The Only Girl in Apex

Kaia's POV I could still hear my father’s voice echoing in my head like it was stuck on repeat, and as always, his voice was cold and filled with the disdain he had for me. “You’re going to Apex, you good for nothing child. Maybe that place will fix what’s wrong with you.” He didn’t even wait for me to say anything back. One second I was half-asleep in my room, trying to get some rest after another long day of pretending to be someone I wasn’t, and the next his guards were grabbing my arms and pulling me out of the house like I was some criminal fighting them. I wasn’t fighting hell, I was even too shocked to even move properly. My legs felt heavy, like they belonged to someone else, and all I could do was let them drag me toward the black car waiting in the driveway. It was pitch dark outside, and the darkness scared me more than I wanted to admit. They threw a single bag into the trunk, probably just some clothes and whatever they could grab in a hurry, and shoved me into the back seat without a single explanation. The whole ride I kept staring out the window at nothing, trying to make sense of what was happening and why I was being shipped off to Apex Academy. I knew about the academy, everyone did, but I never thought I’d end up there because it wasn’t a place for someone like me. It wasn't a place for anyone who was female. From what little I’d heard over the years, Apex was this isolated school in the middle of nowhere, built for the worst kind of troublemakers from rich families. Powerful delinquents, sons of important people who needed to be straightened out or hidden away. It was strictly for boys, no exceptions. Fathers sent their sons here when they got too out of control, hoping the harsh rules and tough environment would teach them a lesson, and no decent father would ever send his daughter to a place like that, but then again, my father wasn’t exactly decent. He was the opposite of decent. He was the kind of father who barely looked at me most days, and when he did, it was always with that same look of disappointment mixed with something colder, something I have come to understand was nothing but hate. I learned a long time ago that he hated me mostly because I was born a girl. He never said it straight out every single day, but he didn’t have to. The message was clear in everything he did and didn’t do. ‘Women were useless,’ he always said when he bothered to talk about it at all. To him, we were weak and a waste of space in a family that needed strength and power. So from the time I was little, maybe seven or eight, I figured out the only way to survive in his house was to never remind him that I was a girl. I cut my hair short and kept it short, wore baggy clothes that hid any curves, wore chest binders to hide my breasts, and walked with my shoulders back and my chin up like the son he wished he had. I trained hard, kept quiet, never cried in front of him, never talked softly, or smiled at all. I didn't even remember what my own laugh sounded like. For over ten years I’d been playing that role, eighteen years old now and still trying so hard to be the boy he wanted, but it was never enough. No matter how much I acted like his perfect son, he still looked at me like I was a mistake he couldn’t erase, and now here I was, being punished for something I couldn’t change, dragged out in the middle of the night like I didn’t even deserve a proper goodbye or a chance to pack my own things. The car finally slowed down after what felt like hours on empty roads. The guards yanked me out again, their grips rough on my arms even though I wasn’t resisting. My heart was pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears, and we stopped right in front of this massive black gate that looked like it belonged to some fortress instead of a school. It was tall and intimidating, with spikes along the top and heavy metal bars that made it impossible to see everything clearly beyond it, but from where I stood, I could make out the outlines of big buildings in the distance, lights flickering here and there like the place was barely awake. Even the air felt colder here, carrying a smell of pine trees and damp earth. One of the guards finally let go of me and stepped back. “You’re on your own from here, kid,” he said, his voice flat like he was delivering mail instead of abandoning someone in the dark. Before I could even open my mouth to ask what was going on or beg for more details, they tossed my one pathetic bag at my feet and turned around. The car doors slammed shut, and just like that, they drove off, leaving me standing there alone. I stood frozen for a minute, trying not to let panic take over completely. My hands were shaking as I picked up the bag and slung it over my shoulder. It wasn’t heavy, probably just a couple of shirts, pants, and whatever else they’d thrown in without caring. The night was so silent that it felt unnatural, like the whole world had gone silent just to watch me freak out. I kept telling myself to breathe, to stay calm, but my mind was racing with questions I had no answers for. Why now? Why here? What had I done this time that was bad enough to get sent to Apex? I’d been careful, always careful, keeping my head down and doing exactly what was expected, but maybe that was the problem. Maybe just existing as me was enough to make him want to get rid of me for good. I swallowed hard and stared at the gate, wondering if I should knock or call out or just wait. Running away crossed my mind for a split second, but where would I even go? Back home? That wasn’t home anymore, and it never had been. Just when I was starting to feel like the darkness would drive me insane, I noticed movement inside the gate. Someone was walking toward it from the other side with their head down and their steps slow and steady, like they had all the time in the world, and my stomach twisted with nerves. The gate started to open with a low, grinding sound that echoed through the night, and a tall figure stepped out from the shadow. He was wearing a dark hoodie that was pulled up over his head and covering half his face, and even from a distance, I could tell he was big with broad shoulders and long legs, the kind of presence that made me even more nervous. He moved with this confidence, like he owned the night instead of the other way around, and when he got closer and finally looked up at me, the first thing I noticed was his eyes. They were gold, actual gold that was bright and glowing a little under the faint light from the moon. It was so strange and intense that I almost forgot to breathe for a second. He stopped a few feet away, tilting his head slightly as he stared at me. His brows pulled together in a deep frown, like he was trying to figure out a puzzle that didn’t make sense, and then his gaze dropped lower, right to my chest, and his whole face changed. Disgust flashed across it clear as day. “Are those breasts I’m seeing?” he blurted out, his voice rough and full of pure disbelief mixed with something like anger. He paused for just a second, his eyes narrowing even more as he looked me up and down again, taking in my short hair, my loose clothes, and my whole attempt at blending in as something I wasn’t. Then he asked it straight, still sounding absolutely disgusted, like the idea alone made him sick. “Are you a girl?” I felt my face heat up at the question even though I tried to keep it together. My heart was hammering so hard it hurt, and for a moment I didn’t know what to say. I’d spent my whole life hiding this exact thing, making sure no one ever questioned it, and now here I was, exposed in the worst possible place at the worst possible time. He kept staring at me, waiting for an answer, his golden eyes boring into mine like he could see right through every lie I’d ever told to survive, and I swallowed again, my throat dry as I tried to find my voice. This was Apex, and this was the beginning of whatever nightmare my father had thrown me into, and standing there in front of this stranger with the strange eyes, I realized there was no going back now.