To young Damien Monroe, fitting in with the cool kids was the least of his worries.

Seventeen and finishing his third year of high school, Damien had everything going for him. Damien was also—to put it frankly—a huge nerd.

He was a straight A student, captain of the robotics team, an avid member of his school's theatre program (only the technical aspects, mind you), and had a deep love for everything and anything to do with the Victorian-era.

He also just so happened to be transgender.

A huge, honor student, techie, goth, transgender nerd, with impeccable eyeliner.

Only his loving sister, Mary, knew that Damien was trans, as he never was comfortable enough to come out to anyone at their quaint little high school—not that either of them really had any close friends, anyways—but, as they say, word spreads like wildfire, especially in a place such as high school, and their peers took notice to Damien's sudden changes in appearance and behavior.

On top of, you know, the fact that Mary called her supposed sister "Damien," referred to him as a man rather than a woman, and started saying she had a brother and not a sister ("wait, I thought you had a twin sister?")

And, of course, the sudden lack of boobs encompassing Damien's chest.

Mary had gifted Damien a Victorian-style binder for their seventeenth birthday that he's worn every single day ever since; enjoying the freedom to finally wear more form-fitting outfits without feeling like his own breasts have betrayed him. None of their peers really questioned the sudden change, but he did garner the occasional odd stare.

One of those odd stares, however, came from stupid Chad fucking Tyler—the biggest jerk on the football team, considered dunking freshmen in toilets a sport, a total airhead who had ninety percent of his dick size go into his ego.

When stupid Chad fucking Tyler realized that the hot goth bitch with the huge rack suddenly had a not so huge rack, stupid Chad fucking Tyler most definitely had something to say about it.

"What the fuck happened to your tits?" He blurted out in a mixture of confusion and utter dumbfoundedness. As in, I don't care if you have like cancer or something I just wanna know where your fucking tits are because I liked staring at them.

Damien looked more so embarrassed rather than offended, but you could already see Mary's blood pressure rising.

"I . . . I, um . . . ah . . ." He stammered, brown eyes dropping to the floor. Mary threw an arm around her brother, pulling him in for a protective one-armed hug.

"It's none of ya fuckin' business, you sleazy asswipe." She piped up.

"I wasn't talking to you, bloody Mary, I was talking to your hot bitch of a sister." Stupid Chad fucking Tyler waved his hand nonchalantly.

"So what the fuck happened to your gigantic tits, Victoria? Why you lookin' like a wannabe twink?"

Damien looked even more uncomfortable than he normally does, twiddling his thumbs as he stared at the linoleum floors. He knew he shouldn't let Mary do all the talking, since this whole confrontation was about him, but he wasn't quite as . . . frank, as her.

"Fuck off, dick-for-brains." Mary popped the gum in her mouth before chewing it rather vigorously, as if she were chewing on stupid Chad fucking Tyler's bones.

Stupid Chad fucking Tyler narrowed his eyes, a football-sized hand rubbing his chin as he tried to put two and two together, as difficult as that is for a brainless jock.

A stark lack of boobs, masculine clothing . . .

. . . a lack of boobs . . .

In one moment of brilliant, transphobic jock enlightenment, you could almost see the lightbulb go off in whatever tiny brain he had in his head.

"Oh, you're one of those bitches who pretend they have a dick now, aren't you? A tranny?"

Damien began huddling behind his now-fuming sister.

"Why're you tryin' to be somethin' you're not, huh? Why don't you whip those titties back out and stop playin' tranny?"

Mary spat her gum out of her mouth and into her hand, sticking it to the wall of lockers behind them.

"Don't you have some bimbo blonde cheerleader to give your newest case of gonorrhea to?" Mary hissed, beginning to roll up the sleeves of her tan sweater.

Stupid Chad fucking Tyler shifted uncomfortably, a stray hand gripping at the fabric surrounding his crotch as he mumbled a how did you know that under his breath.

He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth before returning his gaze to Damien.

"I'm just sayin', if it walks like a bitch and talks like a bitch, then it's a bitch."

Damien didn't know when or how it happened, since it all went by in a blur, but what he did know was that stupid Chad fucking Tyler was now lying on the floor, unconscious, with a bloody nose and a couple of stray teeth strewn around him.

Mary, on the other hand, was hunched over him, her hand clenched into a fist, with some nose blood on her knuckles. Gross.

Stupid Chad fucking Tyler was out like a light, and at this point their little squabble had attracted a sizable crowd of teenagers. Damien was almost one hundred percent positive someone had caught the punch on camera.

Mary horked up a loogie and spat on the unconscious waste of space in her unbridled rage.

"You stupid fuckin' fuck, I told you to mind your fuckin' business, I swear to God I'll shove your tiny STD-infected dick up ya assho—"

Damien fumbled and grappled onto Mary's arm, tugging her away before she could do any further damage.

"M—Mary, Mary, Mary, please calm down—" he stuttered, patting her back in an attempt to try and calm her down. "Let's just calm down before you're arrested for murder—"

"I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANYONE INSULTING MY SPECIAL BOY." Mary flared her nostrils—metaphorical steam fuming from her nose—with her hand still clenched into an iron fist. She was absolutely furious.

"I—I know, but let's just sit down and take a deep breath, you're already going to get suspended as is . . . again . . ."

Mary huffed and pulled Damien into a hug, pressing her face into the crook of his neck.

"I just want the best for you," she mumbled. Damien sighed, continuing to pat her back.

"I know you do. Thank you."

Mary suddenly pulled back from the hug and gripped his shoulders, a grin spreading across her lips.

"Team Monroe?"

Damien smiled faintly, gripping his sister's shoulders in return.

"Team Monroe."