Beautiful Soul

“Well, go in!” The coach looked at me as if I were stupid. I nodded slowly, turning back to the door. I opened it, walking in. There was a wall in front of me and a choice to turn right or left.

“Now, you’re the new guy, eh?” the coach loud voice said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I jumped again. “Jumpy little thing, now ain’t ya? It’s like you’re hiding somthin’. What, you aren’t a girl, are ya?” He said, and my eyes widened. I didn’t reply, which seemed to make him a tad suspicious.

“How could that be, sir?” I laughed nervously, hoping he’d laugh along with me. He did, thank God.

“It’s coach to you. And that would be nearly impossible.” Nearly. He laughed again, which made me relax a little. “Now, we need to get you a pair of gym clothes, don’t we?” He ended most of his sentences with questions, which bugged me a little. I nodded, really not wanting to even touch any gym clothes.

Coach Burton led me to his office, passing a hand full of guys who were in the middle of dressing. I looked away. I couldn’t look. I wouldn’t look. I really didn’t want to look. He walked in, and searched for a shirt, sweatpants, shorts, and a hoodie. He tossed them in my direction, and I quickly caught them to avoid being yet again laughed at. There were many guys watching as he gave me the clothes.

I started to walk out of his office before he stopped me, “Don’t forget the trunks.” He said. I froze. Trunks? As in swimming trunks? I closed my eyes, turning back in the direction of the coach. “Trunks?” I said aloud.

Burton nodded, “Yep. For our swimming unit in the spring.” he explained, holding out the swim ware. I took it from his hands, before walking out. How would I get out of that?

I walked toward the bathroom, spotting Lee Am beside one of the lockers. I hurried past him to avoid the awkward run-in. It wouldn’t be awkward to him, but it would to me.

I opened the bathroom door, instantly running into Holden. He was shirtless, with only shorts on. He had quite an athletic build that was hard to avoid staring at. I looked away as quickly as I could, “Sorry.” I mumbled, but he walked on, ignoring me. I shook my head, continuing my way into the bathroom.

My plan was to wait in the bathroom until everyone left and then get dressed, that way no one would see me.

After about five minutes of waiting, the coach called the boys out, which was my signal to go get dressed. I closed the stall door after exiting, leaving the bathroom shortly after. I crossed to the left side, deciding on that side to get dressed on.

I switched my pants first, putting on the sweats only because I was more comfortable wearing them than the shorts. In addition to that, I had rather girlish legs. I grabbed the bottom of my shirt in my hands, lifting it over my head. My wrap was still secure, and was quite tight. I resituated it into a more comfortable position.

A small noise came from the other side of the lockers, and I jumped. I looked through the holes in the lockers hoping to see something, but I didn’t. I turned my gaze to the right, and there stood Oliver. I gave off a tiny scream, not expecting him to be there. This wasn’t good.

I stared at him in shock. I couldn’t believe this was happening right now. On the first day too. How could it be? He looked at me, looking me up and down. I covered myself up, feeling self-conscious. I could tell he was somewhat shocked, too.

“I came here to play a joke on you, and I figure this out. You’re a girl.” He said, edging his way closer.

“Please, don’t tell anyone. I’m doing it for a good reason, trust me. I-“ he cut me off.

“So do you really have a twin sister, or is that a lie, too?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, but I-” I started, but he cut me off again.

“What’s your real name?” he asked, edging closer with every question he asked. I felt as though he was interrogating me. I inched backward each time.

“Alexandria.” I said, not even daring to say anything else, knowing he’d interrupt if I did.

He edged closer, a little too close for my comfort, “How do you think everyone else will react to this? You know you won’t be able to stay.

I hit the wall of the locker room, looking beside me. I was trapped between him and the wall. There was no way out.

“P-please, I’m begging you, do not say anything.” I pleaded, a huge part of me hoping that he wouldn’t. It would ruin Alexander’s whole dream.

“Why’d you do it?” he asked, still making his way closer.

“I-I did it for my brother. He’s m-my twin. It’s been his dream for so long. He c-can’t walk because of an accident.” I explained myself, hoping he’d understand. He was right next to me at this point. I fiddled with my shirt to get it on, but it fell to the ground. I tried to lean down to grab it, but Oliver slid it away with his foot. I was truly scared for my life.

“Hm, okay. I won’t say anything,” he said, and I felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulder, “One one condition,” he started back up, which made my stomach twist in knots. I covered myself with my arms as he continued, “You do what I say while you’re here.” He finished, making his side of the deal. All I had to do was accept, but I found it hard. I never know what he’d ask for, nor when. I thought about it for a moment, taking my time in answering.

Oliver placed his hands on either side of my head, looking me straight in the eyes, “Is it a deal, or no deal?” he asked. He played this off like it was some sort of game show. I gulped lightly, looking in his eyes. They looked evil, almost full of greed.

I nodded.

“No. Say it aloud. Is it a deal?” he commanded, turning his head to the side.

“Yes, it’s a deal.” I said, sighing. I really didn’t want this, but I had no choice. I had to obey in order to keep my secret.

Oliver backed away, “Great, then we have a deal. I’ll keep your little secret from the school, as long as you do what I say.” he smirked, turning away.

He started to leave, but turned back, “Oh, and one more thing,” he started, “You’re sister is cute, Alex.” he said before turning back to leave. It took me a minute to realize this, but he was actually talking about me. It scared me a little.

I grabbed my shirt from the ground, pulling it over my head. I really wished I would have changed in the bathroom. I was mentally hitting myself for not even thinking of it. How could I have been so stupid? I must be incredibly ignorant to have been caught on the first day.

After changing back into my original clothes, I walked out of the locker room. The guys were running laps. Lee Am spotted me, waving and giving a smile. I gave him a half-smile.

I walked to where Coach Burton was, as I decided on telling him that I was throwing up. I honestly didn’t feel too hot. I knew it was my nerves.

Coach spotted me and instantly I could tell he was angry, “Why are ya in your normal clothes?” he asked, a frown on his face.

“I, well, threw up down there. I wasn’t feeling too good, so I went to the bathroom, and it just kind of happened.” I replied, lying through my teeth.

He gave me a suspicious look, “Is this just to get out of gym?” he asked.

I shook my head, “No, Coach, I promise.” I said, putting on hand up.

He shook his head, “’Ight, fine, but I expect you to run an extra couple laps tomorrow, ya hear me?!” he said, raising his voice a little. I nodded, sitting on the small bench that was beside the doors.

Oliver watched me, smirking. His friends were obviously talking to him, but he ignore them, which I was trying to do with Oliver.

It seemed like P.E. took ages to end. I hoped that it wasn’t like that every day. It would be horrible. After running, the guys played a small game of football to ease out their muscles, as Burton said. I felt as though Oliver was watching me the whole time, it I knew he wasn’t. He would take not-so-subtle glances toward me about every five minutes, but kept his head in the game.

I left the class before anyone else, not wanting to run into Oliver.

---

The rest of the day dragged on slowly, almost purposely taking it’s time. By the end of the day, I was completely worn out from all the learning, even though it was the first day. Come to find out, I had a total of five classes with Holden, and four with Lee Am.

The bad thing was that Alexander was excellent in math, and I wasn’t. He was placed in Advanced Trigonometry, which I hardly knew how to say or spell. I’d never learned anything close to it in my previous years of math. The farthest I’d gotten was to Algebra Two, which I hardly passed. One good thing was that Oliver was only in two of my classes, which I was thankful for.

---

I slowly walked to my dorm, hoping that Holden wouldn’t be in there. I needed a minute to rest on my own, and possibly take a shower. I walked in the room, looking around. The room showed no sign of Holden. I sighed out of relief.

I took my suitcase off of my temporary bed, placing my backpack beside it, plopping on my bed the moment I finished. I sighed. It had been a rough day, and I was glad I got to rest.

The door opened a moment later, and Holden walked in. I looked at him as he entered, although my look was more of a stare. I was waiting for him to say something to me, or ask if I had the room situation figured out, but he didn’t. He completely ignored me, walking over to his bed. He stripped his shirt off, tossing it toward the bed, and I instantly turned my head to face the wall next to me. He hadn’t even acknowledged the fact that I was there. It wasn’t like I even cared all that much. Or maybe I really did.

No. I couldn’t let myself think like that. I don’t care, nor will I ever.

I kept my head towards the wall out of habit, wondering if he had even noticed I turned my head. I was hoping he would leave the dorm, or at least go into the bathroom. He didn’t. I looked at my phone, checking the time. Ander was supposed to call me at seven, and it was six thirty. I wanted to be able to talk to him in the dorm, but the chances of that were slim.

I got up to leave. “Where are you going?”I heard from Holden. I was surprised when I heard his voice mostly because he ignored me when he entered the room. I didn’t even think he knew I was there.

‘Like you really care.’ I thought, but I didn’t have the guts to actually say it. ‘Maybe I found a new dorm and that’s where I am going.’ I also thought, but was, again, too afraid to say anything.

“I have to call my sister.” I somewhat lied when I said this, considering I didn’t’ actually have a sister. I did have a brother though, and that was who I was calling. I held my phone in my hand, not turning around. I waited for his reply to come, but it never did. Why did he even ask, then?

I left the room, walking to a secluded area, which happened to be by a coffee machine. There were only a few minutes until seven. I really hoped that Ander would call on time. I didn’t know how long we’d talk, and I didn’t want to stay out of the dorm for very long.

My phone rang, giving off a little buzz. I had put my phone on vibrate during class, and I never change that. I looked at the screen on my phone. It showed a picture of Ander and me together a few months ago. I still had my long hair, and he had his normal hairstyle. I missed him. He had called a little earlier than he said he would.

“Hey.” I answered as nonchalantly as I could, which was hard. I was holding in my excitement. I was really happy to hear from him, but at the same time it made me a little sad. His voice was all I had for the next three months. There was no way of seeing him, unless he visited the city, but that was risky.

“Hey, Alex! How’s it going?” he asked, not even trying to hide the excitement in his voice. I smiled once I heard his voice, no longer wanting to hide my excitement either.

“It’s going okay, I guess.” I paused for a minute, “I have something bad to tell you.” I really didn’t even want to mention the incident that happened earlier, but I had to. It jeopardized me being at the academy for him. If it were to around the school that I was a girl, it would completely ruin Alexander’s chances of ever becoming a professional drummer. I didn’t want that to happen.

“Oh God, Lex! What did you do?” Ander asked, and I could no longer feel excitement from him. I felt horrible.

“Just please don’t yell for this.” I looked around the area to make sure there wasn’t anyone in hearing distance before continuing, “Someone found out.” I closed my eyes waiting for Alexander to start yelling at me about how careless I was.

“Gee, Lex, I-” he paused to sigh, “I just can’t believe someone already figured out. How did it happen and who was it?” he asked. He was being oddly rationale about it. I was honestly surprised he hadn’t yelled.

“It happened in gym. I waited until everyone was out of the locker room to change, and I thought they all were gone, but there was one guy still in there.” I paused for a minute, looking around. Still no one, “His name is Oliver. We have two classes together. He told me he would tell on one condition.” I stopped, not wanting to go on.

“What’s the condition? Tell me!” Ander urged me on. I had to go on.

“It was just to do whatever he wanted until I left. It’s really no big deal.” I said, trying to make it sound better than it actually was.

He sighed, “It’s bigger of a deal than you think, Alex. You never know what he could want, especially since you are a girl.” he hinted. I shook my head.

“Ander, I can handle this. I’ll be fine. Please just trust me with this.” I said, giving my own sigh.

“Fine, just-” he stopped, continuing after a few second of silence, “just be careful.” He said, being protective. I loved how much he cared.

“I will.” I said, quietly, giving a half-smile.

“So, anything else exciting happen?” he asked, returning to his happy self.

“No, not really. Only what I just told you.” I breathed a laugh, deciding not to tell him about Holden. He’d just be even more worried than he already was. The Holden situation wasn’t as big as the Oliver situation.

“Okay, I’ll believe you this time, but next time, it will be completely different.” He joked, or at least I hoped he was joking.

I laughed again, “Alright, And, I get it.” I said, shaking my head.

“Listen, the nurse is coming in like two minutes, so I’m going to have to let you go. In all seriousness, be extremely careful and take care of yourself. I don’t want anything happening to you. Love you.” he said, being that protective brother again. I loved how Ander could be like that. One minute he’s joking, and the next he’s completely serious.

“I will. Love you, too, And.” I said. He hung up shortly after, as did I. I truly missed him even though it was just yesterday that I had seen him.

I breathed in deeply, walking over to the coffee machine beside me. I didn’t really need the coffee, but I felt the need to get it. I grabbed a cup, placing it under the spout. I pressed the button signaling the decaf coffee. It poured into my cup until I let go of the button. I grabbed an extra cup, doing the same thing. I decided to be nice and grab Holden a cup while I was there.

I carried both cups back to the room. They were both hot, which I could tell from the steam rising above each. I was careful with my steps, taking each on slowly and gently to avoid any accidents. As I approached the dorm, I placed my cup of coffee on the ground, turning the doorknob right to open it. Surprisingly, Holden had left it unlocked. I entered, picking up my coffee. My stuff still hadn’t been unpacked, so my desk was empty were I had sat my cup.

The shower was going once again, which I assumed was Holden. Why was he taking another shower? He had just taken one the morning. I walked over to his desk. There were music sheets on his desk filled with different notes and rhythms. I looked over noticing crumpled up sheets surrounding and in his waste bin. Was he having troubles writing?

I carefully sat the cup down on his desk, walking to his seat. I sat down, glancing at the music for a minute. I didn’t really understand it. There were lyrics below the notes. They were simple and written in perfect script. He had pretty handwriting for a guy.

I grabbed a sticky note, writing a little ‘From Alex’ on it. I stood, leaning over the desk, and placed the stick note on the cup. Before I knew it, the coffee spilled, soaking his music and burning my hand with scalding coffee. I cringed, ignoring the pain. I had to get the coffee off of the music sheets somehow.

I took the sheets, wiping them off as well as I could. The shower water came to a stop. I bit my lip. I had a maximum of two minutes to dry them off, which was nearly impossible. I waved the paper.

The bathroom door opened, and I gasped. I turned almost instantly, guarding the music sheets from his sight. I laughed nervously, “Holden, hi.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you near my desk?” he asked, coming toward me. He wasn’t fully dressed, yet again. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants and slippers.

“I was just, uh, looking at your pictures.” I lied. He gave me a suspicious look.

“There aren’t any pictures on my desk yet.” He said. I bit my lip in response. He inched closer. Oh god.

He was next to me within seconds. I grasped the papers behind my back as he shuffled past me. I turned slowly, facing him so he wouldn’t see the pages. I could feel my hand start to burn even more from the coffee. I tried my best to ignore the pain, but it was hard.

He searched around his desk, looking for the music. “Where’s my music?” he asked, but it sounded like more of a command.

“I, uh-” I cleared my throat, before holding them out, “I am so sorry. I really didn’t mean to. I feel terrible for doing it, I really do.” I swallowed hard.

He looked at me, then down to the music sheets. His jaw dropped and eyes widened, “Are you trying to ruin my career? Are you really so jealous to go and do this?” he asked me, not even paying attention to what I previously said.

“I promise you this was unintentional. I am-” he cut me off.

“Yeah, right. Unintentional, my ass.” he said. He grabbed the music sheets out of my hands. He more of tore the sheets out of my hands rather than grabbed. I was surprised they hadn’t ripped.

“Just go. Now.” He said, staring at the music.

“But, I-” he cut me off again.

“Now.” he yelled this time.