Fresh Ink: An Anthology

Tommy, a high school swimmer, is a transgender student who was born female and is beginning the process of transitioning to male. The night before, he posted a message on Facebook revealing his transgender identity. Now, he arrives at school early for swim practice and is nervous about how people will view him now that he has revealed this truth about himself.

When he approaches the locker room doors for the swimming pool, he’s faced with the choice of either entering the “men’s” or “women’s” locker room and hesitates at the door. When a teammate, Parker, comes up behind him and calls him by his new name, Tommy, it gives him the confidence to enter the men’s locker room.

Once inside, he enters a restroom stall and overhears another teammate, Roman, enter, calling Parker a “cunt.” When Tommy leaves the stall, Roman greets him by saying, “Oh, look, it’s our little fag!” (158). Throughout Roman’s bullying, Tommy keeps telling himself that all he needs to do is get to the pool and start swimming to find “[p]eace. Silence. Disappearance” (158).

A week earlier, Tommy told his coach about his plans for transitioning. He was starting hormone therapy, would have a mastectomy at the end of the month, and would come back in six weeks and be able to wear a men’s suit.