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She’s my partner in every sense of the word.
Epilogue - Sally
SIX MONTHS LATER
Living in the freshmen athletic dorms means constantly being woken up before eight am classes because, for some reason, people like exercising when the sun isn’t even awake.
It also means I’m the only art major living on our coed floor. Everyone else here is a mixture of sports management—like Ella—sports medicine, or business. There’s a sprinkle of communication majors here and there on the floor, but nothing close to having similar classes with me.
My first semester completed at Grace Hill was an eye-opener. I didn’t find my classes difficult, but reality was setting in that I didn’t enjoy all of my classes. I loved my cinematography and editing classes. They helped improve the quality of my YouTube channel. But that’s all that has interested me.
Makes me wonder if three more years of this is really worth it.
“Should we expect lover boy?” Kayla, one of my four roommates, asks while she finishes pulling her black curly hair into space buns.
That’s what she and Nina, our other roommate, call Oliver. They didn’t believe me when I told them that Ollie and I weren’t actually dating.
That thought kind of hurts, though. I know we are going at my pace, but if I’m being honest, if he had asked me before I moved here, I would have said yes. Oliver knew I wanted to take this slow, so he never pushed.
Though that heated kiss of ours wasn’t the last time we hooked up. Kayla and Nina seem to always remind me of Halloween. Oliver and I went as Sophie and Howl from Howl’s moving Castle. We had sex in the bathroom of the hockey house on campus. What made it more awkward was the fact one of the hockey players is in my intro to film studies class and he said hi right after we were done.
“No, he told me work has been hectic lately, so he can’t make it up,” I say and try my hardest not to sound sad.
He has kept his promise of seeing me every two weeks, and I’ve spent a couple weekends at his mom’s place. Some weekends, we’ll go on little dates to get coffee or see a movie. Other times, I work on homework or edit a video for my YouTube channel.
Who would have thought that people on the internet wanted to see a trans woman just living her best life? I even got a few sponsorships to help pay the bills.
“Bummer, since there’s a party at the sin bin tonight.” She grins.
“You love going to that house.” I laugh, walking in front of the mirror.
“Sue me. I like the eye candy that lives there. Only one of them is actively dating someone. Hockey guys are just hot.”
I didn’t realize how many people actually like the sport before coming here. Grace Hill is known for their myriad of athletic programs, but hockey is the most famous. It might just be because the guys are hot as sin—thus the name of their house. They attract everything that breathes, including my two roommates.
“I thought you were talking to Ricky from the basketball team. The dude is like a skyscraper.”
“I am, but we aren’t dating or exclusive, so it doesn’t mean I can’t like looking at hot guys when at a party. Especially when I get liquid courage in my system.” Kayla does one last look at her makeup.
I play with the ends of my newly cut jaw-length hair. After the pink faded, I had a crisis and decided to chop it off.
My hair hadn’t been touched much since my transition. There was always anxiety surrounding the length and color, but it was time for a change. I was scared, but a weight was lifted off my shoulders. Both physically and mentally, I no longer needed to hide behind my femininity.
“Regretting it?” Nina enters the room in a whole winter outfit that covers pretty much all of her tan skin. In her hand is a gym bag, probably filled with her swim gear.
I shake my head. “No, I love it. Swim practice?”
“Yep, Coach Greene is a killer, but he’s also an Olympic gold medalist.”
Nina waves goodbye before marching out of the room. I turn back to the mirror for a second before looking back at my room. Ella said she was going to take a call, but that was fifteen minutes ago.
“Please come to the party tonight and get Ella to come. She needs to bond with her fellow volleyball players.” Kayla follows Nina out.
Just like that, it is just me waiting for Ella to finish. We have a lunch date planned.
Being left to my own devices also means my mind wanders to what Oliver is doing. He hasn’t replied to my text since our usual good morning texts.
A moment later, Ella walks out of the room with her brows furrowed and an unreadable expression.
