Not One Of The Girls - Part 2

OTHER PARTS | ALL STORY LIST

As we arrived at a white door with ‘Kiera’ emblazoned on it in large gold writing, it sounded to all accounts as though there was a war going on inside. Kiera swung the door open to reveal the rest of her squad apparently in the middle of a pillow fight. Now before people’s imaginations run away with them, It wasn’t one of those ‘sexy’ pillow fights you see in the movies, there were no feathers for a start.

All four of the girls were fully clothed, they all appeared to be sporting mussed-up hair and were struggling to breathe from the exertion of it. One of the girls had even managed to trip over the bed and had fallen down the side of it, apparently making her an easier target for the other three. “Well, this is a great first impression, don’t you think girls?” Kiera asked coolly as she stepped into the room with me just behind her. A raven-haired girl with intense green eyes and an athletic build was quick to respond, “I would’ve thought most guys would enjoy walking in on a bunch of hot girls having a pillow fight”.

She smiled cynically at me before swinging her pillow at the mousy-haired girl that had fallen down the side of the bed, she had peered up over the top of the bed to watch the exchange; all I could see was her curly bangs and her bright blue eyes before the dark-haired girl thumped her with the pillow once more. I looked around and raised a questioning eyebrow at Kiera. “Oh yeah, the girls know about you.

I thought it would save some potentially awkward exchanges” was all she said as she shrugged lightly. “Right, so you told your friends about me, but not your mom?” I sneered disbelievingly. “What? I don’t have any secrets from my girls” Kiera replied indignantly as she sat cross-legged on the floor. “But you do your mom? That’s-” I shook my head stiffly, “you know what, it’s none of my business” I mumbled as I walked over to where she was sitting. “I think you’re a little overdressed for ‘most guys’ anyway” I grumbled at the raven-haired girl as I walked past her and dropped down beside Kiera.

Although she didn’t say anything, I did get a pillow launched at the back of my head, I turned to see her smirking at me as she walked past me to claim her spot on the floor. “So, introductions then…the dark-haired girl flirting with you is Emily” Kiera advised. ‘Emily’ gave me a sarcastic half-wave before digging into her bag to pull out her notebook and pens. “The blonde there is Katrina-” Kiera began, but Katrina cut her off. “Kat’s fine” she muttered as she too pulled out her notebook. I wasn’t sure if it was just my anxiety, but she seemed a little stand-offish towards me as I muttered a shy, “Hi”.

“The bouncing ball of energy there is Chloe” Kiera chuckled as the mousy-haired girl waved at me frantically whilst claiming a spot between Emily and Kat. “It’s great to meet you-” the girl chirped “you know for a guy, you’re really pretty” she simpered, causing me to blush furiously. A couple of the other girls hissed, “Chloe!” To which she just dimly responded, “What!? Oh right-” It was then her turn to blush as she looked at me bashfully and murmured, “Sorry” before gathering her own writing stuff. “Um, you already know Cass from your class, right?” Kiera finished.

I peered around the redhead to see the final girl. I ‘did’ recognize her from class, we had never actually spoken though, misinformation that the brunette was quick to correct. “We share the same classes, but we don’t actually know each other” she insisted. I just awkwardly murmured in agreement, before grabbing my textbook and starting from the beginning. After a slightly stilted start where my nervousness caused me to forget what I was saying, we finally fell into a groove.

To begin with, the girls had to keep stopping me to double-check certain facts, but as time wore on, they began to find a decent grasp of the subject as well as the philosophical debates around it. Even Chloe: the self-confessed ditz of the group, managed to mostly understand it when I explained it using social media as a platform.

About two hours into our session, we had hashed out everything the girls would need to start writing their essays. I sat back against the bedstead reading through Emily’s notes when Chloe remarked, “You know, you really are very pretty”. I hadn’t been paying much attention to the conversation around me as I was correcting Emily’s terrible spelling. “Huh?” I grunted, looking up over the top of the notebook. “I’m just still finding it hard to believe you’re actually a boy” Chloe stated quietly.

I looked around at the other girls, thinking that they might cut in as they had earlier, but they were all looking at me with the same curiosity. “Well, I am” I replied. I didn’t really know what else to say. “But you’re so pretty” Chloe purred with an almost jealous tinge. “I just have soft features” I grumbled in response, causing Emily to cackle darkly. “Can I just ask though? Have you ever dressed up as a girl?”      Chloe then inquired softly. “Uh…yeah, once…for a bet” I admitted, flushing pink as I thought back to the incident a couple of years previously.

Thinking back on it now; if I had just said no to that question, then that might have been all that was said about it but as it were… “I would really like to see what you look like dressed up” Chloe sighed “I reckon with a bit of make-up; you could give any one of us a run for her money”. There was a murmur of agreement from the other girls as Chloe stared at me in a calculating manner. I scowled slightly as I demanded,

“Chloe why are you looking at me like that?”. I turned to look at Kiera and grumbled, “Why is she looking at me like that?” I heard fingers snapping and turned to see Emily jumping to her feet. “Cheer huddle!” she said sharply, causing the other girls to jump up also, they then stepped out into the hallway where I could not hear them. “Um, girls!?” I called after them, growing nervous about what they might be scheming. After a few minutes, they came back into the room and took their places in their original spots around me.

They were all but Kat, grinning at me like the Cheshire Cat. I swallowed nervously. “We have a proposal for you” Kiera began, “You can say no if you want to” Chloe stated determinedly. I looked cautiously between the girls and noticing Kat’s reticence to be involved in whatever they were planning, I inquired, “What sort of proposal?”.

The other four girls grinned; if it were at all possible, even wider. “We want to set a wager with you” Emily chuckled with a sparkle in her eyes. “A wager?” I groaned, realizing too late that I had set myself up. “Yeah, if we don’t all get an A on this paper…we’ll double your fee” Emily explained. “And if you do all get an A?” I asked, feeling that I already knew the answer. “Then we get to give you a makeover!” Chloe gushed excitedly. I thought about it for a second.

“Wait! Let me get this straight. If you all get an A on this assignment you get to dress me up as a girl. If you don’t, you pay me to double my fee. Isn’t that a bit backward? -” I posited. “You’re going to have to actually work harder to win your side of the bet and as I’m the one mentoring you on the subject of the paper, it’s not much incentive for me to play fair…is it?”. The girls shared a quick look between them before Cass said softly, “I reckon most of us are smart enough to ace this paper…and Chloe is a force to be reckoned with when she sets her mind to something”. She winked playfully as she made the jibe at her friend.

I just shook my head and grumbled, “Fine, whatever, you’re on”. I leaned forward and shook hands with each of the girls ‘sealing the deal’ so to speak. As I leaned back there was a brisk knock on the door “Dinner’s ready. Alex is more than welcome to join us if she wants to” Mrs. Fellows’ voice echoed lightly. A few of the girls giggled at the woman’s statement causing me to flush pink as Kiera looked at me inquiringly. I just shook my head slowly. “I’d better not, my mom might be a bit funny about the short notice” I explained to murmurs of understanding. I then proceeded to gather my stuff up and we all headed out of Kiera’s room and down the stairs, we then stopped in the entrance hall to say our goodbyes.

I was about to speak when Chloe launched herself onto me and hugged me tightly causing me to recoil nervously. “We’re going to have so much fun” she squealed before letting go of me and disappearing into one of the rooms of the hall.

My hesitance caused the rest of the girls to laugh as they all bid me farewell before following her, leaving just Kiera and myself in the foyer. “I think she likes you” she chuckled as she opened the front door to see me out. “Yeah, you weren’t kidding when you said she’s a ball of energy huh?” I muttered, causing Kiera to smirk as I stepped out into the rapidly cooling evening. “Um, so I guess I’ll see you around at school then?” I inquired. Kiera nodded quickly. “Yeah, thank you for coming over tonight, we really appreciate it. I know it can’t have been easy for you” she acknowledged.

I shook my head stiffly. “Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I think I was expecting more ‘cheerleader’ spirit or something” I admitted. I managed a half smile causing Kiera to chuckle, “Yeah, the pompoms are definitely more of a ‘school spirit’ thing.

Outside of that we’re actually pretty normal…well maybe not Chloe, I don’t think there’s anything normal about that girl”. I let out a bark of laughter which drew a surprised look from Kiera. “So you can laugh then. I thought your face was broken or something?” she teased. I frowned at the girl. “You act like I’m despondent or something…I’m not” I complained as I flushed pink. “You tell that to your face” she giggled. I was a little surprised as she then leaned forward and hugged me gently. “Take care on the way home, ok?” she insisted as she let go of me. I nodded quickly and mumbled,

“Sure. See you later, I guess”. Kiera then waited at the door watching after me as I walked along the path and exited onto the street. I looked up to see her waving vigorously before she retreated inside and closed the door. I smiled slightly as I began my journey home.

I went about my usual routine over the course of the weekend; mostly sleeping and gaming and occasionally stopping to go to the bathroom or grab some food as well as begrudgingly doing a few chores for my mom, as she required them. As I moved into the new week though, I realized that keeping to myself was not going to be so easy. Monday wasn’t too bad; as Kiera had got her lunch, she looked over at me and nodded her head to indicate I should go and sit with them, I shook my head vehemently to which she shrugged her acceptance and left me to finish my lunch in peace. Tuesday, I wasn’t so lucky though; I was midway through my lunch when Chloe sauntered over, receiving a myriad of odd looks from pretty much everyone she passed on her approach.

I looked up at her questioningly before looking around at the gawping audience, I felt myself turning beet red as she dropped into the seat directly opposite me. “So, are we not, like, cool enough for you, or something?” she asked with a pout. I frowned hesitantly. “I think you may have it a bit backward” I sighed as I took another bite of my pasta. “There’s a lot of people that would give their right arm to be in our social circle, you know?” she grumbled as she toyed with her mousy bangs. “I think I’m fairly attached to both of my arms” I sneered before saying, “I don’t want to seem rude, but I agreed to tutor your squad because you’re paying me. I only accepted your bet, because, well on that account, I’m just an idiot. But it doesn’t make us friends”.

I felt a bit bad as Chloe’s eyes glazed over, I thought she might actually start crying, so I grumbled, “Look…you’re all surprisingly nice and I did enjoy spending the evening with you…but honestly I just prefer to keep to myself”. The bubbly girl took a couple of deep breaths before climbing to her feet. “Ok then, suit yourself, but we’re still on for our bet, right?” she inquired. I nodded. “I’m a man of my word” I insisted to which she giggled, “I think the jury is still out on that one” she winked at me, before sauntering back off to her table.

I frowned deeply before finishing my lunch and exiting the hall, still receiving odd looks from a few of the people who were watching the exchange. Wednesday morning arrived, and it was an unusually cold one, being the middle of October, it was expected to be cooler, but it was bitterly so. The cold itself didn’t actually faze me; I wore such baggy clothing that I didn’t generally feel it, the reason I despised the cold; was the number of guys that would end up stopping to offer me a lift, I frequently found myself arguing that I was quite happy walking.

I was humming away to my usual playlist on my way to school when I felt my arm being hooked. “Morning Allie-” Kiera greeted me brightly. I sighed, it didn’t so much annoy me; that she kept calling me that, it just made me feel kind of…odd. I pulled my earphones out and looked around at the redhead. “Hey, Kiera, what’s up?” I inquired as she fell in step with me as we neared the park.

“Cass says your year group has a free period scheduled at the same time as ours this afternoon, we were wondering if we could all get together to finalize a couple of things on our assignments?”. I hesitated for a moment, I was going to use the time to get a head start on a different assignment, having finished my six degrees one over the previous weekend. “Um…yeah, that’ll be fine, I guess” I murmured as we entered the gateway into the park. “Cool, I’ll let the girls know-” she mused before looking round at me quickly. “Are you seriously not cold?” she asked with a shiver; even though she herself was wearing what looked like a thick jacket.

I shook my head stiffly. “Because I wear such baggy clothing, I pretty much have an extra layer of insulation” I explained. I felt Kiera draw herself closer to me as we walked, I wasn’t sure that it would help her to get warm, but I didn’t pull away. As with the walk home the previous week, Kiera did most of the talking, although I did feel comfortable enough to offer an opinion here or there and I cracked a couple of jokes that made her laugh.

When we finally arrived at the school gate, Kiera still had her arm hooked in mine as she made to walk off towards the anterior courtyard, the usual hangout for the athletes before school. I stopped suddenly, causing her to look around at me confused. “So, I’ll see you this afternoon?” I confirmed shyly. Realizing her mistake; Kiera smiled apologetically. “I’m so sorry, I forget you’re not big on social gatherings, yeah, should we meet in the library after lunch?” I nodded my assent as she let go of my arm and began the walk around the side of the school. After she had disappeared, I walked up the steps and entered the building.