Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed/faved/etc.! It's much appreciated.
Also, when picturing Harleigh with short hair, think of Emma Watson's pixie cut except a chocolate brown. When she's posing as Haden it will be either spiked or tousled, and when she's herself it will be just flat, either with a headband or a clip. That's pretty much it for now. Enjoy!
Chapter 2:
Harleigh stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was in shock. All her life she had beautiful, long wavy hair. Now, it was shorter than Haden's. He tended to go for the shaggy look over the summer, but she'd be attending Dalton soon taking his place, and she needed to at least look like a boy.
And look like a boy she did.
"I'm hideous," she said flat out. Her eyes were wide and scanned over the pixie cut over and over.
"No, you're not. Honestly, chick, you could be bald and still be sexy as fuck," Kelsey said from behind her, looking into Harleigh's eyes through the mirror.
"There's no way I can do this. This is insane. How did I let you talk me into this?"
Kelsey rolled her eyes and bit into the apple in her hand. Her best friend paced around the room, and Kelsey took it as progress. She'd been standing in front of the mirror for a whole hour.
Suddenly the door opened and Haden stepped in. His mouth was open to speak but he stopped as soon as he saw his sister's hair. "What did you do to your hair?"
Harleigh stopped and her eyes widened once again.
"She needed a back to school look, idiot. She looks good, doesn't she?" Kelsey retorted, stepping towards him. She had that look in her eyes, and Haden knew not to mess around.
"It looks great, but seriously, it's a little drastic, don't you think?" Haden stepped around Harleigh, examining the short cut. Finally, he stopped and shrugged. "It's cute. Oh hey, did you go talk to the dean yet?"
Harleigh swallowed hard but managed to nod. "Yeah, everything is settled."
"Awesome! I told mom I don't need her to come move me in, so I can just hit the road as soon as possible."
"You leave Friday, right?" Kelsey asked him, her mouth filled with apple.
"Yep. Three more days!" Haden made an arm gesture and clapped. "Ah, seriously, sis, thank you so much!" With that, he left the room to finish packing.
"Shit, Kels, I totally forgot about mom. What do I do? Dalton is a boarding school. She'll get suspicious if I'm not coming home every day after school."
"Dude, chill out. We'll think of something. Uh, why not tell her you're sleeping by my house during the week, and then come home on weekends. I mean it's only like, a 30 minute drive from here."
"Yeah, because she'll just let me stay at your house every week," Harleigh said as she rolled her eyes.
"Hey, we can give it a shot."
The girls contemplated this for a minute before heading downstairs to look for Harleigh's mom. Ms. Evans was a business woman, having taken over her late husband's company a few years ago. She ran it from the office in their home, and that was exactly where they found her.
"Yeah, that sounds great. Okay- Oh, here she is, I'll her know. Bye," her mom said as she hung up the phone. Harleigh got a gut-wrenching feeling that it was Westerville, and their plans were down the drain. "Just the girls I needed to talk to. Listen, I just got off the phone with a client, and guess where he's from? Japan. He was calling about expanding our company."
"Wow, mom that's great!" Harleigh tried to put on the best fake enthusiasm as she could.
"Yep, and get this. He wants me there for the opening!" Her mom clapped her hands together. "The only thing is that it might take a few weeks, and I'm nervous about them getting everything started. I was thinking of maybe staying until things take off, you know?"
Harleigh's jaw nearly dropped. Was she saying what she thought she was saying?
"So, I was thinking maybe you could stay at Kelsey's until I get back? Your brother will be gone, and I don't want you here alone for that long. I'm thinking it might be… a month and half maybe. Two tops." When Harleigh didn't say anything, Ms. Evans turned to Kelsey. "Your mom wouldn't mind that, would she?"
"Not at all! In fact, I'll go call her right now." Kelsey then left, but not before shooting Harleigh a knowing look.
"You sure you'll be okay with this, babe?"
Harleigh was still speechless. Finally, she cleared her throat and nodded, a smile gracing her lips. "Yeah, mom, of course I will. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. You have to take it!"
"Oh, baby, thank you. This means so much to me. Ever since your father passed I've been so worried about keeping the company going, but this is really going to improve things." Harleigh's mom had stood up and walked to her during her speech, pulling her into a tight hug.
"No problem, mom," Harleigh said against her mom's chest. What were the odds?
"Are you sure you don't want to wait until I leave? My flight's for Monday, so it-"
"I just want to give you some space so you can pack and everything. Plus, I need to start getting used to being away from you for so long, so why not start early?"
Harleigh had packed all of her things into her trunk and was standing outside with Kelsey. All of her things consisted of pretty much a brand new wardrobe to better suit her while at Dalton. She had to admit it was weird going into stores looking like a complete girl but trying on guys clothes. In the end, she wound up buying a few pairs of guys relaxed skinnies ("but your ass still looks great" according to Kelsey), some regular t-shirts (because v-necks would show both the ace bandage and the sports bra. "It's a good thing you have no tits" again, according to Kelsey), and also some boxer briefs that she learned to "stuff" with help from Google.
When they got back home after the massive shopping trip, Kelsey made Harleigh try everything on to be safe. Once she took off her make-up, fixed her hair a bit, bound her breasts and stuffed, she looked a lot like Haden, which creeped her out to no end.
"I'd fuck you," Kelsey said from behind her, causing Harleigh to glare in response.
It was kind of sad leaving her mom a few days before she left for Japan, but Haden had "left for Dalton" that morning, and she really needed to get there and move in. Kelsey was going as Haden's girlfriend in order to scare away any potential suitors that came her way.
"Okay, well, be careful. I'll call you tonight. I love you," Ms. Evans said as she hugged her daughter tightly. "Take care of her, ok?" She said when she hugged Kelsey.
After another round of hugs and kisses, they were off to Kelsey's house to get Harleigh ready.
Harleigh stepped out of Kelsey's bathroom, and Kelsey whistled. Her 5'9" stature made the guy look even more convincing, and for once she was glad to be that tall. She had learned how to bind with an ace bandage as well as using two sports bras, just so she could alternate. Right now, she was sporting the bras and over them was a plan grey t-shirt. She wore a pair of blue jeans that were too baggy for Harleigh, but perfect for "Haden". And when she turned around in the mirror, she had to admit it: her ass did look good in these jeans.
"Damn, girl, if I didn't know you had a vagina, I'd be all up on that," Kelsey said, making some rude movement with her hips.
"Seriously, why are we friends?" Harleigh rolled her eyes, but looked at her reflection again. She pulled it off quite well, but that didn't stop the nerves from happening.
"Okay, come on, it's already one. We need to get you to Dalton."
They piled into Harleigh's car, which Kelsey would be keeping while Harleigh was at Dalton (As Kelsey put it: "Straight guys don't drive Kia Souls. Hell, I don't even think gay guys do."), and headed to the prestigious school. As they pulled into a parking spot, Harleigh gaped at all of the guys around the campus.
"I can't do this," she squeaked, sinking into her seat.
"Okay, let's not make that noise again," Kelsey said, unbuckling her seat belt and getting out of the car. "Come on, dude!"
Harleigh swallowed hard and got out, going to the back to start gathering her things. She only grabbed a few bags, while Kelsey grabbed a box, and they headed to the sign-up table in front of the main building.
"Name?" An older woman wearing glasses asked, her eyes focused on the paper before her.
"Harl- Haden! Haden Evans." Harleigh looked sheepishly at the woman, giving her a smile before shooting a look at Kelsey as she rubbed the spot that Kelsey had jabbed.
"And this is?"
"My girlfriend. Just helping me unpack."
Kelsey gave a huge smile, curling an arm around Harleigh's waist. "It's going to be so hard to be away from you for so long, baby."
Harleigh tried not to gag. The woman did not look amused.
"Yes, well, here you go," she said as she handed Kelsey a sticker that said "visitor" on it. "Mr. Evans, you are signed in. Here is your welcome folder. It has your room number on it, as well as school rules and policies inside. Welcome to Dalton."
Harleigh wanted to cringe at the smile—if that's what you want you call it—the woman gave him and nodded, heading as far away from her as possible.
"Work on your voice. You need to be a little lower. But don't force it. You're doing great. No one notices a thing," Kelsey let out in a hushed voice as they made their way to the building that was labeled on her folder. Besides having to climb two sets of stairs to get to her floor, the building—inside and out—was absolutely gorgeous. It had such elegance to it, and Harleigh just marveled at every little detail with each step they climbed.
"Finally, room 312. I wonder what your roommate will be like. I'm gunna laugh so hard if he's fucking gorgeous."
Harleigh rolled her eyes at Kelsey's rambling as she stepped in front of the door. Key in her hand, she checked to see if it was locked first. The doorknob opened without a problem and the two girls stepped in.
Harleigh nearly dropped one of the bags she was holding, but the key managed to hit the floor. Her eyes were set on the boy in front of her, everything in her peripheral a blur. She could, however, hear Kelsey's loud snort of laughter beside her ring out in the quiet room.
How would Kelsey say this? Oh, right. Harleigh was fucked.