Play it Straight

RACKS AND BANDAGES

PHOENIX’S POV

My head felt light when I finally opened my eyes. I sat up straight and noticed the rows of neatly made beds separated by sliding curtains, each with crisp sheets and state-of-the-art monitoring equipment.

“You’re up.”

I jumped at the sound of Marlow’s voice. He looked different – carefree and giddy, with a very suspicious teasing grin on his face. I looked around me and saw no one else, just Marlow leaning against the pole holding up my curtain, grinning his face off silly. It was the first time I was seeing him like this – happy and so full of life. There was not an ounce of sleep in his eyes and his messy hair gave him a very cute boy-next-door look.

“What’s going on? What am I doing here?”

“That’s the same question I wanted to ask you.” He moved closer, his steps swift and eager, and plopped down on the stool beside me. He gave me a once over, his smile never once leaving his face.

“You passed out during practice. Luckily, the guys and I were there to watch you so Miles carried you here. The athletes’ clinic was closed so he had to bring you here where we regular people get treated.”

I looked around. There was absolutely no one else there but us. The room smelled faintly of antiseptic but the smell was attempted to be hidden by lavender diffusers.

“You’re so pretty,” Marlow said suddenly.

“Marlow, you’re freaking me out. This is the longest you’ve spoken to me ever since I met you. What’s going on? Where did everyone else go?”

“I sent them away,” he said with a shrug. “I wanted to be alone with you.” His voice dropped until it was deeper than normal and he gave me a sly grin. Instinctively, I lifted the duvet up until I was covered and only my neck upwards was left on display. He noticed the gesture and laughed.

“I just thought you’d appreciate my doing that. The way I see it, you’re so lucky your clinic wasn’t open and that the nurse and doctor on duty here today haven’t come in. I had to ask someone from the music lab to pretend to be the doctor on duty. Of course, no questions asked.” He winked at me then, and I felt really uncomfortable all of a sudden. What the hell was he talking about? He kept speaking like he knew something, a secret maybe, and was dying to let me in on it too but not without teasing me with it first.

“Why would you ask a music major to pretend to be physician, Marlow?” Somehow, I knew the answer to that question before I asked it, but it did not prepare me at all for when he voiced his response.

“Because…you’re a girl…and it would be so horrible if you got caught, wouldn’t it?”

I sat there, frozen like ice in the Arctic. He was still smiling, but it wasn’t a teasing smile like earlier. My heart was racing a mile a minute. My brain was spinning and I felt like throwing up. My throat got so dry, I needed water, but taking anything in seemed almost impossible.

“H-wh-what are you talking about?”

“You know you’re very clumsy, right? My God, if you were going to pull a stunt like this, you should have gotten help at least.” I gave him a confused look.

“See, I’m very quiet, so I like to observe. Miles may have been your roommate but I noticed you and looked at you more times than he did. At first, I just thought you were gay, which made me a little nervous cause I saw the way you looked at Miles and I and I thought you were going to develop a crush on us, which I have no qualms with, but I didn’t feel you’ll be able to come out of it unscathed since I’m straight and Miles kinda likes someone else.”

My heart fell.

“He does?” My voice was shaky and a bit sad.

“Yeah. Some girl from our sister school. Anyways, I didn’t want you to get hurt so I just kept mute all the time. But then, I started to notice some things about you.”

He got up now and started pacing the room, ticking off an imaginary checklist as he spoke.

“You claimed you were allergic to water, but I saw you dip your head in the fountain and your smile and clear skin had me doubting that.”

Shit! I only did that cause I was freaking hot and the restroom was far away. I had thought no one was around so I dipped my head in the fountain and the water soaked my shirt, making it see through. I had to quickly go back to my dorm to change before anyone could see my bandages.

“I took my medication,” I replied a little more boldly than I felt.

He nodded. “I thought so too, but then I caught a glimpse of your bandage during Saturday exercise. You were sweating a lot and it was kinda see-through.”

I remembered when he looked at my shirt and his smile disappeared. I had shaken the thought away, ignoring it and focusing on getting back my ability to breathe on my own. I shouldn’t have ignored it.

“I-I have a sprain so I have to use a bandage.” Even I wouldn’t believe me. He came closer and tried to touch my chest. I screamed so loud and jumped a little, hiking the duvet higher.

“What the hell do you think you’re touching my boobs for?” My eyes widened as soon as the words came out and I realized what I said. But it was too late. Marlow had heard it if the triumphant smile he was housing was any proof of that.

“Marlow, Marlow, you cannot tell anyone about this.” I figured since he already knew, lying about it was pointless. The best thing to do now was beg him and get him to be on my side.

“I am begging you, Marlow, no one can find out about this. I’ll be screwed if my dad finds out I didn’t go back to London.” I clutched his arm like my life depended on it, because let’s be honest, it kinda did.

“You’re Jackson’s twin sister?” he asked excitedly. He already knew the answer but he wanted a direct confirmation from my lips. Biting them hard, I bent my head and whispered “Yes.”

“I knew it!” he cried. “IknewitIknewitIknewit! My God, how crazy do you have to be to pull this kind of stunt?”

“Lower your voice, Marlow, someone might hear you.”

He didn’t seem offended or repulsed by my being here. In fact, he was quite happy about it. His face was bright and his eyes were bright and he didn’t look dull and sleepy like a cat. I liked it.

“No one’s gonna hear me. The walls are soundproof and no one likes to come to the clinic.” He stared at me like I was a wonder at the zoo.

“This is the most exciting thing that has happened since Miles came out about being bi.” I did a double take.

“Miles is bi?”

“Uh-hu,” he nodded. “Mind you, he has a little crush on you.”

“Really?” I was excited, completely forgetting about the girl he liked that Marlow mentioned a few moments ago.

“Yeah, but don’t get too excited. With Miles, a crush is just someone he wants to protect and be there for. It doesn’t really mean anything. Plus, I told you already, he likes someone else.” I sneered and deflated like a balloon.

“You’re a lot talkative now, Marlow.” His ears turned pink.

“I have always been like this. I have seven sisters and they all do crazy s**t and still manage to involve me in their mess. Talking a lot is kinda like an occupational hazard. Home hazard, if there’s anything like that.”

This was exciting and terrifying at the same time. Finally, someone here knew my secret and they didn’t want to out me. Like Marlow said, if I wanted to do something of this magnitude, I needed at least one person on my side. I was glad it was Marlow. I’ve always wanted to talk to him and be close to him like Zeke and Miles were. I guess this was the perfect opportunity to bond with him.

“I gotta ask though, why did you pass out? Were you stressed out cause of practice?”

And just like that, I remembered it all. Justice cancelling PRG, him declaring that he’d like to share the room with me instead. It was too much to bear while being conscious, so I pretended to faint. But I guess I hit my head too hard cause I did end up passing out for real. God, that must have been so embarrassing. I could only imagine what the guys were saying about me now.

“Justice wanted me to share a room with him,” I moaned into the duvet.

“What?” Marlow’s eyes were bulging like saucers.

“I know. It’s bad. He cancelled the PRG and suggested I stayed with him instead. I guess he’s just trying to help me out since I’m Jackson’s ‘brother’ and I would have been touched by his gesture if I wasn’t a girl instead.”

“And if you don’t agree to it, you’ll have to share a room with some random stranger and if you’re unlucky enough, your bathroom will be used by two other guys.”

“This is all Jackson’s fault!” I yelled. “He was supposed to be here. Instead, he got into a motorcycle accident and is now in a coma.” I knew it wasn’t his fault and blaming him was wrong, but I needed to vent and he was just the best person to pour my anger on since he wasn’t here to defend himself.

“You know, it’s not too late to move back to the Art wing.” I gave him a small smile.

“I’m not an artist, Marlow.”

“Oh, I know that. I figured it out when I realized you were a girl. Plus, that painting that won you the room, complete trash. I was watching you the whole time.” I laughed and he did too.

“Weren’t you mad when your spot was taken from you by a total fake?”

“Of course not! I found it very amusing, to be honest. I wanted to see how long you could keep it up. And besides, Miles was really happy that you got it so I was pleased too. Listen,” he grabbed my hand and became all serious and kind. “You could always stay with me. I’m going to win the private room next month so you can stay with me. I promise I wouldn’t try anything shady.”

“That’s so sweet of you of you to offer Marlow, but I have to stay on the basketball team. That’s why I came here, to play ball with my brother.” He sighed and released my hand.

“Well, I guess you have no other choice but to bunk with Justice. If he’s truly Jackson’s friend, even if he finds out about you, he wouldn’t report it. It’s better than trying your luck with three strangers who may or may not want you kicked out of the team. I heard sports guys are competitive like that.”

I pondered on his words. He was right about that. Staying with Justice was my best bet if I wanted to survive in the Arena. I just needed to make sure he doesn’t find me suspicious or catch me. At least not before Jackson gets here.

“Right. I guess I have no other choice but to stay with him.”

He grinned and I found myself smiling at it. Marlow was handsome, but asides that he was really nice and the fact that he didn’t freak about this made me like him even more, although it wasn’t in a romantic way.

“Oh, by the way,” he started, getting up from the stool slowly and backing away. “I had to check to make sure my suspicions were correct.” He gave me his lazy grin and bit his bottom lip slyly. “Nice rack by the way.”

My eyes widened in horror when it dawned on me what he said. Quickly, I grabbed the vase beside my bed and hurled it at him, but he was already headed towards the door, his laughter echoing in the room and my ears, until all I could hear was my own scream and wildly beating heart.

Yeah, I most definitely didn’t like Marlow in a romantic way.