Creation

Paired

This chapter is an entry for An Inspired Cadet (Aim to Engage Day #20)

It's as if someone entrapped Xavier's tongue with a snare.

What consequences will befall on him if they discovered he smuggled his female twin in?

He had transformed her short and frizzy blonde into tar black. Her vocal group had trained her masculine voice. And her posture has always supported her enrollment here.

But what if after all those, she'll still be discovered as Mulan did?

"Our father, Ezra Bruce, was a fighter-jet pilot. He died on a mission in Northern Iraq, 2010." Her detailed tongue has begun lecturing.

"I'm sorry to hear it." There's a concern in the middle-aged interviewer's voice, which Xavier found relieving. He had feared his wire-sharp hair, disabled eye, and thin smirk.

They finally receive their dorm keys and today's schedule after several sentences.

"Fourth floor—shared room."

The twins thanked him and exited that narrow room with tinted walls, shambling to the staircases on their right.

Xavier envied her grace while heaving her belongings—he's struggling with his.

With her required patience, they reached the fourth floor in twenty minutes. By then, Xavier's face had blushed, and his fingers swollen.

The rooms are on the right side of the corridor. Opposing them are windows with a view of stretched rice fields.

Their room is the second, between two which have screeched at the pressure applied by their occupants.

At least, with Xena as his 'mate', he won't have to group with them.

When she unlocked the blank room, which has chipped walls and minimum interiors, a strong cardboard-scent and a frowsy sensation embraced them at once.

The gap between their bed and the opposing wall is only enough for their luggage to settle themselves. There are two waist-heightened chests with two drawers each, both resembling an ancient heritage rather than a proper property.

And to their horrors, the public restroom is miles from here.

Xavier then ransacks the drawers.

The previous occupants mustn't be bothered having their belongings enveloped by dust. "There were termites here." Xavier lowered his amplitude. "Careful. There might be fleas on your—"

Xena's scream pierced through the stuffy room like a cannon. After it died, there were whispers on either side of their walls. She choked back an apology at Xavier's merciless glare.

"Congrats—you've silenced them."

They spend the rest of the afternoon locked in their room. By midday, their neighbors had left for lunch. But they don't feel like it.

One's after a sparkling residence during his stay here, while one's after the proper adaptations to men's lifestyle. She won't look up to Xavier, who's like her in many ways.

She has spent hours filing instructions in her pocketbook, most of which sourced from their father.

Never speak high-pitched. Avoid physical contacts—although someone needs to get shoved and beaten—and every conflict.

The last one she added in her list of 99 items spoke, "Get friends like Xavier. Those dependable, trustable, loyal, and cool-headed. P. S.—Friends, not potential soulmates."