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Chapter 10 – Prince Aria

  There was now a buzz inside Adam as the reality settled in. That he was here now, officially registered into St. Marie’s Boarding School, a school for girls, as a girl himself.

  While he came to terms with his circumstances, Ms. Musker briefly picked up the phone at her desk. “Could you send Ms. Belle up to administration? Thank you.”

  After putting down the phone, she redirected her gaze to Adam and continued. “Now, I understand that you have a… disability. Rest assured, we will do our utmost to accommodate you. Exams for linguistic-based csses frequently include vocational sections, to which you will be exempt. Other staff members will also be made aware of your condition.”

  Disability? Did she mean his missing voice? Rosalynn was right in a way, in that it could probably be passed off as one. He just hoped he didn’t have to think up some convoluted story for why he’d lost it.

  “If you’d like, the school could also provide you with a tablet, for easy communication with your fellow students.”

  Adam wasn’t that good with typing, so he wasn’t quite sure if he’d take them up on that, but it was worth considering.

  Even still, Musker continued delivering an expnation matter of factly. “But for now, we’d like to prioritize your adjustments here. You’ll get yourself settled into your dorm, become more accustomed to our school grounds, et cetera. But otherwise you will start css tomorrow.”

  Adam nodded, as a way to convey that he understood.

  “Though I won’t be the one showing you around. I’ve already called over your dormmate, who should be on her way-”

  The door opened. “SORRY I’M LATE!”

  In came a tall girl with long bck hair. She had a simple but cute look to her, a swath of freckles under her eyes, and a dark purple clip in her hair. Adam made a mental note to himself that hair clips were now a thing he could try and should look into.

  “I’m not in trouble for anything, am I?! I swear I’ve been totally perfect and-!” As the girl continued and began walking over to Musker’s desk, she bumped into one of the chairs and tripped herself over. Falling almost head first to the ground, she let out a groan.

  “No, you’re not in any trouble.” Ms. Musker responded with a sigh. “Ms. Belle, I would like you to meet your new roommate.” She gestured her hand to Adam, who nervously waved.

  “H-Huh?” The girl’s eyes darted back and forth as she slowly lifted herself up. “Roommate?”

  “Your dorm is one of the few with room for another occupant. Ms. Swanson has just started here and is in the same year as you, and so will be moving in.”

  “O-Oh, okay then.” Finally up on both of her feet. The girl rubbed her forehead briefly before regaining her composure with a perfectly straight back.

  “Um, hi!” With a polite smile, she demurely offered her hand to Adam. “I’m Victoria, but everyone usually calls me Tori.”

  Adam stood up, and smiled back as he shook her hand softly. Huh, it’s been a while since someone’s done that without trying to crush his hand.

  “Your name is…?” Tori asked.

  Adam almost jolted. Evidently, she’d expected an actual vocal response and not just the hand gesture. Thinking fast on how to introduce himself, he nervously patted his clothing, before realizing that he’d left his new id card lying on his chair. He quickly swiped it back into his hands to show his roommate.

  Tori looked puzzled at the gesture, but picked the card up to read it. “Aria…?” Still a bit confused, she gnced over to Ms. Musker.

  “Ms. Swanson is mute.” She expined. “The school pns to provide the appropriate support, for the record, but for the moment she has to make due.”

  “Oh, I see…” Tori looked back at Adam, tilting her head as if trying to figure out what to make of him. A part of him worried that this would be the moment someone finally caught him somehow, that he’d be exposed for the fraud he was, but the girl simply smiled. “Well, it’s nice to meet you! I hope we can be good friends!”

  Adam could almost breathe a sigh of relief, but he didn’t want to look suspicious. That’s right, he was just a normal girl named Aria.

  As they spent the rest of the morning walking around the school, Adam found himself still having trouble dealing with his nerves.

  He’d gotten Tori’s acceptance, but would other people find out somehow? Or maybe she was just pretending to accept him? Or she’d figure it out ter?

  It was a lot to stress about, but one thing that couldn’t be taken away was that right now, he was no longer being recognized by those around him as Adam. As a boy.

  He was just… Aria.

  He couldn’t help but take a moment to look over the id again. That face, that girl, she was Aria. He was Aria. Even though he was a guy, people saw a girl. They saw this girl, on the photo. Who was him.

  Even after spending a while in this new body already, it was only still just now processing what it all meant on that broad level.

  Aria. Aria. Aria. Aria. Aria!

  That was what the other girls here were going to call him!

  He had almost developed a bounce in his step when he bumped straight into Tori in the middle of a dormitory hallway, who almost tripped backwards herself. “Wh-Whoa!”

  Somehow though, Adam was able to grab her hand just in time to help pull her up.

  “Th-Thanks.” She bashfully responded. “I um, I think I need to watch better where I’m going.”

  What? If anything, Adam thought, it was his own fault for bumping into her! He tried to wave both his hands in front of him, hoping to dismiss her apology as ‘no big deal.’ Wow, trying to communicate with people without any paper on hand really was rough, he needed to fix that soon.

  “Oh, right, of course.” Tori answered back with an easy smile, one that gave Adam the impression she didn’t quite understand what he was trying to convey. She then gestured to her side. “But anyway, this is my dorm! Erm, I guess our dorm now.”

  The girl quickly brought out a key, getting ready to open it. In a moment, Adam’s heart swelled in anxious anticipation. This was it? Right now?! Entering a girl’s room?! Sure, it’d technically be his, but a girl had been occupying it before him! I-It’d almost be an invasion of privacy, but since he was a girl now, surely it would-

  As the door finally opened, Adam’s heart slowed down as he realized that…

  It was almost the exact same as the one he had back at Hanssen’s.

  Huh.

  He wasn’t sure what specifically he’d expected, it’s not like they had to be cartoonishly pink or anything. He already knew Marie’s had a lot of the same architecture as Hanssen’s, which applied to the dorm rooms and their youts.

  Adam steadily walked inside, as his roommate followed behind at a slower pace.

  One half was pretty much empty, unused. The bedding hadn’t been made yet, and the bedside cupboard by its side had nothing on it besides a desk mp.

  The other half was more familiar to what one would expect. The bedding was made, and had clearly been used. A travel bag had been tucked under the bed, and a pair of books y on the cupboard. Over the bed was a big wide poster of a grassy field. It was minimal, but Adam’s new roommate had evidently at least left her mark.

  “So umm… yeah! This is our dorm!” Tori gestured to the open space, awkwardly chuckling. “I never ended up using the empty half, so you’re pretty much free to-”

  She suddenly paused, looking Adam over once more. “Wait, you didn’t bring any bags?”

  Adam flinched in surprise. He nervously looked around himself. Obviously, the answer was no. Never at any point did he think to bring anything extra with him. The clothes he had on him right now were only barely scrounged from his old room, after all. If anything he’d hope to at least get the uniform as an extra outfit, but that one wasn’t going to arrive until the morning.

  Though Adam knew he had to give some form of an answer. In the moment, he decided to shrug.

  “...Huh. Um, okay then.” Tori nodded to herself, walking over to her closet. “I guess I have some spare stuff if you need something else to wear… though I dunno if we’re even the same size.”

  Tori examining her closet drew Adam’s attention to his own, on the opposite side of the room. Maybe if he was lucky, there’d be something left over there? Though it’s not like anyone’s been using the room in a while.

  Opening it, that assumption was confirmed. No clothes, let alone anything cute Adam might have wanted to try on. Admittedly, there were more possibilities brewing in his head for outfits now that he had his body, but he supposed that even then he’d need the courage to actually try-

  Wait, was that an envelope?

  In the middle of the closet. Its yellow color stood out from the wooden inner carvings. Was this something Tori owned?

  Picking it up, Adam read on the front:

  'For Aria'

  To Aria? As in, him?

  It was sealed, so he supposed he had to open it.

  Inside was a letter, and… two hundred dolrs?!

  'Consider this an allowance for your stay here.Girlhood is quite expensive.'

  '-From, your ‘Guardian,’ the one who made you.'

  ‘The one who made you?’ Was this from-?!

  “Hm? Aria, are you alright?”

  When Tori asked, Adam scrambled to hide the letter. Thinking fast, he put the money into the envelope, and then showed his roommate.

  “Huh? Oh, is that money?” She asked.

  Adam nodded, pointing at the ‘For Aria’ on the envelope’s front.

  There was a slight pause, before Tori made a slow nod of understanding. “Ohh I get it. No wonder you get to attend mid-semester, you're one of those rich kids, huh? Guess wealthy folks would think it’s easier to just give you money and let you buy clothes yourself.” Tori expined.

  Adam of course, nodded in agreement. Yes to all of that! Perfect cover!

  “Well we still have some time today, and there are a few stores out in town.” The girl continued with a smile. “Why don’t we head out and do a little bit of shopping for you?”

  Adam’s thankful mood quickly switched as he felt a chill across his spine. Now?!

  “Hey, it’s alright! I’m sure it’s probably stressful, but better to get it over with today before they start giving you homework tomorrow.” She waved a hand.

  Adam rexed his back. Was it alright? Supposedly shopping for clothes was pretty natural for girls, but what did he know about that stuff?

  Either way, if Tori was bothering to invite him…

  Adam breathed in, and then gave his new roommate a thumbs up!

  “Hey, maybe you wanna try this one on too. It might fit with that skirt you wanted.” Tori said, offering yet another article of clothing into the changing room. This one was a cardigan, the type you might wear over a more simple shirt.

  Adam hadn’t even known where to start, only mustering up the courage to pick up a single long skirt he saw, but soon enough Tori was coming in with suggestions and recommendations and wow did it quickly feel tiring.

  Usually, picking something out at a clothing store meant only trying one or two t-shirts on, maybe a new pair of pants. But this was now the fifth article of clothing he had to try! Clothing trips weren’t supposed to have so much stuff to try! Or were they? Not like he went on a lot of them. Easier to just grab whatever his mother handed him, or stick with his uniform when it came to school life.

  Still, the combination worked well, he found. Tori was right, it made for a nice outfit. Along with this, Tori had also picked out a pair of jeans along with a t-shirt, which had some basic brand design on its front. It wasn’t one Adam was quite as fond of, not as feminine as his other outfits, but he’d been pleasantly surprised by the look when trying it on. Made sense to have it for a chance of pace. Either way, three outfits in total surely had to be enough for now, especially with the yet-to-arrive uniform meant to cover most of his school life.

  By the time they were leaving the check-out, Adam was carrying a sizable bag. Certainly bigger than he was used to leaving these stores with. He found it... slightly heavy, but he managed. Adam had to wonder if this was the clothes’ fault or the new body making him a bit weaker. Could be both.

  “I’d call that a successful trip.” Tori said. “You even have some money left over! It’s good to have some savings, sometimes it’s nice to just have snacks in your room, you know?”

  The roommate blinked, thinking to herself for a second. “Come to think of it. Have you been to a boarding school before? I guess I haven’t had the chance to ask you a lot of things.”

  Adam nodded, all the while trying to not make it look like he was lumbering with the bag.

  “Hey, um, do you need help with that?” She then offered her hand.

  Adam shook his head. He mouthed an ‘I’m fine’ to help get the point across.

  “Oh, you sure? Well, suit yourself, then.” She awkwardly responded, keeping her hands to herself.

  Really, Adam didn’t have that much trouble with it. He could carry it himself, so it made sense that that’s what he’d do. Tori was already helping him enough today. It just felt unfair.

  As they continued walking out, Adam’s eyes drifted to the make-up section near the entrance of the store. He always had the compulsive need to pretend these aisles didn’t exist, but considering his current circumstances, a girl wouldn’t be judged for at least looking, right?

  The models were quite pretty. Certainly way prettier than him, even with his new form. A part of him was tempted to try it out, but no way, it was too soon. He still barely knew how to work with the stuff, and there remained a lingering sense of awkwardness and shame at the idea of-

  “Hey, what’s up?” Tori suddenly asked. “Are you looking at the makeup?”

  Her eyes followed where Adam was looking. For a moment he was afraid of being judged, but he did his best to steel his expression.

  “Oh right.” Tori added, a moment of realization coming to her. “Did you not bring any makeup either? You can get some if you want, you still have the extra money.”

  Adam isn’t able to respond, the suggestion stunning and almost flustering him. Just put him on the spot like that?!

  “Come on, we can get a quick little something!” Before Adam could muster up an attempt at a response, Tori started dragging him in the direction.

  She let go of his hand to scan the dispys, leaving Adam to stand right in front of one, almost frozen.

  Just… staring at the dispy.

  It was almost like a battle in his mind. All that had been taught and ingrained with him, versus the yearning he’d always felt for femininity, and the perceived permission he was being granted. No one would stop him for indulging, but some part of it still felt shameful, and wrong.

  B-Besides, he barely knew an actual thing about makeup. He wouldn't know how to use half of this stuff!

  But… it’d be alright if they just picked up something small, right? Not like there was any need to go overboard. Didn’t have to use it either. He’d probably expose himself anyway if he tried, what girl wouldn’t know how to use makeup? Even having reached this point, he was such a fraud.

  Tori finally noticed Adam’s hesitation, and cocked her head. “Hm? Hey, are you okay?”

  Adam answered with a quick, albeit nervous nod. But he had a hard time hiding his worried expression.

  “We don’t have to do this, y’know.” She sighed. “Sorry, I guess I jumped the gun. Hard to gauge your opinion by just looking at your face all the time."

  Adam shook his head, no, no, it’s alright! He didn’t want to refuse the offer, he would have told her no already. He looked anxiously at the dispy again. It’s just way too hard to figure out in what direction to even look…

  “Oh, I get it. It’s just overwhelming.” Tori said. Adam was pleasantly surprised, as she'd managed to accurately guess what he’d been thinking. “Don’t worry, we can go small. Are you actually not that experienced?”

  Adam wasn’t sure how to answer. This was a trap question, right? He’d say no, and she’d out him right then and there as a faker in public! What girl wouldn’t know her thing about makeup?

  Apparently his nervousness was evident anyway, as Tori continued. “Hey, it’s okay. Sorry, you look kinda pretty, so I just assumed you were the type to have it all together.”

  Adam was pretty?! He barely listened to the other things she said. Sure he knew what his new face looked like, but the acknowledgement! From a girl! He found a small grin widening on his face, just repeating what she’d said in his head over and over.

  Tori in the meanwhile just picked out a few items. “But if we wanna get something, then… Let’s just stick to some basics. Don’t have to use it, but just so you have it on-hand. A bit of foundation, mascara, eyeliner… Hey, are you the type who likes sh brushes?”

  Adam snapped back to attention in response to the question, cocking his head to the side. ‘A what?’ was what he hoped to get across.

  “See, these.” She opened the cap of one.

  Oh, Adam recognized these! Nailbrushes! What did Tori say? Lash brushes? Had he misheard her?

  Adam nodded, he knew quite well how these worked! Though he questioned the point of buying one when he hadn’t gotten any nail polish yet.

  “Hm? What are you thinking?” Tori asked.

  Adam picked the nailbrush up, gesturing it towards his nails and mimicking using it. He then shrugged. See? No real point in getting it.

  “........What?” Was how Tori responded.

  Adam repeated the show of gesture.

  Tori waited a good few seconds before figuring out a question. “A…Aria. You know those are for eyeshes, right?”

  What?

  “See, like uhh… like this.” In an apparent attempt to mimic the way Adam had gotten his own point across, she took the ‘nailbrush’ and brought it up to her eyeshes. “See? You hold it like this.”

  Adam was welling up with embarrassment, his stomach sinking. Oh god, he just made a fool of himself. Was that true?! Surely Tori wouldn’t be messing with him like this! But then… why did Scott say these were nailbrushes? Scott always said that he was never wrong!

  “Hey, it’s okay.” Tori put the cap back on the brush as she put on a small smile. “My mom told me she never bothered until she was an adult. I’m guessing you’re taking the opportunity to try something new? Away from home?”

  In a quick moment, Adam decided to nod in agreement. That filled in the bnks well enough, and he figured it saved him from a bit of embarrassment. Though he still felt horrible getting that wrong somehow! Was what Tori said true? Did some girls really not actually know a lot about makeup? It sounded like a waste, with the presented opportunity. Though he figured it was naturally a lot of work to use the stuff, so it wasn't too out there for there to be people who didn't bother...

  While Adam considered these things, Tori walked ahead and gestured at him to follow. “Come on, let’s go back to the counter to buy it. If you ever need help with it sometimes, I can show you!”

  Soon enough they were back to Marie’s. Adam had been carefully not to accidentally walk in the direction of Hanssen’s instead, though it was enough to just follow Tori’s lead back.

  Carrying the bag got less annoying for a while, but there came a point where Tori pretty much grabbed it for Adam without asking. And well, not like he could vocally ask for it back.

  By the time they re-entered the school building, Adam had noticed more girls roaming around than before.

  “Oh right, I think it's lunch period.” Tori said. “We were away for a while.”

  Somewhere along the way Adam had forgotten about his initial fears from when he first walked into the school, so casually walking with Tori and going shopping with her without so much as a hint of fear proving justified. But now it was creeping back.

  He made himself appear small, the way he usually did when he didn’t want the boys in the hallway to notice him. No one pays mind to the little guy. But it didn’t stop several of them from staring as the two walked past.

  Did they know? Was Tori really just an anomaly?

  It was an irrational fear, Adam knew that. There shouldn’t be some actual tell, as far as he understood. But it crawled at his mind. Like it could all really come crumbling down at any minute.

  “...Are you okay?” Tori whispered at his side.

  He couldn’t answer, but his gaze lingering on the various girls in the hall said it all.

  “It’s just because you’re new.” She answered. “They're always gonna notice when a girl's walking around without a uniform. Just… pretend they’re not watching. Or not judging you.”

  Adam looked back at Tori, wondering what she meant.

  “You know, like… If someone’s staring, I like to think they’re admiring me instead of judging. Like…” She paused for a second to think. “Maybe my hair’s on point that day, or they’re wondering if I’m cool. You know, something positive.”

  Adam furrowed his brows, looking back at the girls that he noticed staring at him.

  “Or I dunno, worst case I can just imagine they’re naked.” Tori added, cracking a small smile.

  Caught off guard, Adam let out an inaudible snicker. ‘What?’ He mouthed.

  “You know, like ‘what are you looking at? You’re the weird one here with no clothes on!’ Something like that.” She eborated, a light giggling betraying her otherwise hushed tone.

  Adam’s own silent ughter in response almost threatened to be louder.

  “But yeah, I don’t think you need to worry.” Tori continued. “They’re not as mean here as they can be elsewhere. I mean, there's still gossiping and some catty types. But you’ll do okay.”

  The two kept walking, Adam trying to internalize her words. The encouragement, and also the part about everyone being naked. She was right, it did kinda help, beyond being funny. Really, that kinda hit things at home, didn’t it? Sure, no one was so ridiculous as to walk around without clothes on, but maybe a lot of these girls were as nervous as he was.

  In a way, he already got that vibe from Tori. Adam thought she was pretty, but he didn’t get the sense it gave her as much confidence as he'd expect. She was just another girl.

  So while he was the odd one out here, secretly not actually a girl like everyone thought, he was still kinda like them. In a way. He… wasn’t alone.

  Adam took a deep breath. Today had gone well. Safe to say, he now felt a tiny bit better about his pce here. But tomorrow came the real challenge.

  Actually going to school.

  TernUnfettered

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