Who Will I Become?

Chapter Three

When I awake the next morning I get ready for my grad. We don't want to overdress or dress towards a particular gender more, as that might give away our final choice. So I dress in black skinny jeans and a plain white t-shirt. I brush my hair and teeth and apply my unscented deodorant. Everything is neutral, I think to myself as I gaze at my reflection in the mirror. Big, wide green eyes gaze back at me with thick, long eyelashes. My medium length dark, brown hair is in it's natural waves. My nose is average. Lips are full. Medium built shoulders. Thin lean torso. You can see the muscles slightly in my stomach underneath my t-shirt. Medium hips. Shorter legs. Average feet. Nothing too out of the ordinary. I gaze one last time before heading downstairs to my waiting parents. They smother me with a hug. "Sweetie, you look great." My mother says cheerfully. I know my parents will support me no matter which I choose and I couldn't appreciate it enough. My Dad gives me a big grin as they lead me into the kitchen, where there is a huge breakfast waiting, consisting of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and fruit salad. We all sit and eat together, all the while thinking about the day to come.

"Mom, what if I pick the opposite of Sam?" My Mom looks at me and lets out a deep sigh before answering.

"Honey, You and Sam have been friends for as long as I can remember; I can't see that changing now." She replies, honestly. After that it quiets down as we finish our meal and then together get into the family car to head to the school.

"Dove, take us to the school please." My father asks the car as he climbs in the front seat with my mother. Within minutes we are pulling up to the front door, it seems like the minutes are ticking by faster than I can count. We exit out of the car and lock the door, as we head up the cracked sidewalk to the front door. Just as we are about to reach the door, I see Gray come around the corner. Gray gives me a small grin before speeding up to hold the door for me.

"Thanks." I murmur softly as I blush a deep shade of red. We all follow the line of people heading to the gymnasium. Most the graduates are wearing similar outfits to mine. Black, white, red, yellow, and green are common colors worn among them. When we walk through the gym doors we are greeted by the scene of rows and rows of chairs all with labelled names taped on to them. It's plain, they don't really decorate because the celebration isn't about the way the gym looks, it's about the way we all look. Finally after wandering through rows and rows, I find our seats up on the fifth row, smack dab in the centre. I look to see who's on our left. Sam! Awesome atleast we can head into the rooms together and stick together until we have to be separated. Plus this also gives me a great opportunity to talk to Sam before the whole celebration.

Ten minutes later, I see Sam's parents with Sam trailing along right on their heels. I give a small wave, not sure what to expect after the past two weeks. But I am greatly surprised when Sam comes running and wraps me up in a huge bear hug that even lifts me slightly off the ground. My grin widens. "I'm sorry for everything. I shouldn't have expected you to want to talk about the choice when there is such a huge punishment at risk. But I'm really, really sorry and I've missed you tons!" Sam exclaims quickly, all the words coming out in a gigantic jumble that only I can understand.

"It's fine. I've missed you too! I'm nervous. Are you nervous? What if we end up being opposites? What if Gray and I are the same? What if I look horrible? What if-" Sam cuts off my anxious rambling by slapping her hand over my mouth gently.

"That's enough right now, Missy. Don't worry about any of that until after. Let's just sit and get this thing over with." Soon enough my Principal walks on to the stage, holding a microphone in her hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, It's a pleasure to see you all sitting here today. Twelve years have passed since these amazing young adults stepped on to these grounds for the first time. Twelve memorable years of growing up day by day and learning new things. But also twelve years of waiting for this day to come." She pauses and takes a deep breath as some of the audience lets out cheers, "Now to begin the process, we will call all graduates to please come to the front stage." At this, all of us grads stand slowly and awkwardly and starting making our way through the crowd. Sam sticks by my side the whole way and I relax slightly. Maybe everything will be okay, I think to myself. Once we reach the front, we all turn and face the crowd; all the while standing in as straight a line as possible and trying to keep the excitement and nerves to a minimum. "Please nurses come receive your grads." As she says this, I notice the line of nurses standing along the wall to my right. They slowly peel themselves from the shadows and all find their individual graduates. I take a good long look at my nurse as she approaches me: long brown hair, bright doe-like brown eyes, all packed into a petite, small feminine body. She notices me gazing, and gives me a small, warm, smile. I relax slightly. "Nurses, now please take your graduates to your assigned rooms."

"My name is River. I will be your nurse for today. We are in Mr. Carmichael's room. Please start making your way there and I will be there as soon as I grab my supplies."

I nod back and start to push through the crowd. Mr. Carmichael is my Social Studies teacher, so I know exactly where his room is located. Swiftly I reach the classroom, I take a deep breath to slow my heart rate and clear my head before entering. When I push open the door, I deeply take in my surroundings, which all happen to be almost the same as yesterday; except now there is a big black chair placed in the centre of the room and a small table attached to the side of it. My mind has to force my feet to move. They're frozen to the spot. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears, My breathing is picking up. Today is the day. But not just today, right now is when I will decide who I want to be. Left foot, right foot. Left foot, right foot. My brain repeats this until my legs start to listen to their commands and move to the chair. I lightly climb onto the padded seat and sit back. Deep breaths are my best friend right now, as i repeatedly take them trying to calm myself. Eventually it works. Perfect timing too because seconds later, River walks back into the room. "Hello, Alex. I know you must be extremely nervous; I know I was when this day came for me. But let me assure you something, it does not hurt. You will feel no pain. You will feel a small pinch as the needle goes in and then after that the only thing you will feel is your body changing. When your body changes it won't hurt. Your bones will shift, some muscles may change, but nothing that will cause pain. You will feel uncomfortable as this happens but that is completely normal. No matter what your new genitals must grow, this will feel odd, but nothing is going wrong. Just relax, take deep breaths, and when everything is over and done with I will show you, the new you. Sound good?"

"Yes. Thank you. Most nurses would not have explained but you did and it immensely calmed me. So thank you again." I whispered back sincerely.

"No problem. That's what I try to do. Now my dear, what's your choice?"

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