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“Can I tell you something?” Spinelli asked as she had walked into Becky’s room.
Spinelli was spending the day at TJ’s house. The pair had been hanging out together for most of the day, which included playing some games, eating some snacks, and talking about school and recess. TJ’s older sister, Becky, had checked up on them once. Even though it seemed like things were going alright, thoughts of concern had appeared in Spinelli’s head.
To say that these thoughts had recently appeared would be a lie, as she seemed stuck with them for months.
These thoughts burdened her. These thoughts concerned her. These thoughts made her feel uneasy about herself. She could talk to TJ about it but decided not to. After all, she had a reputation that stuck with TJ and the rest of the group as a tomboy and thought that it was not worth telling them about it. She then decided to go to one person—TJ’s older sister, Becky. Knowing this, she had walked up to Becky’s room and knocked on the door.
Becky had then let her in, and before she knew it, Spinelli had asked her if she could keep a secret.
“Yeah, sure,” Becky replied out of curiosity. “What’s on your mind?”
“So… You know how I prefer more… rough activities?” Spinelli asked once again.
“Yeah? What about it?”
“I uh… might also be getting into the… less rough activities, like dancing.”
“Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Don’t your friends already know about this?” Becky’s curiosity grew even more.
“It’s… complicated, but yeah, they do know. I’m just worried about my image…” By that point, Spinelli was struggling to put her thoughts into words.
“Let me guess, for years, you’ve presented yourself as a tomboy towards everyone around you, and now, all of a sudden, you’ve developed more girly interests and are scared that others might start to catch on because that’ll drastically change everyone’s view about you, including yourself.”
“What the… how did you know?” Now the curiosity has transferred to Spinelli.
“Intuition,” replied Becky, “but I can somewhat understand… Change can be scary and is definitely something that shouldn’t be rushed.”
“Yeah, too right…”
“I will tell you this. You don’t have to be one thing or the other… Sometimes, your interests can blend, no matter how different they are. It might not seem like it, but you don’t have to let your view of yourself change so drastically. You can just take it one step at a time, you know what I mean?”
“Kinda… So I shouldn’t worry too much?” Spinelli faltered.
“Yes, and try to keep your mind off of the idea of change and just enjoy what you enjoy.” Affirmed Becky.
“Hey, thanks… Can I hang out here for a little?” Spinelli seemed to be getting her charm back.
“Sure, but don’t you have someone waiting on you?”
With all that mental conundrum going on in her head, Spinelli had forgotten about her hangout with TJ. Spinelli then walked out of the room without saying another word.
Becky, on the other hand, felt a pang of nervousness. She had hoped that her words helped her out a little, at least.