Chapter 1
Maple Valley, Washington.
John’s POV:
“Rose, what is this?”
You point at the strange mix of chicken with chocolate and spices.
“That is mole, a Mexican dish.”
“It looks weird. Why would someone mix chocolate with chicken?”
Kanaya glares at you for some reason you don’t know.
“I am sorry that my culinary skills aren’t of your liking, Mr. Egbert, but maybe if you tried your could find it appealing.”
She lets a bowl of “mole” splash on your plate, and she leaves to continue with the activities of the party.
“What did I do?”
“John, Kanaya is half Mexican by her mother’s side,” Vriska says. “And she is very sensitive when it comes to her cultural heritage. Also, she is taking a higher dose of hormones lately and is as emotional as Lalonde here. No offense.”
“Non taken.”
Later that week.
“I don’t udnertand why this guy is such an asshole towards his wife? I mean, does changing sex requires you to abandon your previous marriage and career?”
Kanaya throws a bucket of popcorn at you.
“Really, John? Are you going to play that card this time? Did you even bothered to thought that maybe SHE was suffering because she was living as society thought SHE should live HER life?”
Kanaya goes to the kitchen and makes more popcorn. Both Vriska and Rose give you a stern girfriendly and ex girfriendly disapproval.
“This is why we shouldn’t have watched the Danish Girl’s Blu Ray.” Rose says.
The next week.
“John, what did you do this time?” Vriska asks.
“I kind of said a critical commentary about her fashion parade?”
Kanaya is trashing the backstage down like a maniac, and some of the models look concerned.
“Excuse me, ma’am.” Says one of the girls. “Your boyfriend pissed her off by saying quote ‘I am surprised there are transgender fashion shows’ end quote, and she threatened to kill him with a chair. As a trans woman I understand her concerns, but she is over the top right now.”
That night.
“Vriska, I don’t get it. Why does Kanaya hates me so much?”
“She doesn’t hate you, she is just having to much pressure with Rose and her career, and you being your usual self makes you a target for her rage venting.”
“But I don’t know why he is focusing on me like a misile! I understand she identifies as a woman, and respect her as a person.”
Vriska covers her face with a pillow and muffles her scream. “John, aren’t you aware that you can be insensitive without noticing? You have been misgendering Kanaya since high school.”
“But I have used the right pronouns as Jade told me.”
“John, let me quote you: ‘why does a person want to be a woman if they are still going to date women?”.
“Oh…”
“You aren’t the only one, I have also misgendered her in the past. I thought that because she was trans she was also interested in men, and I broke her heart.”
“Wait, you and her?!”
“Not like that! We were in middle school, and I did the mistake of treating her as ‘my gay best friend’. The point is that apologizing wouldn’t matter if you don’t change the negative aspects of yourself.”
You rest next to Vriska and thing about what she said. Of course, her being Vriska means that she will continue being an ableist without noticing it, so you aren’t that bad of a person.
Years ago, but not so many.
Alexander Hamilton High School.
Wait, this isn’t the boys’s lockers. You should probably get out of here before any of the girls sees you here. Just as you walk slowly away from the place, you see someone walking out of the showers. It is a girl wearing a towel and some sandals.
“Lara lala…”
She stops her singing once she sees you, and both of you are in shock.
“Uh…”
“Get out of here, you creep!” She runs to you and pushes you in the direction of the exit. “This isn’t the behavior of a proper gentleman towards a lady!”
Suddenly, her towel gets trapped in a locker door and she ends up naked in front of you. However, that isn’t the most surprising part. Aside from watching her bare chest and butt, you see what is in between her legs!”
“You are a guy?!”
The girl you thought to be a girl punches you in the face and runs away crying.
At the Egbert residence.
“That you did what?!” Jade screams.
“It was an accident! I didn’t knew he was a gay kid that showered at that hour.”
“John, that is not a gay kid, that is a transgender girl, you sack if shit!”
That night Jade gave you a long rant about respecting women privacy, even if it wasn’t your fault, and even if you insisted that you weren’t looking at that boy’s naked body with evil intent. She slapped you anyway for that comment. That night you also slept having strange dreams about that naked “trans” girl. It was the first time you have seen someone naked so close. The mental images will haunt you forever.
Today.
Okay, you feel like shit now.