The Monitor Masquerade

Level 19

GraceKelli's POV

It was raining on Monday. When I pulled my car into the school parking lot, I felt a rush of heat that was quickly dispelled when I stepped outside and the cool rain hit my face. By some miracle I was here, at this school, where Taylor/Prince both attend, where they/he had attended for as long as I've known them/him. I was somewhat glad to be alone. Anya had to get to school early and Jason had a doctor's appointment so I was riding solo. I pulled my backpack out of the back seat of my car and felt tiny cold beads hit my face. I made sure my hood was over my head and darted into the school. I walked in like I always did, went straight to my locker like I never did. We were all assigned one at the beginning of the school year but hardly anyone used them unless it was to store something for after school like clothes or instruments or whatever. I opened the old lock I'd had forever and opened my locker. There was nothing really in there. I had an extra pair of clothes in case I dropped something on me, some pencils and a couple pads. It was pretty sad looking but I still didn't have the impulse to leave. I just stood there looking into the near empty locker. Nothing about it was like me at all. I was so busy, so full of energy, thoughts racing a mile a nanosecond. This locker was plane and boring. I waited there moving stuff around aimlessly until the bell rang. I thought about leaving. I could just walk out. No one had taken attendance yet. No one knew I was there. I receded to the back of the room where I normally sat. There was an empty feeling as I waited for Anya to show up and sit in the desk next to me. I looked absentmindedly at the door and saw Taylor walking in, looking like he hadn't been sleeping. He immediately searched the room until his eyes found me. He smiled and started to his desk. Then he passed his desk and came and sat where Anya usually sat. My heart stopped and I started looking around. Everyone was looking at me, including Taylor. I wanted to scream, but I also wanted to cry. I wanted to do something to get out of the room. I put my head down and tried as  hard as I could to breath normally.

"Kelli?" Taylor's voice now had a familiar ring to it. Hearing it as often as I had over the weekend I could start to vaguely hear Prince in there. Talking and joking. I miss Prince. I pushed the thought aside feeling shame. They are the same person. "Kelli are you okay? It's just me." I lifted my head up and saw Felix and Amber staring at us. My face was red and I could feel it. Taylor looked over. Felix kept looking but Amber turned her head and sat down. "Don't worry about them." He looked back at me. His dark brown eyes were glowing today, they seemed too bright to be that dark. "It's okay Kelli. I'm here now. Everything it going to be okay." I wanted fucking punch him for saying that. Correction: Grace wanted to punch the ever living shit out of him. Kelli however couldn't even move her eyes from his. They were frozen there and the heat of a panic attack threatened my body. I wondered if that's how Taylor felt. I wondered if he was having a hard time merging the two people into one. GraceKelli is just...Kelli and Prince was really Taylor. My head hurt every time I thought about it. "So I was thinking about dinner this weekend. I know you said you really like Chinese, we could go to that new place down the street from the comic book store if you'd li-"

"I've never been on a date before." I said quietly.

Taylor just looked at me. "That's okay. It isn't a-I mean it is a big deal but its nothing to worry about. It's just going to be dinner. A nice calm dinner. You can drive yourself there so if you want to leave at any point you can. You can even go in what you're wearing now." We looked at each other for a while. "I don't know how you feel about PDA but I really want to hold your hand right now."

The room started spinning. How many times had I though, imagined, dreamed Taylor saying that to me and here we are. This is exactly what I had been wanting. I wanted Prince to realize his girlfriend was a jerk and for Taylor to do the same and go after me. This is everything I had ever wanted. Taylor got to know me without having to see me and now he's here in person and I'm going to go on a date with him this weekend. Something rushed through me that overpower my fear. I gabbed his hand smiled. "Saturday we can go there." I tried to stay calm.

He smiled and brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it. "Sounds perfect."