Five heartbeats later, Alex said, “I will let you go now but promise me you won’t freak out nor will you speak loudly, okay?”
Logan nodded slowly and Alex released him gently. She took a few steps backwards while she watched his facial expressions.
Even with his freedom, Logan remained on the same spot and in the same position. The gears in his mind began to turn. All of the events that transpired came rushing back to him, from the latest one to the earliest—the time he saw Alex in a dress.
“You’re a girl” he squeaked. He could almost see Alex from that day as if she was right in front of him.
Actually, she was right in front of him.
“Yes” Alex answered with conviction, nodding her head.
“You’re Xandra.”
She waved her hand, saying, “Yeah, yeah, we’ve established that.”
“How—” Logan blinked, “What—I need time to process this.”
He stared at the floor, his hands on his either side of his forehead. All those lines and numbers started to connect to each other. Alex in a dress, Xandra and her phone, him and Xandra’s phone, Alex and hi—her phone, Jae and Alex’ phone, him on top of Ale—
“Oh, dear gods!” Logan gasped, hiding his face behind his hands. The last one replayed in his mind and blood rushed up in his cheeks. How close was he when it happened? Where was his face when it happened? Was it at the crook of Alex’ neck? No, it had been a bit lower—
The very red tint on his face now covered his ears.
Alex sighed, the panic she once tamed rose up again, “It’s supposed to be a secret. I had no plans to tell anyone. Na-da. No one. Zippo. So when I bumped into the rest of your teammates, I only had one instinct. To run.”
Logan removed his hands from his face, staring once again on the floor, “And the phone dropped out of your pocket.”
“Yes.”
“Now, my brother has it.”
“Now, your brother has it.”
He finally looked at her and said, “So what do we do?”
Alex could only shake her head weakly, “I have no clue. Do you?”
“Alex” Logan enunciated, “Jae thinks it’s Xandra who dropped her phone. He is looking for her. No, he is looking for you. This isn’t some simple matter. We need a solid plan.”
“I know, I know” She whimpered helplessly, “What do you think I have been thinking about the past few days, huh? I know it’s my fault and I know things are a mess. I am also sorry that this caused a misunderstanding between you and your brother. I didn’t mean for any of it to happen.”
“Wowowoah, hold on” Logan comforted her. He stepped closer and held her face in his hands. Gently, he whispered, “Look, it’s gonna be okay, alright? Whatever is going on between Jae and I have nothing to do with you, you hear me? It has been there way before you even came to this school. Now, what we need to focus on is getting your phone back, hm? I’m sure you’d really rather not come here as Xandra again.”
“I really don’t want to.” Alex affirmed, the school bell ringing from outside.
“Okay” He patted her head and brushed her hair, “For now, let’s head to class. We can talk about this later.”
==
Alex sat on her living room, holding Maylin in her arms. Her fingers caressed the ginger cat’s fur. Compared to her earlier demise, her mind had certainly calmed down. At least, she wasn’t alone anymore.
“Nyan~” the cat stretched on her lap, some of its claws scratching her arm. Alex frowned at her and pulled her tail lightly. Maylin yelped in surprise and hissed at her while Alex merely stuck her tongue out.
When the doorbell rang, Maylin forgot about Alex and skipped happily towards the door, scratching and meowing on it.
Alex swore that cat loved Logan more than her and Aunt Lilly combined.
She opened the door and Maylin proceeded to rub against Logan’s legs.
“Hi, Maylin” he smiled at the cat, picking her up until they were on the same eye level, “Have you been a good girl?”
Maylin meowed in delight which made Logan chuckle. He set her down on her paws and nuzzled the back of her ear before he looked up at Alex.
She leaned against the door, waiting for him to finish petting the cat.
“Hey, how are you?” He smiled at her.
Alex snorted a little, “I should be the one asking you that.”
“Well” Logan stood up and walked in. Alex closed the door behind him, “I did have a thought.”
“Just one?” Alex joked.
“Okay, several of them” he admitted, setting his stuff on the living room and taking a seat on the recliner near the sofa, “But it just comes down to one question: why? Why be a boy? Are you uh… should I forget that you have a twin sister? Do you genuinely identify yourself as male? I really need to know these things so I don’t mess up or anything.”
Maylin purred at his feet but Logan’s attention belonged solely to Alex.
Alex laughed lightly, “I’m straight. I don’t see females that way” she cleared her throat, “Nor do I really want to be a boy. I do have a bit of a tomboy personality though.”
“Uh… huh…” Logan clicked his tongue, “Okay. Got it. Will I ever know why exactly you’re pretending to be male?”
Alex thought about it for a while. She wasn’t sure if it was that simple to explain. If it hadn’t been obvious enough, she had been quite bad it. She wasn’t sure either just how much she can reveal. Her mother hadn’t been quite specific about how much of her identity was okay to talk about.
Logan held up his hands when he noticed her hesitation, “It’s cool if you can’t yet. That’s fine. Take your time.” Then, he snapped his fingers, “But we can still be friends, right?”
The anxious look on his face made Alex smile, “Yes. Yes, we can.”
