Ok. My name is Shannon. For as long as I can remember I’ve been a tomboy. I’m 14, going into 9th grade. I have hair at my shoulder blades, but I want to cut it. I wear girl’s clothes to school, but they’re mostly jeans, hoodies, flannels, and converse. I have two close girl-friends and the rest are a huge circle of guys. I never wear makeup, and I love sports, getting my hands dirty, playing rough, etc. In fact, I love who I am.

But sometimes it sucks because I’m into guys, but they never see me as anything but one of them. I get called weird for hanging out with so many. A lot of girls think I’m a slut, or a lesbian. I’m not. There’s this one guy I like, he’s my best friend. But I’m afraid that he sees me as “one of the guys” and not a girl. I identify completely as female, I just don’t fit social norms and I don’t know what to do.

I want him to notice me, but we’ve been such close friends for so long. What if it doesn’t work out and he doesn’t think I’m girly enough, like his other girlfriends were? I don’t want to change who I am: I’ve always been true to myself. But I don’t know if he’ll ever like me as anyone other than his best friend.