Previous | Table of Contents | Next
“Are you really sure about this?” Brooke asked, frowning.
“I have to do something or I’ll go crazy.” I sighed, adjusting the skirt. “Does it look good?”
“Pfft… don’t ask me!” Brooke looked away, a blush forming on her cheeks. “Jeese, at least working for you is never boring.”
Two weeks had passed since I had been suspended from school. As my lawyer looked to form her case while the prosecution gathered evidence, I quickly found myself going stir crazy. I spent some time with my daughters, but they were babies. There wasn’t exactly a lot that they could do. Between Rose and the maids, there was very little opportunity for me to do much. If anything, I felt like I was getting in the way. Furthermore, as the number one hated guy in the city, it wasn’t like I could leave the mansion either.
Simply getting to the prison involved sending out a decoy car first, and then taking a second car ten minutes later. It wasn’t something that could be attempted on a regular basis or they’d catch on. I couldn’t leave the house reasonably. Thus, I was no less stir crazy than I had been before school started. It was even worst than before since I had gotten a taste of freedom, and now I was restrained once again. There was no way I could stand remaining in this place for nearly two months. It already felt like a prison.
Thus, Clarice came to my aid. I could go back to school as a woman. If Ashton was able to get into school as a boy, a boy getting into a school as a girl should be easy. Well, it took Brooke nearly two weeks to acquire all the forms and documents, many of them forged, to get Clarice registered as a student. I didn’t ask what sources she had to use to accomplish this, but I trusted in Brooke’s capacity to get things done.
It was risky, but it was something I had wanted to do since before I was expelled. Any class I joined as a boy would have quickly turned into pandemonium. It was to the point that being a male student who actually went to classes was nearly impossible. Of the two times I tried, one ended with the instructor begging me to drop it, and the second with the instructor offering to teach me “privately”. The later suggested in a tone that left no doubt what kind of privates were involved.
If I couldn’t obtain an education as Clyburn, then I would obtain an education as Clarice. The actual degree wasn’t as important to me as the knowledge. I lacked common sense in this world, and I wanted to go to classes so that I understood this world better. It was as simple as that. If Mom was home, I didn’t think she’d have ever agreed. As far as Rose, she accepted my reasoning, valuing my education a bit more strongly than Mom might have. However, Rose wasn’t fond of seeing me play dressup. She had a complicated look on her face as she saw me walk by in Clarice’s dress and makeup. I decided not to tease her or I’d break my poor aunt.
We ended up sneaking out the smuggler’s path that Hannah had once mentioned. Without Hannah, it took a week of searching before the place was found. We sealed the place with a locked door, but it still seemed to be useful so we didn’t destroy it. That use came quicker than one might expect, as it was the perfect route to dodge all of the news media that waited for any sign of me leaving the mansion. The security under Charlene was working overtime to keep people from breaking into our private property and trying to get photos.
A car pulled around and before long, we were heading off to the island. Even if a paparazzi or two grew suspicious, Brooke was a student at the school and it wouldn’t be odd for her to head there. As for me, it was unlikely anyone would realize I was more than just Brooke’s female friend. The idea I’d be sneaking out in drag wasn’t something this world considered. As long as we weren’t obvious about it, I didn’t see any problems.
So, we boarded the nearest trolley heading up to the Academy island. It was a bit crowded and there were girls around me, but none of them suspected I was a guy. I wasn’t being pushed or overwhelmed. Well, if they did think I was a guy, at this point, they’d be keeping their distance. The days of being accosted by clueless freshman would have to wait until next year. I’m not saying I enjoyed being accosted by fifteen-year-old girls wanting to be impregnated by my seed.
I coughed and turned away, less a certain something started poking out from my skirt. Perhaps I should not be thinking about those kinds of things at this point. For all intent and purposes, I was committing a bit of a taboo in this world. At least Ashton genuinely believed they were a boy. For me, after the trouble I was being accused of, if I was caught, I’d be in deep trouble. It was the kind of problem that could jeopardize my case and create a scandal.
“You going to get lunch at the cafeteria today?” I overheard a girl nearby ask.
“No, the Wrath girls are over there forcing girls to sign a petition to have that boy expelled.”
“Seriously? Isn’t that like in the courts or something.”
“They’re saying it’s not enough to let the courts decide.” The girl shrugged. “Well, don’t look at me, I signed it just to get them off my back, but they still harass me. They’ve been bullying every girl who hasn’t signed the petition. I’ve heard it’s already over 2000 signatures.”
“Wow… I guess it’s just like those boys throwing each other under the bus. Isn’t this like the Reynold’s case a few years ago?”
“Reynolds? Wasn’t that the guy who was accused of being a serial rapist? Didn’t he get off without any charges?”
“Yeah. All the girls turned out to be pregnant. A few of them were found to be lying about not being pregnant, but they claimed that he drugged them and raped them again during the trial to ensure they got pregnant this time. Court didn’t buy it.”
“Crazy… those girls should just be happy they got pregnant. Instead, they went after the father. How pathetic.”
“Heh… don’t let Wrath hear you say that.” The girl whispered, moving closer, and forcing me to lean in to still hear them. “They say the guy was killed by one of the women shortly after the trial.”
“I thought the papers said it was a heart attack?”
“On a forty-year-old man? No… electric shock.” The girl looked around, not seeming to notice me leaning in because I was facing the other way. “One of the girls killed him with magic. I’ll tell you if I was that Clyburn guy… I wouldn’t come back even if the case was won.”
Their conversation put a bit of dread in me. I had trusted in the court systems. Sure, I wasn’t in the best position to defend myself, but I expected that if the ruling came out in my favor, the issues would be resolved. However, now I wasn’t so sure. The last thing I wanted was to be killed by some angry teenage girl for a crime I didn’t commit.
“It’s a shame the boys won’t rally behind him.” The girl actually did seem a bit regretful.
“Isn’t that boys for you? They only care about themselves. Every guy for themselves, isn’t that their motto?”
Whatever the response was ended when the trolley came to a stop. We were back in the Academy, although it now felt like the enemy territory. I took a deep breath and stepped out into the train station. As I walked around, I quickly realize the conversation I eavesdropped on wasn’t a serendipitous event. This was the conversation on literally every girl’s lips. Some spoke in hushed whispers, while others were much more vocal about it.
“That boy is…”
“The Precipice was…”
“What’s going on with the boy…”
“Those Wrath girls are…”
“Did you hear about him?”
When a boy was mentioned, it was almost certain the talk was about me. Some of the stuff was shoved somewhere between truth and fiction. A few mentioned that I had once been kidnapped by a gang of lipsticks, but the name of the gang was usually wrong. A few suggested I had been the leader of the gang in secret and was let free while the women took the fall. I was freed on account of being a man. Some mentioned my mother was in jail for murder. There were those that suggested I had murdered the woman, and mom was taking the wrap for me. A few even commented that we had a sexual relationship. It made me uncomfortable when people got close to guessing my relationship with my mom, as if it was their business.
My sister’s names came up a bit too, but most of the time they weren’t attached to names. Instead, they were some baseless accusation that I was raping my sisters. Considering I had come out of the building with Madison, I was a little surprised that her name wasn’t being dragged through the mud as well, at least, any more than usual. Mako was certainly the target of many comments. Some said she deserved what she got for being a tease, while others suggested that she should retire in shame. Suffice it to say, there were a lot of complicated thoughts on the issue.
Unlike my previous world, terms like slut-shaming and sexual harassment weren’t pushed into the public eye as aggressively. Women were quite cruel to each other. It didn’t take a man to perpetuate prejudice, hatred, accusations, or radical theories. Wherever there were sides, there were people ready to take them.
“However, when it comes to the Academy, it seems like Wrath rules with an iron fist. Their anti-male campaign is nuts.” I murmured as I looked at a poster on a wall.
The poster consisted of a picture of me, except I had devil horns and teeth and two lines crossing me out. At the bottom, the words “Don’t let the MPA keep rapists like him free!”. Just looking around the trolley station, I could see posters like this everywhere. Calling this area the enemy territory could be too generous. I felt like I was in the enemy stronghold.
“It’s not as bad as all that,” Brooke responded, walking up behind me. “You’re focusing on those that are campaigning against you, while you’re missing those that haven’t.”
“Huh?” I turned back and glanced at Brooke.
“The petition is available publicly, you should check it out. There isn’t a single signature on the list from the Freshman class. From the rumors, this Monarch has forbidden anyone from raising a hand or word of protest against you. Some have started to call her Clyburn’s angel.”
“Hmm…” I looked down at my hands as I worked through my thoughts. “Monarch again… huh?”
“You’ve met her?”
“Shortly after I contracted with a girl, some of the Monarch’s friends headed her off. Mia hasn’t tried to contact me since. I’ve only received one message from her since that night.”
“Is that so…” Brooke didn’t seem inclined to ask more, she seemed uncomfortable when I talked about being with other women, even though she herself often spoke of it freely.
The message Mia had left me was “Don’t forget me.” Our time together had been very brief, but I swore in my heart I wouldn’t forget her. At the very least, I knew that Mia wasn’t abandoning me because she got what she wanted. As to what Monarch wanted with her, I could make a guess. After all, I was pretty certain I knew who the Monarch was.
“Hannah…” I sighed.
“You sister?” Brooke blinked. “What does she have to do with this?”
“I just wish… she could be here with me, supporting me.”
Brooke gave a wry smile. “No offense, but your sister was hardly a reliable person. She’s also not that stable, mentally. The fact she hasn’t shown herself worries me. If we’re lucky, she gave up on you and is as far away from us as possible.”
I gave Brooke a shrug, then smiled to myself. No, Hannah wasn’t gone. I didn’t know why Hannah couldn’t just be by her brother’s side, but I knew she was supporting me in her own way.
“Never mind that… ¼ of the student body isn’t bad.” I sighed, changing the subject.
“Not just the students.” Brooke continued. “There are some other notable missing signatures. Mako… for one. For a teacher who was raped by a male student, you think she’d want you to pay. However, she’s refused to sign the document. Then there was Lyra and Dia, both Queens and the so-called targets of this event. Also… Madison… she hasn’t signed it. So that’s something.”
“Yeah…” I nodded, not really sure how I should take the news. “I suppose that is good.”
I hadn’t even really considered that any of them would sign it. I supposed it was a surprise that Mako didn’t sign it, but as far as my sister, I would have been more upset had she signed it rather than not. Perhaps that was taking her for granted again. I wished talking to Madison wasn’t so much of a challenge. However, I was a guy and she was a girl, and this Academy seemed to be built with the intent of putting up a wall between the sexes, only allowing us to come into contact briefly in contracts, but never becoming intimate.
Except… that I wasn’t a boy right now. I was dressed as a girl! The barrier between us no longer existed! As that realization hit my mind, I immediately made a decision. I instinctively glanced over at Brooke. She was standing nearby, paying more attention to the environment than me, keeping watch like a good guard. Brooke was willing to put up with a lot, but I had the distinct feeling that if I told her I wanted to walk into the girl’s dorms and talk to Madison, she wouldn’t allow it. I knew it was a risk, but I had barely spoken to Madison, especially after the last time we had talked.
This was a risk, but one I absolutely had to take. As we left the station, I stopped, dancing between my feet for a second.
“What? What is it?” Brooke asked, looking back.
“I have to go pee!”
“S-seriously? Now?”
“Y-yes… just wait for me!” I immediately b-lined for the toilet.
“No-no you idiot! The girl’s, the girl’s!” Brooke hissed.
I turned with a blush, only receiving a couple of weird looks from girls passing by on their way to classes. Diving into the girl’s restroom, I took a breath of relief as I found that Brooke didn’t follow me in. Well, she wasn’t a deviant, I guessed. It’d be a little weird if she was creeping on other girls in the restroom.
My eye fell on a window in one of the stalls. It opened with relative ease, and after stepping up on the toilet it was sufficient to slip out the back of the public facility. I immediately took off. At least, the week I had spent on campus had helped me grow familiar with the layout of the facilities. Although I had never been to the girl’s dorm, I at least knew the direction. Unlike the male facility, the female facility didn’t have fences or a checkpoint.
Well, that’s what I thought, but… “Your ID?”
There was a hastily erected fence and a group of girls checking IDs as I came down the road heading for the girl’s dorm. This was not here before, and I could only raise an eyebrow as I hastily brought out my ID. Fortunately, I needed an ID for the trolley, so among the many faked document’s Brooke had managed to secure through her channels, this should check out.
“You’re a commuter?” The girl asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Ah! I’m uh… here… to study… with a friend?” I didn’t mean the end of that sentence to come out like a question.
“That’s fine.” The girl suddenly laughed. “This is all just for show. The school is trying to avoid being sued, so they’re keeping the boys from entering the girl’s dorms. As long as you don’t have a… I mean as long as you’re not a boy, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Ah… that… of course, I’m not a boy.” I tried to giggle, only sounding more awkward.
“Ha… um… is there anything else you need?”
“Ah!” I looked around, realizing I was still standing there and blocking other girls from getting in the dorms, “A-actually, do you know the room for Madison Bonholdt?”
“Hmmm? Madison?” The girl put her finger up to her mouth and then her eyes widened. “Oh, you meant the Slut Queen!”
I fought my mouth to a smile and nodded politely, not trusting myself to say any words. That’s right, the Slut Queen. A cruel name that people didn’t hesitate to call my sister. It was a nickname even I couldn’t open my mouth to dispute. After all, she earned the name under the pretense that she gave a bunch of guys handjobs and blowjobs during her time in prep school. The truth was that she had given me handjobs and blowjobs hundreds of times.
How did this truth get out to the public? I didn’t really know. Perhaps the girls were joking about blowjobs and handjobs and she made a comment based on experience and people caught that what she said had to be true. Perhaps she told a friend that became jealous and turned around and stabbed her in the back. Maybe someone made a joke or insult at her expense, and she couldn’t’ control her facial expressions enough. Whatever the cause, the result was the same. My big sister was known as the Slut Queen. Both a virgin and a slut that attended this Academy. However, neither of these two names were true. I had taken her virginity and was the only man for her.
At least, I hoped that was true. There was, of course, another option that could have been true. It could be that Madison did give other guys handjobs and blowjobs. She did agree to finish me off quite easily back in the day to protect Hannah. She took to doing this daily for me, and never seemed to question it. Truth be known, she went with Ben that day likely expecting to have sex. Had the seniors and I not interrupted the party, she might have gone up to his room even sober. Perhaps… my sister really was a-
No… I couldn’t allow myself to turn on her the same way everyone else had. Even if there was the smallest part of it that was true, I didn’t care. Madison was my sister, and more than that, she was someone I deeply loved. If she did stuff in the past, we’d get through it. What happened between Madison and I wouldn’t change.
I reached the door that was indicated to be Madison’s. Her name was on the front door, but someone had crossed the name out with a marker and written “Slut” next to it. In fact, the entire door was decorated with lewd drawings and insulting names. There was also a box of condoms lying at the foot of her door, and a loose condom tied around the handle. It looked like Madison hadn’t even attempted to clean up this mess, instead of letting it accumulate over the months. It truly looked like a place for a Slut to reside… or a masochist.
I moved closer to the door, listening before I knocked. As soon as I listened, I moved closer until my ear was against the door. I had heard something that sounded like a man’s voice.
“No, please, no!” I heard the panicked voice of a woman.
“Gehehe, you know you want it, you smell so horny!”
“Please, stop, nyaaa…. It’s inside!”
My eyes widened and immediately shoved my body against the door as I turned the knob. It sounded like my sister was being raped! How could I not immediately react with all that I could! The doorknob was unfortunately not locked, and thus the door opened with ease. I went flying into the room. The door was opened with enough force that it bounced back, slamming behind me. This cut off the light from the hallway and plunged the room into darkness. The shades were down and the lights were off. I immediately collapsed to the floor with my momentum being completely defeated. I heard a girl’s surprised cry, but I didn’t care. Bouncing back up to my feet, my eyes landed on the bed.
There was someone hiding under the comforter. There was quite a bit of movement. Were they trying to get their clothes back on? No! It’s his fault! He’s the one who did this to my sister. He must have gotten past security and then pushed my sister down. I absolutely would kill this guy! I reached out and grabbed the comforter, ripping it off the bed with all of my force. There was a shrill scream a second later, but it didn’t come from the girl.
The girl, Madison, was staring up at me with confusion in her eyes. In her hand appeared to be a chip, con route to her mouth. She was sitting Indian style on her bed, and in her lap was the personal virtual screen mom had once boughten her. It was from this screen that the scream was indicating. I looked down at the screen instinctively. On it, was an old black and white movie. A girl was running wearing nothing but a towel. Behind her was a man, laughing maniacally as he raised a knife and pursued her.
“Horror?” That was the question that came out of my mouth. “You like horror?”
Madison calmly dropped the chip back in her bag, whipping her fingers off on her pink pajamas before reaching out and turning off the screen. There was another lamp on under her blanket which produced enough lighting so that I could see her clearly.
“Who are you? What do you want barging in my room?” Madison asked calmly.
I had too many things shooting through my brain at once. The only one that reached the surface was. “Shouldn’t you be surprised by someone barging in your room?”
Madison’s eyes narrowed. “If you knew it bothers me, why did you do it? Besides, I’ve had people letting off fireworks at my door and trying to throw stink bombs into my room all year. After you broke my last three locks I just stopped locking the door! Did you come to call me a slut? Do so and leave, You’d be the tenth girl to say that today.”
“That…” Suddenly I felt really stupid, reaching back and scratching my head, not quite sure how to react.
“Let me guess… a freshman? The Freshman have been surprisingly lenient on harassment this year so far, but I supposed it’s about time some of you bugged me on a bet. Just know you aren’t as clever as you think you are…”
“No, it’s not that! Not that at all?” I looked down at the screen. “The movie, it’s “She Screams Alone”, right? You like horror movies?”
Madison suddenly looking down, turning the VS away from my sight and blushing. “Th-that…”
As my eyes began to focus in the dark, I looked up to realize that there was an entire line of titles on her bookcase above the bed; “The Manbeast of Troy”, “His and Her”, “The Man Who Took Her”….
“These are all horror movies…” I said, looking at the list.
“Eh?” Madison jumped up, suddenly trying to block me, “What are you doing? So, I like horror movies, what is it to you?”
I felt a sudden surge of sadness. This was part of Madison that she had never shared with me. I knew she had the video player, but I never wondered what she liked to watch. Madison was a horror movie buff. She had lines and lines of what would be considered classics in this world. Of course, all media in this world was done by women, not men. Therefore, most horror movies were different in this world.
Where horror movies in my old-world dependence on gratuitous violence, naked women, and baddass survivors, this world’s horror focused more on relationships. Faceless murderers were often replaced with evil boyfriends. A plot of horror from this world might be a woman who had sex with a murderer. She had to keep having sex with him to get pregnant while preventing him from wanting to murder her. It could be called psychological in a certain kind of way. Where random nudity was a bit of a staple of a lot of horrors, sex also ended up in a lot of this porn, taking the form of sometimes graphic rape scenes.
This was how my precious big sister lived her life. The world attacked her, and she hid in her blanket, eating chips, and watching old movies about dick monsters and serial rapists. While I was busy playing around, I only made things more difficult for her. This was my sister, the woman I loved, reaching up and trying to hide from me, while I kept my distance from her. I leaned forward and kissed Madison.
“Mmm!” Madison’s eyes widened and she pulled away, back until she fell back on her bed, desperately wiping her mouth. “What are you doing?”
I pulled off my wig, tossing it to the side. “Madison…”
Madison’s eyes squinted for a second in the low lighting, but then she gasped. “Clyburn!”
“I was at that party…” I said simply. “Dressed like this. Ben… he tried to rape you. I… I stopped him.”
Madison’s eyes glanced down at her lap. “I know.”
“Madison… I might not be the best brother or the smartest… but I will never stop loving you.”
Madison’s body seemed to shake silently. “I-I know…”
“I-“ Madison’s hand shut up and blocked my mouth and stopped me from talking, although she still wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Just shut up…”
“Okay…” My lips took hers, and we fell down on her bed.