The rest of the week speed along as was usual now. I was looking forward to this weekend, because it was the first I would get to see my parents since I left. Of course, I was also a bit anxious about them seeing me. By Thursday I had caved and gone to the attendants for the medication, as there was a slowly increasing amount of pain and soreness. The pain of course was only a symptom for the root cause: I looked solidly in between genders.

I could tell my skin and body hair were softening and getting smoother. I could easily see how someone might think of me as either a girl or a guy. Compared to the others of course I was still much more masculine. Jordan had resigned to wearing the sports bra that he'd been provided and was really starting to look fully feminine. Although he didn't have too much in the way of curves, his chest was really filling out, much to his chagrin. Lane was almost the opposite, as his hips were widening and his waist was getting smaller, but above that, he looked androgynous. Lane admitted that he needed to head to the mall again for some more pants. It took a while, but they were able to convince Jordan to accompany them. I hoped that getting stuff that fit might help Jordan adjust. They would be gone most of the day, but they promised they'd be back with enough time to meet my parents.

Friday ended without a hitch and I bounced into my bed as soon as I could, wanting Saturday to start.

I woke up bright and early so that I could shower and pick out an outfit that my parents would be sure to recognize. I settled on one of my nerdier graphic t-shirts and the track pants I had bought at the mall. I sped through breakfast and waited out front on one of the benches until I saw the car pull into the long driveway. I ran over to the car as soon as it stopped.

As my parents stepped out of the car I embraced them tightly for a solid minute.

"How's it been?" my mom asked after I let go.

"It's mostly like regular school. A bit boring, a bit interesting... also that bit about turning into a girl, so you know... Regular old school," I said trying to keep all of our spirits up.

"You look good," said my dad in the most fatherly tone I'd ever heard him use. I tried my best to hide a smile, but it felt good to hear him say it.

"Come on," I said, "I'll show you around."

I went room to room, showing them where I had my classes each day. Then I showed them my room.

When we walked in, I noticed that neither Sarah nor I had cleaned up that much, so the room was strewn with papers and clothes.

"I see your room isn't all that different from home," my mom said eying the mess. Her eyes settled on some of Sarah's tight jeans and dresses, and I quickly stepped in to clarify.

"Those are my roommate’s," I said nervously, "Her name's Sarah. You'll meet her in a bit."

"Sarah has some good taste," my mom said back, "You might need to take some notes."

I knew she said it as a joke, but that didn't stop a knot from forming in my throat and a bit of redness rushing to my cheeks.

Dad decided to chime in with what I could only assume was the beginning of the next few years of my life, "Nothing too short though." I rolled my eyes.

We walked around the grounds for a bit. I had grabbed some of my pictures from my room and was showing them off. I neglected to mention my long-term project though.

We were passing by the therapy wing when we happened upon Olivia.

She greeted us happily, "You must be Isaac's parents." She shook my parents' hands, "You've got a real keeper on your hands."

All three of them were looking at me now, which of course only had me feeling more embarrassed. Not to mention I was feeling a weird worlds collide vibe.

"Isaac is doing great in school. Have the three of you talked about options for college?"

I felt a ping of awkwardness, but my mom quickly cleared everything up, "Well if I understand correctly you still have your sights on Westchester, right Isaac?"

I nodded, clearly wanting to change the subject.

Olivia took the moment to chip in, "Your grades are certainly good enough. And I know that this facility has a financial aid capacity in case money is a deciding factor."

"Sounds like a good goal to shoot for," said my dad.

Olivia nodded and shook my parents' hands again, "Well it was nice meeting you two. Isaac is in good hands."

We parted and headed downstairs.

We killed some more time until the bus got back from the mall. Jordan, Lane, and Sarah had already stashed their newly acquired clothing and I made a mental note to get a fashion show and some taunting in later that day. I introduced Lane first since they already sorta knew Jordan and I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. I didn't ever press the topic, but I knew his family wasn't taking things too well and they had made little to no effort to visit, so this was the first interaction he'd had with people from home. Finally, I introduced them to Sarah.

As my roommate, my parents wanted to make sure that she was being a good influence on me, so naturally, there were a couple of questions I felt awkward being present for.

"You keep this one on task I assume," said my dad.

"Of course, in fact, Isaac helps me with my math homework more often than not," she replied.

My mom of course decided to be a bit forward and said, "You seem to have adjusted to everything really well."

I cringed up until Sarah answered, "Well I figured there wasn't any point in fighting it and just assumed I'd embrace it all. Besides, being a guy’s not all that it’s cracked up to be."

That last bit earned an expression of respect from my mom but made the rest of us red in the face. She had handled the questions better than I knew I would have.

My mom looked at her watch and I knew that they needed to be getting on the road. I told the gang I'd meet up with them soon and walked over to the car with my parents.

My dad called off to them as we were walking away and said, "You keep this one in line alright." My friends let out a laugh and Lane yelled back a, "Can do!"

We made it back to the car and I realized that I didn't want our reunion to be over. It'd been nice seeing them again, and whether they tried to or not it was clear that they were being accepting of everything that was happening to me.

As I was about to say goodbye, my mom realized something. "I almost forgot! Your friends gave us letters to pass on to you." Suddenly I tensed up. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read them just yet, but I accepted the letters anyway. We said our goodbyes and I watched them pull out of the driveway before heading back.

I held the letters close the whole way up to my room. Everyone else was heading to dinner, but I figured I could stand to be a few minutes late. I saw that there were three, one from each of my friends back home.

I opened Sadie's first, and it said, "Hey Isaac. It sucks they don't let us talk to you in any way besides this. Life's been pretty boring without you. I know Kai wishes you were here. Anyways, I'm looking forward to showing you how us gals do it here at Ravenwood. I hope everything works out in the meantime. See you soon, Sadie."

That was about what I figured she'd say but it was still nice to hear it or read it rather. I was glad that Kai was missing me, that could only mean good things, I hoped. I opened the next letter. It was from Kai.

"Isaac, dude. We've missed you a lot here. Game nights have been easier though without you to win every game of Catan. In fact, why don't you hold out a little longer and let me win a few more? Just kidding. When they told me what was happening to you I was shocked of course, but I'll never doubt your ability to push on. You've always been a great friend and I figure there's no reason for any of that to change now. I don't want to get too long-winded, but we all miss you, no matter what you look like, or how you dress, or whatever happens. Don't be gone too long. Your best bro, Kai."

I'll admit that last letter brought tears to my eyes. I'd spent the last month worrying what Kai would think and if things would ever be the same between us and this letter spelled everything out plain and clear that he would still be there for me no matter what.

I took a moment to reread the letter and get myself back in order. There was only one left now and I knew who it was from, Lily. What was she going to say? Was I ready to hear it spelled out?

While I was contemplating whether or not to open her letter I heard a knock on the door and Sarah poked her head in.

"Hey, dinner's almost over. Let’s get some food in you."

I was happy for any excuse to procrastinate reading the final letter so I followed her down.

I half-heartedly picked at my dinner since my brain was clearly elsewhere. Sarah and Lane tried to engage me in some conversation. Sarah mentioned how nice my parents were. I apologized for them putting her on the spot like they did. She said that she didn't mind, and I could tell she was being truthful. Somehow everything seemed to slide off her back, and I really admired that.

We finished up dinner and made our way back to our rooms. Sarah could tell I wanted some alone time as I read the final letter and made up a story about helping Jordan figure out some homework. I was grateful for the gesture.

I laid on the floor, letter in hand, for a good ten minutes just starring at it. Finally, I decided to open it and get it all over with.

The letter read, "Dear Isaac, Kai and Sadie have been really missing you. I know Kai's happy that he can win some board games now and again, but it’s not the same without you here. I can't imagine what you're going through, and I don't know what you want to hear that'll make it better. Just know that I love you, and we'll talk once you get back. ~Lily."

This time the tears started fast and didn't stop. Her letter certainly wasn't the death nail I had been worried it might be, but I couldn't help analyzing the fact that she said Kai and Sadie had been missing me without ever talking about how she felt. But it wasn't like her to throw around the "l-word" like that unless she meant it. Overall, it just had me ready to get home. I couldn’t tell when the tears faded into breaths and the breaths faded into sleep but I woke up a few hours later in my bed. Sarah had clearly moved me while I was out. She was turning out to be the best roommate I could have asked for. It took me a while to get the day's thoughts out of my head, but eventually, I drifted back to sleep.