Synopsis: Allison has some one on one time with her sister and gets ready for class

“Wake up sleepyhead,” I felt a hand on my shoulder and gradually opened my eyes. The room was still dark. Was I back in my dorm? “Oh my god you sweat like everywhere.”

I finally managed to force my eyes open, Brianna was standing over me. I guess she’d stayed the night. Or was she staying here in the house? I guess that would make sense, she lived around here anyway. As I looked around the smell of sweat assaulted my nostrils; the comforter weighed down on me, so soggy that I didn’t even want to stay under it.

“Brianna?” I mumbled. What time was it?

“You’re gonna have to get up,” She said. “We have to shower you and…ew…my god do you always sweat like this?”

“No, I guess I was just…” I shook my head as I pushed the comforter aside and sat up, my nightgown was a tangled mess across my body. Brianna reached down and straightened it out a little before helping me off the bed.

“Wow,” She shook her head. “Okay let’s get going. I already have an outfit for you. You need to shower and do your makeup, okay? I’m going to show you some basics and make sure you pass today. I have to go to work, so I can’t be around all day. I’ll be back in the evening though, okay?”

“What…what time is it?” I asked as I stood on shaky feet and walked past the other bed in the room; realizing that it was empty. Was Brianna staying in here?

“It’s 6:30,” She said. “I know your first class is at 9, but we need to talk and get you ready. As you probably guessed, I’m your roommate for a while, it was one of the requirements handed down by national. I’m pretty much in charge of you for the next few weeks…or months. Whatever it takes.”

My big sister was in charge of me. Nice to see nothing had changed since leaving home.

“Wonderful,” I muttered.

“Hey,” She said as she guided me out of the room and into the hallway. “I know this is…a little weird for you okay? We’ve been equals for the most part but things are different now. This is kind of a rebirth for you and you’re jumping into the deep end of a pool you’ve never even seen before. This is my world, let me show you how to swim, okay?”

She flipped on the bathroom light and for the first time I noticed that there were actually four shower stalls in here. How had I not noticed that before? Whatever. As we approached one of the stalls I turned and looked at her. She shook her head and smiled a little.

“Come on Allison, I’ve seen you naked before,” She handed me three bottles, shampoo, body wash, and conditioner. “Wash everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING. I’m talking about the bottoms of your feet too. I’ve heard things about your feet.”

Into the shower I went, she didn’t watch me, thank god. She left the bathroom sometime after I stepped in and turned the water on and it felt so different on my hairless skin. The body wash slid easily across me and I felt so…good as I scrubbed the shampoo into my hair. As I finished up and stepped out of the shower Brianna walked back into the bathroom with some clothes draped over her arms.

“Hey don’t drag the towel through your hair,” She said. “Just pat it. Come over here.”

I kind of wrapped the towel around my lower half and nervously made my way toward her across the bathroom, my hair still sopping wet. She pretty much assaulted me with a blow dryer and explained to me how it would be gentler on my hair.

“I know you’re not using your natural hair yet,” She said. “But when you do, you’re going to need to learn how to take care of it.”

“Take…care of it?” I said, confused. “Doesn’t it just…can’t I just wash it in the shower?”

“You don’t wash your hair every day,” She said. “You’ll strip the natural oils out of it. You maybe want to wash twice a week unless some kind of disaster happens, and you absolutely have to. Dry shampoo and leave-in conditioner are going to be your best friends. Okay, you ready to get dressed?”

“Yeah,” I said. I glanced at the clothes she’d set on the vanity next to the sink. There was something familiar about them.

“I’m no detective,” She said as she reached for them. “But when you stayed with me that week before school started, I noticed that this dress was hung up backwards in my closet. It was the only one though. I guess you liked this one, huh?”

“Yeah, I…I did,” I blushed. “I’m sorry about that.”

“No need to be sorry,” She smiled. “I’m giving it to you. Your first hand-me-down from your big sister.”

I got dressed, carefully lining up the breast forms beneath the knee-length floral dress. Brianna tied the sash in the back and stood behind me in the mirror.

“Brianna…” I started to speak but I had no idea what I wanted to say. This moment, it was like…I was who I was, finally, and it was amazing. My sister was here, she supported me. It was beyond anything I could have expected or dreamed of. I was living in a sorority house, I was…Allison; the girl who had only existed behind my eyes for as long as I could remember. The girl I saw in the mirror every single day, the girl who had been screaming to be let free. She was here, in this room with us.

“You okay little sis?” She asked, smiling. I turned around and hugged her. I think she was expecting it.

“It’s…nice to finally meet you,” I said.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” She said, giggling a little. “Now don’t cry all over my blouse, I still have to get to work today you know.”
In the hallway girls were stepping out of their room, yawning and stretching. I passed Cassandra and Michelle on the way back, they smiled at me and said hi.

“How are you holding up?” Michelle asked. I shrugged.

“I’m okay,” I smiled a bit.

“We have a long way to go,” Michelle reminded me. “Lots to learn today, so get ready. I like the dress, by the way.”

“Thanks,” I smiled as Brianna moved me along, back to our room. She sat me down at her vanity and did my makeup, filling me in on some of the basics of primer, blush, and everything else under the sun.

“Okay,” She said. “New wig, the old one was getting a little ratty. This is going to be a little bit uncomfortable at first but ultimately worth it.”
She fixed my hair with a wig cap and placed the new wig on my head. She was right, it was super uncomfortable but when I looked in the mirror I absolutely couldn’t tell that it was a wig. Amazing.

“You are officially ready to go,” She kissed the top of my head and smiled. “Go downstairs, find Laura, she’ll tell you what to do next.”
Just like that my sister was gone and I was left alone in our room. Was this weird? No, not really. I just…felt like a girl. A real girl. Everyone was treating me like one and it was amazing. I finally stood and made my way out of the room and down the stairs where some kind of community breakfast was taking place in the dining room.

“Hey, good morning!” Laura waved me over to a self-serve buffet set up along the wall.

“Wow,” I said as I walked toward her. “Do we do this every morning?”

“Just Mondays,” She smiled. “We have to go over a few things. There are at least two AG sisters in each of your classes, we already checked, so when you go, you need to look for the pins. Not pledge pins, they’re just regular AG pins. You’ll know whose safe to talk to and who you can go to for help, okay?”

“You’re doing all this for me?”

“Yep,” She nodded. “This was mostly your sister’s idea, and we went with it, but ultimately it was our decision whether or not to bring you in. We made the choice, you’re a pledge in this house, so yes, we will take care of you."

“I don’t know what to say,” I said. “I’ve never had anyone care this much…about me before.”

“Get some food,” Laura handed me a plate and pointed to the buffet. “Try the sausage, it’s really good.”

I was kind of nervous about taking food from the table, honestly. Yeah I was a pledge, I’d been initiated and pinned and everything but it still felt wrong, the whole thing about me being here. I just didn’t felt like I belonged. But then…I did feel like I belonged. This place felt like home, this whole thing felt amazing. This was what I wanted, so why was I still so nervous? As soon as I finished with my plate, Laura waved me over to a table where she was sitting with Remy, the blonde girl from the other day, Cassandra, and Michelle. I really needed to get to know the other girls here.

Walking over to the table, I sat down and was immediately bombarded with instructions from Remy.

“Okay it looks like you have a creative writing class first, and then you follow that up with history, and English. You also have…food science? Why are you taking food science if you want to be a journalist?”

“I like to cook,” I shrugged.

“Oh, okay,” Remy said, then continued reading off my schedule. “So here’s the deal. When you finish with a class, don’t just walk out. Wait for your sisters to come to you, they’ll walk with you and then you’ll meet the next set that will walk you to class. Got it?”

“Is this all really necessary? I mean…what’s the worst that could happen?” Let’s be honest here, while I was saying that I didn’t like being micromanaged like this, I really, really liked it. Going out to rush as a girl, that was one thing. It was one night, and I was able to control my exposure. Now I was going to be out in the world for real and I had virtually no control. I liked the idea of the AG sisters giving me some kind of support system, even if it meant I would never have privacy again.

“We haven’t taught you everything you need to know,” Michelle explained. “By yourself you’re going to look a little awkward but if you’re in a group it won’t be as noticeable, make sense?”

“Are you really this worried about me?” I asked. Maybe that was a stupid question.

“I care about ANY trans or other LGBT person on this campus,” She said. “But you’re the only trans girl I have direct influence over, so I’m going to do my best to keep you safe. Every girl in this house is my responsibility, you just need a little more care than the others, okay? Don’t feel bad about it.”

I nodded. I was trying my best not to feel bad, but I still felt really out of place and like I was putting them out. Laura must have noticed my concern, she took my hands in hers and looked directly at me.

“Stop fretting,” She told me. “We’re going to make this go smoothly, and at the end of the day you can come back to the house and relax, okay?”

I was wishing that it were the end of the day right now.

“Okay,” I nodded

“Great, now let’s finish eating and get you ready for class.”