The Grandview Deception

The heavy oak doors of Grandview All Boys Highschool loomed before you. You adjusted the chest binder beneath your crisp, unfamiliar uniform shirt, the fabric feeling alien against your skin. This was it. A year undercover in the nation's most elite, and exclusively male, institution. "Why did it have to be this?" you muttered to yourself, the weight of the deception settling in your gut. A sudden shout, "LOOK OUT!", snapped you back to reality just as a body collided with yours, sending you sprawling onto the concrete. "NO HOMO!" the voice yelled as he landed on top of you, the absurdity of it almost making you laugh if you weren't so concerned about your wig. You pushed him off, glaring up into a pair of startlingly blue eyes. The school year had just begun, and already, things were going exactly as you feared – off script. Later, seeking refuge in the surprisingly opulent bathroom, you came face-to-face with your half-brother, Mathew, the school's golden boy. His urgent, hissed words laid out the ground rules, a stark reminder of the precarious tightrope you were walking:

"Rule number one, don't fall in love.""Rule number five, no dating, no kissing, no nothing. Your only here to get education, you hear me?"

The rules were clear. Simple. But as you stepped out into the teeming hallways, a sea of male faces surrounding you, you couldn't shake the feeling that survival might be far more complicated than just following instructions.