Synopsis: It’s time for the semi-formal; will Allison survive?

“Okay!” Cassandra clapped her hands excitedly and jumped up and down. “Let’s turn her around! Oh my god you look so amazing!”

“Hold on,” Michelle said, taking out her phone and snapping a few pictures of me. “Hey, smile a little bit would you?”

The stylist finally turned the chair around and I was able to actually get a look at myself. I had hair; long hair, and it was nothing like what I’d had with the wig. There was no pressure around my head and it didn’t feel fake. It looked so…natural. I reached up and ran a finger through one of my new brown locks and exhaled. The way it framed my face was unbelievable; I looked so much more feminine than I could have possibly imagined. I turned and practically tackle-hugged the stylist.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“Oh sweetie you’re so welcome,” She said as she hugged me back. “Just remember what I told you about taking care of if okay? A weave isn’t your natural hair so just follow the instructions I’m sending home with you.”

“Okay,” I smiled. I was elated. I couldn’t believe it. No more wigs, no more self hate, at least when it came to hair. Could this day get any better? Cassandra and Michelle walked me out of the salon, or maybe we walked out together. Lately I was feeling more in control of my life; I was actually starting to enjoy all of this. A lot.

“So, semi-formal tonight,” Michelle spoke up as we reached the car. “It’s a mixer with OED and Remy went ahead and got you a date since you’re like, too timid to ask anyone yourself.”

“Is it her?” I joked. I wasn’t joking.

“No silly, it’s Brittney Morgan, she’s the drama club president. She’s gay as hell and know about you.” Cassandra smirked.

“She…knows?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah we clued her in,” Michelle explained. “It’s not something we’d normally do but we were down to the wire here; you’d look silly without a date. Plus, we know she’s safe.”

“Well…okay,” I said. “I mean…I guess you know what’s best.”

“We do, dear,” Cassandra assured me. “Let’s get back to the house so you can rest up, it’s a big night tonight and…you need to start getting ready in a few hours.”

“Shouldn’t I start getting ready now?” I asked as we started the drive back to the house.

“Trust me, rest a little, read a book, maybe take a nap. You might not realize it but in the last two weeks you’ve been through a lot. You went from being a college boy to…one of the hottest girls in AG really. Seriously, your sister’s makeup skills are incredible.”

They weren’t wrong, the entire thing had been exhausting up to this point. Brianna woke me up every morning at 6 am to make sure I was showered and made up for the day. I spent most of my time being directed around campus by other AG sisters and pledges; it was a never ending cycle and the Greek social calendar kept me busier than I’d ever been as a guy. If you had told me three weeks ago that I would be doing…well…this, I would have told you that you were insane. As if my days weren’t packed enough, I spent a lot of my nights reading over the pledge handbook; in just two months we would be tested on it and maybe even be given the opportunity to become full sisters. When I’d rushed all of the sorority houses that weekend I remembered walking into a lot of them and feeling a sense of longing. I’d watched all of the other girls talking to the sisters, and I knew that they actually had a chance of making it into the sorority whether it was Alpha Gamma or Omega Chi, or any of the others that we visited. I was lonely, and I was sad because I knew that while I could rush and feel like I belonged for one night, one single night, I could never get that sense of belonging that came with being in a house and having a group of women to call sisters. But it happened. It actually happened. I was tired, I was sore, my head was spinning and I was reeling from everything that had been happening to me, oh you have no idea. The world was so confusing now but you know what? I wouldn’t trade it back for that loneliness and longing that I felt before.

“Hey, little sis!” Remy called out as I walked through the front door. “I laid out a dress on your bed for you!”

“Thank you so much!” I smiled and gave her a hug. “That really means a lot to me.”

“Hey,” She said. “The semi-formal starts in about three hours. I really want you to go rest for about an hour and then I’m going to wake you for – OH MY GOD YOUR HAIR!”

I was taken offguard, I’d completely forgotten about the hair.

“Oh yeah!” I grinned. “Brittney and Cassandra took me to get hair extensions; no more wig!”

“Is it a weave” She asked as she started to run her fingers through it a bit.

“Yeah,” I said happily. “I love the way it frames my face, it’s like…so feminine. I can’t believe it.”

“Yep!” Remy said. “Good hair is everything. The best part about a weave is you can grow your own hair out underneath it. You’ll have your own in no time but for now…DAMN you look good. Okay go rest and I’ll wake you up for—”

“Remy!” I heard a girl call out. “What happened to the platters?!”

“Go rest,” Remy said. The way she phrased it wasn’t really a request so I wandered up the stairs and went to my bed. Laid out across it was this beautiful purple dress with a criss-cross neck and layered sleeves. I smiled a bit as I picked it up and held it to my chest. Setting it aside, I laid out on the bed and yawned. I hadn’t noticed it as much before but I really was tired; I think I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. The next thing I knew, Remy was gently shaking me awake. I opened my eyes a bit, she was standing there in this black and gold sleeveless dress that went down to her knees and hugged her body in all the right places.

“Hey you,” She said softly. “Get up, I need to show you something.”

I sat up slowly and carefully, smiling as I did so. There was so much to smile about. Remy waited patiently until I was finally sitting on the edge of the bed and then she handed me the pumps that they’d picked out for me at the store the last time we’d gone shopping.

“You haven’t worn them yet,” She said to me. “I need you to put them on and stand up, you’re wearing them tonight.”

“Oh I don’t need to,” I said. “I have my flats-“

“Allison. You’re wearing them,” She gave me a stern look; I knew there was no getting out of this one.

I rather obediently slid them onto my feet and carefully stood up, wobbling as I did. Remy reached out and placed her hands on my arms to steady me and I sort of looked up at her, completely uncertain. She smiled at me encouragingly and I all but swooned. Stepping back, she motioned for me to follow as she walked backward toward the end of the bed.

“Okay,” She said. “You’re going to walk from one end of the room to the other, put one foot in front of the other, just…walk like you’re on a balance beam. Sway your hips a little.”

I did as she said but I still felt so weird and unsteady. For the next half hour we practiced until I finally had some semblance of balance.

“You’re going to be fine,” Remy smiled at me. “Let’s get you dressed okay?”

It took maybe twenty minutes to get into the dress and properly apply makeup with Remy’s help. I quickly noticed that Remy, Brianna, and virtually every other girl in the house who had done my makeup had their own distinct style. I would have to develop my own style eventually and I think I already was.

“This hair of yours…” Remy gushed as she played with it. “We don’t even have to style it, they practically did everything for you at the salon today. Look at the way it falls over your shoulders!”

Once she finished fawning over my hair we went downstairs where people were already beginning walk through the doors. The place was filling up fast, and Remy was checking her phone.

“Miss Allison,” She said very formally and properly. “Your date has arrived.”

As soon as she said that, a black haired girl in this beautiful blue sequined dress stepped through the door. She saw me immediately and smiled.

“Allison!” She said as she walked up to me. She looked me over and grinned. “You look just like your picture…and as promised you look like a deer in headlights.”

Oh god how much had they told her about me?

“You uh…must be Brittany,” I said, smiling as best I knew how. “I’m—”

“Allison,” She laughed. “I’ve heard a lot about you. All of it good, I promise.”

“I’m uh…I’m sorry,” I said grinning sheepishly. “I have no idea what to do at a…semi-formal, I’ve never…”

“It’s okay,” Brittany reassured me as the music started. “Let’s go dance, and then we’ll get some punch.”

She led me over to the common area which had been cleared out and was being used as a dance floor. I gawked as she wrapped her arms around me and led me in a sort of slow dance. I had no idea how to actually dance so I just shuffled my feet. She seemed to have no problem with it.

So, a journalism major,” She said. “That’s really exciting. What kind of journalism do you want to do?”

“Oh I…well I mean it would be cool to become like a news anchor; they make a lot of money but I guess at the end of the day I really just want to write. I always thought it would be cool to…you know be out in the field, chasing stories.”

“You’re right,” She nodded, pulling me a little closer. “That would definitely be cool.”

“What about you?” I asked her, genuinely interested. “I hear you’re…in the drama club? So you’re into theater?”

“Sure am,” She smiled. “We’re getting ready to do a play actually, well, a musical to the more cultured types. Have you heard of Phantom of the Opera?”

“Of course I have!” I exclaimed. “It’s one of my favorites!”

“Yeah?” She said. “What’s your favorite thing about it?”

I’m not sure she expected me to answer, but I did.

“When the Phantom had them perform his musical,” I smiled sadly. “He poured his entire soul into it and no one liked it…not because it wasn’t good, but because it was a theme that they just weren’t ready for. People fear what they don’t understand and in a way it was kind of synonymous with his life. The world wasn’t ready for him either. Maybe today he’d be accepted, disfigured and all, but back then it was kind of a scarlet letter. Just like this play. It just goes to show that change can come with time, but only if there are people brave enough to pursue it.”

“People like…a phantom,” She said thoughtfully.

“Or a trans person,” I suggested. “I mean, I’m accepted here, but I don’t know how the outside world is going to handle me. I guess in a way, the Alpha Gamma house is my opera house.”

“You’re not going to go around hanging people are you?” She laughed. I grinned a little.

“Well,” I said. “Just make sure to keep your hand at the level of your eye.”

We laughed a bit more and the dance concluded. The rest of the evening went by pretty quickly and it wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it would be. Finishing out the evening, we said goodbye and I watched her go. Regrettably, I don’t think there had been any sparks, but at least we had fun right?

“Hey, Allison,” Brianna said as she approached me from the hallway leading to the conference room. “There’s someone who wants to meet you!”

Oh great, more new people.

Not feeling I had much of a choice (did I ever, anymore?), I followed Brianna down the hall and walked through the door into the huge conference room where we’d just held the Big Sister/Little Sister ritual. As soon as I stepped in, my heart leapt into my throat and I felt light headed as hell. The person I saw in the center of the room, I knew who they were but I had never expected to see them, at least not this soon. I couldn’t think of anything to say, but it was Brianna who spoke.

“Ms. Parsons,” She said with a sly grin. “I’d like to introduce your daughter, Allison.”