“That’s not why I called. I care about you, Charlie. We all do. We just want what’s best for you.
“I know,” I sigh.
“Please tell me you’re still planning on going on your honeymoon,” she says.
“I don’t know,” I say with a sigh.
“You have to go. Don’t do this to Ariana. She’s been wanting to go on this trip forever. Besides, it sounds like you need this. Take that idiot brother of ours with you seeing how you got an extra ticket. Hey, I gotta go. I love ya, bye.”
---
Now here I am, boarding a plane with my obnoxious little brother. My brother takes the window seat, forcing me out on the aisle. At least we have first-class tickets. I just need a drink. I get up to reach for my bag when I bump into someone. I look around to meet the bright brown eyes of a very beautiful girl. If I had to guess, she’s probably 20-21. She smiles at me, but even that smile can’t hide the unmistakable misery behind those brown eyes. Maybe it's because I’m so miserable and I’m just projecting it into everything I see. Somehow I doubt it. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no you’re fine,” she says. She has a very nice voice. She seems like a delicate flower. Very slim and petite. Short brown hair, kind of tomboyish, but I can tell she’s more of a typical girl. I bet she’s the type to keep her nose in a book. That’s the type I wish my ex was. Instead, I was going to marry a woman who was on her phone 24/7.
“Here, I’ll get out of your way,” I spit out.
She smiles and bites her lip. “Thanks.”
Then she squeezes past me and heads down the aisle. I fall into my chair with my headphones as she lingers in my mind. As the flight takes off, I try to get as drunk as I can to wash away the reason I’m on this plane.
Before long, Cody and I are more than a little tipsy. It’s not long before Cody passes out as his head falls on my shoulder and he starts to drool. I push him off, but he continues to lean against me. I push him up against the window and he falls back on top of me. We go back and forth like this before I give up.
Eventually, we land and I have to shake Cody awake. “Wha… What’s going on?”
“Hey, sleeping beauty, we’re here,” I say. He stumbles up and we manage to get our bags before waiting at the baggage claim. Once we get all our luggage, we take a bus to the resort. We check-in and head to our rooms. I shoot my niece a text to let her know we’ve arrived. She arrived yesterday.
Thank god I managed to get us separate rooms. I couldn’t imagine spending a whole week with Cody bringing home every woman under the sun. It’s nice having a room all to myself. Not as nice as it would’ve been to have a wife to share it with. Just thinking about it ruined any positive vibes I had felt upon arrival. I get a text from Ariana saying she is at the poolside bar with her friends. I send Cody a text telling him I’m heading out to the poolside bar to meet up with Ariana. He says he’ll meet us out there.
After I change into swim trunks and a t-shirt, I head out. I find my niece with a group of girls her age. She waves as soon as she sees me. She’s showing off a little too much skin in her two-piece bathing suit, but I’m not going to say anything about it. I’m not her mother. Her blonde hair is done up in a ponytail and it definitely reminds me of Kate.
“Hey, Uncle Charlie, I’m glad you made it. I’m so sorry to hear about that stupid bitch, but if I’m being honest, I’m glad you dumped her. You’re much better off without her,” she says. After we hug I order the strongest drink they have.
“It is what it is, is it not?” I say.
“Well, hopefully, you’ll be able to get over her here,” she says as Cody stumbles out. Ariana greets her joyfully and he orders himself a drink. Ariana holds her drink up. “Cheers to Uncle Charlie’s new beginning.”
“I’ll cheer to that,” Cody says, smacking his drink against hers. I join in and take a long poll of my own.
Chapter 4: Alessandra Curry
The morning after the fight during dinner, our parents had us come into the living room. My mother starts off. “Things have been a little tense lately so we’ve decided to take a vacation and see if we can work things out in a more relaxed environment. We’ve booked two rooms at a really nice resort in Mexico.”
“Seriously?” Pat's eyes go wide as a big smile appears on his face.
“Yep,” dad says.
“Can I bring some friends?” Pat asks.
Our parents exchange a glance before my dad speaks. “I don’t see why not. Just make sure they know that they have to pay for their own room and tickets.”
“Sure thing,” Patrick says excitedly. I hold in a sigh. The last thing I want is to be stuck with Pat’s friends. I know for sure he’ll bring his girlfriend along.
“Can Amber come?” he asks. Knew it! Once again our parents exchange glances.
“Fine,” dad says.
“Alessandra, you’re welcome to invite your friends as well. We’ll be leaving the first week in March,” mom says.
---
It wasn’t long before we were boarding the plane to Mexico. I wasn’t paying attention when I nearly ran into someone. I look up to see a man with deep hazel eyes and a red beard.
“I’m sorry,” he says. He has a very deep and dreamy voice.
“Oh, no you’re fine,” I spit out.
He smiles. “Here, I’ll get out of your way.”
I can’t help but smile and bite my lip. “Thanks.”
He quickly sits down as I squeak past him.
As I take my seat, my heart leaps inside my chest as Liam stops in front of my row of seats and looks at his ticket and then at the seat before looking up at me all wide-eyed. My stomach turns at the anxious look on his face. He takes a moment before quickly taking the seat next to me. He does his best to ignore my existence and quickly puts his headphones on. Our parents sit a few rows down the aisle.
To my horror, Patrick and his girlfriend sit behind me. Immediately I feel her kick my seat. Pat’s other friends, Mike and James sit in front of me. Both give me dirty looks. It’s going to be a long flight.
As the plane takes off and we’re allowed to leave our seats, Patrick gets up and heads for the bathroom. I jump as I hear Pat’s girlfriend, Amber whisper to me. “Hey, tranny. Did you know Pat thinks you’re a freak? He’s so embarrassed to have you as a brother. No one likes you.”
I can’t lie, her words really hurt. It felt like a knife to the heart, causing it to bleed because I know it’s true. I know Pat’s embarrassed by me. Liam acts like he didn’t hear anything. I know he too is embarrassed by me. Embarrassed that he ever hooked up with me. I know he’s afraid if word got out that he’s gay, he’d receive the same treatment that I’ve gotten my entire life. He’d be ostracized like me, ridiculed, humiliated, picked on, bullied, treated as if he were not a human being.
I put my headphones in and try to ignore her. I’ve never understood why she’s so cruel nor why Patrick likes her. Before long, we land in Mexico. After we get our luggage and get on the bus, we arrive at our resort. Unfortunately, because of Amber, I have to room with my parents. Thankfully the hotel room has separate rooms inside. After we talk to our parents, everyone goes their own way.
I change into something casual with short-shorts and a t-shirt before heading to check out the resort.
---
My only goal is to get as far away from Amber and Pat’s friends as possible. I just don’t understand why she hates me so much. What did I do to deserve the way she treats me? She’s relentless. I try to be nice to her, but she won’t stop bullying me. I just can’t understand what Pat sees in her.
It dawns on me that even though I’m only 20, I can legally drink here. I head up to the first bar I see and stop dead in my tracks. Sitting, sipping on a drink was the guy from the plane. The one that I bumped into. All the blood in my body rushes to my face. Fuck, what should I do? He's super hot, but just know once he finds out I’m trans, he’ll want nothing to do with me
. Although, there’s a tiny voice inside that asks, what if he’s different? What do I have to lose?
I take in a deep breath and let it out slowly, then I take a chance. I pull up a seat next to him.
“Is this seat taken?” I look up into his dreamy hazel eyes. If I’m not mistaken I see a pleasant smile sneak on his face.
“No, by all means, have a seat,” he says. God, I have such a thing for redheads. I don’t know what it is, but I find them very attractive. Not to mention his beard. He’s like a civilized lumberjack and that really turns me on. Then my eyes fall down and see the ring on his finger and my heart sinks into my chest. “Are you waiting for your wife?”
He winces. “No… This was supposed to be our honeymoon, but after I walked in on her fucking this douche name Kyle the wedding was called off.”
My eyes go wide. “Oh, I’m sorry. That’s awful. I can’t imagine how you feel right now.”
“I was definitely hurt. The worst part is that it seemed like every one of my friends and family knew she was trouble but me. I felt like an idiot. I shouldn’t be burdening you with my troubles. It’s kind of embarrassing.”
“You have no reason to be embarrassed. It happens and it’s awful. And I don’t mind listening. Who better to tell your woes to than a stranger?” I ask, biting my lip.
“True. But even still, it doesn’t make for a good first impression,” he says.
“It could be worse, at least you weren’t the one doing the cheating,” I say, with a quirky smile.
He laughs. “That’s true.”
“I just don’t understand how someone can do that? When you’re in a committed relationship, about to be married nonetheless, how can you even possibly think about committing such disloyalty? If I was lucky enough to find someone who loved me enough to marry me, I would totally devote myself to them,” I say.
“I know, right? I was willing to give anything for her. It felt like a dagger to the heart when I walked in on them,” he says with a painstaking smile.
“Well, one good thing is that at least you found out before the wedding, right?” I ask.
“Yeah, thank god,” he says. “I’m Charlie, by the way.”
“I’m Alessandra, but you can call me Sandra,” I say with a smile, holding out my hand. He shakes it with such a firm grip. His hand is big and overtakes mine and yet there’s something gentle about the way he holds it. He returns the smile.
“By the way, I like the short hair. It makes your face more prominent. You have a very beautiful face,” he says.
I blush instantly. “Thanks. You’re quite handsome yourself, you know?”
“I didn’t, but thank you,” he says with a smile.
Then the worst thing I could possibly imagine happens. Amber walks up to us. She’s got a wicked smile as she approaches. My stomach clenches and my face drains of all its blood. God, why now? Why does she want to ruin my life?
“Oh, there you are Dylan,” she blurts out, crushing my soul by using my deadname. I feel like I got punched in the nose. She then turns to Charlie. “You know he’s actually a guy pretending to be a girl, right? Pretty sick if you ask me.”
I can’t even bring my eyes up to look at him. I’m so embarrassed and humiliated. I struggle to fight the tears. I just want to crawl into a hole and die. “Well, good thing no one asked you. If you don’t mind, I would love to continue the pleasant conversation I was having with Sandra here before you interrupted.”
My eyes go wide as I look up into his confident face. Did he really mean that? I look over at Amber and she looks like she had just been slapped across the face. She’s completely lost for words. She tries to say something but stops. Then to my surprise, she turns and walks away.
“God, I hate bullies. I take it she’s your bully?” I nod as I look up at him in amazement. He’s my hero. “She seems like a very toxic person. Why on earth would you associate with someone like that?”
“She’s my brother’s girlfriend. Her name is Amber,” I say, still pleasantly shocked at what just happened.
“Well for what it’s worth, your brother needs to upgrade. I would choose you over her any day,” he says with a smile that makes my heart flutter in my chest. I’m completely lost for words. “So, how long are you here for?”
It takes me a second to realize he asked me a question. “Oh, uh... Well, I’m here with my family for spring break, so just the week.”
His face turns into a frown. “Are you still in high school?”
I shake my head profusely no. “I’m in college, but I’m taking a year off to transition.”
“Oh. Gotcha. How is that going?” he asks.
“Well, I started HRT but I can’t really afford any surgeries at the moment. I’d like to see what I look like after I’ve been on HRT for a while before I do any surgeries anyway. I know for sure that I’d definitely like to get a breast augmentation, but as far as anything else, I’m just going to take it one day at a time,” I say.
“Cool. For what it’s worth, I think you look beautiful,” he says.
Once again, my cheeks flush with heat. “Thanks.”
“So, any plans while you’re here, or are you just going to take it one day at a time?” he asks.
“Well, other than avoiding my family at all cost, Amber most of all, I didn’t really have any other plans,” I say.
“I would love to spend more time with you. I’ve been looking at some of the things you can do here and it would be nice to have someone to try them with. Have you ever swam with dolphins?” he asks. I shake my head no. “Would you like to?”
I nod emphatically yes. He smiles. “How about we do it tomorrow? Maybe we can also check out some of the old ruins as well. I’m kind of a huge history nerd. I’d also like to do some haggling at the local markets. Although, we don’t have to do it all at once. I suppose we can take it one day at a time.”
I laugh. “That sounds lovely. Let’s make it a plan.”
He laughs too. “Great.”
“What are you doing tonight?” I ask.
“Well, I just met this really cute girl with short hair at a bar and I was hoping to spend some more time with her. What about you?” he says with a smile.
“I actually just met this really drop-dead handsome guy with red-hair and I’ve always had a thing for red-heads. I wonder if he likes to dance?” I ask. “I heard the resort has a nice dance club.”
“I think he’d love to dance, but if it’s the same red-head I’m thinking of, he’s not very good at it,” I say.
“That’s fine. Neither am I. That’s what makes it fun. We can act like a bunch of idiots and we’ll have so much fun doing it,” I say.
“Well count me in. I may not be very good at dancing, but I’m certainly good at acting like an idiot,” he says smiling. I can’t help but laugh. “How about we meet back here around 8?”
“Sounds like a plan,” I say.
Chapter 5: Charlie Sheppard
Wow, I can’t believe I’m so nervous to meet this girl. I can’t believe she’s trans. That really surprised me. I’ll admit at first I was a bit apprehensive, but that girl, Amber, what a piece of work. Kind of reminded me of my ex-fiance. She seemed very sincere at first but she looked like she really enjoyed tearing that poor girl down to pieces. I can’t stand behavior like that. Looking back at it, I can point out all the times Lexi was so cruel to other people and I just ignored it. God, she had me hoodwinked. I’m such an idiot.
Sandra doesn’t seem anything like Lexi. She’s kind, sweet, and seems really intelligent. I just get that book smart vibe from her. Regardless of whether she’s trans or not, I wasn’t going to let that Amber girl humiliate her like that. I’ll never stand by while a bully tries to harass an innocent person. It doesn’t matter who they are. I guess that’s one good thing that came from Lexi’s betrayal. She really made me realize what really matters.
I decide to go with a casual button-up short sleeve and
khaki shorts with loafers for tonight. I hope that’s not too casual. As I finish getting ready and look at my watch to which it says 7:45 PM, I decide to make my way down to the same bar I met Sandra at.
I find her already there waiting for me. She doesn’t see me at first as she looks around, clearly nervous. She checks her phone real fast before taking another glance around. She looks absolutely beautiful in her white short-shorts and a really beautiful tank top with flowers. She’s got strap-on sandals and one of those hair clips with flowers on it attached to her short brown hair. She looks adorable. She fidgets in her chair and takes another look at her phone and I finally decide to walk up to her. She sees me and her face instantly lights up in a smile.
“You look beautiful,” I say.
“Aww, thanks. You look really handsome,” she says and I give her a smile before I take a seat next to her.
“Would you like to sit here and grab a drink before we go dance?” I ask.
“That sounds pleasant,” she says.
“Great, what’s your favorite drink so far?” I ask.
“I really love the Tropical Pick Me ups. They’re so delicious,” she says. I order us two of those. “I’ll be honest with you, I nearly convinced myself that you weren’t going to show up.”
“Why would you do that?” I ask.
“Because I’m trans. It’s not often that a guy like you would go for a girl like me,” she says. “I thought you only stood up for me because you were being nice.”
“I’ll admit that was the case at first. As I said, I hate bullies. But, I really enjoyed our conversation and I would love to spend more time with you,” I say and she blushes at my words with the biggest smile forming on her beautiful face.
“Yo, bro,” I hear Cody shout out as he walks up to us with a beautiful girl wrapped around his arm. No surprise there. His eyes go wide when he sees Sandra and a big goofy smile appears. “Aww, about time you met someone. I thought I was going to have to get you a hooker or something.”
The Honeymoon Page 2