“Nadia stood in front of the bathroom mirror, holding a strand of her dark brown hair with one hand, tightly gripping a pair of scissors in the other. She stared at the mirror, her reflection staring back. Her eyes were huge and dark, her cheeks pale. “Nadia, you don’t have to be so nervous”, She said quietly to herself.

“It’s only a couple of weeks that I’ll be impersonating Kevin, and he wouldn’t have asked me if he thought I wouldn’t be safe.” Of course, she felt nervous, thinking about keeping the secret of being a girl, not to mention she would be sharing a dorm with six males. Will I be able to do it? Will they see through me right away? Shaking her head, Nadia took a deep breath and stared at her reflection again with a new resolve. She would pretend to be her brother, and no one would know otherwise, because how would they know? She smiled grimly and brought the sharp scissors to her long hair, the edges glinting in the light, and quickly snipped.

About half an hour later, Nadia stared at her new appearance critically, Kevin standing beside her, his hand on her shoulder. This is kind of eerie, she thought. If I didn’t know the truth, I would think I am my brother, especially since I have on Kevin’s clothes. She glanced sideways at Kevin, who was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants he had brought over from the dorm. Looking sadly at Nadia, Kevin gave her another hug.

“I’m sorry I ever asked you to do this for me Nadia. But I’m so proud of you, because even I think you’re me.” They laughed together and walked back into the living room, exchanging information so they could impersonate each other right.

~*~

A couple hours later, Nadia stood in front of the dorms, holding a bag with things she might need, Kevin’s phone in her pocket, and the key in her hands. She gulped, feeling nervous about what she was about to do. Stop being such a coward, she thought to herself. You’ll be fine! Taking a deep breath, she put the key in the lock and turned the knob, pushing the door open. However, suddenly, before she could step in the doorway, she saw a pair of arms quickly creep up around her shoulders, a low voice whispering,

“Finally, I can hold you in my arms…” Nadia could feel his warm breath tickling her neck.

“Aaaaaaah!” She screamed loudly, jerking away from her captor and falling to the floor in the process. She was convinced he would grab her again and struggled to crawl away. However, instead of hearing someone come after her, she heard a laugh. Surprised, Nadia looked behind her, seeing a tall guy with short dark hair leaning against the doorway, clutching his stomach and laughing.

“Haha, you should have seen your reaction Kevin! I so got you!” Nadia just stared at him, realizing who it was.

“A-a-ah, it was just y-you, AJ,” she stuttered, smoothing her hair nervously and getting back to her feet. Laughing weakly, she mimed shooting at him with her pointer fingers. “You did get me, good job!” AJ gradually stopped laughing, then suddenly stared into Nadia’s face, his brow furrowed. She gulped, making her voice slightly lower.

“What’s wrong, AJ? Is there something on my face?” She held her breath nervously, waiting for his answer. He stared at her for a couple of seconds, then relaxed. “No, your voice just sounds different today. Are you still sick?”

“Oh,” Nadia said, practically sighing in relief.  This was so nervewracking! “Yes, but I’m recovering now though, so no need to worry hahaha.”

AJ rolled his eyes and smiled, stepping inside the dorm and closing the door. He looked around, and Nadia suddenly realized how dark and quiet it was in the dorms, the lamp in the corner providing the only light. The only sounds she could hear was the steady drip, drip of the water from the faucet and their combined breathing.

“I guess the others aren’t back yet from looking around Japan, so it’s just you and me.” AJ said, yawning and reaching over to ruffle Nadia’s hair. She couldn’t help from blushing and was suddenly glad it was so dark that he couldn’t see it. “I’m beat," AJ said, "All that wandering around made me so tired. When you come to bed, be quiet and try not to trip over me or anything else again, ok?” AJ said, walking into the shadowed hallway. Wait, what did he say?

“C-c-come to bed?” Nadia choked out. What is he talking about? AJ looked back at Nadia strangely, then continued walking to the hallway toward a series of doors until he reached the last one.

“We’re roommates, remember? Weirdo,” he called, going inside and shutting the door. open, Nadia couldn’t do anything except stare at the closed door. We’re roommates? I’ll have to share a room with him all night for a couple of weeks? Somehow, when Kevin was going over the information, he failed to mention anyone having to share rooms. What did I get myself into?