SOLVED. YA realistic fiction about a girl named Philly (that was pronunciation at least) and her androgynous friend. Read around 2014/2015. Spoilers ahead. [s]

[Liz]

This is gonna be basically the full plot just another warning: it was about this girl named Philly (or that's how you pronounced it, for some reason i remember her being named something close to Philadelphia so her name might've been nicknamed Del i can't remember) and she was known for being a trouble kid who was kind of a bully and she got it from having a lot of siblings so she didn't get a lot of attention. She at some point gets told she needs to stop getting in so much trouble and is threatened with something.

She becomes friends with this pale kid who i believe just moved into town. Philly and Them become close friends bonding over basketball. It is hinted that this person is being heavily abused by their father and having no clear gender being androgynous in appearance. they are also mute. because Philly is hanging out with them she stops getting in so much trouble and her parents give her Philly days where they spend time with just her and its very nice for her.

at the end of the book another bully of the school is bullying Philly's friend about their gender and threatens to "check", holding them down when Philly comes in and punches them. However she knows that if she gets caught they will blame her and she will lose her Philly days and something else (cant remember) so her friend who at this point is still mute shouts for the first time "RUN PHILLY" and they run away.

somehow Philly loses her friend and goes to their house to find them. earlier in the book Philly's friend shows Philly their treehouse and that's where Philly finds them curled up in a ball crying surround by "it" written on the wall. I can't remember if Philly had another friend or not in the book because I feel like it wasn't just Philly there. Anyways Philly/other friend turns the "it" into "H"s and writes "Human" in their place to show that Phillys friend was Human and that's all that mattered.

I remember that somehow Phillys friend's Dad gets exposed for abusing them and Philly sees Them watching their dad be put in a police car.

all and all a happy ending. This book absolutely haunts me i read it when i was around 5th grade and think about it a lot solely because I've never been able to remember the title and no one has seemed to have heard of it

[Becca]

True by Katherine Hannigan? The main character is called Delly.

[Rainbowheart]

Seconding Becca's suggestion. Ferris is a little girl, but the MC isn't sure of her sex at first. She's a selective mute and there's an implied abuse history.

[Liz]

Becca wrote: "True by Katherine Hannigan? The main character is called Delly."

Thank you!! I think this is the book!! you've made me so happy