Kaylee's Goodbye

After his parents kicked him out, Kayden had thought his story was over there. But on the contrary, his story had only just begun. This was the end of her story and her parents’ hopes and dreams of what she would become one day. Kaylee was a beautiful little caterpillar slowly inching through a world of pressure and people being moulded by society and as she prepares herself for a long sleep, she realizes this is not who she is and wishes to be in a different body, As that part of Kaylee had become a hard chrysalis, after time something beautiful rips through the chrysalis, an elegant person emerges from the chrysalis born anew: leaving behind the shell of the empty chrysalis like he was leaving behind a past self he will never forget.

Kayden knew he had to find someplace to go. He couldn’t keep standing in his parents’ driveway, hoping and praying that this was all some sick joke, and they would come out to tell him how much they loved and supported him. The longer he stood there, the more he realized how much he truly was worth to them. Kayden started slowly walking away from his childhood home, making his way towards the only person he felt would understand his situation. How it feels to be shut out by close family members, even thrown out of a household just for embracing who they are. As he steps up to the door to his cousin Angelica’s apartment, she is standing there inside looking at the mail. They lock eyes and Kayden just breaks down in tears on the staircase.

Angelica runs out open arms towards Kayden. She tightly wraps her arms around the crying teenager and asks, “what’s wrong, little one, what or who has gotten you to be in such a state?” Kayden only responds by crying even harder into Angelica’s already sopping wet t-shirt. Still feeling Kayden quivering, Angelica asks Kayden, “why don’t we head inside and calm down by the fireplace with some hot cocoa?” Kayden’s only response is nodding his head in agreement. When they make it up to Angelica’s apartment, Kayden stands still in the entryway as his fear of rejection and abandonment overcomes his body. “Kaylee, I know you're upset, but it’s a safe space here for you. My home is your home.” Kayden grimaces at the name. Angelica saw that he was uncomfortable and said, “does your name have something to do with why you are so upset?”

Still standing in the entryway of the apartment, Kayden finally answers his cousin’s questions, his voice trembling with fear and sadness. “Why don’t my parents love me anymore?” Angelica offers a handout, reaching towards his shoulder. She pats as a sign to continue. “I don’t feel like a girl, Angelica. I’m a boy and I don’t want to be called Kaylee anymore. I want to be called Kayden.” “They kicked me out, Angelica their kid. Just wanted to be me for once, not who others want me to be.” Kayden’s mouth quivers as the tears flow like a stream going downhill. As he falls on the floor, curling into the fetal position he quietly says, “it was wrong of me to come here, I am sorry if I bothered you, but I had nowhere else to turn to and do not want to be a trouble.”

Angelica walks over to Kayden, places her hand on his lower back and slowly rubs in a clockwise motion.

"Little one, you will never be trouble to me, that I can always promise you. I am so happy that I made a safe space for you to talk to me." As Kayden calms down. "You know I always thought that Jacob and Marley would be a little close-minded, but I never thought they would be this bad." Angelica lightheartedly jokes as Kayden sits up facing his cousin. "Kayden do you have a plan, any ideas as to where you are going to live?" Kayden shakes his head no in response. “Well, how does this sound? I happen to have a spare bedroom that you can move into if you would like?"

Kayden’s face lights up with hope and surprise. "Why do you want to help me? Aren’t, you worried about what our family will say about you, or worse straight to your face?" Kayden says with eyes brimful of tears.

"Because I know what it is like to have family leave you when you need them most, what I was going say before you got all excited. There will be some ground rules if you are going to be living here. Firstly I hope you will be okay living with me and my fiancé Olivia." Kayden’s face went from sad to very confused in a matter of seconds.

"Since when did you get engaged? Or even had a girlfriend? Mom told me you had a roommate, not a, oh now I understand." Kayden loudly expressed to Angelica.

"The only person who knew was my Mom and Dad, and after I came out to them, a similar thing that happened to you happened to me. The short story is that when I came out to them. They told me I was going to hell, kicked me out on the streets, I never tried to contact them again." For a split second, there is a twinge of pain across Angelica's face that quickly fades away as she gets up and walks towards the spare bedroom, "well this is it, your new room."

The faintest bit of moonlight shines through the open skylight window into a bedroom. The left side of the room is a well-made queen-sized bed and a wooden bedside table with a blue lava lamp resting on top. To the right of the room is a beautiful wooden wardrobe with a dragon carved into the doors. Beside the wardrobe is a well-organized desk with pen holders filled with colourful pens and markers. In the center of the desk lies a piece of paper, and off to the side a small envelope. At the top of the letter is the date which is two years after Kayden was kicked out, the letter reads:

Dear Jacob and Marley,

I am writing this letter to you as it was recommended by my therapist to express myself in some way, I am not even sure if I will send this to you guys or not. But thank you for showing me what family truly is, how you don't need to be related by blood to be a family, it's about loving someone unconditionally, being a support system for them as they should be for you. Because of you, I spent a whole year wondering if I would ever be enough for someone, if someone could ever love a person like me. but if it weren't for you, I never would have made the memories I have with the two most amazing supportive women in my life, the ones who I consider my real parents.

From,

Kayden