Fic: Of Wishes and Dresses (17/?)
Title: Of Wishes and Dresses - Chapter Seventeen
Genre: Angst / Drama
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mike/Tina friendship, Mika/Sam
Summary: Mike Mika Chang was a girl; her body just didn't agree with that assessment.
“Mike.”
Mika had been going by her chosen name for so long, that hearing her birth name seemed out of place and uncomfortable. She swallowed and shut her eyes, shaking her head, when she realized that it was her biological mother who was saying her name. She walked across the center of McKinley’s campus and approached the woman, giving her a cold stare. Her father was there too. He joined her mother and looked over Mika with disapproving appraisal. Mika practically felt like she had to shiver underneath the gaze it was so icy.
“Hi,” Mika said softly.
“We wanted to talk to you,” her father said softly.
Mika nodded slowly. “Alright then,” she said.
“I see that you’re still subscribing to this madness,” he said, looking her over. She flinched under the gaze. She had hoped that seeing her mother and father at school again meant that things were ready to be repaired, but evidently that was not going to be happening. “Mike, we’re very worried about you and the way that the American system of values has begun to fail you.”
Mika had heard her father speak many times of the American value system, because he was born in China, but this was ridiculous. “I was born American,” she said, softly. “America didn’t do it, Tina didn’t do it, her parents didn’t do it. I was born in the wrong body. I was born transgendered. Deal with it.”
It was over the top and harsh but she had not seen her parents since they kicked her out of the house. She was dealing with their betrayal. She softened, feeling the beginnings of tears in her eyes. She was not going to cry in front of them. “Did you guys read the stuff that M-Mari gave you?” she asked, nearly calling Mari her mother in that moment.
“I read it,” Mika’s mother said quietly. “I do not understand it at all Mike.”
“Mika!” she practically screamed, but then silenced herself, biting the inside of her cheek. “You don’t have to understand it; you just have to accept it.”
Neither of them said anything, but by the looks on their faces, she knew they had just come to persuade her to come home and be their son again. “You guys…you guys…when Mari comes to you with adoption stuff, just go along with it okay? She’s more my parent than either of you will ever be.”
It hurt but she turned around and stormed off, stepping away from the pain and pollution, the negativity.
She heard small footsteps behind her, but they were too bouncy to be her mother’s steps. It was Brittany. “Were those your parents talking to you?” she asked, with big, childlike eyes.
“Sort of,” Mika mumbled, leaning against the side of her locker. “Those were my biological parents.”
“You’re crying,” Brittany pointed out and Mika sniffed, because she had not even realized that she was.
“It’s okay…they just hurt me…they don’t like me, I mean girl me.”
Brittany shook her head and touched Mika’s shoulder. “I don’t get it,” she said, mumbling slowly. “I mean, why would anyone be mean to their kid?”
Mika shrugged. “I guess they just don’t want me to be their daughter,” she said. Even though she knew that was the case, she tried to ease it down a little bit for Brittany’s sake, because, well, the girl was Brittany. “It’s not that sad though, because Tina’s mom and dad have taken me in as their own and are going to try to adopt me and everything. They’re the best parents ever.”
Brittany threw her arms around Mika and hugged her. She took it back, hugging the girl close. Mika clung to her for a moment, but then let go. “Did I tell you about my date?” she asked, eager to think of anything else.
Brittany shook her head. “Oh my god, no you didn’t Mika.”
She took Brittany over to the lunch tables and sat down on one of the benches. Brittany sat on top of the table. “It was fantastic,” she said, with big eyes. “It almost was a disaster but Sam saved it. We went to Breadstix, just…you know, trying to be normal, but some of the football dudes came and started saying stuff about me.”
Brittany’s eyes got big.
“Yeah, Sam got into a fight with them,” Mika said, shaking her head. It was still amazing to her though. “We got kicked out.”
“Why would they kick you out?” Brittany asked. “Sam was just defending you right?”
“I think there was definitely some…looks, cast my way by the manager,” she mumbled. “It wasn’t Sam’s fault even if he did fight with them.” Mika waved her hand a little bit and looked at Brittany, continuing. “I was kind of ready to cry you know, but Sam, Sam took us over to that little Burger King nearby and we spent the rest of the evening in their playplace, just talking. It was so romantic, especially when he kissed me.”
Brittany squealed. “Did you have sex? Some guy tried to make me have sex with him in a playplace before. It was too squishy.”
Mika shook her head, trying to hide her weirded out, confused look. “No, of course not,” she said. “It was just…really sweet.”
“That’s so good,” Brittany said with a huge smile. “You and Sam are my favorite couple ever. Except for me and Artie, because we’re awesome like that.”
“I’ll give you that,” she said, smiling again despite the talk with her parents.
-
Tina was a little surprised when Rachel approached her after school. She had been going to find Mika when she was stopped by Rachel, who usually barely spoke two words to her. “Hi Tina,” she said brightly, smiling.
“Uh, hi Rachel,” she said, glancing over the tiny girl’s shoulder to make sure she wasn’t missing her sister.
Rachel looked awkward. “Um, how are you?” she asked softly. “And how is um, uh Mika doing?”
Tina was a little surprised by Rachel’s supportiveness, considering she had not been exactly supportive when Mika came out. She had mentioned something about it messing with their chances at Regionals to have Mika around and then went into a stunned silence. What had changed?
“I’m okay and she’s okay,” Tina had said quickly. “She had a rough date with Sam the other night but other than that…all is well for now.”
“I’ve heard some pretty nasty things being said about her around school,” Rachel admitted, shifting somewhat uncomfortably. “Some of those things, mind you, being said by my ex-boyfriend.”
Tina shrugged, rolling her eyes at Rachel's mention of Finn. "She's tough," Tina said seriously. "Coach Beiste has really assured that she's not being physically abused, but the emotional abuse is just as damaging, plus off-campus, the protection has less pull..."
Rachel nodded. "I heard Sam got into a fight defending him - her, sorry this is hard..."
"It is," Tina said, unable to express how hard it was to transition from loving Mike, her ex-boyfriend, to loving Mika, her sister. "Yes, some jackass started hassling them on their date, Valentine's Day. Sam hit him and they got thrown out. Day wasn't a loss for them though."
“I, um, I’m sorry if I offended you or...or her, before. I didn’t really know anything about transgender issues and stuff, so I went and asked my dads, the night Mika came out. Before I was born, when they lived in New York, they both did a lot of activism for the entire GLBT community and they gave me some good information.”
“It’s okay,” Tina said, glad to see a genuine apology coming out of Rachel. She knew that finding out someone close to you was transgendered could be hard and create some knee-jerk reactions and she was definitely forgiving of anyone who thought out their actions and apologized for them. “I’m sure Mika would love it if you talked to her too. She’s…she really needs a lot of support. I mean she has me and Brittany and Sam who really seems to be falling for her…”
“You still love her, don't you?"
Damn it, was she that transparent? Everyone knew.
She nodded, saying simply,”a little, but getting over it. Sam is great for her."
Rachel smiled sympathetically. "I can see a girl hung up on an ex pretty easily these days," she admitted, shaking her head. "I mean, I'm a lot more over Finn now that I've decided to focus on myself and my needs - plus his being a..."
"Transphobic jackass?"
Rachel nodded. "Finn being a transphobic jackass and lip locking with the queen of horrible remarks, well it eases the sting."
Tina smiled and did something unlike herself. She hugged Rachel. "Us single chicks will make it out better than ever."
“Definitely,” Rachel said. “Oh and speaking of which Tina, I wanted to give you and Mika some information that my daddy shared with me.” She reached into her purse and pulled out some pamphlets. “If you guys can make it up to Columbus, there’s a GLBT convention this weekend. Only one of my dads can come, but I’m going to go. There is a panel on transgendered teens and a lot of booths and stuff. I’m sure that Mika could learn a lot there and feel really comfortable.”
Tina smiled at Rachel’s suggestion. “She has been feeling really isolated, like she can’t get to know any other teenagers going through what she is. That’d be really great.”
“Call me if you’re going?” Rachel asked. “Then we can hang together?”
“That’d be great,” Tina said, glancing over her shoulder to see Mika and Brittany wandering towards the lunch area. She would catch Mika after. “I think this would be a really great opportunity for all of us.”
Genre: Angst / Drama
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mike/Tina friendship, Mika/Sam
Summary: Mike Mika Chang was a girl; her body just didn't agree with that assessment.
“Mike.”
Mika had been going by her chosen name for so long, that hearing her birth name seemed out of place and uncomfortable. She swallowed and shut her eyes, shaking her head, when she realized that it was her biological mother who was saying her name. She walked across the center of McKinley’s campus and approached the woman, giving her a cold stare. Her father was there too. He joined her mother and looked over Mika with disapproving appraisal. Mika practically felt like she had to shiver underneath the gaze it was so icy.
“Hi,” Mika said softly.
“We wanted to talk to you,” her father said softly.
Mika nodded slowly. “Alright then,” she said.
“I see that you’re still subscribing to this madness,” he said, looking her over. She flinched under the gaze. She had hoped that seeing her mother and father at school again meant that things were ready to be repaired, but evidently that was not going to be happening. “Mike, we’re very worried about you and the way that the American system of values has begun to fail you.”
Mika had heard her father speak many times of the American value system, because he was born in China, but this was ridiculous. “I was born American,” she said, softly. “America didn’t do it, Tina didn’t do it, her parents didn’t do it. I was born in the wrong body. I was born transgendered. Deal with it.”
It was over the top and harsh but she had not seen her parents since they kicked her out of the house. She was dealing with their betrayal. She softened, feeling the beginnings of tears in her eyes. She was not going to cry in front of them. “Did you guys read the stuff that M-Mari gave you?” she asked, nearly calling Mari her mother in that moment.
“I read it,” Mika’s mother said quietly. “I do not understand it at all Mike.”
“Mika!” she practically screamed, but then silenced herself, biting the inside of her cheek. “You don’t have to understand it; you just have to accept it.”
Neither of them said anything, but by the looks on their faces, she knew they had just come to persuade her to come home and be their son again. “You guys…you guys…when Mari comes to you with adoption stuff, just go along with it okay? She’s more my parent than either of you will ever be.”
It hurt but she turned around and stormed off, stepping away from the pain and pollution, the negativity.
She heard small footsteps behind her, but they were too bouncy to be her mother’s steps. It was Brittany. “Were those your parents talking to you?” she asked, with big, childlike eyes.
“Sort of,” Mika mumbled, leaning against the side of her locker. “Those were my biological parents.”
“You’re crying,” Brittany pointed out and Mika sniffed, because she had not even realized that she was.
“It’s okay…they just hurt me…they don’t like me, I mean girl me.”
Brittany shook her head and touched Mika’s shoulder. “I don’t get it,” she said, mumbling slowly. “I mean, why would anyone be mean to their kid?”
Mika shrugged. “I guess they just don’t want me to be their daughter,” she said. Even though she knew that was the case, she tried to ease it down a little bit for Brittany’s sake, because, well, the girl was Brittany. “It’s not that sad though, because Tina’s mom and dad have taken me in as their own and are going to try to adopt me and everything. They’re the best parents ever.”
Brittany threw her arms around Mika and hugged her. She took it back, hugging the girl close. Mika clung to her for a moment, but then let go. “Did I tell you about my date?” she asked, eager to think of anything else.
Brittany shook her head. “Oh my god, no you didn’t Mika.”
She took Brittany over to the lunch tables and sat down on one of the benches. Brittany sat on top of the table. “It was fantastic,” she said, with big eyes. “It almost was a disaster but Sam saved it. We went to Breadstix, just…you know, trying to be normal, but some of the football dudes came and started saying stuff about me.”
Brittany’s eyes got big.
“Yeah, Sam got into a fight with them,” Mika said, shaking her head. It was still amazing to her though. “We got kicked out.”
“Why would they kick you out?” Brittany asked. “Sam was just defending you right?”
“I think there was definitely some…looks, cast my way by the manager,” she mumbled. “It wasn’t Sam’s fault even if he did fight with them.” Mika waved her hand a little bit and looked at Brittany, continuing. “I was kind of ready to cry you know, but Sam, Sam took us over to that little Burger King nearby and we spent the rest of the evening in their playplace, just talking. It was so romantic, especially when he kissed me.”
Brittany squealed. “Did you have sex? Some guy tried to make me have sex with him in a playplace before. It was too squishy.”
Mika shook her head, trying to hide her weirded out, confused look. “No, of course not,” she said. “It was just…really sweet.”
“That’s so good,” Brittany said with a huge smile. “You and Sam are my favorite couple ever. Except for me and Artie, because we’re awesome like that.”
“I’ll give you that,” she said, smiling again despite the talk with her parents.
-
Tina was a little surprised when Rachel approached her after school. She had been going to find Mika when she was stopped by Rachel, who usually barely spoke two words to her. “Hi Tina,” she said brightly, smiling.
“Uh, hi Rachel,” she said, glancing over the tiny girl’s shoulder to make sure she wasn’t missing her sister.
Rachel looked awkward. “Um, how are you?” she asked softly. “And how is um, uh Mika doing?”
Tina was a little surprised by Rachel’s supportiveness, considering she had not been exactly supportive when Mika came out. She had mentioned something about it messing with their chances at Regionals to have Mika around and then went into a stunned silence. What had changed?
“I’m okay and she’s okay,” Tina had said quickly. “She had a rough date with Sam the other night but other than that…all is well for now.”
“I’ve heard some pretty nasty things being said about her around school,” Rachel admitted, shifting somewhat uncomfortably. “Some of those things, mind you, being said by my ex-boyfriend.”
Tina shrugged, rolling her eyes at Rachel's mention of Finn. "She's tough," Tina said seriously. "Coach Beiste has really assured that she's not being physically abused, but the emotional abuse is just as damaging, plus off-campus, the protection has less pull..."
Rachel nodded. "I heard Sam got into a fight defending him - her, sorry this is hard..."
"It is," Tina said, unable to express how hard it was to transition from loving Mike, her ex-boyfriend, to loving Mika, her sister. "Yes, some jackass started hassling them on their date, Valentine's Day. Sam hit him and they got thrown out. Day wasn't a loss for them though."
“I, um, I’m sorry if I offended you or...or her, before. I didn’t really know anything about transgender issues and stuff, so I went and asked my dads, the night Mika came out. Before I was born, when they lived in New York, they both did a lot of activism for the entire GLBT community and they gave me some good information.”
“It’s okay,” Tina said, glad to see a genuine apology coming out of Rachel. She knew that finding out someone close to you was transgendered could be hard and create some knee-jerk reactions and she was definitely forgiving of anyone who thought out their actions and apologized for them. “I’m sure Mika would love it if you talked to her too. She’s…she really needs a lot of support. I mean she has me and Brittany and Sam who really seems to be falling for her…”
“You still love her, don't you?"
Damn it, was she that transparent? Everyone knew.
She nodded, saying simply,”a little, but getting over it. Sam is great for her."
Rachel smiled sympathetically. "I can see a girl hung up on an ex pretty easily these days," she admitted, shaking her head. "I mean, I'm a lot more over Finn now that I've decided to focus on myself and my needs - plus his being a..."
"Transphobic jackass?"
Rachel nodded. "Finn being a transphobic jackass and lip locking with the queen of horrible remarks, well it eases the sting."
Tina smiled and did something unlike herself. She hugged Rachel. "Us single chicks will make it out better than ever."
“Definitely,” Rachel said. “Oh and speaking of which Tina, I wanted to give you and Mika some information that my daddy shared with me.” She reached into her purse and pulled out some pamphlets. “If you guys can make it up to Columbus, there’s a GLBT convention this weekend. Only one of my dads can come, but I’m going to go. There is a panel on transgendered teens and a lot of booths and stuff. I’m sure that Mika could learn a lot there and feel really comfortable.”
Tina smiled at Rachel’s suggestion. “She has been feeling really isolated, like she can’t get to know any other teenagers going through what she is. That’d be really great.”
“Call me if you’re going?” Rachel asked. “Then we can hang together?”
“That’d be great,” Tina said, glancing over her shoulder to see Mika and Brittany wandering towards the lunch area. She would catch Mika after. “I think this would be a really great opportunity for all of us.”