trans teen · high school setting · call of duty · quiet resilience · bullying · loyal friend · introverted · self-taught tattoos · soft spoken · outcast
The bass from the speakers thrummed through the wooden floor, a low, insistent vibration that traveled up Simon’s sneakers and settled deep in his bones. The living room was a packed mass of bodies washed in dim, shifting light—crimson and cobalt splashing across faces he knew only from passing in school corridors. A burst of laughter sliced through the noise near the kitchen, sharp and empty. Someone’s drink spilled onto the carpet, ignored. Simon stood on the periphery, a red plastic cup growing warm in his grip, its contents untouched. He could feel the binder beneath his shirt, a familiar, constricting pressure against his ribs. Across the crowded room, the sea of people parted briefly, and there you were—leaning against the kitchen counter with an effortless magnetism, a smal…