--Day Seventeen--
I – lift – freaking – lift – hate – lift – the – lift – Coach – lift. Carly’s anger was slowly making her face turn red, well, that and the fact that she was doing sit ups. She was at sixty two and with each lift she was cursing the Coach ever coming into existence.
Unfortunately for Carly she had started her periods in the middle of the night, making her good mood take a nose dive from the top of a cliff and into a sea of acid. She had been snapping at her three friends all day, who had realised her situation and had given her a wide berth in order to cool herself down. Right now she was dealing with the brute force of the Coach as he had forced them down to the pitch and made them practise for the big game that was looming closer. Carly respected that he was so committed in them to win, she really was, but the fact that he caused her to miss out on lunch – a vital subject for a girl in a her situation – to practise was pushing it a bit too far in her standards.
“God damn it, why did he have to make us miss our lunch?” Joshua whined when the Coach had his back turned.
“Just shut up and get through it,” Benny hissed, “I’ve got a chocolate bar in my locker.”
“Thanks man, you don’t know how much I’m dying here-” Joshua started.
“Who says it’s for you?” Benny cut him off with a cunning smirk.
The sounds of Joshua’s continuous whines and Benny’s attempt at making him shut up filled the ears of the soccer players.
“I hope we win the game,” Carly puffed as she sat up from another sit up, “Just so I can shove that damn trophy up his ass.”
Elliot, Joshua, Benny, Daniel and Chris – who were in ear shot of the small male – turned rounded eyes on Carl. “Jeez Carl are you on your period or something?” Joshua joked.
“Yes,” Carly bluntly stated, not really caring about the consequences.
“Well plug it up,” Daniel said seriously, “If the Coach had heard what you said he’d have skinned you alive.”
“I’m past giving a fuck,” Carly muttered.
“Prisms!” Coach shouted, “Did I say you could talk?”
“Oh will you just shut up!” Carly shouted.
Silence. Never had anybody said something so disrespectful to the Coach in his whole teaching career. Never. In fact the only person who had had the balls to say anything reprimanding to the man was his Mother. The soccer players all froze mid-sit up, their eyes wide and their skin pale as they looked towards their soon-to-be deceased goalie keeper. They slowly turned wide eyes towards the Coach, their skin paling even more to the point that they resembled sheets of paper. What scared the boys was that the Coach didn’t look angry nor shocked or even put out by the boy’s choice of words. He looked calm, which was a terrible terrible expression to be placed on the Coach’s face. It made what he was going to do next unpredictable.
Carly sat in her place, the same look of rebellion was frozen on her face. It wasn’t due to bravery – or even stupidity – but more to do with her being scared out of her mind. Carly had never been more scared than she was in that very moment.
“I’m going to die aren’t I?” Carly whispered.
“Without a doubt,” Joshua muttered back.
“Prisms,” Coach said lowly.
“Yes Coach?” Carly answered, a sheepish smile cracking her previous expression.
“Come here,” He said nodding to where his feet were.
Carly deflated like a balloon, any hope of living diminishing at his commanding voice, “Yes sir,” She whimpered pathetically.
********************
“God damn, my ears are still ringing from the shouting that Carl got,” Joshua muttered as he rubbed his right ear vigorously.
“Think how Carl must feel,” Benny added with a grimace.
They were all currently back in their normal clothes and were watching with sympathy filled eyes as Carl continued to run the circuit of the soccer field. He was going to have to run until the bell rang signalling the end of lunch but judging by his stumbling jogs he wasn’t going to make it.
“Come on Carl you only have to run for five more minutes,” Elliot muttered as he stared at the figure with a small frown of concern.
Joshua bit his lip and took a cautious glance at the Coach. He sucked in a breathe through his teeth before shaking his head, “Fuck it,” He said and proceeded to step forward with his hands on each side of his mouth, “Come on Carl! You’ve only got five minutes!”
They watched as Carl nearly stumbled over his feet from the shout and snapped his head up to stare at them. “Yeah come on Carl!” Benny joined his friend, “Show us what that skinny ass is made of.”
The rest of the soccer players contributed shouts of encouragement to the small male, allowing him to know that they were there. They continued to cheer him on as he came to jog by them and were rewarded with a small smile of acknowledgement. They ran alongside him giving small pats on the back or little taunts on his fitness to keep him on track until, finally, the bell rang for the end of lunch.
Carl promptly crumpled into a heaving mess on the floor as he struggled to get his breath back, the rest of the team either patting or rubbing his back consolingly in an attempt to ease the pain.
“Here,” They all looked up to the Coach presenting a small bundle of yellow slips, “These will explain to your teachers on why you’re late. Now stop gawking like a bunch of peeping Tom’s and got your butts off my soccer pitch.”
They didn’t need telling twice, Joshua and Benny secured one of Carl’s arms over one of their shoulders before quickly departing from the pitch.
“Jesus Carl!” Joshua hissed, “Do you have a death wish or something? I mean even I’m not stupid enough to back talk the Coach like that.”
“What the Hell got into you?” Elliot asked looking over his shoulder at the tired boy.
“Like I said, I’m on my periods,” He slurred.
“I think he’s lost his shit,” Joshua said matter-of-factly as he placed Carl down on one of the wooden bench’s in the changing room.
“I’m fine,” Carl muttered standing up again, he stumbled slightly but managed to keep his balance, “I’m going to go get changed. You guys go to lesson before you get into trouble.”
With that said he stumbled towards the toilet doors where his clothes were waiting for him. “Are you sure man?” Chris called after him.
Carl waved a hand over his shoulder, “Yeah yeah.”
The boys looked at each other and shrugged before one by one they made their way out of the changing room and to their lesson. However, Elliot paused from leaving and decided to check up on Carl one last time.
Carly pulled her top from over her head and dumped it in her sports bag, adjusting her bra straps so that they weren’t slipping from her shoulders as she righted herself. Her male friends had allowed her to wear this one item of girl clothing purely because she was on her periods. Carly had to wear a bra when she was on her periods; it comforted her in a way. Nobody would notice that she was wearing one anyway; it was made so that it would flatten your chest rather than accentuate it.
“Hey Carl are you sure you want us to-” Elliot said as he opened the door of the toilets.
Carly couldn’t be bothered trying to move around the small compact space of the tiny toilet stall and instead had braved the choice of getting dressed outside in the open. Now she sincerely wished she hadn’t as she saw Elliot’s eyes widen at the sight of the bra she was wearing.
Thinking back on it at the end of the day Carly couldn’t really explain why she said the next words, “I’m gay okay!” She cried shrilly as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Shit!” Elliot shouted as he covered his eyes, “I’m sorry!”
He turned and ran out of the toilets, not stopping until he had made a safe distance from it and Carl. Aw shit man! He’s probably going to think I’m some kind of pervert! I didn’t know that gay guys liked to wear women clothes. Well, actually thinking on it I have seen a fair few gay men who like to look a little feminine. Maybe Carl was like that?
Great just great, Carly groaned to herself as she curled up into a ball on the toilet floor, he not only thinks I’m gay but now the possibility of me being a cross dresser is probably circling his brain at this very moment. Freaking fantastic.
*********************
To say Carly was depressed was an understatement, in fact Callum, Liam and Jasper – who sat with her in History – could practically feel the waves of dark emotions radiating off of her.
It was a surprising and exciting revelation to the four friends when they had found out that they shared the same history lesson. It soon turned to a horrifying experience for their history teacher when he realized just how diabolical Callum, Jasper and Liam could be when Carly was not around. It was made certain for him when she had missed a day to take care of her sick Dad. He had literally begged her to never miss one of his lessons again when she had eventually ventured back to class. It should be mentioned that he still had chicken feathers stuck in his hair, which was probably the aftermath of the boy’s last prank.
They all sat in a group of four in the corner of the room, only because the boys had staged a small revolution due to the injustice of being separated far away from each other at the beginning of the year. Never had the teacher been more scared in his life, and so it was an unspoken agreement with him, and the rest of the class, that they would stay together in the corner of the room where they had situated themselves in their second lesson of the year. However, they had to let Carly sit somewhere else in order to eradicate suspicion that she was anything but a boy.
Callum and Liam exchanged a look with each other, as they sat side by side, before turning their heads to the right to take another peek at Carly. They grimaced when they saw Carly’s face completely planted into the desk in front of her, her arms dangling down lifelessly under the desk.
Jasper leaned forward and placed a torn piece of paper on Callum’s desk. Callum frowned down at the note and turned to raise a single eyebrow at Jasper seated behind him, he only nodded towards the paper. Callum sighed and opened the folded paper, he stilled at the two words written in clear bold writing. His mouth formed a smirk before turning again in his seat and giving a simple nod towards Jasper. He sated Liam’s curiosity by passing the small note to him and watching his reaction.
Liam read the words and couldn’t contain the giddy smile that stretched across his lips. He gave a consented nod to his two friends, allowing the paper to slip from his fingers and litter onto the floor. There on that white paper read the words Bohemian Rhapsody.
“Hey look at that!” Callum shouted as he stood from his seat and pointed out of the large windows.
Students snapped their heads towards the loud voice before following his pointed finger to see out to the school grounds. They craned their neck in order to see what was so important that Callum had to make such a dramatic interruption in the middle of class for. However, when it soon became clear that there was nothing outside they turned confused looks towards each other and the boy standing up and still pointing.
“Hey I see it too,” Liam said, slamming his hands on the table rather loudly and standing up.
“What is that?” Jasper asked, a frown on his face as he too stood, following his friends actions but using a bit more force than was necessary and sending his chair reeling backwards.
By now the class were on their feet too trying to see what this so called mysterious object was, the teacher was desperately trying to calm the class down. Carly turned her head on the desk to the side curiously as the sounds of the students grew louder. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously when she saw them either staring outside or at her three friends pointing outside of the window. What the Hell are they doing?
“Yeah, I see,” Here Callum stopped as everyone grew silent in order to hear his words, “I see...”
They all leaned forward eagerly and Callum turned a grin towards them, “I see a little silhouetto of a man,” He sang.
The class widened their eyes at this unexpected turn of events, their eyes soon being drawn towards Liam and Jasper as they stood on their desks and belted the next line of the lyrics, “Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?!”
Carly felt a smile slowly creep up on her and stretch across her lips as she stared at her friends attempting to sing the Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics. She burst out laughing when they stumbled over the high and low parts of the song.
I’ve just realized...I have never taken part in one of their pranks before. Why do I always have to be good? And besides I’m not Carly anymore I’m Carl. Do you know what? Fuck it! I’m getting in on this too.
And with a new found burst of enthusiasm Carly too climbed onto her desk and joined in on the lyrics of the song, “I’m just a poor boy, nobody loves me!” She sang. Callum, Liam and Jasper snapped their heads in her direction, grinning at the smile and the blush of excitement on her face.
“He's just a poor boy from a poor family. Spare him his life from this monstrosity,” The three of them sang back.
They continued to sing louder due to the excited cheers of their small audience, none of them seemed to notice their history teacher pulling his hair out due to sheer frustration. Where the Hell is Carly?! He screamed in his head as he ran out of the door to hunt down the Principle.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” Jasper sang in a low voice.
“Oh, mama mia, mama mia, mama mia, let me go,” Liam and Carly sang in a high pitched voice.
“Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me!” They all sang together, their voices rising in tempo to the class’s ever growing amusement.
***********************
“Well this sucks,” Carly muttered as they sat in plastic chairs outside of the Principal’s office.
“This is what you have to put up with in the life of a prankster,” Callum muttered as he leaned his head back to lean against the wall. They had now been sitting outside of the office for at least half an hour and Carly felt it safe to say that she was not going to make it to her English class before the bell.
“Here,” Jasper said, passing a plastic bag over to Carly and resuming his crossed arm and leaned back position on his seat.
Carly frowned, “What’s in it?” She asked, opening the bag.
“We know you’re having girl problems so we sneaked out of school and got you something to help you with it,” Callum explained, a small blush covered his cheeks at the mention of Carly’s ‘girl problems’.
Carly’s eyes widened at the mountain full of chocolate bars, all of them her favourite kind. She felt her throat tighten and her eyes start to sting as tears formed. “You guys,” She choked, wrapping an arm around both Callum and Liam’s shoulders, “You guys are the best.”
Jasper allowed himself a sigh of relief, happy that he wasn’t pulled into Carly’s tearful embrace. That is, until, he felt a hand force his head onto Liam’s shoulder. His eyes rounded as Carly kept his head in that position as she continued to wail at how much she loved them.
“Get off of me woman!” Liam cried trying to pull himself away from Carly’s surprisingly strong grip, “Your pits smell.”
“No,” Carly whined hugging them tighter, “Feel the love.”
“I am and I don’t like it nor do I like the smell of it either,” Liam continued to argue.
“Carly Penton?” The four of them snapped their heads towards the office teacher, Mrs Lynn, who was regarding them with an un-amused stare.
“Ye-” Carly started to say.
“Who’s Carly?!” Callum shouted over her.
Jasper clamped a hand over the mentioned girl’s mouth in order to stop her from spilling anything else. Mrs. Lynn spared them an exasperated sigh before turning to Carly herself, “You can drop the act now love the Principal already knows who you are. Now if you’ll follow me the Principle would like to talk to you.”
“It took him long enough to figure it out,” Carly said to the teacher, “I thought he would have found out at least a week ago. He must be piled up with work then.”
Mrs. Lynn smiled warmly at the girl, “You can’t even believe but it has to be said it is coming to the end of the year so there will be a lot more work.”
Carly nodded, “True,” She grunted as she stood and walked to where she stood.
Callum, Liam and Jasper took in the exchange between student and teacher with shock filled eyes. “Excuse me,” Callum said, holding up a hand with closed eyes as he tried to comprehend what was going on, “Do you two know each other?”
Carly and Mrs. Lynn turned back towards the three boys and shared a smirk, “Why of course,” Mrs. Lynn said crossing her arms, “After all every time you lot got into trouble for one of your so called pranks it was Carly who was the one who negotiated with the Principal to get you out of the situation. You do know that there have been three cases in which you could have been excluded. If it wasn’t for Carly you would have been out of here a long time ago.”
The boys stared at Carly with guilty eyes, “Carly,” Liam started, “We’re so sorry. We had no idea that you went through all of that to-”
“Are you guys kidding me?” Carly laughed, “You guys are my best friends I will do anything to make sure that I will stay with you for as long as I can. So don’t ever try to apologise for something that I need to do, okay?”
They nodded mutely and watched as Carly departed from the room, a last sweet smile thrown over her shoulder. The boys sat in silence, going over what they just heard, “Guys,” Callum said, “I think it’s time we cut down on our pranks.”
There was another beat of silence until Jasper broke it, “Or we could just never get caught.”
“Yeah I like that idea,” Liam said.
“Me too,” Callum agreed with a nod.
*********************
“Just let her continue with it,” John argued as he sat in front of the Principle.
He was currently explaining to him why it was a good idea to allow his daughter Carly to remain a boy. “I don’t see why I should,” The Principle cut in, “Wouldn’t it just make things more difficult for the students?”
“Look Carly is going through a faze, okay? That means that this is going to be over and done within a week or so. Just let the kid do her thing and before you know it she’ll back to the Carly we know,” John explained, splaying his hands out to the side.
The Principle brooded on the proposal before sighing in exasperation, “Okay, very well I’ll allow it,” He surrendered, “But I will only allow this to continue on for a week or so. After that I will personally tell the students that it is Carly instead of Carl.”
John nodded, “That’s fine by me,” He said, gripping the offered hand in a firm hand shake.
At that moment Carly walked in, “Ah Carly!” The Principle acknowledged, “Seen as though this is the first time you’ve acted like this I will let you off the hook. However Callum, Liam and Jasper will have to serve a week in detention.”
“Two days,” Carly immediately negotiated, “This is the end of the year nobody was even paying attention in that class to begin with, so they hardly stopped the students from learning. “
The Principal thought on that before nodding, “Agreed,” He said both of them shaking on it. He turned and Carly just heard the words, “Like Father like daughter.”