I sat up in what I thought was my bed.  Nope, just my fuzzy, sky blue, sleeping bag.  My new bed was ordered yesterday, and I had no idea as to when it would come.  Today?  Tomorrow?  This weekend?  I argued with myself as I realized it was the first day of school.  Oh no!
Hi.  My name is Taylor Kennie.  I am 11 years old, and in 6th grade.  I have an older sister named Tessa, (I call her Tess), in 8th grade, and two working parents.  We are originally from the small town of Ketchum, Idaho, but just last weekend moved to Chicago, Illinois just in time for the new school year.  I know, I know, you are probably wondering, who moves from a small town to a big city right before the new school year?  Well, my dad got a promotion out here for his job, (I don’t even know what he does).  My mom, who is a nurse, let him decide if we were going to move or not.  She found a job at the University of Chicago Medical Center, and totally supported his decision of moving.  She called it, “their decision,” not “his decision.” 
We dropped everything to come here; all of our family and friends, and even the church we spent every Sunday at.
Before we go on, there is one tiny detail that will be very important in this story that I haven’t told you about yet.  I was born a boy.  When I was about 8 years old, I realized that it wasn’t meant to be that way.  After talking it over with my parents, they allowed me go through Transgender Hormone Treatment.  Ever since I started treatment, my friends, family, and even strangers were supportive of me.  But some of that was about to change on the first day of my new school, Rodger Middle School.
It was a mildly humid day on Thursday, September 6, 2001.  I was just your average shy and short girl with a black bob cut and chocolate brown eyes.  On the other hand, my sister Tessa, who had a long figure, was the outgoing one.  She was a beautiful, blonde hair, blue eyed girl, who was the type that didn’t need a guy to make her happy.
So anyways, after all the confusion about my bed in my thoughts, I had Tess rambling on and on about how excited but nervous she was for the first day of school.
“Guess what, Tay?  I think I heard they were holding volleyball tryouts today!  I am totally wearing my shoes to school and packing my gym bag just in case.  I am going to make so many new friends!” she sang, energetically brushing her time consuming locks of hair.
“Yeah, sure,” I said mumbling mostly to myself.
“Oh come on Tay, you are not the least bit excited?” she asked, kind of annoyed now.
“Nope,” I exclaimed as I packed my lunch money in the new galaxy themed Jansport backpack I had gotten earlier that week.
I was embarrassed the whole way to school.  Both my parents insisted on walking Tess and I on the way to their work.  They kept saying things like, “I hope there are some cute guys at your school!” or “Here is a tissue, you have something on your mouth,” the whole way there.  As we walked into the parking lot, I stopped to stare at a building that looked to be about three hundred years old.  When I got close enough to the bricks on the side that I could touch it, I gently ran my hand up and down.  I heard the brick I had just touched crumple to the ground as soon as I walked away.  Wow, this was an OLD school!  A few minutes before the teachers were going to let us in, mom and dad hugged and kissed Tess and me like we were some kind of teddy bear.  It didn’t seem to bother Tess though.  I noticed a boy looking at us, and my cheeks went red in major embarrassment.  He was kind of cute.  It only got worse when I realized we were in the same homeroom.  I would soon find out that he wasn’t the good, nice, and shy kid I’d expected him to be.
“Alright class, settle down, settle down,” said a short man with a long, black, nicely groomed beard that was tied off at the end.  “I am your homeroom and Science teacher, Mr. Verner.”  He looked stressed; it was probably just what the first day does to all teachers. 
After the class finally got quiet, he asked the question I hoped no one today would ask.  But I couldn’t lie.
“Do we have any students new to this district?” asked Mr. Verner.  I groaned inside my head as I silently raised my hand while 28 other kids turned their heads to look at me. 
“Awesome!” said Mr. Verner, enthusiastically.  “Why don’t you come up here, tell us your name, and a little bit about yourself.”
The kids stared at me as I got up from my chair and walked up to the front of the room.  “My name is Taylor Kennie.  I have one sister named Tessa in 8th grade here, and my family just moved here from Idaho.”  I watched the whispers pass between kids.  One of them raised their hand, and I soon recognized him as the boy from earlier this morning.
“Yes, Blake, what is your question?” asked Mr. Verner.  Just then, the telephone rang and Mr. Verner said for Blake to ask his question while he answered.
“It’s not a question.  I just wanted to say something to Taylor,” he said, with a smirk on his face.  “No offense or anything, but you kind of remind me of my cousin Aaron.  He lives in Georgia.”
Giggles spread through the room and I forced back my tears.  I realized he meant that I looked like his cousin, who was a boy.  I thought that when I came here, I could start fresh.  Everyone knew I was transgender back home and I wasn’t planning on telling anyone here.  But, I wasn’t the lying type as I said before so I murmured, “I was born a boy, but now I am living as a girl,” I smiled to hide back the tears.  I heard a few chuckles from Blake and four other boys, but most of my classmates seemed pretty polite about the situation.  I headed back to my seat.  I knew the tears would come at one point, so why not get them over with now?  As soon as Mr. Verner said goodbye to the caller, I raised my hand and asked for a bathroom pass. 
“Before you go Taylor, I would like the class to ask you at least one more question, so we can get to know you a little bit more,” said Mr. Verner, oblivious to the previous conversation.
And guess who raised his hand? That’s right, Blake.  “Yes, Blake? Wow, you’re full of questions today!”
“Yes Mr. Verner, I actually have a question this time.  Taylor, I was wondering when you use the bathroom, you use the girls’ one, right?” 
Here come the waterworks, I thought to myself.  It was like Mr. Verner could read my mind.  I got up, looking down all the way to Mr. Verner and the second I looked at him, he handed me the bathroom pass, and I ran all the way to the bathroom.  I could hear Mr. Verner yelling furiously at Blake all the way to the bathroom.  As I pushed the bathroom door open, I could see through my drenched eyes that someone was already in there.  Great.  I have someone to ask me what’s wrong.  Wasn’t this frustrating enough already?  I just wanted to be alone.  Actually, there was only one person in the world who I could stand to be around right now, and she was standing right in front of me.
“Tay!  What happened?” Tess exclaimed, hugging me.  We sat down against the wall in the bathroom and I told her all about Blake and what had happened.  She listened and spoke at exactly the right times.  She was great at things like this.  She told me not to let him get to my head, and use comebacks if he did something else to me again.  But, even if he did, I probably wouldn’t be able to talk back to him.  Tess was better than me at that, (no suprise there).  Luckily, no one came looking for us.  We had been in there for three hours laughing, crying, and bonding.  I knew that word had probably gotten around to the teachers, so they wouldn’t bug us. 
I dreaded going to lunch, for I knew I would probably see Blake again.  Tess and I said our goodbyes, and I headed to lunch.  On the way, the bustling noise of hungry children ready for lunch was so loud, I couldn’t block it out of my head.  I sat all by myself at a long, dark brown table with a wobbly bench.  I was used to sitting alone.  I took a bite of my disgusting school lunch pizza, making a face.  I kept my head down the whole entire lunch, not looking around at all.  The rest of the day went smoother than I had expected.  A few dirty looks or laughs, but I didn’t care.  I met my sister in the parking lot after school.
“Hey sis!  I made a new friend today.  Her name is Maddison.  How was the rest of your day?” asked Tess.
“Fine,” I sighed.  “Hey Tess!  I just remembered a sign I saw on the way to lunch that there ARE volleyball tryouts today.  Isn’t that great?”  Back in Ketchum, Tess loved volleyball.  She was on a competitive team and everything.
“Yeah, Maddison told me about that,” she said, sounding nervous. 
“What’s wrong?  Are you nervous?” I asked.
“Well, when she asked if I was going, I told her no because I wanted to hear more about your day, while walking home with you.”
“Tess, that’s very nice, but don’t worry about me.  We have all the time in the world to talk tonight.  Go! Go!” I said sincerely.
“Are you sure?” she asked, sounding hesitant. “I don’t want you walking home all by yourself, especially on a hard day like today,” she said.
“I will be fine,” I said.
“Alright.  Thanks, Tay! I owe you one,” said Tess, excited now.
“Have fun and good luck!” I exclaimed, with a warm smile.
I kept waving until she was back inside the school, then I started my long journey home.  We lived in an apartment far from school, so it was about a 20 minute walk.  I had a longer walk than the house people did.  I admired the beautiful houses and huge yards for the rich kids to run around in. 
All of a sudden, I stopped in my tracks when through one of the stained glass windows of a gorgeous tan bricked house, I saw five guys that looked about my age, pointing and laughing at me.  My mouth fell open as I put two and two together.  One of the boys was Blake, the mean kid from this morning.  This was probably his house.  Usually in fairy tales, the mean people have nice things, and the nice people had very little. 
Before I could snap back to reality, the five boys were out the front door.  I realized that I recognized all of them from homeroom.  One of them was leading, (Blake), one of them hesitated to come outside, (I think his name was Alex), and three were right in the middle, like a sandwich.
“Hey! It’s the weirdo from school!” shouted Blake.
“Taylor,” I corrected him, trying to remember all the things Tessa said to me about being brave and using comebacks.
“Shut up,” snorted Blake.  Three of his minions just laughed.  Alex was lingering around the house, not as close to me as the rest of them were.
“Um, guys, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Alex said, looking around for witnesses.
“You shut up too,” said Blake at him.
Unlike me, Alexander was okay to speak his thoughts.
“I don’t like this at all.  I’m going home,” he said, turning toward me.  “I am so sorry Taylor.”  He turned his back to me and left without looking back.
“Okay guys,” Blake said to his three sidekicks.  “Here’s the plan.  We tell this worthless boy how there’s no place for her in this world, and then go finish playing Call of Duty. I don’t have all afternoon to beat level seven.”  He took a step toward me and pushed me to the ground with all his might.  I fell to the ground with a large thud as the tears started streaming down my cheeks.  How many times have I cried today now?  I realized that my new backpack had flown off my back into a pile of mud.  Could this day get any worse?
“Awww! Go home and cry to your mommy,” teased Blake.  “She probably won’t even care considering she gave birth to a worthless rat.”
I felt a stinging, and looked at my hands.  They were all bloody.  The smell of blood made me gag.  All of the boys were laughing.  Just then, I felt yet another pain.  This time from my back.  I looked up from the ground and turned, only to realize (shocker) that Blake had kicked my back.  That would surely leave a bruise, I thought to myself.
“Stop guys.  This isn’t funny,” I managed to get out between sobs.  I was proud of myself, later on, for speaking up.
“For the last time,” said Blake, “Shut up!”
Just then, I heard a familiar calling.
“Taylor?  Taylor! Oh my gosh!”
I felt well enough only to see the faint shadow of my sister running toward me.  I could also make out the boys, staring in amazement.  Afterall, my sister was pretty.  I heard an “oof!” and looked up to see Blake holding his nose.  Tessa had punched him, and now he had a bloody nose.
“Who’s next?” asked Tessa, pulling me up from the ground.
The boys looked around and ran inside, scared.  Once they were inside, Tessa scooped up my weak body.  “I’m going to get you home now.  Everything is going to be okay.”  She wiped a tear off my face.  “Hang on.  I’m going to call Mom,” she said, placing me with careful fingers back down on the soft grass this time.  Went to the payphone at the nearest intersection, (two houses away), as I asked her a question.
“I thought you were at volleyball tryouts,” I managed to get out of my speechless mouth.
“The coaches couldn’t be there today, so it was rescheduled.  I tried catching up with you, but I was apparently not fast enough.”  She glanced at the house.  “When I heard your voice mixed with the boys’ I knew there was trouble, so I ran,” she said, dialing our mom’s number.  While it was ringing, she told me how proud she was of me for speaking up for myself.  “Hey Mom, Taylor’s hurt.  Will you please call a cab to come pick us up?  We could catch one ourselves, but you probably want to treat her, since you’re a nurse.”  I heard some worried voices, probably my parents’, and then heard Tessa thank our mom, and hang up the phone.
Once my mom and dad got there, (they had just barely gotten home from work and were both worried about us), mom picked me up from the grass and got in the cab to go home.  Tessa had thankfully picked up the muddy backpack that had been flown off my back after Blake first pushed me to the ground.  As soon as we got back to the apartment, mom cleaned up my hands.
“So, I still have no idea how this happened,” exclaimed my mom, confused.
I realized I had a choice to make.  Do I risk getting bullied again and just tell her I tripped?  Or do I tell on Blake and his gang and make a big, unnecessary scene.  To my relief, the best sister in the world answered for me after seeing the hesitation in my eyes. 
“Mom, Taylor had a rough day.  After walking home from what I thought were volleyball tryouts, I saw four guys bullying her.”
“Oh, honey, I am so sorry,” said my mom, coming over to hug me.  She handed me a tissue as I realized I was crying, once again.
The rest of the night was busy, my mom insisted on reporting the incident and made calls to Blake’s mom, the principal and Mr. Verner to inform them on what was happening.
Mom put the phone book away, and my family all got ready for bed.  As mom tucked me in, she said for about the thousandth time how sorry she was and I replied for about the thousandth time today, “It’s not your fault, mom.”
At school the next day, the four boys weren’t there.  But Alexander was.
“Taylor, I just wanted to say again how sorry I am for even getting involved in this.  I have decided when the three boys get back from their quarter suspension, I will not hang out or be friends with them.  Would it be okay if we were friends?” asked Alex.  “Oh, and Blake got expelled!  I got a month’s worth of detention, but I deserve it after being so mean.”
“Of course we can be friends,” I said, giving him a high five and a warm smile.  To this day, Alex is my best friend.
As I was thinking about how good of friends we would be, Mr. Verner walked into the classroom to start class.  I thought to myself, everything is going to be normal.  Just forget the first day ever happened.  But how could anyone forget that?