Months after the first visit to the parlour, Arjun met Maya and Tara at the same café where they had discussed the hostel plan.
Maya asked whether he still wanted to use the name Riya.
Arjun took a moment before answering.
"I don't know yet," he said. "Sometimes I like it. Sometimes I feel more comfortable being called Arjun. I need the freedom to explore that without being pushed."
Maya nodded. "I should have listened to you from the beginning."
Her apology did not erase everything that had happened, but it gave their relationship a chance to improve.
Arjun continued exploring his identity at his own pace. He learned that some transgender people experience a strong and lasting sense that their gender differs from the one assigned to them at birth. Others enjoy changing their appearance without identifying as transgender.
He understood that he did not need to imitate anyone else's experience.
He could choose a different name if it felt right. He could wear feminine clothes on some days and masculine clothes on others. He could also decide that certain experiments were not for him.
The important thing was that his choices were becoming his own.
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