Caught Up In You

August 20th, 2011
Location: NY, New York
11:53 PM

“So, let me get this straight. You received a letter from the school, but they mistook you for a male?” Pacey asked, tensing his body a little.

I shrugged.

“Well, if you were given a letter from a female school, where you would have a chance to be around girls all the time, would you go?” I asked, realizing how stupid that sounded.

He smiled contemptuously.

“Actually…no. I wouldn’t,” He replied, lying on my bed. “I mean, no offense, but I prefer not being around a million hormonally crazed girls that bleed every month and are complete bitches to everything that moves.”

I scoffed, pretending to be offended, and walked into my closet so I could change into basketball shorts and an oversized shirt.

“Um, Drew?” Pacey asked.

“Yes Pacey?”

“What are you doing in the closet?”

I grinned.

“I’m changing. I think you’ve already seen enough of me already,” I said.

I could hear him chuckling.

“How long do you think you can pull this off?” He asked when I had walked out of the closet completely clothed.

“Honestly, not very long. I mean, you’ve already figured it out. But then again, you just happened to walk in at a bad time,” I replied.

“Well, it wasn’t all that bad,” Pacey said provocatively.

I punched him lightly on the shoulder.

“Shut up!” I said, laughing.

I grabbed my brush from my suitcase and began to untangle my hair. I heard the main door open and a couple of people walking in.

“Well, I guess that’s my cue to leave,” he said, getting off my bed and walking towards the hallway.

“Wait, Pacey?” I asked, motioning him to come in.

“Yeah?” He said, raising his eyebrow in curiosity.

“Could you…maybe try not to tell anyone about …. my situation?” I suggested.

“No problem. See you in the morning,” he said, walking out.

“Hey man, you’re … Drew, right?” Another new face asked. He wore designer jeans that flared out at the end and showed his bright red and white shoes. He was wearing a dark navy blue shirt under a black vest. What was with all the rich guys in my dorm?

“Yeah, and you’re Tristan,” I said positively.

“Yeah, well I’ll see you later. I’m tired as hell,” he said and walked off.

Smiling to myself, I closed my door. Turning off my light, I sprinted to my bed. I’ve always been hopelessly terrified of the dark. I rotated to my side and looked out of the window. The moon was out, and everything was perfect. Stars were shining, building lights were just being extinguished, and I finally felt it.

This was my next step.

I wasn’t in Wyoming anymore. I was in New York, one of the most popular places in the country. And in order to actually achieve my goals, I was going to have to work harder.

September 23rd, 2011
Location: Marners’ Academy
2:41 PM

A month had passed since I met Pacey, and things at the boarding school were actually going quite well. For one, no one knew about my secret and I was planning on keeping it that way. And for another, I had finally learned how to set my voice low enough so it didn’t sound stupid. People actually believed I was a guy.

However, I was drowning in the deluge of homework. We had only been in school three weeks and teachers were handing out essays, book reports, assignments, and math homework every single day. Carrying my backpack with me to the elevator, I noticed Logan in the administration office.

Logan and I had actually hit it off pretty well. We played video games every night, talked about girls, and attempted to make dinner for our roommates. Although I wasn’t the best cook in town, I could at least make cereal and pancakes. Logan, on the other hand, was like our own gourmet chef. It was really helpful to come home to lasagna after an extremely stressful day of studying.

Anyway, instead of proceeding to the elevator, I walked into the office and sat next to Logan.

“Oh..hey,” he said despondently.

“Why are you in here?” I asked.

Logan looked at me, but I could sense fear in his eyes.

“You know that my sister goes to the academy next door, right?” He started to say. I nodded and waited for him to continue. “Well, I caught a guy talking about her today. He said he had seen her across the courtyard and had talked to her a couple of times and that he was going to get into her pants,” his jaw line became more defined when he paused. “When I told him to stop talking about her, he didn’t. He kept saying it over and over. I couldn’t take it. I mean, that’s my sister. I’m supposed to be protecting her. So, I made sure he doesn't talk about her anymore.”

“You punched him?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes, and that is why I’m here. I’ll probably get suspended for a couple of days,” he said, not really seeming to care.

“They won’t send you home, will they?” I asked.

“No, they’ll just make sure I stay in the dorm. But hey, I’m fine with that,” he said.

But I knew Logan. I knew he wasn’t fine.

I didn’t know what else to say though, so I grabbed my bag and stood up. “Try not to get in any more trouble, okay?” I asked. Logan just nodded. When the headmaster called him in, Logan grinned, but I just knew it wasn’t going to end well.

I sighed and walked up to my dorm. To my surprise, I saw Pacey sitting on the couch playing video games when I had opened the door.

“Are you aware of how much homework we have?” I asked, sounding like his mother. I didn’t care though. He already knew my secret. It wasn’t a huge deal to me.

“Already done,” he said tonelessly, pressing countless buttons on the controller.

“Well, in that case…. Could you…. Maybe….”

“No Drew. I will not help you finish your math homework,” he said, scoffing at me, but still managing to keep his focus on the screen.

I frowned.

It was ridiculous how well Pacey had gotten to know me in the past month. I mean, we weren’t best friends. We had contradicting personalities. Okay, we had personalities so vast in difference that we couldn’t even handle being in the same room together for more than 45 minutes. But we were friends. Pacey and I were like siblings. We acted like we hated each other. But if something went wrong, we would be there in a second to help one another out.

I stomped over to him, pretending to pout.

“Pacey, please?” I asked, sticking my bottom lip out. When he didn’t respond, I hopped in front of the television screen and blocked his game.

“Drew! Get out of my way!” He yelled.

I giggled.

“No,” I said, sounding like a toddler.

“Drew, I swear. If you don’t get out of the way, you’re going to pay for it,” he glared at me.

Even when he was angry he was absolutely adorable.

I shook my last thought off.

“You have three seconds to get out of the way,” he began.

I put one hand on my hip and rolled my eyes.

“One,” Pacey said, throwing his controller on the ground.

I smiled. I mean, what was the worst he could do? Tackle me?

“Two,” he stood up from the couch. I inhaled and waited for his next move.

“THREE!” Pacey ran around the coffee table and began chasing me. I dropped my bag to the floor, making an attempt to trip him.

He simply jumped over it and stumbled towards me.

“I’m going to get you Drew!” He yelled. Although I was fast, I had to admit, he was faster, and he was gaining speed. I made a stupid choice and ran into the hallway, forgetting that there was no way out. Pacey chuckled and was soon right behind me. I ran into his room and tried to shut the door before he sprinted in. However, I was too slow, and he toppled over me, making both of us fall to the ground.

When I opened my eyes, I realized he was on top of me. He didn’t move though, so I was stuck.

“What was the point of chasing me?” I asked.

“What was the point of running?” He replied.

I sighed.

“Can you help me with my homework now?” I asked.

Pacey straightened his lips into a line.

“I can’t Drew,” he said.

“Playing your stupid video game is not an excuse!” I said, getting angry.

“I actually have something going on tonight. And my video games are not stupid!”

“Fine, then what’s this plan? Where in the world could you be going that’s more important than staying here and helping me?” I asked.

Pacey winced and got off of me.

He lent a hand and helped me up.

“If you must know, I have a date,” he stated.

“Oh,” I said, sounding more disappointed than I intended.

“Is Drew jealous?” Pacey asked, sitting on his bed.

“Well, no, it’s just, I don’t understand the math we were assigned,” I said. What a lame excuse. I didn’t think I had a crush on Pacey, but when he stated he had a date, my heart dropped.

“Whatever, I got to go. I’m going to be late. If you need help later, I’ll be here,” he said.

I walked out of his room frowning. “Thanks,” I said.

What was going on with me?