Chapter Text
It was Saturday and Kara and her best friends, Alex and Lucy, were competing in a women’s, ages 15-18, 3v3 beach soccer tournament. They made it all the way to the championship match where the winners would receive a hundred-dollar gift card to Noonan’s, the sponsor of the tournament.
Kara kicked the ball right between her opponent’s legs to Lucy, who kicked it right to Alex at first touch. Alex was challenged, but she was able to keep control of the ball and kick it to Kara, who went for the winning goal. It went in with a satisfying swish of the net.
“We are sooo going to annihilate Larchmont Academy this year.” Lucy told Kara. She wore a large grin on her face, still high from their win.
“I have to worry about making the team first.” Kara reminded her friend.
Lucy scoffed. “Coach Townsend would be crazy not to bring you on. You’re a freaking prodigy or something. You’ve only been seriously playing for two years, yet you’ve picked up a lot. Enough to join the team this year.”
“I sure hope so.” Kara said.
While both of her best friends have played soccer since their little league days, Kara herself did not start until just two years previously. At first, she had only done it to gather the attention of her crush, now boyfriend, Mike Matthews, who played as the goalie for their school’s team. However, Kara had quickly fallen in love with the sport.
“Don’t worry about that, Kar.” Her other friend, Alex, said as she swung her arm around her shoulder. “You just scored the winning goal today! You’ll do fine. Just relax.” Taking her friend’s advice, Kara nodded and forced herself to calm some of the anxiety she allowed to build over the last few weeks.
“Was it just me or did I see Mike on the sidelines at some point?” Lucy questioned.
“No, I saw him too.” Kara confirmed. She had seen him just before she went to throw the ball back into play. After that, much to her disappointment, she hadn’t seen him again.
“I thought you said he didn’t want to come?” Alex asked.
“That’s what he told me. Maybe he changed his mind. I’m glad that he was able to in the end. He’s been gone all summer. I haven’t seen him since he came back two weeks ago. I’ve been wanting some alone time with him.” Kara said with a small smile.
“Yeah. Alone time so you two can fuck.” Lucy said with a dirty smirk on her face.
“I mean, should things turn to that, then yeah.” Kara shrugged.
Alex made a gagging noise. “Where the hell is the guy anyway? You just won a tournament and he’s nowhere to be seen.”
As soon as Alex said this, Mike suddenly made his presence known by surprising Kara with a hug from behind. Kara jumped at the unexpectedness of it. She whirled around, ready to beat the shit out of whoever dared to violate her personal space, only to relax when she saw that it was her boyfriend.
Lucy and Alex shared a look with each other before silently moving away to give the couple their privacy.
“Did I scare you?” Mike asked with a laugh.
“Yes, asshole. You came this close to having to breathe through a straw.” Kara told him. Mike laughed. “What are you even doing here. I thought you said you couldn’t make it.”
“I wasn’t going to at first, but Ricky’s wanted to watch this girl he’s been talking with compete in the beach volleyball tournament.” Mike explained.
Kara tried not to frown. Mike’s best friend, Rick, was willing to go out of his way and watch the game of some girl he was only in the talking stages with, but Mike couldn’t even do it for his girlfriend of a little over a year?
“I caught a few minutes of your last game. You’ve gotten better since I last saw you play.”
“I’ve been practicing. I wanted to make sure that I was good enough to make this year’s team.”
“Coach Townsend would be stupid not to put you on the team. From what I saw, you’re probably better than half the guys on my squad right now.”
Kara smiles at her boyfriend in appreciation.
Kara was bisexual, but on top of that, she was intersex. For a while, besides her family, no one really knew about the latter besides her best friends.
Before, the idea of dating was something she could not fathom as she’d thought no one would want to date her with her body being the way that it was. If it weren’t for her best friend Lucy offering to take her v-card, she was sure that she would still be a virgin right now. Otherwise, she never would have found the confidence to start putting herself out there.
After a few failed attempts, she found Mike. He had been surprisingly okay with the whole, ‘her having a dick’, thing. He just made sure she didn’t go around telling any more people that she was intersex, which was fine with her. It was nobody’s business what she had between her legs. And it was especially nobody’s business (especially the business of his teammates) that Mike preferred to be bottomed by Kara whenever they have sex.
“Do you want to come back to my place later?” Kara asked the goalie, moving closer and encircling her arms around his waist. He returned her embrace by wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
Mike gave her an apologetic smile that didn’t quite feel sincere. “Sorry, babe. The boys and I are all going to Rick’s uncle’s lake house to chill before training, Monday.”
Kara gives the older teen a weak smile, trying to keep the disappointment she felt from showing.
Her boyfriend has been gone all summer visiting different colleges before going on vacation with his family. She had hoped that with him finally being back, they could spend some much-needed time together, but after two weeks of him being home, that has yet to be the case.
“Oh, okay.” Kara said. Even though Kara did well to keep the disappointment from her voice, Mike still noticed the slight downturn of her lips.
“What’s with that face?” Mike accused her with a frown of his own.
“What face?”
“The one you’re wearing — like you’re all ‘boo hoo’ and shit. Like you don’t want me to go hang with my friends, or something.”
“I don’t mind that you want to hang out with your friends, Mike. I just thought that once you came back from your trips, we would spend some time together.”
Mike shook his head in exasperation as he removed himself from his girlfriend. “I see you all the time, Kara.”
“Yeah, on Face2Face. That’s not any real time with you, though. I can’t kiss or hold you through your phone’s screen, Mike.” She said, arms crossed and jaw set in annoyance.
Mike rolled his eyes with a dismissive flick of his hand. “We don’t have to spend every waking moment with each other, Kara. And besides, Face2Face is how we’ll be with each other anyways when I leave for college next year. This is basically getting you ready for when I leave.”
Kara’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t need preparation. And I’m not trying to spend every second with you either. All I want is to feel as if I haven’t been forgotten by my boyfriend.” She told him before releasing a heavy sigh. “Can’t you just tell them you’ll hang out later? I’d really like it if you spent the rest of the day with me.”
Kara moved closer to the older boy once more, hooking her finger into his belt loop. “My mom won’t be home. We could watch a movie…or not watch a movie.” She said with a suggestive look, her tone low and husky, reeling Mike in with thoughts of Kara bending him over the basement’s pool table.
However, even though the thought was enticing, his mind would not be changed. “I’ve already said I’m hanging with the boys tonight, Kara. You’ll have me all to yourself once school starts. I’m spending the last days of summer with my boys. Don’t make this a big deal.” He told her, his voice firm.
At that moment, his friend Rick called out his name from where he stood next to a girl.
Mike looks over and at them and then back at her. “Look. I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later.” He left her where she stood to jog over to his friend.
Kara watched him go for a moment, upset. Her own friends rejoined her side.
“Where’s Mike going? I thought you were bringing him back to yours so you could clap his cheeks?” Lucy asked her best friend.
Alex, who was in the middle of devouring a hotdog she’d just gotten from a food truck, choked at her friend’s words. Kara, being the good friend that she was, and absolutely not like Lucy, who preferred to laugh at her friend’s near-death experience, firmly slapped at the girl’s back.
“I’m trying to fucking eat here, bitch!” Alex said to Lucy with a glare, once her throat had been cleared of any obstructions. She tried her best not to think about Mike getting bent over.
Lucy smirked at Alex. “That’s what I said to your dad when he caught me and your mom last night.” Alex’s glare deepened.
“Oh god, please stop.” Kara glared, though she held back an amused smile. “Mike decided that he had better things to do, so I’ll just be going home alone.” She said, looking like a dejected puppy.
“Definitely not.” Alex told Kara with another bite of her hotdog when she felt it was safe to do so again. “Lucy and I will be crashing at yours. Besides, this is the first bit of greasy food I’ve eaten all summer, and your house has the better toilets.”
Both Kara and Lucy’s face grimaced in disgust while Alex continued to eat the hotdog that was soon to be excrement.
“You’re not fucking invited.” Kara deadpanned.
“Tough shit.” Alex replied with a cocky smirk.
“Oh, so your hemorrhoids are back, then?” Kara inquired with false concern for her friend, earning a laugh from Lucy.
“Fuck off!” Alex couldn’t help but laugh herself.
Kara was in the locker room with all the other girls who were looking to join the girls’ soccer team. With Kara being intersex, Kara had made it a point to dress before entering the locker room. She wore a simple white tee and athletic shorts with trainers. She was sitting on one of the benches that was in between the row of lockers. Alex was in front of her in a sports bra, athletic shorts, tube socks, and trainers. She was putting on deodorant while talking away about something Kara was not particularly listening to.
“…and then she accidentally fingered my asshole. ‘Surprised the shit out of me, but low-key, it kind of felt good.” Alex said before turning around to see that her friend had not been listening to her at all because she was looking at the other girls in the room. She snorted. “Damn, Zorel. Check your shit. You’re pointing north after all that eyeballing.” Kara started at the sound of her name. After a quick check that verified that she was not actually hard, she glared at Alex.
“Will you lower your voice?” Kara scowled. “And I wasn’t staring,” though she had been just a little. She was not blind. These girls here were hot. “I was just thinking…shouldn’t there be more girls trying out than this?” Besides her and Alex, there were only five other girls — certainly not enough to take the pitch on game days.
Alex looked around after pulling on her shirt, a small frown on her face. “Yeah, it is pretty light. Though, I’m sure more will turn up.” She said with a small shrug.
“Hopefully…” Kara said, sounding a little uncertain. “Where’s Lucy?”
“Early meeting with coach. She should be back soon. We should probably head out to the pitch if we don’t want to be late. You do not want to be on Coach Townsends shit list before you’ve even made the team.” Alex said once the other girls start to leave.
Like a herd, all the girls made their way to the soccer pitch they were scheduled to use, only to be confused when they see the girl’s lacrosse team already on it.
“Um, is the lacrosse team supposed to be on the pitch? I thought we were scheduled to use it?” Gail, one of the girls on the team asked, her face scrunched in confusion.
“We were,” A pissed off Lucy said as she came from behind them.
Lucy aggressively shoved a piece of paper into Alex’s hands. It was filled from top to bottom with text. At the bottom of the paper was the obnoxiously sized signature of Midvale Prep’s principal, Samuel Bernard.
“Yeah, I’m not reading all that. What does it say?” Alex asked her captain.
“They’re cutting the girls’ soccer team!” Lucy seethed with an angry gesture towards the piece of paper that stated as such.
“The fuck?” Alex blinked, hoping that she heard incorrectly. Kara snatched the paper from her hands and began to furiously scan through the finely printed words.
“No lie. Principal Bernard’s cutting the program. For one, not enough girls signed up. And two, he said that they needed the extra funding to remodel the boy’s locker rooms.” Lucy continued.
“What the hell? Didn’t they just do that last year?” Francis, the team’s midfielder, exclaimed in outrage.
“Yes, but now they’ll get ‘therapeutic showers and a sauna room’.” Lucy said, her voice high in pitch as she imitated their principal.
The boys’ teams were always being invested in, meanwhile, the girl’s locker room showers had suspicious mold and freezing waters at the lowest possible pressures. With all the money their parents spent to send them all there, you’d think they’d have more money to spare for them.
It goes to show just where their priorities lay.
“This is bullshit. They can’t do this! A lot of us are seniors this year! If we can’t play, then how are we going to get scouted?” Hilary, the team’s goalie, cried out. Her eyes watered in frustration.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Hilary. Principal Bernard said things were final. Coach Townsend didn’t seem all that bothered by it either. Probably because she’ll get to coach the girls’ basketball team now, like she’s always wanted.” Lucy said with a defeated throw of her hands.
“I know I started playing this sport a lot later than you guys, but it has become a part of me now. I didn’t work my ass off all last year just to not be able to play. And you seniors didn’t spend your entire high school career playing, just to be an un-scouted graduate. No, there has to be another way.” Kara spoke up with a determined shake of her head.
“There isn’t. I spent all morning trying to convince the principal to change his mind. He just wouldn’t budge. He really wants that stupid locker room remolded.” Lucy finished with a growl.
Kara, never one to just let things defeat her so easily, churned her brain for ideas until her eyes trailed over to the second practice pitch where the boys’ soccer team currently ran drills.
“Oh, this is so not over.” Kara said in determination before storming over to pitch number two. The other girls all looked at each other before quickly following after.
“Coach Collins!” Kara shouted once she got close enough to the middle-aged balding man who was observing his team go through running drills.
The head coach gave them a small, almost uncaring, glance over his shoulder. “Oh, hey girls. I heard about the bad news.” He said before going back to watching his boys.
“I’d say it’s more than bad. I’m a junior, so I’m not too worried yet, but most of the girls here are seniors. If they can’t play this season, then their chances of ever being recruited by a scout are practically nonexistent.”
“Ricky! Pick up your damn knees!” Coach Collins shouted to said boy before saying, “Yes, that wouldn’t be good,” sounding as if he weren’t all that bothered by the possibility.
“Can’t you do something, coach? Principal Bernard respects you. He’d listen to you if you spoke to him.” Kara asked.
“Sorry, girls. Even if I did talk to him, I wouldn’t be able to change his mind. He’s set on getting the boys locker rooms remolded this year.”
Hell, he was too. Which was why he had suggested cutting the program to make room in the budget. He tried to fight off the anticipatory grin that threatened to form on his face at the thought of lounging in the sauna room. Instead, he yelled at another one of his players.
Kara, still not one to be defeated so easily, continued to push the man on the matter, not at all disheartened by the hopeless looks the girls were wearing, nor by how uninterested Coach Collins seemed to be with the idea of helping them.
“Fine, if you won’t talk to the principal, then we’ll just have to try out for the boys’ team.”
It took Coach Collins a total of five seconds to fully register what Kara had just said before his head snapped back in laughter. Kara’s face turned red from annoyance as she watched the man swipe tears of laughter from his eyes.
“Now that was a good one. Never knew you were so damn funny, Zorel.” Coach Collins said to Kara with a wag of his finger.
“That wasn’t a joke, coach.” She clipped with a pointed stare.
With a waning smile and puzzled eyes, he stared at her for a few beats before saying, “My god, you’re actually serious right now.” He said, sounding astonished.
“Dead serious.” Kara said firmly, “So…should we try out now? Or do you want us to come back later?”
“Absolutely not!” Coach Collins exclaimed with an incredulous laugh and a vigorous shake of his head.
“Why not?” Alex demanded, arms crossed.
“Y-you just can’t! No, not going to happen.” Coach Collins tripped up, trying to keep himself from saying something incriminating.
“Hey, coach. What’s going on?” A sweaty Mike said as he and the rest of the boys’ soccer team, who certainly weren’t hurting for numbers like the girls were, came to join their conversation.
“The girls want to try out for the team.” The coach explained, immediately earning laughter from the group of boys, Mike included, much to Kara’s chagrin.
“What?” Mike guffawed. “You can’t try out for the team.” He told Kara and the others.
“And why can’t we?” Kara asked him with a hard voice and air quotes.
“You just can’t.” Mike said, repeating the same words as his coach.
Kara rolled her eyes. “Why is it that ‘we just can’t’ tryout now when just the other day you were telling me that I was better than half your squad?”
“Nahhh.”
“Half of who?”
“Bro, really?”
“That’s cap,”
“You must be talking about, Rick.”
All of the boys surrounding Mike exclaimed at once to their captain, who flushed with embarrassment.
“I only said that to get into your pants.” Mike lied, trying to appear smug while surrounded by his teammates. However, to Kara and the other girls, he only succeeded in looking like a douche. He looked like Coach Collins, who wore the same expression as he stood back and let his players do all the talking.
“Do you really want to go there, Michael?” Kara said with a raised brow, reveling in the slight panic she saw behind his eyes. She’d never expose him like that, but he was talking too boldly for her liking.
“Yeah, Matthews. I’ve heard some things.” Alex said with a waggle of her brow. Lucy elbowed her friend’s side in admonishment, but that did not stop the amusement she felt when seeing how pale Mike got.
Kara sighed. “Coach, c’mon. You know we’re good. If you just give us a chance, we—“
“I’m sorry girls, but it’s still a no. We all know that you all are excellent players—” Coach Collins began, very much exasperated.
“Then what’s the problem? If—” Lucy interrupted with a frustrated scowl.
“But–” Coach Collins stressed with a hand raised as if to say, ‘I’m not finished.’ “I don’t want you girls to get hurt.”
Alex scoffed. “All I see is a bunch of string beans with chicken legs. You should be more worried about a strong breeze taking out half your team than us getting hurt.”
“Yeah, and we play on artificial turf while you princesses get actual grass. I once had a turf burn that looked like Imra Ardeen.” Lucy added.
“Never wanted to hump a leg so bad,” Alex quipped in reminiscence of the turf burn that resembled the famous actress.
Kara rolled her eyes at her best friend’s antics.
“Though it was not said in the best way…points were made. We’re tough and we can handle whatever. All you have to do is give us the chance to prove it.”
“Listen girls, I didn’t want to outright say it, but it seems I’ll have to if it’s the only way you’ll understand it… Girl’s aren’t as fast as boys. Or as strong. Or as athletic.” Coach Collins listed off to the girls, sounding as if they should already know these things.
“And that’s on science,” one of the boys said, earning laughter from his friends.
“Shut the fuck up, Rick. You can’t talk shit when you still piss the bed!” Kara snapped at the soccer player, who gaped at her.
“W-where’d you hear that?” Rick stammered, his face red with mortification as he tried to ignore how his peers looked at him in shocked amusement.
“Zorel! There’s no need for such hostility. We’re just trying to get you to see reason here. Girls can’t beat boys. It’s a simple fact.” Coach Collins said with a dismissive shrug.
“The only thing I see here is bullshit, coach.” Kara turned to her boyfriend with beseeching eyes. “Are you really being serious right now?” Kara asked him. When the older boy looked around and at his teammates before he answered her, Kara knew that he would be of no help to her.
“Tell her man,” One of his teammates egged him on.
Mike puffed up his chest and crossed his arms. “It’s for your own good, Kara. Girls just can’t keep up or play on the same level as us boys — stop wasting your breath on this. You’re not going to win.”
Kara’s raised an affronted brow. “Fine, if I’m wasting my breath, then you’re wasting my time. You’re blocked.” Kara told him, making sure to pull out her phone and block Mike’s number right in front of his stunned face.
His teammates and the girls around her provided the perfect soundtrack of astonished laughter.
Once the deed was done, she gave him a hard look before scoffing and turning away.
She left the pitch. The girls followed, but not before Alex made sure to flip everyone off.
“Kara! Come back here! There’s no need to be so sensitive!” Mike called after her. “Kara! Baby?”
Kara ignored him while making sure to walk harder towards the girl’s shitty locker room.
“I’m sorry, guys. I tried.” Kara told the girls once they were inside. The mood was somber as they dressed. Kara felt partly responsible for it.
“Hey,” Lucy said softly as she came over and placed a comforting hand on the back of Kara’s head, massaging her friend’s scalp. “You did more for us out there than Coach Townsend did in the office. Some things are just out of our hands, especially when a bunch of dickheads are involved.”
“Speaking of dickheads” Alex segued with a smirk on her face, “Did you see the look on Mike’s face when you dumped his ass? He looked like Lucy when she found out Blaze left True Direction.” Both Kara and Alex laughed.
“Fuck off, okay. I was eleven.” Lucy snapped at her friend.
“So, you didn’t light candles on True Direction’s break up anniversary last year?” Kara added with upturned lips.
—
“By the way, it’s about damn time you broke up with that dick. ‘Never trusted the guy since I found out he bites his toenails off.”
The three of them shudder in disgust.
Kara was walking up her driveway, hoody up and music blasting in her ears when she feels a hand on her shoulder. Kara started, yanking out the ear bud to stare at the person who freaked her out.
“Ew,” Maxine Almerac said with a frown. “You and your brother look too much alike from the back.”
“Well, we should, seeing as we’re twins…though, my ass is fatter than his, so there’s that.”
Maxine rolled her eyes. “Where is your brother? He’s not answering his phone.”
“Didn’t you guys break up or something.” Kara sighed with a scratch of her nose, already done with the conversation. All she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and sulk for the rest of the day.
“We did not break up.” Maxine snapped, her voice forceful and full of delusion. “We were just on a little break, is all. But now that’s ended.”
“Sureee,” Kara drawled, letting the older girl know just how true she found that statement to be.
“Where is he?” Maxine stomped her foot.
“I don’t keep tabs on him.” Kara told the red-haired girl before turning around to make her way to the front door.
“When you see him tell him to answer my calls.” Maxine practically growled.
Without looking, Kara held up a hand and shooed the girl away. From behind her, she could hear the girl release an indignant huff before storming off to her overpriced car.
There was only so much of Maxine Almerac she could take.
Her brother Kal’s on-again off-again girlfriend was the epitome of fourth generation, spoiled rich girl that their father, Zoron, approved of. Kara never got what her twin brother saw in her. Maxine was his complete opposite.
As soon as Kara opened the front door to her house, she came face to face with her mother who was trying to exit.
“Oh, good. I thought I wouldn’t get to see you before I left.” Alura said. Kara’s mother was dressed casually, but she had a roller suitcase behind her and her computer bag slung over her shoulder.
“Work trip?” Kara guessed.
Alura nodded. “Japan.”
“For how long?”
Alura released a heavy sigh as she brought a hand up to rub at her temple. “My guy royally screwed things up so now I’ve got to fly out there and fix things. It’ll probably take me at least six weeks to bring us back to where we were.” Alura took in her daughter’s appearance and remembered that she was supposed to have tryouts today.
“How’d tryouts go, honey?” She asked after tucking a lock of the girl’s blonde hair behind her ear.
A frown took to Kara’s face. “There was none. Principal Bernard cut the girls’ soccer program.”
“Aw, honey. I know how much you wanted to play. You worked so hard all summer.”
“Yeah, well. I’ll be fine. I’ll figure something out.”
Just then, Alura’s Oober pulled into the driveway, bringing the older woman back into rush mode. Kara followed her to the car and put her mother’s bags in the trunk once she realized the driver had no intention of getting out to help. Knowing her mother, the man would not be receiving five stars once their trip together ended.
“Okay, I’m heading out.” Alura said. “Tuesday – don’t forget to pick up your debutant dresses from the boutique. There should be two. One for the luncheon and one for the ball.”
Kara let out a long-suffering groan. “Mom, you know I don’t want to do that crap.” She whined; it took everything within her to keep her foot from stomping the ground.
Her mother was dead set on her officially becoming a debutant because she herself had been one over a hundred years ago when she herself was a teen.
“Kara Zorel. Do not start with me. I do not have the time.” Alura said with a light glare before kissing her daughter’s cheek. “Oh, and make sure your brother goes to school.” Her mother added as she pulled away.
“I can’t work miracles.” Kara told her mother.
Alura laughed before finally getting inside the Oober. Kara watched the car drive away until it disappeared around the corner.
She then went inside the house, making sure to lock the door behind her. She went upstairs. While on her way towards her room, she stops outside Kal’s door when she hears how much noise he was making from inside. Kara knocked. Everything inside came to a halt, and the music was turned down. Her brother’s door slowly opened with caution.
Upon seeing his sister’s face, Kal released a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god. I thought you were mom.” He told her before opening the door wider for her to enter.
“Mom is on her way to the airport.” She informed him as she stepped inside. “What the hell is going on in here?” Kara asked her brother as she took in the wrecked state of his room.
Her brother’s bed had a giant suitcase open and mostly filled. Right beside it, more clothes waited to be folded and placed inside.
“Are you going somewhere?” she asked him.
“How long will mom be gone?” Kal asked, completely ignoring her questions as he went back to packing.
Kara’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Six weeks.” Kal seemed pleased by her answer. “Now answer my question.”
“I’m going to England for a few weeks. My band was able to get a slot at a music festival there.”
“What the hell? That’s awesome! How did that even happen?” Kara exclaimed, running over to hug her brother, who was beaming with pride and excitement as he returned the hug.
“The event planner saw one of our videos on MeTube. They gave us the offer after one of the bands they booked backed out. They’re paying for everything — flights, transportation, hotel. It’s going to be great!”
Kara smiled, happy for her brother.
She then remembered that school officially started next week.
“Wait, what about school?” She asked with a small frown.
Kal shrugged. “What about it? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Kara. I’m not going to let this pass me up. And I don’t want to be the one that holds the band back from doing this either.”
Kal was the lead singer and guitarist of his band, Killing Zod. He was also the only member who was still in high school. His bandmates, who were all in their early twenties, have gone through four lead singers before they came across him last year. They’ve waited a long time for something like this to happen. He was not about to be the one to stop their momentum just because he had to attend some pretentious boarding school.
“Mom’s going to kill you.” Kara told him as she flopped backwards on the part of his bed that was free from clothes and hygienic products. “And she’s going to kill me too, cause apparently I’m your damn keeper.”
Kal laughed. “If you’re my keeper then I am yours. Twins for life, baby sister.”
Kara rolled her eyes.
Kal insisted on calling her baby sister because even though there was only five minutes that separated them at birth, it had been so close to midnight when Kal’s fat head finally pushed through, that by the time Kara came along the hour struck and it was technically the next day, giving them two different birthdays.
“So, you’re just not going to show up to Larchmont? You know they’re going to call mom and tell her, right? You just got kicked out of Midvale for skipping, Kal. Mom is going to keep you chained up in the basement when she finds out. I’ll have to sneak in and feed you Takis or something.”
When she did not receive a response, Kara turned her head and looked at her brother. He was giving her what he thought to be puppy dog eyes, when really, he only succeeded in looking like one of those InstaOunce influencers who never evolved from the duck face.
“Please, fix your face. It’s creeping me out.” Kara told him. “And no. Whatever it is you’re planning to rope me into; the answer is no.”
Kal’s face returned to its human form as he jumped onto his bed to side hug his sister.
“C’mon, Kara. All I need you to do is call Larchmont Academy and tell them I have some disease — anything that’ll last for a few weeks. Something like…mad cow.”
Kara looked at her brother as if he were dumb. “Mad cow? What is this, the early 2000s?”
“Hey, it could still happen.” Kal defended.
“Unlikely.”
“Please, Kara. Work with me here! I want to be a famous musician. Last time I heard, they don’t need to know trigonometry. Besides, if you want to chase your dreams, sometimes you gotta break the rules, right?”
“You know the percentage of bands that actually make it to the big time, right?”
“Probably the same as female soccer players.” Kal retorted.
“Touché,” Kara conceded with a light glare. Kal laughed. “I’ll help, but you owe me.”
“Great!” Kal kissed her cheek. He then got up from the bed and got back to packing up the rest of his stuff, making sure he had all the necessary items he wanted to bring for his trip.
“You know, your girlfriend Maxine was looking for you earlier.” Kara told her brother.
“Ew,” was all the boy said, unknowingly using the word he’d picked up from said girl. “And she’s not my girlfriend.” He denied with a crinkled nose.
“She still seems to think so.”
“She wishes,” he scoffed. “Maxine is hot and the sex is not bad either, but she’s not what you’d call a good conversationalist. A fucking brick wall would be better conversation than her. After two years of dating on and off, she still doesn’t know me. Hell, I bet if you cut your hair and wore my clothes, she’d still think it was me.”
And with that thought, an idea suddenly entered Kara’s mind as an idea began to take form.
“That’s funny ‘cause she saw me from behind and literally thought I was you at first.” Kara told him. Kal laughed. “You’d think your girlfriend would be able to recognize the differences after two years together.”
“Right? It’s not hard. My ass is fatter than yours.” Kal claimed, not noticing the deadpanned look Kara was giving him. Suddenly, he perked up with a memory. “Ha, remember that one time in middle school when we switched classes so you could take my math test?” He asked.
“Yeah, and we would have gotten away with it if you didn’t hit on Mrs. Grace.” Kara replied.
Kal shrugged. “What can I say, Mrs. Grace was a MILF.” He said with a smirk at the good memory. “Hey. Why don’t you go to Larchmont as me. That’ll solve all my problems.” He joked, unknowingly voicing Kara’s thoughts even though his words were said in jest.
“It would certainly help your grades, that’s for sure.” Kara teased while her mind continued to race with an emerging plan.
“You’re crazy if you think this will work.” Kara’s third best friend, Kenny, told her with a straight face and a shake of his head.
They were at Noonan’s, making use of the gift cards they won in the beach tournament, where Kara had just filled him, Lucy, and Alex in on her admittedly insane idea of impersonating her brother so she could play soccer for Larchmont Academy’s boys team.
“I don’t know. I think she can pull it off.” Lucy spoke up while glaring at Alex, who sat across from her and noisily slurped from the near empty cup that contained a watermelon-banana smoothie.
Alex just smirked around the straw, finding pleasure in the irritation she stirred within the other girl.
“Remember when they switched classes? Everyone thought Kara was Kal.” Lucy said.
“Exactly,” Kara said with an excited point to Lucy. “Even though they saw us every day, they still couldn’t tell the difference. How can they tell that I’m not Kal when no one at Larchmont knows us? It’s foolproof.” Kara said with a spread of her hands, as if she were laying her brilliant plans out right in front of them.
“Okay,” Kenny amended with a small adjustment to his horned, black rimmed glassed. “Say you do go to Larchmont Academy as your brother. What makes you so sure that you’ll even make the team?”
Kara gives him an unconcerned wave of her hand, though if she were being honest, underneath, she was a little worried about that. Larchmont was ranked number one in the state when it came to its boys’ soccer team. Coach John Jones, an ex-premier league and ex-MLS player, was known for only accepting perfection and nothing less when he put his elite team together.
Kara knew that even with her little experience, she was a good player. She knew that she was good enough to make the boy’s and girls’ soccer team at Midvale, but she could not say — with confidence — that she was good enough to make Coach John’s winning team at Larchmont.
She did not allow herself to think on that for long.
“Larchmont’s team lost a lot of its players at graduation, so they’ll be needing fresh bodies. This improves my chances. Not making the team is not an option for me.” Kara said, determined despite her uncertainty.
“I don’t think that’s how it works, hun.” Kenny told her with a slight shake of his head.
“It doesn’t matter because this will work. I’ll make the team.” She insisted. “And to ensure that I do, I’ll need your help. I need you to ‘Mulan’ me.”
Alex snorted. “Oh, this should be fun.”
“Mulan you,” Kenny repeated, voice flat and filled with skepticism.
“We know you do drag on the weekends.” Kara announced, gathering looks from some nearby tables as she’d been a little too loud. Kara gave her blushing and glaring friend a sheepish look. “Sorry, but it’s true. We know.”
“How? I haven’t told anyone.” Kenny said.
“Oh, baby boy.” Alex said with a smirk to her friend. “You told us yourself.”
“I’ve done no such thing.” He proclaimed with an affronted look.
His friends knew he was gay, but the fact that he did drag was something he had yet to inform them of. Not because he did not trust them, but because of how supportive they’d be. They would go to damn near all of his shows and embarrass the hell out of him and unintentionally give his secret away.
He was still only eighteen, and the club he did drag at didn’t let anyone under twenty-one on the stage. He needed the money, because unlike his friends, who all come from wealthy families, he was on scholarship to attend Midvale. Most of the money he made went to his mother, but the rest he saved for when he went to college.
“You told us.” Lucy backed her friends up. “That night at my house after the last day of school. You got so drunk and started calling yourself Kennedy. Plus, the choreo you spontaneously broke into was the exact one you did at the gay bar.”
Kenny released an embarrassed groan, palm to his face. “Please tell me you guys did not go to the Hole-In-One.”
“We may have gone once or twice.” Kara told him. “They have great wings.” She made sure to inform him with a sage nod of her head.
“You cannot tell anyone there that you know me. They don’t know that I’m not twenty-one yet.”
“We figured,” All three girls said simultaneously.
“I wished you would have told us.” Lucy said.
“I trust you guys.” Kenny assured his friends. “But I know how crazy you guys can get. I’m just behaving cautiously. I don’t want to jeopardize anything. They pay me too well there.”
They girls make sure Kenny knows that they would not be the reason he lost his job, and that if he really didn’t want them there, then they would not go.
“I love you guys.” Kenny told them. They returned the sentiment. “And as for as me making a man out of you; it shouldn’t be too hard. With your bad posture and that meat stick between your legs, you already walk like a dude.” Kenny quipped.
Lucy and Alex laughed. Kara glared lightly at her friends.
“We’ll find a good wig, some sideburns, and do a little contouring. That should suffice. But that’s just your appearances. How are you going to convince people — social wise — that you’re a man’s man.”
Kara waved him off. “Eh, that shouldn’t be too hard. Guys are easy.”