Even as he woke up for the second time at St. Marie’s Boarding School, Adam still had a little bit of trouble growing accustomed to his circumstances.

  He was still here.

  He was still sleeping in a new dorm room, in a new bed, with a new body…

  Along with his new dorm mate still resting in the opposite bed.

  But Adam didn’t pn on wasting any time. Maybe it was because he wanted to see his reflection in the mirror again as soon as possible, but he wanted to get up on his feet already.

  His face. Her face. It was still there, when he walked up and checked. The smile came on its own. A nagging part of him still felt as if something might take it away all of the sudden, but that wasn’t the case. It really was his.

  Or was it? It was given to him, sure, but even so. It was more of a mask than anything. One he adopted without anyone’s knowledge, let alone permission.

  For once, as he looked back in the mirror, he saw a frown emerge. She knew it too, the face that was staring back at him.

  He then wondered what God would think. Adam knew what he’d done wasn’t exactly satanism, he wasn’t that fanatical, but he still went against what was wanted from him. Although if God really was as compassionate as they said, then surely He’d understand.

  The bigger question concerned the other authority figures. His grandfather being the most immediate, but his parents back home as well. While he didn't think it necessarily a sin to disobey one’s parents, it sure felt like one. Like that somehow, Adam had committed something grave.

  But he couldn’t stop now…

  He’d started getting himself dressed when he finally heard a yawn from his roommate. “Up already?” Tori asked.

  Adam looked back at her pointedly. He wasn’t sure what she meant.

  “It’s Saturday, dummy.” She let out a tired giggle. “We can sleep in.”

  His hands froze in the middle of tying his tie. Now that she said it, she was right. Somehow between everything that’s happened the past few days, the days of the week had completely slipped his mind.

  Adam looked at his tie. He'd been just about to get ready, too. He kinda felt disappointed, he was almost excited to have another day of school, as Aria, even if the first one had had its share of anxiety.

  Tori stood up from her bed, letting out another yawn. The act of seeing her in her gown would have prompted Adam to cover his eyes if he didn’t remember to act natural. It’s not like it was that big of a deal, but… boys weren’t supposed to look, you know?

  “I get it,” She said. “Just moved in. Probably didn’t keep track, huh?”

  Adam nodded.

  “Count yourself lucky, then.” She continued. “More time to get adjusted!”

  That was true. He’d only gotten the two days so far, only one of them filled with csses. There were still things to do, people to meet.

  …Well, meeting people was maybe easier said than done. No voice, and all. But he’d made some friends yesterday, didn’t he? Evan, from English. Those two other girls, Grace and Maddie. Which was interesting. Adam certainly didn’t expect to meet the same student he’d seen at the diner the other day. Who he now learned was actually a boy, apparently. Somehow? Doubly weird.

  “I’ve got nothing to do today, for the record,” Tori added, momentarily bumping into her closet as she went on over to fetch her clothes. “Uh, hehe, but like, so I don’t mind tagging along if you need someone to help speak for you.”

  It was a sweet offer, Adam could definitely need it. He’d felt really stuck when he couldn’t find her anywhere at lunch yesterday, though that had worked out thanks to Evan at the time.

  He’d still almost feel a bit guilty having to rely on her, but he decided to accept the offer with a nod.

  “We could even check in with Ms. Musker or admin today. She said something about support for you, right? Think they’ve ordered one of those tablets?”

  “Come back ter.” Ms. Musker responded with her usual coldness, eyes fixed to her computer.

  “Seriously?” Tori questioned. “It’s been a few days, I just figured-”

  “We only sent the order in the day she arrived,” The supervisor crified. “It’s also the weekend, so even in the best case nothing will arrive until Monday at the earliest.”

  “But that’s-!” Tori was about to continue, but held her tongue in dissatisfied acceptance. “I guess…”

  Adam knew to expect this though. After all, it wasn’t as if his enrollment had been pnned. Were he an actual student, with arrangements to arrive days or even a week in advance, he’d be in better hands. He wouldn’t bme Ms. Musker. It was also for this reason he tugged at Tori’s hand, gesturing to her that it was fine. Though his roommate still appeared a bit frustrated.

  “It’s just annoying.” She said, “You can’t just keep going to css stuck relying on notes and paper.”

  ‘I’m fine,’ Adam mouthed. He’d made due so far, and he could keep doing so for a while.

  “Believe me, I’m disappointed in the state of things myself.” Looking away from her computer, Ms. Musker took off her gsses to return an icy stare to Adam. “But things are rather… hectic, managing these things. You can’t expect everything all at once.”

  Adam gulped. That felt weirdly directed at him. Was she talking about how quickly he’d been admitted? How much did she… know, about him? Either way, he got the message. It was more his fault than anything that they had to do these things on short notice, maybe she was busier because of him. Either way, it felt like his cue to leave.

  There wasn’t much to say as he and Tori returned to the halls, though he supposed that too, was ironically his fault. It was hard not to feel how much his new handicap overshadowed everything. Even if what he got in return was really that wonderful.

  “Don’t let it get to you.” Tori assured, evidently noticing Adam’s mood. “I’m sure it’ll get done, won’t be too long. C’mon, let’s get breakfast, there’s pancakes on Saturdays and it’d be a shame to miss out.”

  It didn’t feel like Tori really understood, though. It’s not even just the fact he wouldn’t get some special tablet. It’s what this all meant for him, his choices. He’d given it all away, for this.

  Well, no, that wasn’t true. There was a way to go back, if he ever wanted to.

  Sneaking a gnce at Tori, he wondered if that was something he could ever see himself doing. What Rosalynn said was the trigger for his old body to return. He supposed his roommate was pretty enough, but the thought wasn’t exactly comfortable, especially knowing what she’d see afterwards. Yeah, no, no way. He looked down at the floor instead, out of the awkwardness alone.

  But even if it were easier, if his way out was something much simpler like just cpping his hands three time, he still wasn’t sure if he’d want to go back. It still felt… worth it. What did that mean? That he didn’t value those things he had enough? No matter how his mind went about it, it always felt wrong to want this… Even now.

  “Aria?”

  The call for his name might as well have phased through as he bumped straight into the back of another student. They were a bit taller, so it almost felt like hitting a wall. The student turning around, and Adam saw that it was-

  ‘...Evan?’ He mouthed.

  “Oh, A-Aria, hey!” Evan bashfully greeted. “Sorry, wasn’t looking where I was going.”

  “This is why you always walk forward,” Tori said with a quick sigh. “You know… him, Aria?” There was a hesitation in her voice, like she wasn’t quite sure which word to use for a second.

  Adam nodded, and Evan proceeded to expin. “We had English together, and hung out at lunch yesterday! Oh, I’m Evan, by the way!” He offered his hand, which Tori gingerly shook.

  “Huh,” She simply responded. “I’m Victoria. We share a dorm.”

  “O-Oh, yeah, makes sense, makes sense.” Evan assured himself. “Naturally, good to have a friend with you.”

  It wasn’t that special, was it? Tori was just trying to help.

  “But uhh, I was actually hoping to find you, cuz…” Digging through his pocket, Evan pulled out a… block of sticky notes? A pen too. “Thought you might use something like this!”

  As he offered the items, Adam took them in his hands. Were these for writing? He looked back at Evan expectantly.

  He scratched the back of his neck, “Just figured it’d be more useful than wasting notes and napkins all the time, you know. I remembered that they had these in the bookstore out in town so, well!”

  Adam looked back at the sticky notes. The more he thought, he saw the idea. They were smaller, easier to carry around and write on at will. It was finite, but the whole block could probably st him… at least a week. Long enough for that tablet to come in.

  “Hey, that’s a pretty good idea.” Tori noted, practically voicing Adam’s own thoughts. “Definitely better than waiting for the delivery.”

  “Delivery?” Evan questioned.

  “The school ordered a tablet for her,” Tori expined. “Something with text-to-speech function and stuff.”

  Evan had a look of realization on his face, ying a fist down on his palm. “Oh! No yeah, that… makes sense. Kinda feel dumb for the gift then.”

  Did he call it a gift? That felt kinda silly, if at least awkward in Adam’s ear. Like sure, it was something he was giving him technically, but saying that made it sound like he was doing something special for him. And would he really be meaning that? Especially for him.

  “No, it’s good! They’re taking ages with it,” Tori rolled her eyes. “She needed something like this. Right, Aria?”

  Snapping his attention back to the two, Adam quickly nodded. Maybe he was overthinking it, just better to accept it.

  “Okay, cool!” Evan smiled. “Then um, I guess I’ll head back? You two have fun.”

  As he turned to walk away, Adam thought more to himself, because he still wasn’t sure what to quite make of the boy. Well, boy with an asterisk. The expnation from yesterday still almost left him confused. He supposed he’d heard of sex change operations and stuff, but the other way around? And a teenager? He could kinda see it in Evan, he wasn’t exactly as physically masculine as a lot of guys he knew from Hanssen’s, but something about him felt real in that sense. It was impressive.

  It was a shame guys couldn’t ever really get away with doing the same. Even if Adam was some type of ‘girl inside born in the wrong body transgender’ whatever, it wasn’t like it was something he could get away with. Though at the same time, it’s not like he didn’t have people fooled right now with his current body.

  It was when gncing back to Tori that he’d realized she’d been looking at him. Looking at him, staring back at Evan. Adam felt himself flush a bit with embarrassment. Please don’t let that be some misunderstanding!

  But right then, Evan turned back around. “Actually…” He began. “Me and the girls were gonna go have pancakes. Do you wanna come?” He asked. “Both of you, I mean.”

  Adam looked back at Tori, who just looked back at him with a smile. “What do you think, Aria?”

  The pressure to answer on him, Adam eventually nodded, and started walking up to catch up to Evan, Tori following.

  Solomon sat eagerly at the courtyard bench, foot tapping the ground as he continuously scanned the area. Students walking about, in various years, some wearing their more casual clothing. Undoubtedly heading out somewhere, considering it was Saturday.

  Flynn sat by his side. His idea of acting conspicuous had involved fetching the school paper, the Les Poissons, to cover his face. Though he seemed pretty preoccupied with its actual contents rather than what he was supposed to be doing, looking out for any sign of Adam.

  He was certainly there yesterday, but he’d disappeared before they could have the chance to follow him. Try as they might, it was as if there wasn’t a single trace of the boy. Flynn had even slept alone in his dorm again this night, like all the ones before since Adam made his departure. It was like searching for a ghost.

  “You know, I finally learned what ‘Poissons’ means in French the other day.” Flynn expined. “Feels like a stupid name to give to our paper, like I don’t really get the bit. Why fish?”

  “What?” Solomon questioned, confused.

  “You know, cuz there’s nothing ‘news’ reted about it, no clever joke or using any funny journalism words.”

  “Flynn, could you please pay attention?” Solomon asked. “We need to be on the lookout for Adam, or his doppelganger. Who knows what they’re up to?”

  “I know, I know! I’m just saying, cuz I’m actually reading this thing for once and it’s total trash!” Flynn put the paper down, gesturing at it with his hand. “Maybe ‘fish’ is more accurate than I thought, cuz this stinks! Hell, poissons? More like poison, it’s just trashy rumors!”

  Solomon sighed, “It is a student run paper, for a boarding school for that matter. I don’t expect much to be in there that doesn’t have to do with inter-community drama.”

  “You’ve got that right, they even have a blurb about Adam and the weird stuff they’re saying about him.”

  Solomon’s eyes perked back up, “What?”

  “Hold on, lemme read the thing. It’s mostly about the rumors of him hiding drugs in our room, and- Wait, it says here he declined to make a comment?”

  “Let me have a look.” Solomon took the paper from the confused Flynn, finding the blurb in the corner he was referring to. Indeed, one of the final sentences. ‘The staff reached out to Mr. Andersen Friday afternoon with the story before its publication, but he declined to make a comment.’

  “‘Declined’” Solomon repeated. “Not that they couldn’t access him, but that he refused an answer. Flynn!” He shook the poor boy.

  “What?!”

  “This is our lead! If the school paper actually spoke to him, then we could try tracking him down!” He expined. “Who wrote the article? Maybe he’s still on school grounds and we can talk to him directly.”

  Flynn peaked his head over to check. Naturally, the author was listed right below the article. But upon seeing the name, Flynn put on a distinct grimace. “Oh…”

  “What? Do you know him? Is he someone troublesome?”

  “No, not really, just,” Flynn sighed. “Should’ve figured he was in the club.”

  “Scott Elbott, I take it?”

  Scott looked up at Solomon from his comfy seat in the dorm common room, small bag of gummies under one of his arms. “That I am. And to whom do I owe the pleasure?”

  “We need to talk about Adam.” Flynn expined, appearing from behind the tutor.

  “Ah naturally, of course. Our good friend. What, did he want to have another chat with me about unusual interests?”

  “No, we want to talk about this.” Flynn put the newspaper onto his p.

  “Oh. That.”

  “What the hell is this, Scott?” Flynn gestured.

  “Just business, you know the rumors going about.” He casually responded, tossing a gummy into his mouth.

  Flynn looked like he was holding his tongue, unsure how to respond.

  “We actually came to ask you something,” Solomon stepped in. “Have you seen Adam today? We’ve had trouble locating him since yesterday morning, and, well, you seemed to know where he was during this interview here.” He pointed at the blurb in the article.

  “Oh yeah, sure. This was right after my final css of the day, saw him in the hallway and took the opportunity.”

  Solomon heard Flynn let out a sigh. They already knew he had been at css yesterday, so this wouldn’t be anything new. But still, it was something.

  “What about afterwards?” Solomon asked. “Did you see where he went?” Since he certainly didn’t go to his dorm with Flynn at any point.

  Scott narrowed his eyes, looking up into the air in thought like he was trying to spy a bird. “I guess he was heading down the stairwell, come to think of it.”

  “Wait, you said this was in the cssroom building, right? That won’t help.” Flynn commented. “Of course he’s leaving.”

  “Where was this specifically, Mr. Elbott?”

  Scott took another 10 seconds to think, with the same method. “Right, I just finished algebra, so… First floor academy building.”

  “First floor?” Flynn questioned.

  “You said he was headed down a stairwell,” Solomon brought back up, “Would you mean he was heading to the basement?”

  “Huh. True. You’re right.” Scott nodded, “Man, you should join the newspaper club with that quick thinking.”

  “Maybe to repce you,” Flynn rolled his eyes. “Seriously though, what’s with this article? You know Adam, he’s not some addict! If anything, I'm the one here with a caffeine problem!”

  “Well to be fair, we don’t knowjust yet if he consumes them, or only pns to sell them. Dealers rarely use their own supply.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Flynn replied deadpan.

  Solomon shook his head, “Just let it go.”

  “I’m just struggling to understand.” Flynn gestured to Scott, “You…! You know already what Adam was hiding, so like…?”

  Solomon arched an eyebrow, “This boy right here also knew?”

  Flynn shook his hand in exasperation, “Well not like-! He only kinda knew, Adam never said anything!”

  “Indeed, I did not know. And that is why I developed my theory, and first shared it with some of my cssmates.”

  Flynn slowly turned his head back to the boy, “Wait, you started the rumor?”

  “Of course, it is my journalistic instinct to uncover the truth.”

  Flynn put a hand to his head, “I can’t with this guy.”

  “Am I getting payment for the information I’m handing you?”

  “Fuck off, Scott.”

  “Noted. Fair response.”

  Solomon just shook his head as he watched this unfold, “Come on Flynn, let’s go, we have our lead.”

  “He’s so annoying.”

  “I can see your frustration, but let’s move on.”

  After having been invited to eat pancakes with the group, things had eventually developed to where everyone now sat hanging out in Evan and Maddie’s dorm. Apparently Maddie considered it a ritual to force friends to py against her in some fighting game, and Adam was marked as someone to be dragged through the initiation.

  He lost, naturally, he wasn’t sure if anyone expected differently. But for some reason she, Tori and Grace were still pying, taking turns as each other’s opponents.

  Adam pyed video games sometimes, like a lot of guys did, but ultimately he realized he felt more comfortable watching. Especially for something that looked as complicated as this.

  Thankfully Evan wasn’t pying either, so at least he didn’t feel alone or left out. Even if the attention was still kinda on the game.

  “Woah, you’re picking up on this fast…” Grace commented to Tori, a hint of nervousness in her voice as she hit her mix of buttons.

  Tori smirked. “Hmhm, it’s just about keeping the rhythm. Once I figured that, I got more confident.”

  Adam wrote briefly on his notepad to rey a quick message to Evan. ‘didn’t expect grace to be the type who’s good at these.’

  Evan nodded, “Yeah, it’s mostly Maddie’s fault. She cycles through so many games she makes us py with her that we’ve both just adapted. I don’t think Grace would have touched a controller in her life if not for her.”

  “I heard that!” Grace called. “Don’t say that like you’re not the worst of us at these!”

  “What? H-Hey I’m not the total worst!” He compined back. “Just because you win more games doesn’t mean you have to be better!”

  Adam snorted in response to the banter. Wanting to join in, he wrote another quick message to rey to Evan.

  “Oh, I see.” He said. “Hey Tori! Aria says she’s rooting for you! Go crush Grace!”

  “Oh well now I have to,” Tori chuckled.

  Adam found himself letting out another quick ugh. It was weird how much he was enjoying himself, just hanging around with people, even though he’d been limited by his curse. It was strange. Maybe it was the friendly company?

  He’d just so happened to gnce at Evan, whom he realized had been momentarily staring back. Evan was definitely going out of his way to be friendly, Adam could tell. There was a part of him that worried he was somehow leading on the poor boy(? He still wasn’t sure how that worked.) But they’d only known each other for a few days. Adam was making quick friends, that didn’t mean he was suddenly nding himself in any especially complicated dynamics.

  Though it did feel exhirating to think about. There was a part of him that always dreaded people noticing him, thinking about him, or just being aware of his existence. But those feelings weren’t nearly as present now. He kinda liked the idea of people knowing he’s there, that they might like having him around. Maybe that’s why he feels more like he’s belonging, right now.

  He decided to write another message, while the girls fixated on the screen. ‘sure you don’t want to py?’

  “Me? Nah. Grace wasn’t lying, I’m pretty sucky compared to the standards of Maddie’s boot camp. Some of these have a lot of complicated combos and stuff to memorize.”

  Just then, Tori’s fighter hit Grace’s with a twirl kick, followed by another, then a kick into the air, followed by jumping into it and railing several punches into the character’s face, then dropkicking the opponent and dragging them all the way down, leading directly into a grab, and a throw to the wall of the stage where Tori unleashed a powerful charged attack and instantly KO’d Grace.

  “Like that.”

  “YES!” Tori cheered, fist bump. “Told you!”

  “Ugh, I give.” Grace groaned. “I think you might be closer to Maddie’s level more than anything, especially if you’re just a beginner.”

  “H-Hey, it’s okay. It’s only dumb luck on my part,” Tori quickly veered back to assure her opponent.

  “No no, it’s definitely just you being good.” Grace sighed, leaning back. “I’d never pull something like that off.”

  “Timing’s the most important skill,” Maddie added. “Having a good rhythm works for combo games.”

  “I did ballet and dance a few years ago, guess the skills transted,” Tori expined.

  “Yeah, that might help.” Evan nodded.

  Adam found that note a little bit odd, considering his short time knowing his dorm mate. She certainly didn’t seem like the type to be wise on her feet with the amount of times she’s almost tripped on herself, but maybe that goes to show not to judge a book by its cover.

  Adam wrote down another message to hand to Evan, though more so he could rey it since he happened to be closer by.

  “Aria thinks it’s really cool, by the way.” He expined, to which Aria nodded in affirmation.

  “I-It’s nothing.” The girl dismissed, “Again, I stopped doing it. I’m focusing more on school nowadays, and it’s not like it’s the type of thing that comes in handy otherwise.”

  Adam still found it admirable at least. He couldn’t imagine himself standing on any kind of stage. While sure, Tori was sociable, he’d been surprised she was the type who could muster up that kind of confidence. He was almost envious.

  “But hey, this has been fun.” Evan finally said. “Always nice to meet new people.”

  Grace nodded, though a bit ashamed. “I just hope Maddie’s whole thing didn’t intimidate you. We can hang out to do something else too, to make up for it.”

  “It sounds fun, but you don’t have to make it sound like an obligation.” Tori added. “I’m sure Aria would love to hang out!”

  Adam nodded in agreement. He really was having fun just hanging around, any activity was fine by him.

  “Well… What about the carnival?” Evan suggested. “Aren’t they opening it back up soon?”

  “Monday. In time for summer,” Maddie expined.

  “That sounds pretty perfect.” Grace responded.

  Tori stayed silent, eyeing Adam for his own thoughts. He was familiar with it, though he'd only taken a very brief trip the year before, dragged along by some cssmates. Though as Aria, he wouldn’t ever have had a chance to go according to his cover story. Still, under the current circumstances he supposed he was more than up for it, and wrote another quick note to share his opinion.

  “Then it’s decided?” Grace asked.

  “Seems like it,” Tori smiled.

  Though they’d spent enough of the day cooped up here, so by this point it was about time for the group to split, and for Adam and Tori to take their leave.

  Adam felt awkward leaving without saying a word. More specifically, that he could leave while unable to say a word, so he made sure to spend another note from the noteblock to rey one more message, while in the doorway.

  Evan’s eyes perked when he saw him writing. He leaned over, ready to read it like he’d done plenty of times today. But in the heat of the moment, Adam felt like being a little funny.

  It was unusual for him, but he just thought it’d be funny to py a little trick. Immediately sticking the note up onto Evan’s forehead instead of letting him read it.

  “...Very funny.”

  Adam did indeed find it pretty funny. Even without his ugh audible, he could hear the air huffing through his own nose.

  “You know what, I’ll just let it stay on me. Maybe they’ll be in fashion next week.”

  “Alright Aria, I think it’s time we head out.” Tori said, though she wasn’t able to hide her own amusement at what happened.

  But yeah, it was true. Adam was okay if Evan didn’t read the note, it was just a basic ‘thanks a bunch!’ He just wanted to be a bit funny along the way, since using the paper almost felt like a waste. But it really wasn’t, he really wanted them to know he had fun.

  He remembered when saying goodbye to Flynn, how he couldn’t tell one of his only friends how much he appreciated him. He… didn’t want to let go of those types of opportunities again.

  “So…” Tori eventually said as they walked, “You think there’s anything going on with…? You know.”

  Adam looked back at her confused.

  “You know, Evan,” She said. “Maybe it’s just me, but he was looking at you a lot.”

  Had he been? Adam supposed he’d noticed, but having it pointed out like that made him flush a bit. Was that bad?

  “It’s okay, just… You know about the whole transgender thing, right? Being a boy on the inside and stuff?” She asked. “Cuz if he’s actually a guy, well, you know how guys can be.”

  Adam’s eyes grew wide, somehow feeling more embarrassed. Was she implying Evan had some weird crush going on?

  “Just be careful, you know. Since you’re new, and seem kinda sheltered.”

  Adam gulped, and nodded. That’s right, not like he knew much of things as a guy himself. How it feels to interact with guys with the role of a girl. It’s not something he’d really considered, but with the whole transgender logic, Evan really was basically just another guy in here, which often included an interest in women. Unless he was gay? Could transgenders be gay? Adam wasn’t sure, but maybe that was a pointless discussion to be having right now.

  “Oh rex, don’t let yourself get worked up over it.” Tori assured with a smile, apparently the questions and stress were visible on Adam’s face. “Just something to keep in mind. Gotta be aware of yourself. Come on, let’s go get dinner.”

  Adam nodded again in agreement. Yeah, no need to get worked up. Maybe this was just some of that basic friendly girl-talk he'd heard so much about. He already had enough on his pte, he didn't need a boyfriend or anything.

  ...But although, how would Adam feel about that?

  TernUnfettered