CHAPTER ONE

Kel gulped as she lifted the heavy sewing scissors. This was it. It was now or never. She held a section of her hair taut and brought the scissors to the hair. She closed her hand suddenly, too worried it would tremble if she did it slowly. Her hair fell to the floor silently, shining golden in the light of the dim lamp. She breathed in and out slowly and looked back up at the mirror to see the result.

Kel's eyes widened.

She had cut it too short-way too short. Her hair fell across her cheek reaching her lips but no further. Her expression still the same blank face, she moved to the other side to reflect the same length. It was too late to go back now. She'd already cut it. Another quick stroke and she nearly smiled, admiring how even it had been.

A noise from her left distracted her. Kel looked at the edge of the table. Her phone was ringing. She reached for it, but the hair in the back that was still long got in her way. She grabbed it and twisted it into a ponytail. Without thought, she chopped it off. She moved anxiously to her phone now barely comprehending what she had just done. She hadn't glanced in the mirror yet to see the true damage she'd created.

"Hello?" she said into the phone.

"Kel, don't do it." It was her sister, Oranie. She could tell by the voice.

"Don't do what?" asked Kel, knowing exactly what her sister was talking about.

"You know what!" said Oranie.

"Oh, pursuing my dream?"

Oranie did not reply right away. "The other thing," she said.

"Oh, you mean going to a private school?"

"The other thing!"

Kel could tell Oranie was getting impatient. She smiled to herself. "Focus on your center and relax. Think yoga. We didn't spend all that time in Japan for nothing." Kel and her family were not Japanese, however, their mother was a skilled seamstress and had taken them all abroad in her study of Japanese clothing. There they had all learned various skills, particularly calm meditation.

"Keladry…you know what I'm talking about. Stop pretending you don't."

Kel laughed. "Alright. So you want me to not dress as a boy and attend an all boys academy to pursue my dream?"

"NO!" screamed Oranie. "That's not the main problem! It's your hair I'm worried about. You can buy a wig or something. Just don't cut your pretty hair! It's a waste."

"Ah," said Kel. "Well, if that's all this phone call was about then you're a few minutes too late. I just HACKED it all off." Kel snickered as she heard the gasp. "I can send you the strands if you want. You can make your own wig out of them."

"I hate you!" yelled Oranie and hung up.

Kel closed the phone with a click and set it on the bed. She walked back over to the mirror and gasped at her own folly. Before she could mourn the loss of far more hair than she had intended, the door opened and her older brother Anders burst in.

He stood agape as he took in Kel's appearance. He shook his head sighing. "You're wearing my clothes? Never mind that. I'm going to take you to the barber. Now."

….

Kel looked at her hair with distaste. The barber had cut it even shorter and she didn't like it. She had bangs now too which really annoyed her. She sighed. At least she looked like a boy now. She placed the last pair of boxers into the suitcase. Anders was waiting for her with the car to take her to the academy.

She walked downstairs and casually waved to Oranie. Oranie screamed as she saw Keladry. She immediately rushed up to Kel. "How could you?" she bellowed. "You got rid of ALL OF IT. It's not even long enough for braiding or a ponytail anymore. What happened to sisterly bonding over fixing each other's hair?"

"I never enjoyed that," said Kel. "You know that." She brushed past her and ignored the heavy gazes of her other siblings. No one seemed too happy with her new hair. Though they weren't terribly surprised either. Kel had always been something of a tomboy. Oranie was the only one who knew the real reason she cut it. Kel was dressed in girl's clothing now, but she had a set of boy's clothing she planned to change into before she got there. Probably in the car. If Anders discovered before they got there, he might take her back.

…...

"Red Rose All Boys Academy?" asked Anders in shock. They were pulled up just in front of the school and Anders was showing his concern about the sign. "Do they have a girl's academy too?"

Kel shook her head. Anders glanced behind him. He hadn't seen Kel's shake. "What the heck are you wearing?" he asked again. "Are those my clothes again or Inness or Conal?"

"No, these are mine," Kel said. "I actually bought them. It's the school uniform."

Anders locked the doors and turned off the radio. "Start talking, Kel. Now."

Kel looked away.

"First, you steal some of my clothes. Then I find you shopping for huge bandages that you clearly don't need. And you randomly decide to cut all your hair off…on your own. Are you going emo on me?"

"No," said Kel softly. "I'm just chasing after a dream."

"You want to be a boy?" he asked. "Are you, uh, into crossdressing or…?" His voice trailed off.

"No," said Kel sharply. "It's just…there's something I can only do here. I don't expect you to understand it, but please let me do this. Please, Anders."

"How do you expect me to let this go? You're going into a school, full of boys, pretending to be a boy. What if you're discovered? You could get arrested or raped or something terrible."

"I won't get discovered," Kel pleaded. "Look, I can even do the voice." Kel shifted pitches. "Good afternoon, my name is Keller. It is a pleasure to meet you." Kel smiled proudly.

"Kel…" Anders started. He sighed. "They're gonna call you a geek, you know. If you talk like that. The voice is fine just, well, we tend to be more casual than that. Even at a fancy school like this. Here." Anders reached over and loosened Kel's tie then ruffled her hair. "My advice…go for silent and mysterious. Remember that time we met the Japanese singer. He walked right past us and gave us that sort of 'I'm cool and I know it. You're not cool enough for me.' look."

"So that means you're letting me go?" asked Kel excitedly.

"Not with that voice," said Anders.

"So that means you're letting me go?" Kel repeated in a lower voice.

Anders smiled. "Good luck, Mr. Uncontrollable."

"Thanks." Kel returned the smile.

"Keep in touch with me," he said. "And I will get the story from you eventually."