Venus in Blue Jeans

When I saw her, it was the moment I knew she was the one.

Flowing blonde hair down to her waist. Beautiful tanned skin from weeks on the beach. A pair of tight-waist blue jeans showing off her thin figure. She was a senior in high school and I knew right then we would be together forever. Now I just had to say hi to her. That was the toughest part.

Suddenly, she dropped her textbooks in the hallway on her way to calculus class. That was my chance. I hopped over from my nearby locker and grabbed it for her with a smile on my face. She seemed stunned that someone would be so blatant in helping. She thanked me for my efforts.

"Thank you so much for grabbing the book. Who are you?" she asked.

"Andrew Martinson. We share a calculus and civics class together." I replied.

"Oh. Thank you so much again. We must get to class. Want to talk after? Name is Venezia Jackson by the way, but you can call me Venus."

"Sure!" I replied in excitement. We scurried down to hall to calculus.

I spent the entire class a bit distracted about how smitten I was was with Venus. When Mr. Seaford called on me to answer a question I stuttered, resulting in laughs in the class. Venus just smiled. Admittedly embarassed, I got caught up fast and answered the question. That was embarrassing and I could not wait for the class to be over.

Finally, it did and Venus and I hung out at her locker for a few minutes. A cheerleader for Ridgewood High School, she was pulling her outfit out of her locker when she invited me to the game tonight to watch her perform. It was a skin tight outfit that matched the style of her blue jeans. They would show off her form with ease. After some side conversations, I headed home, still completely lost in my emotions for Venus.

I walked into my parents house and saw my grandfather, the local rabbi, preparing for tonight's services at the synagogue in his armchair. When he was in his armchair, he was to not be disturbed, but instead he stood up when he saw the wide smile on my face.

"What's got you so worked up boychik?" he asked me in his booming voice.

I was instantly nervous again. My grandfather was a very respected rabbi and one you would not want to disappoint. I told him the truth.

"I met a girl in school today. I don't know, but I think I am in love with her." I responded.

The look on my grandfather's face became a smile when he heard what I said. Like it had triggered something in his past too. He patted me on the shoulder, said something in Hebrew and went back to his armchair. Services would wait for no one. I did ask though if it would be alright to miss tonight's services so I could see Venus tonight at the football game. I expected him to be mad as hell and threaten to tell my parents, but strangely, he was perfectly alright with it. My smile returned and I ran up to my bedroom.

----

That night, I raced over the high school field on Heermance Place. Some of my classmates were there already. It was homecoming night against Midland Park and being neighbouring municipalities, the emotions were super high. While taking my seat in the stands, I saw the Ridgewood cheerleading team practicing for the night's events. I saw Venus in the corner. Her cheerleading outfit looked just as good as the blue jeans she had on this afternoon. I still was smitten with her.

The game went well, Ridgewood won 34-17. Afterwards, I made it through the crowd down to where the cheerleading team was wrapping up. Venus saw me and finished cleaning up quickly. The smile on her face was as wide as mine. "Andy!" she yelled in my direction. She went and hugged me. I noticed immediately she had a super strong grip, but in order to be a good cheerleader, she probably needed to work out a lot.

"Hi Venus. You looked great out there! I enjoy your outfits too. At least Ridgewood won so Midland Park can't rub it in our face this year." I started the conversation.

"Yeah, we won. We always need to win." she responded. "Hey, you want to go over behind the bleachers to chat for a bit?"

"Sure."

We waddled over to the stands. Before I knew it she put her mouth in mine. It was just a single smooch, but my brain instantly melted.

"Did you like that, Andy?" she asked with the smile on her face. "Here's another." She did it again. At that point I forgot where I was. My smile was ear to ear and I returned the favour to her.

"Andy. I have something to tell you. I am not a normal girl. I am transgender. I was born Victor in 2006. My parents were pretty understanding and let me transition young. I hope you don't think I am a freak or something. I know you're smitten with me and there's not been a single boy in school who finds me gorgeous."

A little stunned, I said "you're a beauty. I never would have noticed and frankly, I don't care. You are gorgeous and you're right, I'm smitten as all heck. I just hope my parents are as accepting."

"Well, let's go find out!" she exclaimed.

---

It was past 10pm so services should have already been let out for the evening. When I opened the door, I saw my father and mother standing there with stern looks on their face. My father spoke up first.

"So your grandfather tells me you are in love with someone. I presume it's this girl next to you. Well, I don't think my 18 year old son should be focused on girls without some kind of education. I will not stand for my son doing this. I can disown you, you know."

My mother did not say much, but she affirmed everything my father said, nodding away. "Besides, you could not have done better? She doesn't seem like much of a nice woman, let alone a proper Jewish girl for you to marry."

Venus noticed I was really nervous. She spoke up first. "Your son is my boyfriend! My name is Venus. I go to Ridgewood High School like he does. He is absolutely in love with me. No, I wasn't raised Jewish and no I am not a gorgeous beauty, but your son doesn't mind at all."

This really angered my father. "Listen here, yingele. I don't know you, but I will not stand for you talking to me like that. I should drive you home and tell your parents what you're doing. You've corrupted my son."

Venus punched her fists together and thought about something for a second. "Look, Mr. Martinson. Your son is a sweet boy who doesn't choose to judge people. In fact he has fantastic taste, after all, I wasn't born a girl. I was born a boy 18 years ago!"

The look on my parents face went from angry to stunned. My father, still raging, turned to me and the volume of his voice continued to go up. "So, not only are you smitten with someone, you're smitten with someone who isn't even a girl! If you don't break up with her immediately in this house, you can go live elsewhere! I definitely don't want a son who thinks boys are better."

Suddenly, everyone was interrupted by the sound of an armchair. Grandfather had heard everything. He came over to calm down the situation. If my father would listen to anyone in the middle of a rager, it would be him. Grandfather looked at Venus, then at me. Then at my parents. Then he spoke directly to my father.

"What kind of son have I raised that is this unaccepting? Andy is in love with a girl. She's a girl. Maybe she doesn't look like it. But she is a girl." He grabbed my father by the shirt collar and made his point even more clear. "I have not told a soul this for 60 years, but when my parents sent me to Wildwood after graduating high school for a summer, I met someone like this girl here. She was older than me, but she was clearly the same. I lost my virginity to her. We had a blast that night. Her name was Daisy. I never saw her again after that summer in 1963. Judaism is an accepting religion, including of trans people."

My father was speechless as my grandfather loosened his grip on the collar of his son's shirt. This was Jack Martinson, the 78-year old local, highly respected rabbi. No one ever knew that this had ever happened. Grandfather had started studies in becoming a rabbi soon after high school in 1963. This never came up at any point. He married my late grandmother in the late 1960s and gave birth to my father, raising him on strict Jewish principles. To say everyone in the room was stunned would be an understatement.

"Look, boychik is happily in love with this sweet girl. I don't want to hear you whine about disowning or anything negative. She deserves respect as much as anyone else. Now if you can't accept it, maybe you're the one who needs to learn about acceptance. I will make sure you remember it. So, either let young Andy and this girl enjoy themselves or you'll be the one disowned." My grandfather scowled. My father relented and left the room. My mother soon followed.

My grandfather caught his breath and turned to Venus and I. "Boychik, I've never told a soul about 60 years ago, but who would I to be have been with a girl like her 60 years ago and not be supportive of you. I never held it against Daisy. I hope you two love each other, because the day I saw her at the beach I was just as smitten as you were. I knew the second you walked in the door after school what kind of girl you had seen. That smile was undeniable. Same one I had when I saw Daisy. Now, it's late. Go be a gentleman and bring her home for tonight. You are excused from any services this shabbos. You can hang out all weekend. Enjoy it. I'll be asleep when you get back."

Venus wasted no time kissing me again, even in front of my grandfather. My grandfather just smiled and headed back to his armchair. I turned to Venus.

"Ready to go?" I asked her.

"After I do this." she said. She took out fresh lipstick from her purse and then kissed me as hard as she could before we walked out the door.

----

A couple months later, Venus and I were accepted to Kean University for the same mathematics program. We were super excited. We knew in the fall our future would be together. My parents finally came around. I think my grandfather did the job when he chewed out my father. Unfortunately, Jack Martinson, rabbi and loving grandfather, passed away a couple weeks after the night he accepted Venus at age 78. I like to think that his spirit was waiting to tell the story he had repressed for 60 years before letting his body go. I'll miss you grandfather, thank you so much.

A couple nights after he passed, my parents announced they had rented a place in Wildwood for Venus and I for the summer. My grandfather had left a note in his will for that to happen. Thanks, grandfather.

Yesterday, Venus and I arrived. She took my virginity that night and I could not have been happier. On the floor was a pair of blue jeans, the same she wore the day I met her.