Contents ( 42)
- The Art of Breathing
- Part One: How We Became Who We Are
- Prologue: Or, Where the Kid Hears the Word of the Day
- 1. Where Tyson Learns to Breathe
- 2. Where Tyson Makes a Phone Call
- 3. Where Tyson Graduates and Bear Freaks Out
- 4. Where Tyson Says Good-Bye
- 5. Where Tyson Gets the Mail
- Part Two: Coming Home
- 6. Where Tyson Comes Home
- 7. Where Tyson Gives a History Lesson
- 8. Where Tyson Attends the Most Awkward Party Ever
- 9. Where Tyson Plans Attends a Protest
- 10. Where Tyson Gets Arrested
- 11. Where Tyson Gets His Ass Handed to Him
- 12. Where Tyson Writes Bad Poetry and Gawks at Frat Boys
- 13. Where Tyson Decides to Man the Fuck Up
- 14. Where Tyson Asks Some Questions
- 15. Where Tyson Remembers Theresa Jean Paquinn
- 16. Where Tyson Learns the Benefit of Therapy
- 17. Where Tyson Meets the Man Who Becomes Helena Handbasket
- 18. Where Tyson Gets Screwed at His Own Birthday Party (And Not in a Good Way)
- Part Three: Just Breathe
- 19. Where Tyson Goes to Helena Handbasket’s Sex Dungeon
- 20. Where Tyson Beholds the Awesome Wonder That Is Paul Auster
- 21. Where Tyson Receives Advice from the Six Sages
- 22. Where Tyson Makes a Phone Call
- 23. Where Tyson Hears the Inevitable
- 24. Where Tyson Meets His Match
- 25. Where Tyson Says Hello, Where Tyson Says Good-bye
- 26. Where Tyson Touches upon the Inevitable
- 27. Where Tyson Faces the Music
- 28. Where Tyson Breathes
- 29. Tyson And Dominic
- 30. The Art Of Breathing
- Epilogue: Or, Bear’s Perspective, As It Were (Yeah, He’s Gonna Freak)
- Author’s Note
- Excerpt
- Prologue: Or, Where Bear Answers the Door
- More from TJ Klune
- Readers love the Bear, Otter, and the Kid Chronicles by TJ Klune
- By TJ Klune
We never did make it to class that day.
I learned later that Corey was also Kori the day she showed up at my house in a long dress, her hair fanning out around her face, her eyes done up in smoky makeup. It’s called bigenderism, which is a subset of transgenderism. Being transgendered means identifying yourself as the opposite of the sex you are born as. Bigenders are those who identify as both genders and can live as either, even switching between the two to make themselves feel more comfortable. Corey was Kori, and vice versa, but certain things could trigger the appearance of another. Corey was brash and blunt. Kori was quieter, almost airy. Corey had a lower voice, with the tiniest bit of a lisp. Kori’s pitch was higher in register, the words flowing like water. It became so I could predict who I would be with on any given day.
Being bigendered is different from being transgendered, though many people don’t see it that way. It is different from being a transvestite, though many people can’t see how. He’s not a drag queen. He’s not a woman trapped in a man’s body. It’s not always about the physical, for the most part. It’s about the psychological.
Corey is Kori. And Kori is Corey.
Even then, even at the beginning, it mattered not to me.
He was Corey when he told me he’d grown up in foster care, never knowing who his parents were.
She was Kori when she told me she was at Dartmouth on a full ride. Gender studies, even. It turned out she might be smarter than even I am.
He was Corey when he waited for me outside of the science building.
She was Kori when she waited for me outside the library.
He was Corey the first time he kissed me. It was a surprise when it happened, but afterward, I was only surprised it hadn’t happened sooner. It was outside a coffee shop in the rain. Everything around us smelled of wet leaves, and I remember thinking, Oh. Oh. This is nice. I was able to ignore the little voice in my head that said, Dominic, Dominic, Dominic.
She was Kori the second time she kissed me. My hands were in her hair, and I wondered what this meant for me. I felt guilty, for a time, wondering if I was still gay. Or bisexual. Or even pansexual. But I kissed her, and she kissed me, and I realized Kori was Corey, and it didn’t matter who I was or who she was. That little voice didn’t speak up much that time.
He was Corey the first time he met Bear.
She was Kori when she met Otter.
They saw whoever he or she showed them, and it mattered not to them.
He was Corey the first time we tried to have sex. His dorm was quiet, the lights down low. My hands were shaking, my heart thudding, and I was sure I was going to throw up all over him, either physically or emotionally. The little voice did nothing but laugh.