Loving Me Double - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Every day, I am Alexia Emmanuel Tan, and I am a woman. I have routines and schedules that Alex and I agreed on. Since our body is female, I take care of us. I am the original, and I know what needs to be done. I go to the gym to maintain our figure, focusing on core and heavy exercises to build some muscle, though not too much for Alexander’s sake. Our wardrobe is a mix of male and female items—clothes, jewelry, shoes, and perfumes, catering to both our tastes. I like floral and sparkly things, while Alex prefers black, red, and blue. I wear heels and flats, Alex wears sneakers and boots. We have different perfumes, but some we share.

My hair is styled in a wolf cut below the shoulders. We agreed not to cut it shorter because Alex understands we are in a female body. It's lucky he never insisted on a shorter cut. Our facial features are balanced to suit our genders. With makeup and hair extensions, I become Alexia, and when I remove them, it turns me into Alexander.

At night, I am Alexander Emmanuel Tan, and Alex handle more masculine chores in our condo. He take out the trash, clean, fix things that I can't, and help me with assignments because he is the smarter one between us. I am smart too, but Alexander is smarter. When Dexter introduced him to partying, it caused conflict between Alex and me. It was all new to me, to us. Whenever he came home drunk, I get mad. He love the music and fun at parties and bars. It makes him feel free and alive.

Just like yesterday, I woke up to my alarm blaring incessantly, but this time without a hangover. I turned off the alarm, my eyes landing on the shared journal between Alexander and me, accompanied by a B’lue water bottle and a blue protein bar. Just by looking at them, I could already guess what was in the journal.

I read the entry and felt my anger surge. Alexander really doesn’t understand that he lets people get too close to us.

Grabbing my phone, I called Dexter.

Three rings later, he answered. “Hello, Al—”

“What the heck, Dexter!” I interrupted.

“Oh, you’re feisty in the morning again, Alexia,” he teased.

“Who’s the girl?” I demanded, but he stayed silent. “Dexter, tell me!”

“I don’t know!” he replied, clearly surprised.

“I swear, Dexter, if—”

“I swear too, Alexia, I don’t know her. She’s new in town. We’ve never seen her before,” Dexter said hurriedly.

I took a deep breath, trying to decide if I should be grateful or still angry. The fact that someone got close to us—well, not literally, but still. The idea of someone kissing us just like that made my skin crawl.

“Please, Dexter. Find that girl. Find out and tell me right away. I don’t want any scandals. You know our families are influential.”

“Yes, ma’am!” he replied, his tone almost like he was saluting.

We hung up, and I threw my phone beside me. I took another deep breath, trying to relax. What did you do, Alex? You know the rules, why can’t you understand? I don’t want another scandal.

The doorbell rang. It must be Ghael. I was about to answer when she walked in.

“Girl, why ring the doorbell if you’re just going to come in?” I asked.

“You were taking too long,” she said, approaching me.

She kissed my cheek and headed straight for the kitchen, opening the fridge. I grabbed the water bottle and protein bar Alex had left and followed her.

“What are you looking for now?” I asked.

“I want breakfast,” she said, pulling out my milk, butter, eggs, blueberries, and orange juice.

“Hey, why are you taking my stuff? Put it all back. It’s like there’s no food at your place,” I said, reclaiming my orange juice.

Not our orange juice.

“Yeah, right,” she said, ignoring me. “Want toast? Oh, you don’t have bread? Pancakes it is. Sound good?”

I rolled my eyes, putting the orange juice back in the fridge. I let her do what she wanted and sat down at the kitchen table. Opening my water bottle, I took a drink and started eating the protein bar. I should be hitting the gym right now, but did I even feel like going today? I wasn’t in the mood.

“Ghael, why are you here?” I asked.

“Dexter is worried about himself,” she said, mixing ingredients in a bowl. “He says you’re going to kill him. He even told me his last will. Dumbbells, really,” she added, rolling her eyes.

These two.

“He complained to you again?” I laughed.

“Yes, girl! That boyfriend of mine is so annoying. I don’t know why I fell in love with him.”

“So, you know already?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said, placing a frying pan on the electric stove. She approached me. “Let me see.”

She meant the hickey. I let her inspect my neck.

“Hmm. Not bad. Not too small and not too big. Just right,” she said, returning to the stove.

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’ll be gone in no time.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. This was all new to me, to us. We never dared to do stupid things like this. I didn’t like it, and we both agreed on that. Did we really agree?

“Just tell Dexter to hurry up. I just want to know who the girl is.”

“Why bother?” she asked, pouring pancake batter into the pan.

“It was our first, Ghael. Alex never came home with any traces, you know. I was shocked that he came home with a hickey on his neck. Damn it.”

Ghael took plates from the cupboard, placing one in front of me and another beside me. She served pancakes with butter and syrup. She handed me a fork and knife.

“Sometimes you should try it, Lex. Getting wild or going home with a hickey. We’re in college now, and I think Alex wants to try it too. Just let it be. As long as we’re here for you, Dexter and I won’t let anything or anyone get you into trouble like last time.”

“Well, Dexter did.”

“Come on, walking around campus with a hickey is normal, Lex!” she said, taking a bite of her pancakes. “Put some ice on it, and it’ll be gone.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that earlier? I hate you!” I went to the fridge to get some ice.

“Love you!” Ghael said with a smile, taking another bite of her pancakes.

Ghael and I are best friends since high school. How it happened, I don't know. All I remember was her catching me switching characters in the school restroom.

It was sudden and shocking for both of us. I was supposed to be Alexia that morning, but Alexander suddenly popped up. I felt it coming so I ran to the restroom to calm myself down.

"Calm down, please. Don't go out," I pleaded with myself in the mirror.

"Please, Lex. Let me out now," Alexander said.

"No, we're at school."

Then Ghael suddenly emerged from one of the cubicles, her eyes fixed on me. I was so shocked that I didn't realize Alexander was already out.

"Hi," Alexander greeted her according to Ghael.

Ghael apparently remained calm despite the situation. But she knew it wasn't me anymore. I was different.

"Hey, other Lex," Ghael said.

Alexander was speechless. He wasn't expecting Ghael to know all along. Ghael explained that she had noticed my switches. She was the quiet observer in our class, and we never knew she was watching us from afar.

She was into sci-fi and psychological stories. She got curious about me because I seemed different from everyone else. She noticed how forced my movements were sometimes, and other days not. Now, she had confirmation: I was double.

"So you know?" Alex asked her.

"Yes, for a long time," she said. Ghael approached Alex, their eyes locked. Then, she suddenly reached out her hand. "Let's be friends, or best friends."

Alex was surprised. He didn't know if he should accept Ghael's offer. Alex was the friendly one between us, so of course I knew he would accept. But me? No way. But Alex was in control at that time, so he shook Ghael's hand and agreed.

"Okay," Alex said.

It was a problem at first because I didn't know what happened. Alex and I never shared memories when we switched. That's why I suggested keeping a journal to write down important things, reminders, or plans.

The next day at school, I was surprised when Ghael approached me, calling me Alex. I avoided her completely that time. I was protecting my secret, only to find out someone else already knew. Ghael was persistent, chasing me everywhere until she cornered me in the restroom. That's when she explained everything that happened yesterday.

I learned to trust Ghael. She proved to be different. She understood us and knew what to do when we accidentally switched at school. She even helped us create a schedule to avoid misunderstandings. It worked, and we even reached college as best friends, with my secret condition.

Ghael liked me more than Alex. That's why Alexander had Dexter.

Dexter is my cousin who also knew about my secret since elementary. He never cared about it until he found out my other half was a guy. They got along better than Alex and I, talking about boy stuff I couldn't provide for Alex.

I trusted Dexter because he never told our family. Bro code, Alex said, which was why Dexter kept it quiet. Until he met Ghael in college. We went to the same school and department. I never knew Dexter had a crush on Ghael.

Ghael seemed odd to others, but Dexter found her cute. Alex thought so too, but for my sake, we never developed feelings for Ghael. We were just friends, but Dexter went all in. We only found out later that Dexter and Ghael were already in a relationship. They even acted like parents to us sometimes. Ghael took care of me and Dexter took care of Alexander. They were a huge help to Alex and me, and I was grateful for that.

"Alexia!" Dexter boomed as he barged into my condo unit.

That was fast.

"I'm in the kitchen," I replied. Maybe I should change the door code so they couldn't just enter whenever they pleased.

"I found her. I finally found her," he said breathlessly, placing a folder on the dinner table.

I took the folder and scanned the information he procured. I was impressed; it was complete and even had photos.

"Thank you, Dexter. You're fast, like The Flash." He just waved his hand dismissively. Ghael sat him down and gave him water.

I looked again at the information in the folder Dexter gave me. He was right. This girl was new to town. Seemed like she just moved in.

Hmm... Cassandra Casto. Same age as me. Perfect height. Beautiful and sexy.

"Not bad, right?" Dexter asked.

"Yeah... not bad at all," I agreed with Dexter.