I had a friend, I'll call him L. I had been friends(?) with him for years. It hurts a lot to think about now. He had told me my interests were weird, and what I should do to fit in. Then my interests became 'popular subculture', at least that is what my sibling said. I'm not even sure anymore of my own reality. I didn't even wear what I actually wanted to wear because he said it would get me socially ousted. I stood with him through his transition, detransition, and bounce between identities. But mine was never valid in his eyes; I'm non binary and aroace- I don't count. (Or I do? I don't know. I can't talk about it because of family. I tried to talk about it with family and they used his history of transition to put down his character.) I was friends with him through elementary, middle school, and his final year of high-school. I should've graduated with him, but I was held back... so it was closer to that entire time. I had to find out the lies he told when his bf confronted me.