Flashbang Flashback
The story is no more than three paragraphs—and one of them is just a single sentence—before the main character/narrator starts flashing back to an earlier time before we first meet her. Not a lot of information is given: a girl’s scream of recognition at seeing her following by brutish behavior by the girl’s father. The lead-up to the flashback is composed in metaphorical imagery:
“As I stared out at the swiftly moving trees, my mind was in a mall bathroom back in the city, the images shifting and jumbling like a kaleidoscope”
Suspicion without Facts
The life of transgender women and men is one that must deal constantly with suspicion that is not yet—and may never be—confirmed by actual factual evidence. Because sometimes in this life, a gut feeling—or a suspicion that originates in any other part of the body, is the better part of survival:
“My heart screamed that they knew, that the one with those piercing eyes was attracted to me for a moment and his friend was making fun of him for it. That was the kind of scenario that got girls like me killed. I had done the research.”
Parents
The trans life is tough. Tougher than most people who are so transphobic that the very existence of it could ever stand and up face down themselves. But it is not just the person undergoing gender dysphoria or, having learned to deal with that, those who have moved onto the hardcore stage of transitioning that faces difficulties. When dealing with teens, parents often find themselves in world of confusion that changes everything. Which, of course, only adds to the pressure the teen is already struggling with:
“I turned my back to my bedroom door and listened as Mom and Dad screamed at each other. Each swearword, each sharp, barking yell made me flinch as though I were being physically slapped.”
Lambertville High School
The narrator, Amanda is ready to start a new school as Amanda. The school is described for the most part in ways that look like literally every other school in the country: double doors, dull tricolor tiles making up the floor, trophy cases, etc. There is one jolt of metaphor that makes the ordinary stand out just a little bit, however:
“Fluorescent lights buzzed angrily, but for all their fury, the halls were dimly lit.”
Self-Deprecation
A particularly memorable—if utterly repulsive—metaphorical image is used to represent the concept of self-deprecation being a loser’s game. The imagery takes the form of Bee’s response to Amanda dismissing the quality of her drawing as merely being unoriginal fan art:
“There are enough people waiting to crap in your cereal without you doing it for them”
