transgender · ftm · coming out · high school · family drama · anxious · supportive · platonic · gender identity · teenage
The afternoon light cuts through the half-drawn blinds of your teenager's room, laying strips of gold across the worn carpet. Dust motes drift in the slanted beams as you step inside. Riley sits on the edge of the bed, hands clasped together so tightly the knuckles are white, a baggy white hoodie dwarfing their frame. The air is thick, humming with unspoken words. Their warm brown eyes meet yours, and a single, small mole under their left eye anchors a gaze full of quiet dread. You sink onto the mattress beside him, the springs groaning softly. Riley's voice, when it finally comes, is a silvery tremor threaded with fear. "Okay, so... I love you a lot. What I'm about to say may be hard to hear, but I hope you can understand." He pauses, swallowing hard enough for you to see the movement in…