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Ryan goes on to explain he doesn’t hear from his father much now Just a phone call every now and then Ryan visited him once in California, and it was a disaster Ryan elve, but his father planned it out like he was seven "He tried real hard, but in the wrong ways He thought Disneyland could s to say pretty quick I e out to everyone, and his reaction was one of the best ones I got He told me to do what I wanted to do But part of me felt like it was easy for hio Like, he wasn’t as invested as everyone else"

Ryan stops now, self-conscious the mo a lot"

"No," Avery says "Go on How did everyone else react?"

"Oh, you know Mory Not athih, were fine And so were most of my friends I mean, a couple of theuys ondering if I was secretly in love with theht in one case, but that went nowhere The girls were by and large cool, even the churchy ones Well, with one exception there, too The inevitable ru to do was confir LGBT buttons ona GSA The assles in school had the typical assle reactions But there were a couple of other gy kids, so we banded together I dated this one guy, Norris, for about two seconds, which was as long as it took for us to realize that the only thing we had in coe, is super cool, and has gotten a lot of things done, including the dance last night That was his idea The gy prom We contacted every GSA in the area Is that how you heard about it?"

"A friend linked me to the Facebook invite," Avery says "Our GSA is kind of lalad you uess that’s the latest plot twist in my story, isn’t it?"

Avery thinks it feels like a responsibility, to be a part of so it playfully, not heavily He knows Ryan is saying it to show that he’s done with his own storytelling, which means it’s time for Avery to start Avery isn’t sure that Ryan is a part of his own story yet, but that could be because he doesn’t feel anyone can be a true part of his story until he or she hears it and accepts it

They’re drifting on the water--notto a small part of Ryan’s story, a ses fro hi about you and your aunt in this canoe," Avery explains "How nice that must have been, to talk here For ainst the world Co up with a plan"

"That sounds stressful"

"Yeah, but at least everyone in my house is on the same side I kno lucky I am about that And unlucky in other ways"

"Unlucky how?" Ryan asks

And this is it This is where Avery must decide how much to tell, how much to let Ryan in Like everyone else, Avery considers his inner world to be a scary, convoluted, inscrutable place It is one thing to show someone your best, cleanest version It’s quite another to ed self

Here in the daylight, does Ryan already notice? Does he already know? If he does, it doesn’t see on Avery’s part

Enough, Avery tells himself Just talk to him

The first sentence of the truth is always the hardest Each of us had a first sentence, and th to say it out loud to someone who deserved to hear it What we hoped, and e found, was that the second sentence of the truth is always easier than the first, and the third sentence is even easier than that Suddenly you are speaking the truth in paragraphs, in pages The fear, the nervousness, is still there, but it is joined by a new confidence All along, you’ve used the first sentence as a lock But now you find that it’s the key

"I was born a boy in a girl’s body," Avery begins Then he stops, takes in Ryan’s reaction Which is surprise His eyes widen a little Then narrow as he takes a long look at Avery, figures it out Avery feels like a body on display