"Step away from her." I scrambled further away from Gray, trying to put as much distance as possible between him and I. I slid until I stumbled to the floor. I didn't dare stand.

He snorted and I was suddenly forgotten as he got in Jr's face, "What you going to do about it, huh?" He laughed cockily.

"Me? Nothing. But they are." He motioned his thumb behind himself to where the entire wrestling team stood. "Now. Are you going to apologize to her and leave? Or do we have to take this outside?"

Gray put his hands in the air and started backing away to the stairs, "Fine. I was just having a little fun. I'll get you later." I glared at him as he directed that statement at me.

One of the wrestling boys helped me back on my feet.

I looked down at Mark who was slowly regaining conscience, "Thank you guys so much. I couldn't imagine what could have happened if you hadn't showed up." I waved at the ten or so guys, "I'm Isabelle by the way. But uh can you guys help me with him?"

Two of the wrestlers stepped forward and pulled Mark up, "We'll put him in one of those rooms."

"Thanks." I smiled and they took him to one of the bedrooms.

"Hey, Isabelle, can I speak to you for a second?" I nodded, uncertain, and followed him further down the hallway. Jr didn't know Isabelle, why would he want to speak to her? A lesson on how to stop guys from doing stuff to you against your will? I doubt that.

I leaned against the cream colored wall, "What do you need to talk to me about?"

He dropped his voice to a whisper, "I know it's you, Kali."

I jerked out of my casual position, "What?" I felt my heart racing in under my shirt, "What do you mean? I told you, my name's Isabelle. I moved here a few weeks ago."

"Kal, you can stop pretending. I figured it out. I looked it up the town you said you were in and it was directly in the quake zone and I just knew no one would be able to survive that. Yet you were calling me. And of course 'Isabelle' looked so much like you and you had all the same classes so it wasn't difficult to figure it out after that point. So this was for the essay right? Isn't making a false identity illegal or something?"

I shrugged. "I don't know." I mumbled.

"Oh and can I just say you really know how to change your appearance as well. Like you were already beautiful before but now... wow is the only word for it. No wonder lover boy likes you so much."

I scrunched my eyebrows, "Lover boy? You mean Mark?"

"Yeah. But he doesn't really know you like I do, does he? He doesn't know the girl behind all the clothes and makeup. He doesn't know you'd choose to play video games over going on a date and you wouldn't even hesitate with the decision of watching a RomCom or a football game." Jr looked directly into my eyes as he spoke. "Kali, he doesn't know you like I do. I don't know why you like him so much. He likes the fake image you made. I like you for the real you, the natural you." 

I sighed, he was right. Mark doesn't realize that I'm not who I make myself out to be. I'm not girly or preppy and I wouldn't be caught dead in the dress I wore yesterday. "It's not completely a fake image though. The outside is, but with him I'm just being my normal self. I sort of like this new look as well, it makes me feel more confident."

Jr's eyes searched my face almost as if he were trying to figure something out, "Just tell me when you decide who you like better, Kali or Isabelle." I fiddled with the necklace Mark had bought me, feeling a bit guilty and a lot confused.

"I'm going to go check on Mark." Jr said goodbye in this tone that gave off an extremely sad vibe as I went into the room where the wrestling guys had laid Mark down. He sat on the bed wiping the blood from his face with a towel he must have found in the bathroom. "Hi."

He cringed when he tried to touch his nose, "Oh, hey. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks for trying to save me. How's your nose?" I lowered myself onto the mattress beside him and tried to clean his face up the best I could.

"I'm alright. I think it's just bruised not broken. I just want to go punch that creep back though, for scaring you."

I smiled and threw the face towel into the trash by the door, "Do you want to go now? I don't know about you but I'm finished partying for the night."

"Wait, I need to try something first." I looked at him, slightly confused at what he wanted to do.

Mark took my face in his hands and kissed me softly. After recovering from shock, I returned it.

When he pulled away Mark's grin was big enough that I feared it would crack his face, "Isabelle, will you be my girlfriend?"

My eyes widened. That was just about as unexpected as the kiss. I was literally speechless.

Jr or Mark? Both of them made me extremely happy. But this was Isabelle, not Kali. Isabelle doesn't want to be with Jr, she doesn't even know him. I had to focus on the essay goal: fitting in with the populars and finding facts that can prove my thesis. So I did what Isabelle would have done and answered, "Of course. I'd love to." He kissed me again and I tried to push Jr out of my mind.

I can deal with this later when I'm Kali again, but for now I'm still Isabelle and I had to play by her rules. 

Oh god, what has my life become?