Academy Island - Part 2

Roommate

When the ferry docked Olivia had to part ways with Eliza. She had instructions to head to meet with a specific teacher on arrival. Which left her wandering off across the mostly mid-1900s modernist campus. Very blocky architecture with concrete, brick, and glass that reminded her of her high school back in Stratford.

Still, it was a small campus, barely any bigger than the complex her high school had been part of, so it didn’t take her long to find the building with the teacher offices. Carrying her suitcase in she headed up a floor, and found another girl who looked to be just as fresh to the school, pulling along a rather smaller suitcase. She looked like she was probably south Asian, though… maybe she was Arabic? Having grown up in a small town, Olivia knew she probably wasn’t the best at guessing that.

Olivia and her locked eyes for a moment, and a question floated on Olivia’s mind. One that wasn’t easy to ask. Normally she might have found the short hair and masculine clothing to be something of a clue, but, well, at least a third of the girls at the school had that look going on. The ‘stage boys’ as they were called, set with playing the normally male leads in performances by the all female theatre company.

“Are you, uh… looking for Mr. Ling as well?” the other girl asked.

“Oh. Yes. Yeah,” Olivia replied, realising that was a much less delicate question to ask.

“Ah, cool. I’m Kala Mahadevan,” the girl said with a smile.

“Olivia Bishop.”

“Ah! There you girls are!”

Olivia and Kala both turned to see a friendly looking and mildly heavily set man of East Asian heritage headed their way.

“Mr. Ling?” Kala asked.

“Mhm. And I’ll guess you’re Ms. Mahadevan? And you’re Ms. Bishop?” he asked.

The girls both nodded.

“Ah, good. Now, I’m sure you’re both a bit tired and ready to go to your room, but I do have some added orientation information for you two. First and foremost to let you know that my ear is always ready for either of you girls if you have trouble. Be it your peers or staff members.”

“Staff members?” Olivia asked.

“Mhm. One or two were a bit reluctant about my pushing to let trans girls apply. They covered it all with concerns about ‘self esteem on stage’ or bullying, but I think that… well, it’s a bit annoying to realise they think a trans man like myself fits in the space better than trans girls like you too,” Mr. Ling said, shaking his head. “I’m sure they’ll get over those reservations in time, though.”

Olivia blinked. “Wait. You’re…”

She didn’t really have any experience with trans guys. Or other trans girls, really. She’d always been shy about going out to go socializing and the like.

“Mhm. A pretty decent amount of the alumni are. Usually former ‘stage boys’ but sometimes lads are trying to deny themselves and go the ‘theatre maidens’ route,” Mr. Ling replied. “Honestly, my biggest worry with you girls being here is that we might see a drop in our graduation rate if you inspire thoughts about gender in some of the unrealized lads.”

That last bit was said with a bit of a chuckle. The two girls weren’t quite certain if they should laugh too or not, so they just offered smiles.

“Now then, both of you will be sharing a room, which is a bit unusual. Normally the ‘stage boys’ and ‘theatre maidens’ are roomed with one another, but… we figured it was the least awkward for everyone this year if we roomed you both together,” he explained.

Olivia turned to Kala, feeling more than a little confused. Before she could ask, though, Kala clearly read the question in her eyes.

“I figured I had nearly twenty years experience playing a boy. I can blow the other girls out of the water with my skill,” she said with a grin. “Plus, I’m something of a tomboy anyhow.”

Olivia nodded, not sure what to say. She didn’t realise a girl like her could be a tomboy…

Mr. Ling nodded and led them towards one of the residence buildings. They were a number of three floor brick, concrete, and glass buildings each a bit larger than an average house, but not by too much. There were covered walkways between the cluster of residence buildings as well as the main building of the academy.

Olivia supposed she’d appreciate that with coastal BC being so rainy.

Stepping into her and Kala’s building, Olivia found they were in a small commons room. There was a TV on the wall and some seating that looked like it was meant to be futuristic when it was built but was now older than she was. The chairs and couch did look comfy, at least.

One other student was already there, aimlessly watching some tv, but she didn’t seem to pay them much attention.

“There’s also a couple study pods and a kitchen on the ground level. Not that I figure you’ll get too much use out of the kitchen,” Mr. Ling said as he led them into a rather small elevator, that barely fit them. “We’ve got a couple restaurants and the cafeteria on campus. Plus you’d need to take the ferry to Vancouver Island or one of the smaller islands to get groceries. So eating out is much easier.”

With that the door opened and let them out onto the third floor hallway, where they were greeted by six sets of doors, each leading to a two person suite. A few of the doors were open, other students chatting about.

And leading Olivia to realise that everyone she’d seen in the building had rather short hair and, well… somewhere between ‘tomboyish’ and fully masculine looking clothing.

The other students on the floor also seemed to notice that she was dressed rather more feminine than everyone else. She felt a bit self conscious, but also felt like it was going to be an interesting learning experience. To have it turn out that she was the girly one in her pod while at an all women’s academy.

Even if it seemed like she was the tallest one in the pod.

A familiar voice came out of one of the open rooms as Olivia processed it all. “What’s going on that’s got ev—”

Eliza’s head poked out from beside her (much shorter) roommate’s head and, to Olivia’s surprise, she lit up.

“Stratford!” she said, walking over with a grin and suddenly making Olivia far less self conscious about her own height of 5’10”. “I didn’t think you’d be in my pod. That’s cool.”

“H-hi,” Olivia managed, not having realised she’d made an impression on the impossibly handsome woman before her.

“Wait, ‘Stratford’? You’re from Stratford?” Kala asked.

“Oh. Yes,” Olivia replied.

To find herself suddenly surrounded by what had to be most of the girls on the floor. Everyone wanted to ask her about what it was like growing up in the Canadian theatre town. She was left more than a little overwhelmed, not just by the attention, but by the way many of these girls managed to look like exceptionally handsome guys. Even if none of them had quite the presence of Eliza.

“Alright, alright. Stageboys, I know you’re excited, but let the girl breathe,” Mr. Ling said. “Since she’s here from Ontario she’s probably tired and a little jet lagged. You can talk to her more once she’s settled.”

“Oh, right,” one of the women said. “Like my roommate. She’s here from Newfoundland as she’s passed right out.”

Olivia and Kala were then led to their room, which proved quite spacious. There was a large window looking out over the island, where they could see the ocean and the mountainous next island over.

Olivia had to spend a moment just looking out at it, as the view was, in a word, gorgeous.

“Right. It’s new to you,” Kala said.

“Hm? You’ve been here before?” Olivia asked.

“Well, not here, but I grew up in Surrey, and I’ve visited the islands and such plenty,” Kala replied.

“Ah,” Olivia said with a nod, before heading over to unpack her suitcase.

Kala had grabbed the right side of the room, but it didn’t really seem like it mattered all that much. The two halves of the suite were identical, with their beds, wardrobes, and desks. The only slight difference was access to the washroom, but Olivia didn’t think the extra 50cm to get to the toilet was too big of a sacrifice.

“Oh,” she said, after having unpacked most of her stuff. “Is it ok if I do a video chat with my boyfriend?”

Kala stared at her for a moment. “You’ve… you’ve got a boyfriend?”

“Um… yes?” Olivia offered weakly.

“Huh. Just… the way you were staring at the tall butch out there…”

“Well, she’s very handsome. But since she’s another girl it’s fine, right? It’s nothing for my boyfriend to worry about.” Olivia replied, trying not to blush too badly.

Kala watched her quietly for a moment, before nodding. “Well, I’m going to go for a walk. Check the island out a bit.”

Olivia wished her luck before opening up her laptop. It took a moment to connect to the wifi, and then a bit longer to boot up Flight to start a video call.

“You’re late,” Carl said, looking annoyed. “I was worried.”

“Sorry. Sorry. The ferry was slower than I realised, and then there was extra orientation stuff,” she replied, trying to look apologetic.

“It’s bad enough you went to the other end of the country, somewhere I couldn’t go with you, but then you go and leave me worrying someone had done something to you for almost an hour.”

“I’m sorry,” Olivia mumbled, guilt rising in her chest.

“There’s so many things that could happen to a girl like you… especially when you don’t have me there to protect you,” Carl continued.

Olivia offered a few more apologies, feeling bad about having gotten so caught up in everything. Carl always looked out for her so much, and so of course he was worried about her.

She was lucky to have him, really. There weren’t exactly a lot of guys back in Stratford willing to date a girl like her. So she needed to be better about keeping him happy. Since he could definitely do better. (Something Carl’s father muttered about pretty well any time she was alone with him.)

-

Olivia stared out the window after finishing her call. The concern in Carl’s voice had left her wondering about her decision. She’d been so thrilled to be here. So happy when he’d accepted there was nothing to worry about at an all women academy. Especially when she’d talked about how it was probably second only to the National Academy in Montreal as learning opportunities.

Had she been too selfish while caught up in what it meant for her, and not thought about what it meant for him?

“Woah, what happened?” Kala asked as she walked into the room.

“Hm?” Olivia asked, turning to her.

“You were so happy before—are you homesick?”

“I… I feel guilty. I basically ran across the country. Away from my boyfriend,” Olivia mumbled.

“For an amazing opportunity?” Kala replied.

“A selfish opportunity…”

Kala walked over and sat on Olivia’s desk, looking down at her with concern in her eyes. “He probably just misses you. I’ll bet he’s actually proud of you, but he’s just not expressing it the best. Guys aren’t exactly taught to communicate their emotions very well, after all.”

“I… you really think so?”

“Sure! Anyone would be thrilled to see someone they love get an opportunity like this. Maybe they’ll feel a little conflicted about missing the person, and then feel bad about not being totally on board, but I’m certain he’s happy for you,” Kala said.

“That… I suppose that makes sense,” Olivia said, nodding slowly.

“Of course it does. Because it’s true. Now come on. They’ve got to be serving dinner by now.”

“Oh. I am pretty hungry.”

-

The cafeteria eating area was larger than the one Olivia’s high school had had, but not massively so. The serving area, however, felt like a high end restaurant next to the cheap burgers, chicken nuggets, and poutine her high school had served. There were fresh baked pizzas and a station which served up custom stir fries. Buffets offering up different types of pasta, Indian food, or salads with the promise of a rotating menu. As well as pre-packaged sandwiches and wraps.

And a whole dessert bar.

The fact it was buffet style and all covered by the meal plan made Olivia more than a little excited. Her mother had always been a bit conservative when it came to cooking, so the variety ready here made her excited.

Even if she knew she had to try to avoid that dreaded ‘freshman 15’.

Kala went over to get a couple of slices of pizza while Olivia decided to try some of the Indian food off vibes (having never really had much in her life) with a bit of salad on the side.

She then met back up with Kala as they tried to find a table. Only to be waved over by Eliza, who’d already been there eating with a few other members of the pod.

Olivia was soon awash in a new sea of questions about her family’s ties to a traditional theatre company and… far fewer questions than she’d expected about her and Kala being trans.