I remember waking up a couple of times, but only for short bursts. Eventually, I came too, and figures rushed in around me. I could make out Sarah, Lane, and Jordan. There were also a few attendants, and amongst the sea of faces, I could see my parents. I hadn't realized they would be coming a day early, but I was glad they were there.

All the voices began asking me questions, but it was so loud and so fast I couldn't make out any full response. A voice began to shush the rest, and I recognized it as my mother's.

"Isaac? How do you feel?" she said.

I took stock of my body. I was sore, but nothing bad aside from that. Then hunger hit me like a freight train.

"I could eat a billion hamburgers, but I'll limit it to one. I guess I need to start conforming to society's new pressures and maintain my figure." I had broken the tension and everyone let out a chuckle. I hadn't noticed before how much my voice had changed. Currently, it was somewhat raspy, but it was still a bit higher than the way it used to be.

Then I heard my dad's voice, "We're so proud of you. All of us."

I smiled but didn't have the energy to respond. I heard a nurse tell everyone to clear out and give me some space.

Before leaving Sarah leaned in to tell me, "I got my leave date postponed to until you get released. I also might have secured a little liquid to liven up the party, if you know what I mean."

My eyes went wide as I motioned towards my parents. Sarah nodded and made the zipped lips motion.

Everyone backed off and my parents took chairs nearby. I felt a wave of exhaustion replace the hunger and I quickly drifted back off to sleep.

Sunday came around and I was feeling loads better. They released me that afternoon. My parents had to drive home, but they wished me luck. Only a month before I'd be going back with them.

The rest of the day, the three of us crashed in Sarah and my room. While I'd been out on Saturday the gang had made a last-minute run to the mall and had gotten some fancier clothes. Sarah had talked Lane into a dress and unbeknown to me they had picked something special out for me as well. I wasn't sure quite how I felt about it, but I knew I didn't have much of a choice. I was mostly just glad they didn't attempt to buy me any heels. It was a bright yellow romper that hugged my chest and waist and then spread out at the hips. Sarah didn't let me see how I looked just yet and sat me in her desk chair.

Over the past few weeks, Sarah had become quite the make-up aficionado and usually experimented on herself or Lane, but Lane insisted getting ready in secret. That meant that I was taking the brunt of Sarah's artistic endeavors. After what felt like an hour or two of her putting things on my face, Sarah walked me over to the mirror.

I was struck by how I looked. The romper accentuated every bit of femininity my body had to offer, and the make-up was the cherry on top of it all. A now familiar feeling swelled up inside me. It was the same feeling I had when I first saw Sarah in a dress. I was stunned by the beauty that was looking at me in the mirror, but even more powerful was the knowledge that it was me.

Sarah looked at my shocked expression and began to worry a little, "Is it too much? I can--"

I cut her off, "Its perfect!" We both smiled wide and I hugged her tighter than I had ever hugged anyone before.

I let go and we both started to giggle uncontrollably at how crazy all of this was. She was wearing her blue paisley sundress that she had first bought what felt like years ago. Of course, Lane didn't want to feel left out and opened the door. I was so stunned that I was worried my knees might give out. I was suddenly very thankful for the bit of shorts provided by the romper.

She strutted her way out of the bathroom and let us admire everything about her. She was wearing a short black dress with a white peter pan collar that really showed off her butt and legs. Also, her make-up was on point. She had figured out how to pull off some fancy eye makeup I’d only ever seen online.

Sarah let out a solid whistle.

"You took that e-girl look and ran with it!" I said.

"You're amazing!" Sarah almost sang as she held out the "zing".

"Really?" Lane said nervously.

Sarah and I just looked at her wide-eyed and nodding our heads vigorously.

"Okay," She paused for a moment, "There's no easy way to say this, but I've settled on a name."

My jaw dropped. Sarah rolled her eyes playfully, "And!?" She practically yelled.

Lane took an even longer moment this time but eventually blurted it out, "Rachael!" Instantly there were squeals from all three of us as we embraced in one giant hug.

Then there was a knock on the door and I ran over to open it. Standing in the doorway was Jordan, wearing a sheer white blouse with a matching navy blazer and slacks. All four of us lost it, and tears began to run freely. After several minutes, we regained our composure and thanked Sarah for providing us with some water-proof makeup.

"I have an announcement," said Jordan, "Its clearly been hard for me since I got here, but you three have meant the world to me..." I could feel the tears about to come back. "I am who I am, and I think I've finally accepted that. So I've decided to keep my name." Tears poured down all our faces yet again. Jordan continued, "And I think I'm ready to switch my pronouns. I wanna go by they/them." We all knew how big a moment this was. Everyone took a bit to recover and then Sarah reached underneath her bed and pulled a handle of vodka.

She poured us each a shot into red solo cups.

I held mine up, "To Rachael and Jordan."

Everyone repeated, "To Rachael and Jordan!" We all tilted the cups back and the alcohol hit our lips. All of us but Rachael spit it back into the cup or gagged. We looked at each other and pained but devilishly happy giggles hit as we bonded over our newfound disgust of alcohol.

Sarah poured us each another, and raised her glass, "To Isaac!"

We all followed, "To Isaac!" I had given a new name some thought, but I was far from settling. Of course, the group didn't care, they loved me anyway. The vodka went down a little easier this time, now that we knew what to expect.

We poured ourselves another shot and this time I raised my glass and looked over at Sarah, "To our big sister. She's helped all of us in more ways than we can ever repay her." Sarah was close to heading into her third round of crying when Jordan cut in, "To Sarah!"

We all downed our third shot and squealed. Since none of us had ever had any alcohol before, it hit us pretty fast. We took turns telling embarrassing stories about each other and drunkenly dabbling with board games until early in the morning. Rachael had gotten really plastered, and Jordan helped her back to her room. I gave Sarah a big hug, wiped my makeup off, and climbed into my bed.

I realized that this was the last time all four of us might ever be together for a long time, but I was okay with it. We had each helped each other get to where we had needed to go. I fell asleep that night with a wide smile on my face.