Although Ralon was no longer a problem, Alanna continued her training regimen. She found that it helped her keep up with the stronger, more athletic boys in her class. She also liked the feeling of power it gave her. She knew that she would be able to defend herself no matter what. After George provided the alcohol for Alanna's celebration party Gary found himself quite favourably impressed by him and his faith in Alan's abilities. He began spending a certain amount of time with George. Alanna wasn't sure if she should feel guilty for being the reason the vice-principle's son was hanging out with a drug dealer or feel pleased that her friends all liked George (whom she enjoyed spending time with very much indeed). Of course where Gary went Jon would follow and the two of them would often end up spending time with George even when Alanna was busy. But it was generally understood that George was Alanna's friend
Unfortunately something she couldn't fight was her biology. Alanna woke up one night with her stomach cramping. She got up and realised to her horror that there was a bloodstain in the middle of her mattress. It had only been two weeks since her last period so she was entirely unprepared. She pulled out her suitcase from under the bed and felt her heart sink when she saw that there were no tampons in it. She silently cursed the stupid school that forced them to give up their phones. She was well aware that she had no way of contacting Coram and actually going to his house which was a half an hour walk away while bleeding freely might be a bit of a problem, not to mention the fact that if anyone saw her she would be revealed as a girl and summarily thrown out.
She racked her brains for a solution and reluctantly settled upon one.
First she went to the bathroom at the end of the hall and cleaned herself off as best as she could. Padding her underwear with tissue paper, she silently made her way to the room above the kitchens and rapped on the door. When there was no answer she knocked harder desperately hoping that no one would see or hear her.
"What's going on?" George asked sleepily, poking his head out from behind the door.
"I need your help," Alanna said, hating the fact that along with 'I'm fine' this seemed to be the phrase she used the most.
"Alan?" George asked, squinting. "What are you doing here?"
"I have to tell you something," Alanna said.
George looked left and right to see if there was anyone else around and then motioned for her to come in.
Alanna blushed as she saw that George was unclothed. It was one thing to tell someone you were actually a girl and a totally different thing to do it while they were naked.
"Is everything alright?" he asked, concern in his voice.
She took a deep breath. "I'm a girl," she said, resolutely avoiding looking anywhere but his face.
"You're a what?" he said, doing a double take.
"A girl George," she said. "And I need your help."
"Turn around," he yelped. "I'm naked."
"I've seen you naked," she huffed, but obediently turned around.
"Is this some sort of prank?" he asked. "Just thought 'oh it'll be funny to pull George's leg'."
"Does it sound like I'm pulling a prank on you?" Alanna snapped. "I'm in so much trouble."
"Someone discover your secret?" George asked. He still sounded slightly sceptical. Well it was a lot to swallow so Alanna couldn't really blame him.
"No but they will," she said. "My period came two weeks early. I'm pretty sure they'll notice something's wrong if I bleed all over the place."
"I'll be back in a minute," he said, his expression unreadable.
He left Alanna alone in his room and she briefly wondered if she had made a huge mistake. But then she shook her head. This was George. He wouldn't… He couldn't…
And she was right. George came back with a box of Tampax and handed it to her.
"You can use my bathroom," he said evenly. "But after that we have to have a talk."
Alanna muttered her thanks and went into his loo. It was surprisingly clean for a boy's bathroom. There weren't even any water stains on the tiles.
When she got out George was looking at her, an indecipherable expression on his face.
"So you're actually a girl?" he asked. "Like an honest to god girl."
"Yes," Alanna said. "I'm a girl."
"I mean you were always a very pretty boy," George said. "But a girl? Shouldn't you have…y'know?" He mimed boobs.
"Strap 'em down," Alanna said shortly, not wanting to talk about her breasts.
"I just thought you were a late bloomer," George said. "Or you had an excellent razor."
"Well neither's true," Alanna said. "I'm just a girl."
"I guess I just have one question then," George said. "Why?"
"It's a long story," Alanna sighed.
"I have time," George said, sitting down on his bed and patting the space next to him.
Reasoning that she did perhaps owe him an explanation after waking him up in the middle of the night and demanding tampons, Alanna sat down next to him and began telling her story. It was oddly cathartic. She hadn't realised how much she hated lying to her friends and even telling one of them the truth made her feel ten times better.
"So you did all that for your brother?" George asked finally.
"Well not entirely," Alanna confessed. "I really didn't want to go to St. Agatha's."
"You're brave," George commented. "So what's your real name then?"
"Alanna," she said. "But George you can't tell anyone."
"I won't," he said. "But do you really think they'd turn against you? Jon and Gary?"
"They'd hate me," Alanna said miserably. "And they'd have every right."
"It's a big lie," George admitted. "But they're your friends. And you know they'd throw themselves in front of a train for you. All of them."
"That's what makes this so much worse," Alanna cried. "I made friends. The best friends I think I'm ever going to make. And they don't even really know me."
"Calm down," George said soothingly. "Of course they know the real you. Is Alanna a stubborn, loyal, reckless person?"
"Thanks," Alanna said dryly. "And I suppose so."
"Then they know you," George said. "And I wouldn't worry about it."
"I'm glad you know," Alanna acknowledged. "At least that's one less person I'm lying to."
"Well you don't ever have to lie to me," George said.
"I was an idiot to think I could get away with this," Alanna said, pressing the bridge of her nose between her fingers.
"You haven't gotten caught yet," George said. "And I wouldn't worry about it."
"It's all I worry about," Alanna admitted. "I have no idea what I'm doing George."
"Well whatever you're doing it's working," George said with a shrug. "No one knows your secret except me. And I won't tell."
"Thank you," Alanna said gratefully.
She noticed the room getting lighter and lighter as the sun rose.
"I should get ready for lessons," she said. "I'll see you tonight?"
"Are we still doing that?" George asked, with a raised eyebrow. "I don't like hitting girls."
"You said it yourself," she said. "I'm the same person I was. And I manage to hit back plenty."
"That you do," George said with a wry smile. "Alanna."
"George," Alanna said warningly. "You can't call me that. It'll happen in front of Gary or Jon and-"
"I'm not a fool," George said, interrupting her. "But I do think you need to be reminded sometimes."
"Of what?" she asked.
"As far as I could tell from your story you didn't put that binder on because you don't like being a girl," George said carefully. "And I know I would miss being a boy. So I'm going to call you Alanna when we're alone. Just so you don't get lost in being Alan."
Alanna shook her head but a part of her was a little surprised at George's perceptiveness. She remembered what Coram had said about him being too smart for his own good and mentioned this to George.
He laughed. "I'm touched," he said. "Though I have no idea what he's talking about."
"How old are you?" she asked George suddenly.
"Seventeen," he replied, looking a little confused.
"How many other seventeen-year-olds run crime rings from posh boarding schools?" she asked. "I'd say Coram was right."
George just laughed again. "You had better be going on your way," he said. "Morning run's in ten minutes."
"Thank you George," she said.
"Anytime," George replied, his tone gentle.
The day sped by surprisingly fast and Alanna went through it in a haze. Her inattentiveness in class earned her two hours of detention that night but she was a little glad. It meant that she could avoid her friends. This whole episode had rather forcibly reminded her of the lies she was telling them and she felt like she just didn't have the energy to face them today.
"Alan," Mr. Olau called at the end of his lesson. "Can you stay behind?"
She sat in her seat while the rest of the class left. Douglass, who was in the class with her stood at the door waiting for her but she shook her head, indicating he should leave without her.
"Are you alright Alan?" Mr. Olau asked, sounding a little worried. "You seem distracted."
"No everything's fine," Alanna said, forcing a smile. "I've just been having a bit of a day that's all."
"Well we all have those," Mr. Olau said with a smile.
Alanna found she quite liked talking to Mr. Olau. After the incident with Ralon she suspected he had started taking a special interest in her. They often talked about the upcoming election, although it wasn't for another two years. Mr. Olau found Alanna's thoughts to be quite amusing and on occasion insightful.
Although she felt she didn't deserve it, Mr. Olau offered to supervise her detention that day, possibly feeling that she couldn't handle the constant glares of the priests. Nothing could keep Alanna down for long and she soon found herself quite happily chatting with Mr. Olau about the upcoming elections.
"I don't understand how they could let this happen," Alanna said. "They should have had a frontrunner by now. Wasn't it supposed to be Hildrec Meron, Geoffrey's brother?"
"It was but after all those scandals what do you expect?" Mr. Olau said, polishing his glasses. "But in all the chaos of the Civilians primary everyone's ignoring the Statists."
"That's because Ain Tusaine has it locked up," Alanna said. "There's no point in talking about it."
"Ain Tusaine is a weakling with piles and piles of money," Mr. Olau said. "That's the only reason he's winning. No one knows what he stands for."
"Well the Tusaines have always been powerful Statists," Alanna said. "There have been three Tusaine presidents haven't there?"
"Ain Tusaine's controlled by his brother Hilam," Mr. Olau said. "He's his campaign manager and if Ain Tusaine wins he'll be his Chief of Staff."
"Hilam Tusaine scares me a little," Alanna said. "He has dead eyes."
"He should scare you," Mr. Olau said. "He's a terrifying man. The stories about him… That's why his brother's running. Hilam couldn't win an election even if he literally threw money at voters."
"He can't win though," Alanna said, confidently. "You said it yourself, he stands for nothing."
"Well at least he's seen as a stable candidate. With the Civilians at each other's throats like cats and dogs people could see him as a viable president." Mr. Olau paused here. "In fact many do."
"Like who?" Alanna asked sceptically.
"Well your friend Jonathan's uncle for one," Mr. Olau said.
"Jonathan's family are Statists?" Alanna asked, slightly horrified.
Mr. Olau chuckled at her expression. "Well traditionally most rich and powerful families are," he said. "The Contés have a long history of being Statist supporters."
"Well Jonathan isn't one," Alanna said indignantly. "I'd know if he was."
"No Jonathan probably isn't," Mr. Olau said. "Neither is his father. Roald Conté, despite his father's conservatism is an avowed Civilian. It's thanks to his wife actually. Lianne was a Naxen before she married him. The Naxens have always been Civilians."
"I didn't know Jonathan had an uncle," Alanna said. "He never mentioned one."
"That's surprising," Mr. Olau said. "The Contés are a close family. And Roger Conté is a charismatic man."
"Wait Roger Conté?" Alanna asked incredulously. "Everyone says he's going to be Ain's VP if he wins the election."
"Yes," Mr. Olau said. "Roger Conté's related to your friend. And he probably will be Vice-President if things keep going the way they're going."
"That's quite a terrifying thought," Alanna said with a shiver. "Life is never easy for ordinary people under Statist presidents."
"Nothing would change for you," Mr. Olau said mildly. "You're a Trebond. Maybe your family isn't as rich or as powerful as the Contés the Naxens or even the Goldenlakes, but nonetheless-"
"Do you really think I'm that selfish?" Alanna asked, appalled. "Forget about selfish do you think I'm that inhuman? Statists actively attempt to oppress people. Keir Tusaine did his level best to get rid of universal healthcare. Caladain Melor destroyed social security. It took four years to rebuild it."
"I think you're a good person Alan," Mr. Olau said. He checked his watch. "And I think your detention is over."