy Lawrence was one of the lead investigators on the kidnapping a few years back.

"How's it going Detective Benson? Where's Detective Stabler?" Jade said jokingly about the show Law & Order SVU.

"Don't you know, Detective Stabler is no longer on the show," Detective Lawrence replied. "And wow, I'll say you sure have changed since the last time we talked."

"You'll have to excuse my daughter's sarcasm, Detective Lawrence," Jade's mother said.

"Oh, that's okay," the detective said. "I'm sure she's been through a lot. I'll have to admit, I was a little surprised to hear a transgendered teen was beaten, and that she was a boy who was a victim in a case I once worked."

"It's a long story," Jade's mother told her.

"I understand," Detective Lawrence said. "When Jade gets released, I'd really like to talk to her about what happened. Would you mind stopping by in a couple of days. We're treating this like a hate crime."

Jade nodded her head yes, although what happened at the skate park was still a little blurry in her mind.

Shortly after Detective Lawrence left the room, Raven and Spencer dropped by for a visit.

"That's a new look for you," Raven said of the blue, somewhat frilly and silky nightgown Jade wore.

"Oh I know," Jade replied. "I swear it's growing on me. One of the nurses gave it to me to wear instead of the hospital gown."

Raven and Spencer told her what happened at the skate park after Jade blacked out. People at a nearby store witnessed the fight. They called the police.

The police broke up the fight, but no one was arrested. Two of the boys were on the football team.

"They threatened to tell the police that Paul started the fight," Spencer said. "But Detective Lawrence told them they could face arrest because of what they did to you."

"They'll still probably get away with it," Jade said.

Raven told Jade she was transported to the hospital. She told Jade that they were a little surprised to find that Jade was a boy physically.

"But they've treated you as a girl the whole time you've been here," Jade's mother said.

*****

Jade felt like a scientific experiment. One more CAT scan to make sure her head was okay. Joan, her therapist, was waiting when they returned.

She talked with Jade a little bit about what happened at the skate park.

"You know you're going to have to expect things like this to happen if...." Joan said.

"If I continue to be a girl," Jade said. "Joan, Mom, Jade is not a different personality or an alter ego. Jade is who I am. Jade is who I choose to be. I am a girl. I'm not a boy."

They talked about the next step. They talked about hormone blockers. Joan recommended a therapist who had more experience in dealing with gender varient children.

"If you are in this for the long haul, then I am, sweetie," her mother told her.

Jade hugged her Mom.

Shortly after Joan left, Lincoln slowly walked into the room with two women. Jade was a little embarrassed by her appearance. She whispered to her mom she wished she had makeup on.

"These are my Moms," he said, introducing the women to Jade and her mother. They had actually met Jade when Jade was Jacob.

"We know all about the type of harrasment you went through," said Faith, the woman Jade knew to be Lincoln's biological mom, although they made little distinction in their relationship. Lincoln regarded both as his parents.

They invited Jade and her mother to dinner when she got out of the hospital.

"We know you've been through a hard time and probably won't be in the mood to make anything, or even go out," said Lincoln's other mother, Sue.

"Thanks, we appreciate it," Jade's mother said. "We'll probably take you up on the offer."

"We were out of town," Lincoln said. "Or else I would have been there. If I had been there, maybe they wouldn't have done something to you."

"Oh, they probably would," Jade said. "Paul and Spencer tried to protect me, but there were too many of them. They would have probably beaten you up, too. Be glad you weren't there."

Lincoln pulled out a bag from behind his back.

Jade smiled as she pulled out a Hello Kitty T-shirt and a stuffed Hello Kitty doll.

"I saw them at the store and thought it was you," Lincoln said.

Jade gave Lincoln a hug.

"Oh yes, I love it," she whispered. "You do know what I like."

Evolution Chapter 5 by Torey Copyright © 2013 Torey All Rights Reserved.

There were thrown into a "peer group" at school. Raven had been molested by a family friend as a child.

There were outcasts in the small group. Jacob was the nerdy boy. Raven was the punk girl. Neither fit in to the group, or really wanted to open up.

They were also in the same science class.

Even though Jacob had his "geek" friends like Micah, he was a loner in the class. So was Raven.

That was until Raven plopped down beside him and demanded they become lab partners. Slowly Jacob warmed to Raven, and they shared experiences with each other very few of their friends at school could understand.

Paul, Katrina and Spencer couldn't at first understand their fellow punk friend's fascination with the more nerdier friend.

She stood up for Jacob one day when he was being bullied at school. It was on that day, Jacob made the decision to "evolve" into someone totally different.

They were discussing in class evolution, survival of the fittest and natural selection.

"I dunno, can you really call it evolution if you intend to make subtle changes that turn you into a new person?" Raven asked. "But I am intrigued by the idea."

Jacob described his plan with his friend. He would observe traits, attitudes, and tastes of other people. Ideas he found intriguing, he would try.

"I don't intend to become like anyone in particular," he told his friend. "I intend to become me."

Step one, he told her, was that he no longer wanted to "be a victim." And to that end, he wanted to become "tougher," a toughness that he saw in Raven.

"I don't know if I'm really that tough," Raven said.

Each day, he would point out to Raven, and take notes of things he observed in other people. How they walked, the clothes they wore, how they wore their hair. One of the things Raven appreciated was that Jacob didn't always observe the obvious. One day, they talked about the star quarterback. The next was the chunky girl who played the flute.

And it wasn't really limited to people their age. They talked about the security, the 60-year old English teacher who was looking forward to retire.

Raven laughed once when her friend mimicked the 40-year-old math teacher who had the reputation of being a cougar as she ate an apple.

"Oh dear God, you do that really well," Raven observed.

The first real shift was that Jacob began to spend less time with his geeky friends and began to spend more time with Raven and her friends, were skeptical when Jacob began hanging out with them, and began adopting more of a punk persona.

"He'll eventually grow bored of it and return to his geekier self," Spencer once told Raven.

"Oh, I don't know, a darker persona suits him," Raven replied.

Jacob drifted toward screamo music and darker clothes. He took up skateboarding and did quite well.

Eventually, he slid into the group. One thing he found was that things were not necessarily what they seemed with his newer friends.

They weren't rebels. They weren't trouble makers. They seemed to relish more in the outcast personal.

From time-to-time, he gave Raven an update on the evolutionary process, which now included choosing a new name.

Jacob tried several Gaellic and Nordic names, and names from mythology. Nothing really stuck.

That was until one day when he was invited by Raven and Kat to go a college art gallery. Two things Jacob observed that day would shift the evolutionary process into a direction Jacob's friends would not imaging. But for Jacob, nothing had really been off the table.

The first was a necklace worn by Kat. It had a green stone that seemed to match her eyes.

"Wow, that is really beautiful," Jacob said as he held the green stone in his hand. "It's pretty, but not Barbie, perky pretty. Kind of exotic, don't you think?"

"Oh I know," Kat said. "That's one reason why I love jade so much."

It was like a lightbulb turned on.

"What do you guys think of Jade?" Jacob asked.

"I really agree with Kat," Raven said. "And with you, it is really beautiful."

"I don't mean the stone," Jacob asked. "I mean as a name for me."

Raven looked at Kat. They both smiled.

"You are beautiful to us, and exotic, even," Kat said.

"Yeah, and not Barbie pretty," Raven said. "I think it suits you well."

Their friend remained amazingly silent as they walked around and looked at the pieces.

"You think someone can be beautiful, but also tough?" the newly named Jade asked Raven and Kat.

"Absolutely," Raven answered.

They went back to looking at art pieces.

The three stopped to watch a young artist working on a mural at the museum. Jade first observed a jade colored butterfly tattoo on the shoulder of the very light-skinned dark-haired woman painting a copy of Venus Rising from the Sea.

Then Jade stood and looked at Venus, her hair, body.

The three made comments about the painting's beauty.

As they walked out of the museum, Jade asked for opinions about the young woman artist. And then a Girl Troop walked by, and Jade gave obervations about each one.

Raven and Kat gave their opinions and were really impressed by Jade's observations.

They walked over to the park and sat down in the grass. Raven and Kat didn't seem to notice how Jade mimmicked their posture.

Jade then gave an observation about the elderly woman who fed pigeons from her bench. And the young woman jogger who was jogging with her boyfriend.

It was then Raven made an observation of her own.

"Have you noticed Jade here has been asking about observations about women and girls," Raven asked Kat.

"Now that you mention it," Kat said.

"Guilty," Jade said.

Just then, a group of shirtless boys jogged by. Jade knew one of the boys, his named was Lincoln, he was one one of Jade's classes.

He waved at Jade. Jade waved back.

Jade began to laugh.

"What, what" Raven asked.

"This is embarrassing," Jade said. "But he has a nice butt, doesn't he?"

"That's not usually your normal observation," Kat giggled. "But yes, yes he does."

"Agree," Raven said.

As soon as the laughter faded, Jade decided to give another evolution report.

"I am Jade," Jade said. "And I'm ..... a girl."

"You know, that actually makes sense," Raven said. "It really didn't dawn on me that you were exploring the possibility of actually being a girl. But you were observing both boys and girls."

"I was open to becoming female the day I saw Lillith Jenners walk by," Jade said. "She was graceful and beautiful, even though she was short and geeky. Anna Phillips, you know people pick on her because of her weight. But she has this confidence to tell people to shove it. Seeing your necklace, the artist and the mural, it's like Venus spoke to me."

"Wow, and what did she say?" Kat asked.

"Don't you know you're female?" Jade said. "You aren't becoming one. You are one."

"And beautiful one, and exotic," Raven said.

"Pretty, but not Barbie pretty," Kat said.

Jacob seemed like a normal boy growing up with a single mom. That all changed on one traumatic day. May 7, 2010. A day that changed everything for him. He began to evolve! Evolution Chapter 6 by Torey Copyright © 2013 Torey All Rights Reserved.

Jade's dark hair was highlighted by purple, pink and blue. She wore a sleeveless black top, blue jean skirt, black tights with holes, tennis shoes, make up, purple lipstick.

And a stud piercing in her nose.

"Did you really have to dress like this on your first day back to school?" He asked.

"Dress like what?" Jade asked.

"Don't try to be smart, Jacob," the principal said. "We never really had trouble out of you before."

Jade rolled her eyes.

"It's Jade, the name is Jade," Jade quietly.

"Yes, Jade," the principal replied.

It had been an eventful few days for Jade.

Her mother requested the school board accept her enrollment of Jade as a girl. The board refused, but settled for a compromise. Jade could dress as a girl, but nothing too radical. As long as it matched the dress code for girls.

And the first few days, Jade wore the usual. T-shirts, jeans. Gender neutral clothes.

But Jade caused a stir changing for gym. Changing revealed her wearing panties and a bra in front of the boys in the lockerroom. A couple of boys laughed. But most just stood and stared. Even Coach Jackson was shocked.

Jade felt a little uncomfortable.

"But I've been raped by a man," she told Raven. "After that, this was nothing."

After school, a boy called Jade queer and pushed her into a locker. She kneed the boy in the balls and flipped him over her shoulder, The self defense classes paid off.

The boy was sent to alternative school. Jade served a four-day suspension.

Even the conservative school board felt Jade had a right to defend herself.

After the incident, Jade told her mother there was no longer hiding who she was. That's why she decided on the wardrobe she now wore in the principal's office.

It was similar to what Raven wore, and Kat wore.

"I'm not in trouble, am I?" Jade asked.

"Well, the lockerroom incident sort of unnerved Coach Jackson," Mr. Palmer said. "Tried to figure out what to do with you. But Miss Louellen has decided to take you on in her squad. But I have to get permission from you and your mother to transfer you to girls P.E. Also, given the incident, you have permission to use the girl's bathroom."

"That's it?" Jade asked. "Shouldn't I be doing that anyway?"

Jade thought she was there because of the way she dressed. She gladly took the principal's note and walked out.

"So you're not in anymore trouble?" Raven asked.

"Nope," Jade replied. "It was just something pretty stupid."

****

"You wanted to see me, Miss Baker?" Jade asked her English.

"Yes, come into my humble abode," the young teacher said about her small office. "Take a seat."

"Not in trouble, am I?" Jade asked.

"No, you are one of my best students," Miss Baker said. "You're also one of my most unique students."

Lori Baker was Jade's favorite teachers. She was edgy. She listened to some of her favorite music artists. The fact that her teacher had a photo made with Pink increased her street cred.

"I wanted to talk to you about your poem submissions from your last assignment," Miss Baker said.

"Hope I did OK," Jade said.

"They're a little dark, a little serious," Miss Baker said. "And given your experiences, there's probably a reason for that. But I found them to be extraordinary."

"Thanks, I think?" Jade said.

"It's a compliment," Miss Baker said. "Best submissions in the class. You've got a gift."

Jade smiled.

"I'm sure my mom will be glad to hear that," Jade said.

"I didn't entirely ask you here to discuss your grade," Miss Baker said. "I have to send nominations for Dickenson College's poetry contest. The nominees get to particpate in a poetry slam the weekend the awards ceremony is held. I nominate four girls each year. Amy McGruder, Tasha Voss and Raven Torre are three of my confirmed nominees. Raven's a friend of yours, correct?"

"Yes, and I think that sounds really cool," Jade said. "I think that's something Raven would really like to do."

"But is it something you would like to do, that's what I want to know," Miss Baker said.

"Me?" Jade asked.

"Yes, you," Miss Baker said. "It's a female-only competition. It's a women's college. They are very open minded. They accept Transgendered female students. And they accept entries from transgendered students. I want to send the four best girls from this school to the competition. Is there any reason I shouldn't submit your work for the contest?"

"What about the school board?" Jade asked.

"What about it?" Miss Baker said. "Dickenson College does not go by what the school board says. I talked to them this morning. Are you a girl or not?"

Suddenly, Jade broke into tears.

"Without a doubt," Jade answered.

"Well, Miss Hunter, you don't have to prove anything to me," Miss Baker said as she handed her a tissue.

"Have your mother sign this form, and we're all set," Miss Baker said. "You'd be rooming with Raven and Tasha. They've alread cleared it with their mothers," Miss Baker added.

"Guess I better go to class," Jade said as she picked up her books.

"Nice skirt, by the way," Miss Baker said. "That's a really good look for you."

*****

"So where is the ..." Katrina asked.

"Oh Kat, you're kidding me," Jade said as she pulled on her gym shorts.

"Well, you know it does appear to be missing," Shelly said.

"Ladies, we hit the gym in five minutes," Coach Louellen yelled.

Jade rolled her eyes.

"I keep the 'thing' tied down," Jade said. "You wouldn't believe how hard that is to do."

"It's amazing," Kat said. "You couldn't tell you have one."

"Katrina!" Shelly said.

"It's OK," Jade said. "I'll have to put up with it until the 'thing' gets cut off when I'm 18."

"Wow, that's blunt," Katrina said.

"But I have to say, there wasn't as much gawking as there was in the boy's lockerroom."

"What, you think we haven't seen a girl in bras and panties before?" said a girl in their class named Sara, who eavesdropped on the conversation.

"I believe that is the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," Jade said with a laugh to Katrina and Shelly as they entered the gym.

They found out it was self defense day. And it was the same cop from the Y.

And the same result. Jade flipped the cop much to the amusement of her fellow classmates.

The cop had some healthy tips. But Shelly and Jade had been through it before and were pros.

"Nice job out there, Miss Hunter," Coach Louellen said as she asked Jade into her office.

"I think I've been in everyone's office today," Jade said as she sat down.

"The school board almost wouldn't let you in this class," Coach Louellen said. "But I told them you wouldn't be a disruption."

"I appreciate it, coach," Jade said.

"You're not as rebellious as you put on," Coach Louellen said. "You want to know why I suggested you join my squad?"

Jade was curious. Not every faculty member was as welcoming as Coach Louellen or Miss Baker.

"I don't think it's a secret about my orientation," Coach Louellen said. "I know what it's like to be different."

She was right. Jade, well, pretty much the whole school knew Coach Louellen was a lesbian. She'd caught some flack for that, too.

"When I watched you, I didn't see a boy pretending to be a girl," she said. "I just saw a girl. Now if you ever turn back into that scrawny boy that started at this school a couple of years ago, then you're out."

"That's not happening," Jade said as she walked out the door.

"And Jade, I also know what was done to you," Coach Louellen said. "I know what you and Shelly and a few other girls went through. I went through the same when I was a kid. You're not alone. Remember that."

"I will," Jade said.

*****

"How was you're first day back?" Jade's mom asked when she got in the car.

"It really wasn't a bad day," Jade said. "Got some forms for you to sign. They put me in a girls' P.E. class, and Miss Baker's nominated me for an award. They need you to sign on for both."

"Girls P.E. class?" his mom asked.

"Yeah, and I get to use the girls bathroom," Jade said. "I know, real exciting stuff."

Her mom laughed, and then ran her fingers through her blossoming daughter's hair.

"Good to see you in a good mood," her mom said. "You've been a little moody since you started on the hormones."

"I'm sorry about that," Jade said. "Lincoln has noticed it, too. I don't mean to be so moody."

"That's OK," her mom said. "I scheduled us for a mani-pedi, if you don't think that's too girlie. I'm stressed out, I sure could use it. I'm sure they have black toe nail polish if you'd like."

"Never had that before, so I don't think it's too girlie," Jade said. "But I was thinking something more along the lines or purple or blue."

Her mother laughed.

"Somehow, I knew you wouldn't go for something 'normal'," her mom said. "Jade Naomi Hunter, you are one of a kind."
 

Jacob seemed like a normal boy growing up with a single mom. That all changed on one traumatic day. May 7, 2010. A day that changed everything for him. He began to evolve! Evolution Chapter 7 by Torey Copyright © 2013 Torey All Rights Reserved.

"I'll be honest Liz, I thought you were making a big mistake letting Jacob pretend to be Jade." said her co-worker and best friend, Meg. "But I do believe I can't be more wrong. Jade is not pretend."

"It wasn't easy for me to let Jade be Jade," Liz whispered back as they looked on Jade cradling Meg's 5-year-old in a chair, and reading her a book.

"I think our mothers are back, Emmie," Jade whispered. "Did you like the story>"

Emmie yawned and whispered "yes."

Jade picked up Emmie over her shoulder. She winked at their moms as she carted Emmie off to her bedroom.

Liz couldn't help but smile as she noticed Jade wearing a tiara, scarf and a matching pink tutu that Emmie wore.

Jade tucked Emmie in bed, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Jade, can you be my babysitter forever?" Emmie whispered.

"Oh, I think that's up to your mommy little one," Jade said, looking back at their moms and smiling.

"Think you for helping us out in a pinch, Jade," Meg said.

"It was nothing Mrs. Porter, Emmie was a doll," Jade replied.

"This is a new look for you," Jade's mother replied, pointing out the tiara and the tutu that Jade wore over her jeans.

"It was something we dug out of Emmie's closet," Jade said. "We played ballerinas and had a tea party."

"Yeah, she loves that," Meg said.

"Didn't figure you for the ballerina and tea party type, sweetie," Jade's mom said.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe ballet would suit me," Jade said with a laugh.

"Well, Emmie loves it, don't knock it," Meg said.

"I'm not," Jade said. "Emmie was really cute when she was showing me the steps. And I'm keeping the tutu and tiara, by the way. I've got an idea for an outfit."

"Oh, now that's the Jade I do know," her mom replied.

"Can't wait to see it," Meg laughed. "And I have to say that I'm impressed. It's not every babysitter who wins Emmie's heart on the first day.

"She won my heart, too," Jade said.

"Well, I do hope you'll babysit for us again," Meg said, handing Jade $40.

"Would love to," Jade said. "Thanks for asking me tonight."

*****

"That was a different side of you," Jade's mother said when they got into the car.

"Not really, kids are cool," Jade said. "I just regret ... "

"Regret what?" her mother asked.

"I saw a woman who was pregnant at the store," Jade said. "It made me sad that I won't be able to have a baby, to feel one growing inside of me."

"That's the price of being Jade," her mother replied. "You know you could ..."

"Oh, no, there's no going back," Jade said as they pulled up to the dress shop where her mother wanted to shop for dresses for a luncheon. "Jacob was who I was. It's not who I am."

"I just wanted to ..." her mother said.

"I know," Jade said. "You're just being Mom."

Her mother marveled at how comfortable Jade was being a girl, how the change in personality seemed really natural. In the past, Jacob rolled his eyes as his mom looked for clothes, but brought him because she couldn't find a sitter.

Jade seemed more like a fashion consultant. Even for an edgy, punk rock, tough teenager, she seemed to be catching up on the latest trends.

"That really is you, Mom," Jade told her mother when her mother came out of the dressing room with a dress that caught her eye. "I think you'll look really good at that luncheon.

"Thank you," her mother replied. "I am amazed by your sense of style. You really continue to surprise me."

Jade surprised her by asking if she could try on a few dresses. Even as Jade, she wasn't really known as the "frou frou" type.

And once again, she surprised her mom with a sensible sun dress.

"It's $35," she told her mom. "I can get it with my baby sitting money. Lincoln keeps begging me to go on a picnic with him."

"It's not quite the edgy style I'm beginning to warm up to," her mother said. "But you do look nice in it."

"Thanks, Mom!" Jade said.

The two stopped at the park. Jade's mom had a few things on her mind.

"I'm still processing this," she confessed. "The other day, I noticed your breast buds after you climbed out of the shower. Your butt, your hips are a little firmer. The hormones are kicking in, just like Joan said. But I'm still coming to grips with you dating a boy."

"I don't know if you could really call it a date, Mom," Jade said. "He's just a really good friend."

"But a friend you like, and he likes you," her mother said.

"Yes," Jade said, blushing.

Lincoln wasn't exactly like her "punk" friends. He was more of a normal kid. And Jade seemed more like a normal kid around him, less edgy, less tough, more sensitive.

*****

A trip to the police station wasn't exactly what they had in mind to complete the day.

As they were heading home, they received a text to come by the police station from Detective Lawrence.

"Please, not Detective Benson jokes," her mother told Jade on the way there.

Detective Lawrence asked to meet privately in her office.

"I don't really know how to tell you two this, but he's escaped," Detective Lawrence said.

"How?, how could this happen?" Jade's mom replied. "He's supposed to be at a maximum security prison."

"He had help Liz," the detective said. "He is on the run with two others. We'll catch him, I promise."

Jade sat quietly as her mother and the detective talked.

"We'll he try to get to us?" Jade's mother asked.

"It's possible," Detective Lawrence said. "Your testimony and Jacob's was what put him away. We're going to do everything we can to keep him away from you. We're going to have extra patrols in your neighborhood, around the school and at your work."

"If he comes around, I'll kill him," Jade said stoically.

"I think it's best you steer clear of him if you see him," Detective Lawrence said.

"It actually may help that Jade is no longer Jacob," Detective Lawrence told her mother. "He probably won't recognize her."

*****

"I'm sorry, Mr. Palmer, I'm not having a good day," Jade said with head bowed in the principal's office.

There was nothing like finding a note taped to her locker that read "Repent queer" that also contained a Bible verse.

Jade rushed outside to the small group of protesters who had been protesting since the school system allowed Jade to attend school as Jade.

She recognized the handwriting of the person responsible: Ruth Spencer, pastor's daughter. Her church was the group protesting. Ruth was there with her mother right before school.

"You fucking bitch!" Jade shouted as she shoved Ruth to the ground.

Ruth's mother, Holly Spencer, threatened to have Jade arrested for assault, but Jade's English teacher, Lori Baker, threatened to have Ruth arrested on hate crime charges.

"She's in my class along with Jade, I know the handwriting anywhere," Miss Baker said.

Mr. Palmer held off calling Jade's mother. And did his best to calm down the Spencers and other church members.

He explained to the group of protesters that a convicted rapist had escaped and any action by the school board might draw his attention.

"The last thing we need is unwanted attention," Mr. Palmer said. "We don't want to endanger our students."

He let the Spencers leave. He let Jade calm down.

"If I was in your place, I probably would have done the same thing," he said. "Especially with what you and your mother are going through," he said.

"Amy I free to go?" Jade asked.

"You are free to go," he said.

Waiting outside were Miss Baker and her friends. She hugged Raven and Kat.

She clung to Lincoln.

"Hold me, don't ever leave me," she whispered.

Jacob seemed like a normal boy growing up with a single mom. That all changed on one traumatic day. May 7, 2010. A day that changed everything for him. He began to evolve! Evolution Chapter 8 by Torey Copyright © 2013 Torey All Rights Reserved.

Oscar Rudolph Samuels was the name of the predator that shook Elizabeth and Jacob Hunter's world during those few days in May in 2010.

He struck before. Two women, two girls and a boy were his victims before that ended up sending him to prison for life once before. Somehow he managed to escape.

He attacked another woman before meeting the mother and son in need of help on the side of the road. All three had to relive their nightmares on the stand in a trial that once again piled another life sentence on to the previous one he received.

"We're putting him away for good, don't you worry," the prosecutor told Liz and her son.

Yet again, he was able to break out of prison.

"It's really not a shock to me," Liz told her friend Meg. "He was a charming, friendly man when you first meeting. You wouldn't know how much of a monster he is."

His face graced many of Liz's nightmares. It graced many of Jacob's and now Jade's, too.

"Feeling him inside of me, stretching me, I was in pain," Jade described part of the horror to Lincoln. "I thought he was going to rip me apart."

Both mother and now daughter thought they had moved on for the most part. But the latest escape brought everything back.

There were quite a few sleepless nights. They couldn't believe it when news came that he participated in a robbery with the two
other escapees. They were caught. He was not. He managed to elude police.

"It was almost as if he vanished in thin air," Detective Lawrence said.

Liz and Jade tried their best not to think about it. They tried to continue on with their lives.

"He held us hostage once," Liz Hunter told their therapist. "He will not again."

*****

The news did not stop the "evolution" of Jade.

Her mother and her mother's friend, Meg, began to see a softer side of Jade.

Meg's daughter Emmie seemed to have that effect on Jade.

"Don't you both look like fairy princesses," Meg said when she picked up Emmie and Jade from the ballet studio.

Jade wore a ballet bun, black leotard, pink tights and a wrap skirt. Emmie wore the same, except in her class' required pink.

Jade let Emmie talk her into taking the "big girls" class that was the same time as Emmie's.

"Seriously, Jade, you do look very beautiful," Meg said. "I think that's a good look for you. Hope you enjoyed it. And thank you
for appeasing Emmie."

"Thank you Mrs. Porter," Jade said. "You know, I think the grace and beauty stuff might rub off on me."

"She danced like a fairy princess, Mommy, you shoulda seen her!" Emmie said.

"I bet she did!" Emmie's mother said.

"Maybe a fairy princess who was a little tipsy," Jade said with a laugh. "I was a mess."

She explained Emmie's class ended 30 minutes before her class and the little girls came in to watch the "big girls."

"We got to watch them, too, since their class started before ours did," Jade said. "They were sooo cute!"

Meg took Jade and Emmie for yogurt after the class. Jade kept on the leotard, tights and skirt to match Emmie.

"Your mother and I are thinking about taking you girls to the beach after everything blows over," Meg said.

"Just us girls Mommy, no boys?" Emmie said.

"Just us girls," Jade said. "We can build sand castles in the sand."

Jade admired Emmie. She told Meg that she had an innocent, carefree spirit "I wished I still had."

"Oh you do, dear one, you just don't know it!"

*****

"Really Lincoln, she didn't bother me," Jade said to her kinda-sorta boyfriend during the picnic at Lincoln's grandparents' farm.

It was nice, and safe, and private.

"Well Raven told me she tried to 'witness' to you at school," Lincoln said. "Her mother tried to do it to my mom, too, once."

"In a weird way, I think maybe they mean well," Jade said to Lincoln, whom she found to be a kindred spirit.

He was as much as target as she was considering his mother was in a lesbian relationship ... they had recently gotten married

and Lincoln's stepmother was allowed to adopt him since, like Jade, his father was no longer around.

And it didn't help that Lincoln did not keep it a secret that he had feelings for Jade, which meant he also had to put up with
nicknames like "faggot."

Ruth Spencer tried to "witness" the gospel on Jade to keep "him" from going to hell. Same thing had happened to Lincoln's
mother when she ran into Ruth's mother.

"She told me she forgave me for shoving her," Jade laughed. "I told her I forgave her for leaving that nasty note on my locker."

"Now that's the fearless Jade I've come to love," Lincoln said.

Jade blushed.

"Well, she did say her church was praying for me and Mom that we'd be safe from that monster who is on the loose," Jade said.

"That, along with praying for our souls. So I guess they can't be all bad."

Lincoln laughed.

"There are times when you can be really funny, you know that, Jade?" Lincoln said.

He then scooped up some flowers and put them in Jade's hair.

"You know, I'm liking this side of you," Lincoln said. "You look beautiful in that dress. I like the more feminine said of you."

"Awe, that's so sweet," Jade said before giving Lincoln a kiss on the cheek.

*****

Liz and Jade ran into Holly and Ruth Spencer after leaving their self-defense class.

Holly Spencer started spitting out Bible verses at them, and told them to repent before "something bad happened to them."

"Can't you just leave us alone?" Liz Hunter told her. "We're not forcing our beliefs on you. You live the way you want to live, and
we'll worship God the way we want to."

Ruth handed Jade a gospel tract. It contained a note.

"I'm sorry about my mother. Praying for you."

Jade smiled, and winked in return before walking off.

"Don't let them bother you, Mom," Jade said.

"I know, but with that monster on the loose, they're getting on my worst nerve," Liz Hunter said.

"Sometimes, though, I think our problems with the Spencers are all because of me," Jade said.

"Don't ever think that way," Liz said. "I love you just the way you are. And people like the Spencers are just going to have to accept that.