Beautiful Soul

I wandered the halls aimlessly, wondering where to even go. I had both my suitcase and my backpack. I honestly looked and felt lost. I had nowhere to go. I sighed, before coming up with an idea that may work. I could always sleep in the emergency wing. No one was there at the moment, considering no one was actually hurt.

I walked around, searching for the place. I had never actually been there, nor did I know where it was. I heard a noise behind me. I turned to look, seeing nothing. ‘That was strange.’ I thought, turning back to look in front of me. I went up another hall, turning right as I hit the next. Ahead of me was the hospital wing.

I snuck in, the door closing soundlessly behind me. They really should have doors like that everywhere in these buildings. It’d be so much quieter. There were rows of beds covered by hospital curtains. I went to the one that was the furthest back. I closed the curtain behind me, hoping no one would check them in the morning.

I made the decision not to change my clothes for the night, considering I was in a hospital wing. I’d just have to get up early in the morning and possibly sneak back to the room. That was my only choice at this point.

I sat on the bed, noticing how uncomfortably it was. It was hardly even soft at all. I set my alarm on my phone for six before placing it on the nightstand beside the bed. I looked down to my hand, noticing the burn. There were small blisters forming where the coffee had spilled, and the back of my hand was all red. I’d have to deal with it.

I laid back on the bed, grabbing the blanket from beneath me. The blanket felt very thin and like it wouldn’t do much for warmth. I sighed. This was so frustrating. Ander would never have this happen to him. He would fit in right away. It would take someone bossing him around like I have already done. I acted the total opposite of Ander.

Soon enough trapped in my thoughts, I drifted off to sleep, letting my dreams take control.

---

-Lee Am’s Point of View-

I watched him as he wondered around the halls. I wasn’t exactly sure where he had planned on going, but I followed.

“Alexandri-er. I mean, Alexander.” “Most of you don’t know me. I came here from Oregon. My random fact would have to be that I have a twin sister.” “Alexandria looks exactly like me.” I remembered him saying this. It’s what made me suspicious about him in the first place. I wasn’t for sure yet, but I had to figure out.

I accidently dropped my bag, instantly hiding myself from sight. He looked back, but continued on without checking if anyone was following him. He entered the hospital wing shortly after. Why was he going in there? The door closed shortly behind him. I waited for a couple seconds before entering myself.

He went to the back, closing the blue curtain behind him as he entered the area. I peaked in subtly, watching him until he dosed off. He looked peaceful, but uncomfortable. I entered the area, walking toward the bed where he was laying. How would I either confirm or deny my suspicious? I couldn’t think of a good way to do so.

His phone buzzed a little, but not enough to wake him up. I glanced at the phone, seeing a text. It said, ‘From Ander’ Ander? I looked at the phone, and it confirmed my suspicions. I read the text, which stated, ‘Do not let anyone else figure out you are a girl. And be careful.’

I looked up from the text, coping with that I just confirmed. I was somewhat shocked, yet I wasn’t at the same time. I put her phone back on the side table exactly where it was before. I looked at her, noticing her pale complexion. She was beautiful in her own way. Her lips were slightly plump, and were a soft pink color. There was a small amount of drool on her chin. I chuckled softly. Her short, black hair was in her eyes as she slept. Her face was faintly oval shaped. I grabbed my phone from the pocket, quickly taking a picture of the way she looked. This was the first moment I realized that she was actually a girl.

I looked down toward her hand, noticing a few tiny blisters, and how red it looked. She’d burned herself. I walked to the front of the medical wing and grabbed a small bandage to wrap her hand with. I wrapped her hand gently, trying my best not to wake her.

Once I had finished wrapping her wound securely, knowing I had been gone from my dorm for too long, I made my way back. I took my time, remembering how she looked. So peaceful. I wouldn’t tell her that I knew, knowing it would increase the chances of her being ousted.

The thing I was curious about was who else knew, and why she had to be careful. Was there someone after her? That was a little far-fetched, but it still worried me a bit.

---

-Alex-

I woke the next morning almost as stiff as a board. My back ached from sleeping in the hospital bed. I grabbed my phone from the bedside table, noticing a bandage on the hand that was blistered. Had a doctor came in? I sat up quickly as I saw the time. Seven thirty. I rushed all my things together, walking out of the area. I saw a few nurses watching me. It felt like some sort of walk of shame.

A guy in a white coat, a doctor is what I presumed, walked in front of me at last minute. I came to a complete stop, trying to avoid bumping into him. He stared at me.

“May I help you?” I asked, feeling bad after realizing how snobby it sounded.

“Why were you sleeping here?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I breathed in, “I thought that it would be better than my dorm.” I said, giving him a fake smile.

“Why?” he asked.

“Well, there’s really no reason. I just wanted to try it out.” I said, lying once again.I could tell he didn’t believe me.

“Alright, now what’s the real reason?” he asked, giving me a look.

I sighed, deciding to just tell the truth, “My dorm mate doesn’t want me living in the dorm.” I said, looking away.

“Ah, I see. We’ve had that problem in this school a few times. No one has actually ever slept in here because of it, but we can fix it.” He said, glancing at my hand. “What happened there? Did you wrap your hand up with one of our bandages?” he asked. He hadn’t wrapped it? If he didn’t, then who did? He grabbed my hand carefully, but it still hurt.

I winced a little, “Oh, it’s nothing. Just a small cut.” I lied, taking my hand back. He grabbed it again, which hurt worse than the first time he grabbed it. I gasped.

“Now I can tell that’s a lie.” He said, referring to my gasp. “If it was really nothing, you wouldn’t have gasped like that when I touched it.” Without my permission, the doctor unwrapped the bandage, pulling it away from my hand. My hand was a dark pink color, and the blisters were a little worse than they were the previous night.

“Well, this here looks like a first degree burn. It’s not quite a second degree burn, but it was close to it. It’s unusual, but not rare to see blisters at this point. That is why I am estimating that it was close to a second degree burn. I imagine from your gasp that you are in some pain, am I correct?” he asked, looking away from the burn to look at me.

“A little.” I said. I could feel my hand shaking from the pain, hoping it was normal.

“It should be fine with some antibiotic gel and some pain relievers if you really need them.” He said, looking back toward the burn. He inspected it a little longer, before taking me back to a room for a small treatment. He applied some antibiotics to the burn, which hurt like hell, but I survived.

“We can fix this little dorm problem too, if you want.” The doctor said, looking at me as he wrapped a bandage around my burn.

“Oh, no, I’ll be fine. I’m going back there after I get done here. I’m hoping he’s cooled down a little.” I said, not even realizing how much I had been talking.

I left the medical wing with a small tube of antibiotics, a few bandages, and some pain medication. He told me to take two anytime I felt an immense amount of pain. I was not to take it unless I absolutely need it. For the antibiotics, he told me to apply it every six hours. As soon as I left, I took the medicine, knowing I’d need it. I didn’t expect for the coffee to leave such a bad burn, but it did. It surprised me a little.

I walked myself to my room, holding my suitcase in hand, and my backpack on my back. I opened the door – again, he hadn’t locked it- and entered. He wasn’t there, nor was he in the shower. Great. Perfect time for me to take a shower.

I grabbed a Seether shirt from my suitcase, followed by a pair of skinny jeans, and the same combat boots I’d wore yesterday. There were four towels in the bathroom. Two on the floor, and two hanging on a rack. I grabbed one of the two that were hanging up, definitely not wanting to use one of Holden’s towels.

I started by peeling off the wrinkled band shirt of Anders. I lifted it over my head, tossing beside the shower. I took my shoes off next, placing them directly beside the toilet. The door rattled as someone tried to enter. It was Holden.

I bit my lip, thanking myself for locking the door. I turned on the shower, hoping that would make him to leave.

“Hey, stupid, why are you back? I thought I told you to leave?” he yelled over the shower, which surprised me.

I tried my best to ignore him as I got into the shower. I shampooed my hair as quickly as I could only to avoid any awkward run ins. I got out after five minutes, shutting the water off behind me. Holden wasn’t there anymore, or at least he wasn’t yelling. I grabbed my towel, drying off within seconds.

After putting my clothes on, I exited the bathroom with the towel over my shoulders. Holden was no longer in the room. It was nine thirty-three, which meant he was most likely in the middle of our English class. I decided on leaving my things in the dorm, before walking to the English room.

When I arrived to English, there were only about twenty minutes left of the class. There were many students who stared at me as I entered, some even chuckled. I felt like I was some kind of fresh meat since I was the new guy. Girl. I longed for it not to be like this all year.

“So, you are finally deciding to show up? Where were you? Did you sleep late?” Mr. Rosenberg bombarded me with questions, placing his hands in his pants pockets. He leaned against his podium as he waited for my reply. I felt like he was waiting for me to come up with some excuse, or something.

I held up my hand showing him the bandaged burn. I glanced back at Holden, who was staring out the window like he did yesterday. He must have daydreamed a lot.

“I had a burn that needed treatment.” I said, not even shy about letting everyone in the room know. It wasn’t embarrassing, so I didn’t really mind.

Holden was watching me at this point, just like the other students. I did the same with him as I did with the rest of the students. I ignored him.

“If you do not mind me asking, how did it happen?” he asked me.

“Just I coffee spill.” I answered, my gaze traveling back to Holden. He looked somewhat shocked, but he hid it well to where it wasn’t extremely noticeable.

“Well, I am sorry to hear that.” he apologized, continuing shortly after, “We picked parts for Romeo and Juliet while you were out.” he said, twisting around to pull a paper from the top of his podium. “You have been chosen to play the part of…” he took his time searching through the list. I was fine with being anyone except for Juliet. It’d be too risky. “Juliet.” he finished, nodding shortly after.

I immediately sat at my desk, embarrassed only because I was pretending to be a girl for my brother’s sake. How would Ander feel in the situation? I highly doubt he would feel anything less of what I was feeling. It would probably be more embarrassing for him, considering he was actually a guy. I could see smirks on some of their faces, along with snickering coming from others.

Ten minutes left of embarrassment. That’s all. Rosenberg continued on with his lecture, reminding us that we would start reading the playwright tomorrow. I was incredibly nervous for this.

A few minutes after, I started feeling slightly dizzy. I tried my hardest to ignore the feeling, knowing I had to continue through the day. The bell rang, gesturing the end of English. The end of my embarrassment, for today at least. I stood up quickly, regretting it shortly after. I had a major head rush instantly. It must have been a side effect of the pain relievers.

I felt drowsy as Lee Am and I walked our way to Music Education. I could feel myself stumbling.

“Alex, are you okay?” Lee Am asked. My eyes felt dry.

“Y-yeah, I’m perfecty fine.” I said, not even realizing that I messed up on my words, or that I was stuttering.

“Uh-huh, sure you are.” He said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I’ve never heard of someone being perfecty fine.” He said, but I could hardly understand him. The effects of the pain medication were so intense.

Before I knew it, I fell, landing directly in Lee Am’s arms.

---

-Lee Am-

She fell almost instantaneously into my arms. She. It felt weird to actually hear the word she. I never considered the fact that a girl could actually sneak into an all boy’s school, but we had living proof that it could happen. She was the proof.

I held her in my arms as people walked by staring at the two of us. I needed to take her somewhere. I had no clue what was wrong with her. It seemed as though she had been drugged, or taken something. Pain relievers! That had to be it! She had talked earlier about her needing treatment for her burn. The doctor must have given her pain medication for the pain. She should’ve known better than to take any kind of pain medication that had a sleep aid in it, which I assumed she did.

She mumbled something, but I wasn’t quite sure what she said. She was still awake, which was good, but she wasn’t herself. It didn’t seem as though she could walk. To prevent any accidents, I dragged her carefully over to the side of the hallway, waiting for the hall to clear out before taking her anywhere.

By the time the hallway cleared, Alexander was asleep. Alexandria. Considering we were closer to her dorm rather than the medical wing, I decided on taking her there. I lifted her into my arms gently feeling hardly any weight at all. She was quite tiny. It didn’t really surprise me how little she weighed. She was so light. Her head hung back as she slept in my arms. Her mouth was open to where I could hear gentle breaths coming out as she breathed. This was the second time I had watched her sleep. Second time in two days.

I walked with her in my arms back to her dorm. Opening the doors was the hard part, but it wasn’t impossible to do. I reached the door of the dorm, first checking if it was unlocked. It was. They really need to lock it. I entered the dorm, closing the door softly behind me with my foot. Making my way over to one of the beds, I laid her down gently. Considering I didn’t know which bed was hers, I put her in the one that was closest to the door. Holden would probably throw a fit if it was his bed, but that didn’t matter to me. Holden was a jerk to most people, and didn’t pay attention to rest.

I looked around the room, noticing that Alex had yet to unpack her things. Holden had his things unpacked, but she didn’t. Maybe that’s the reason she had slept in the hospital wing last night. Maybe he had kicked her out, or something.

The door closed with a slam. I turned, Holden coming into my view. Why wasn’t he in class? He was probably skipping out on Music Education.

“Why are you in here?” he asked, a harsh tone in his voice.

“Why aren’t you in class?” I replied almost immediately.

We stared at each other for what seem like forever. He glanced past me, looking at Alex. He looked back at me.

“What’s wrong with him?” he asked, not even sounding slightly concerned.

“Pain meds. It’s for her hand.” I said.

“Her?” Holden asked, raising an eyebrow. My eyes widened. Had I really just said that? Did I really just say her?

“I meant him. Not her. It was an accident.” I said, covering up my mistake.

“Whatever, just take him back to your room, or something. All he does is mess things up.” he said, turning to his desk. He sat down looking over some music sheets.

“I highly doubt Alex is all that bad.” I said, defending her. She was sweet, and kind. Holden was someone who obviously only could see the flaws in people. Holden and I never really got along. We usually just ignored each other, but there were a few times we had argued. I didn’t hate him, I just didn’t particularly like him. He was a star at this school, and I think that got to him. It made his ego swell.

“He is, you wouldn’t know.” He replied back.

“No, I think you just haven’t given him a chance. He’s really a good guy, but you can’t see that because you are too stuck on yourself and your little record deal. You do realize that he got that coffee burn from trying to do something nice for you, don’t you? He’s trying to get you to accept him, but you can’t do that because you’re too full of yourself to realize anything.” I ranted, remembering the talk Alex and I had the last few minutes of English. “He’s going to stay here, and there’s really nothing you can do about it. You can’t tell him to leave.” I finished my rant at that.

Holden glared at me, “And who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do?” he asked, smirking a little.

“Oh, I can’t tell you anything, but I’m sure if the head of the academy found out, he’d surely take my side over yours, and you know that.” I answered, grinning.

“Blackmailing by using your father. I see how it is.” Holden started, “Fine, but don’t expect me to be nice to him. I’ll let him stay.” he finished, looking back down at his music. “You can leave now.” he said.

“In a minute.” I walked over to Holden’s desk, grabbing a stick note from his pile. Holden glared, but I ignored him, picking up one of his pens. I wrote my cell phone number along with my name on it, and placed it on Alex’s desk.

I started for the door, but Holden stopped me, “My pen.” He stated. I moved the pen trough my fingers, turning back.

I threw the pen toward him, “Head’s up.” I said, after throwing the pen. Holden barely caught it. I chuckled.