Does It Matter?

Does It Matter?

Ok, so you guys/girls might be wondering why the name of the story is "Does It Matter". Well before I tell you anything I have a few questions for you. Does it matter if you are a little bit different? Does it matter if you're playing a close game and somebody else distracts you, and you lose? Does it matter if the closest person to you becomes a complete stranger? Does it matter if you never know your real purpose in life? Now, take sometime and think about that, while I tell you my story. 

My name is King Bethea, and I was born on October 31st, 2035. Most dudes think it's gay to call another dude king, so the nickname KB came along. I'm currently 17 years old, 5'11 tall, and weigh 185 pounds. I play football for my local high school, which I also attend. The name of the school I attend is called Jameal Bethea High School aka JBHS. It's a great school, but some of the people here are really slow. Some people I hang around with everyday in my sophomore year (this year) are just making the connection that the school was named after my Great Grandfather. I thought the connection was obvious but I guess not.

Well, now that you know more about me, here goes nothing. In the beginning of my freshman year I met this girl. At first I was scared to talk to her, and then we started talking to each other almost out of nowhere. Her name was Laura, and she was a beautiful girl. She was about five or six inches shorter than me, and a year younger than me. Laura and I became close friends during our freshman year. I didn't tell Laura because I didn't want to ruin a good friendship, but I was slowly starting to like her. She was everything a teenage boy could ask for in girl, and more.

Our freshman year happened in a flash. We were to busy having fun, and enjoying each other's presence. Laura got into a relationship, with another freshman named Trey Simmons III. The boy she is currently dating is my teammate on the football team. We grew up playing football together, you could basically say I knew him my whole life.  Day by day they seemed to fall more and more in love with each other, so day by day I lost feelings for her. Even Though I thought I would be a better boyfriend, she was happy with him and I didn't want to ruin it. As, their relationship got more serious he started not to like that Laura and I were hanging out a lot. He asked Laura to stop hanging out with me. She told me what happened, and by the middle of the summer we no longer were friends.

It happened so fast that when summer was over and sophomore year started I still couldn't believe it. Losing Laura hurted more than losing the championship game last year 28-27. After we stopped talking we never saw each other. We tried to avoid the other person but the school year would put us in the same building five days a week. I never really wanted to lose Laura but everything happens for a reason, and that happened to us. The first day of school was coming up and I was trying to remember everywhere Laura hanged out at, so we wouldn't run into each other. That awkward feeling that would follow running into her wasn't something I wanted to face.

The first day of school came, and there was a rumor going around. The rumor was that Trey broke up with Laura because, he thought she was cheating on him. I couldn't believe what everybody was telling me. All questions started to rush through my mind. Questions like "Did she really cheat on him or is he lying? If she did cheat, then who is this mystery person?" Even Though I didn't want to make things awkward between me and Laura I had to get to the bottom of this. In between classes I looked everywhere for her, but couldn't find her. So I found Trey and asked him instead.

"Yo Trey, What happened between you and Laura?" I asked

"Man Bro, that girl must of thought I was stupid." He answered

"Rumor is she cheated on you with somebody. Are the rumors true or nah? I asked

"Look Bro, this is what happened. We was out at the mall getting some matching color clothes, so when we go out to eat we could match. I realized halfway through the mall she kept looking up and down at her phone almost every two seconds. So I asked her was anything wrong, and she told me nahh, so I kind of left it alone. Then, I so happened to get a glance at her phone and she texting another dude saying I love you too." He answered

"Wait, how you know it wasn't her dad or something? Bro I know you and you tend to jump to conclusions a lot without thinking. Did you at least talk to her about it?" I asked

"Bro, you got a lot of questions but won't let me answer one before you ask another one." He said

"My fault. I just don't want you throwing away something good, because if anybody else get a chance to get her you just might regret it." I said

"I live my life with no regrets. Like you always say things happen for a reason. Anyway I'm going to finish telling you what happened. Right, so after I seen the message I wanted to make sure my eyes weren't messing with me, so I asked her phone to see her phone. When I got her phone I took a screenshot of the message, and set it to my phone so I could have proof. I gave her the phone back, and asked her who was she texting. She told me it was a old friend, like I'm stupid. So I asked her a couple of more times, she kept telling me the same lie. When we got to her crib I gave her the clothes that I brought for her, and I broke up with her." He answered

"Wow, didn't think she would do something like that. I'm glad I didn't try to date her." I said

"Yeah, I guess I said you from a bullet to the heart." He said

"I guess so, but I'm catch you later at practice." I said

"Ard Bro. Stay Safe." He said

After talking to Trey I had a whole different view of Laura. I didn't think she was capable of doing something like that, and I still don't. I have to find Laura, and get her side of the story. The only thing wrong with this is that I have no clue where Laura is at. I looked everywhere in school and I even asked her friends about her and still I got nothing. Now, I realized I was going to have to wait until school was over to see her.

I waited hour after hour for the school bell to ring. I kept trying to convince myself that the Laura I knew couldn't do something like that to someone else. The Laura I knew wouldn't even hurt a fly. The Laura I knew never let a broken heart, or even broken bone ruin her future. She would never miss a day of school, none the less the first day. She would've wanted to see her friends, and get out of the house for a couple of hours. At the same time I knew that the Laura I knew grew older and could've changed

Once the bell went off I basically ran out of the school and went straight to Laura's house. When I got to the door something about the house seemed different. It was still the bright yellow like always, welcome mat was in the same place, but something seemed off. I knocked on the door, and I waited for a response. After waiting five minutes I knocked again, and still didn't get a respond. Then I remembered about an emergency key Laura told me about in case something happened, and I needed to come over to her house.

I got the key from her backyard, and opened the back door. As soon as I walked in I soon figured out why the house seemed different. The house was empty with nobody, or nothing in it. It was a pitch black house with a seam of light coming from upstairs. I followed the light hoping this was some kind of pranked tv show. When I got to where the light was coming from I stopped at the door. I was scared to see that behind this door was nothing, and that Laura was gone. I opened the door slowly, and when it was all the way open I only saw one thing. In the middle of the floor there was a letter that had my name real big on it. I sat down on the floor and started to read the letter.

 

It said: "Dear King aka KB aka Best aka My Life,

Wow, I really don't know where to start. I want you to know that yes, my family did move but you had nothing to do with it. I wanted to tell you this over the summer but we got into that argument, things happened, and you seemed like you wouldn't care. We got a bigger house, and my family couldn't turn down the opportunity to live bigger I guess. King, I wanted to tell you something but I thought it would make you look at me different so I kept it to myself. King I'm actually a male. Well, not really I'm technically a male to female transgender, so I'm really a girl who was born a boy. I realized last year that you were starting to grow feelings for me, and I didn't want my secret to ruin everything. King, you mean a lot to me. I want you to know that next week my family is coming back to get our stuff from the storage lockers, and if you have anything to say you can meet me at the park across the street from the storage place. I hope you can make it.

Love, Laura

After reading that King was no longer worried about her relationship with Trey. He couldn't believe she would keep a big secret like this from him. His head again started to thump around with questions in it. He knew the only way to get an answer was to do as told and meet her at the park in a week. He got up from the floor and began to walk home thinking about what he was going to say to her. Not a second of him walking home was wasted on talking to his teammates, or even neighborhood friends.

When he arrived at home he walked to his room very quiet, so nobody knew he was home. He wanted nothing but peace and quiet while he was thinking about possibly his last words to Laura. He wrote about nine different speeches, and tried to make them into one big speech. He tried and tried until his eyes couldn't stay open anymore. Right, before he finally went to sleep he somehow managed to finish the letter. It said:  

“Laura,

I honestly don't know where to start. You are the most wonderful person I have ever met. You have one of the best, matter of fact the best personalities out of all the people I have ever met. Laura after thinking about it for a while I realized why you kept this secret from me. I understand the bullying that would've came with telling people you are a transgender. A good friend of mine is transgender, and I helped him through every step of the way. Even though I don't know what's it like to be transgender I know what it's like to be in love. Laura I'm in love with you, and I think you should know that. Laura you are exactly that, Laura. If you don't know who she is, let me tell you about her. The Laura I knew is a strong, beautiful, independent, smart girl. She didn’t let anyone or anything bring her down. The Laura I knew is the Laura I want to say I DO to while I'm looking her in the eye's. I'm not sure if this is the future you seen, but it's the one I see. Laura any guy with his head screwed on right would see that skipping over you is a giant mistake. Look, I don't know if we are ever going to talk again, but you need to think about this. Does It Matter if people don't like you? Does It Matter if people think you're different? Does It Matter that you were once male now you're female? If any of those things matter you are not the Laura I once knew.”

King knew that writing how he feels, and saying it would be to different things.