I was sixteen when I realized I was trans, but I was almost eighteen when I finally came out to my parents. “So you’re a tomboy,” they said. They reluctantly let me buy jeans from the guys’ section of American Eagle, though my mom kept bringing me girl’s jeans to try on, and huffing indignantly when I refused.

When I was twelve, all the girls in my class were buying bras and starting their periods. I wore undershirts rolled up around my chest to make it look like I was wearing a bra. I kept pads in my backpack just in case, but they never really came into use until the second semester of my eighth grade year.

I got my first real bra when I was fourteen, before starting high school. The fitting lady at the store told me to look for a “nearly A”. I wasn’t even an actual cup size until I was almost sixteen.

My voice was always deeper than everyone else’s, and I had to teach myself to talk in a higher voice so no one would make fun of me.