The next day was Saturday, and we were due to report to the eNext headquarters at 10am. Chloe and I found a nice cafe down the block for breakfast, and we would have invited our third roommate if she had been there. But either she was ignoring our knocks, or she had already left, so we ate our bagels and drank our coffee alone.

There was no specific dress code for the orientation, but I wanted to look a little better than normal. I decided on a dress, in black and gray and white with a thick belt that went way higher than any belt I had ever worn, cinched just under my breasts. I kept wanting to adjust it down, but a quick look in the mirror reminded me that it looked fine, no matter how weird it felt. For shoes, I had a pair of black sandals with about two inches of heel. They probably weren’t the best for walking around New York City, but I did not want to carry a pair of sneakers with me.

And that was pretty much it. I accented with jewelry, but I had taken to wearing the same rings and bracelet nearly every day, only swapping out the necklace. This dress had a fairly high neckline, so I opened for a subdued choker. My hair I wore down, with the top part pulled to the back and cinched with a pretty black clip.

I also wore makeup, the first time I had really bothered with it since that first day. After the night out we had, I needed something to keep my eyes from looking quite so tired.

I was feeling pretty good about myself as we approached the corner of Columbus Circle and Broadway. That all went to hell as we arrived, and I saw who was standing in the lobby.

It was our third roommate, the Amazon bitch queen. She was utterly stunning. Her black, patent leather pumps were spotless. Her legs were smooth and seemed to go on far too long. She wore a purple dress that hugged every curve (of which she had a great many). Her makeup was perfect, and so were her nails. Her hair was so dark black that it was almost blue, and it pooled down her back like a waterfall of sable.

I decided that I hated her.

Part of me wondered where that strong emotion came from. It had never been my reaction before, when seeing a beautiful woman. Quite the opposite. I would have asked her out, or more accurately, thought about asking her out and never quite go through with it.

But never before had beauty be something that I was trying to achieve myself. I had never had a rival in beauty. I knew it was foolish, but at the same time, I knew that next to her, I would look ordinary, and in a competitive environment like this internship, I couldn’t afford to be ordinary.

I took a deep breath. How much of this was me, and how much was the mental conditioning that came with this body? If nothing else, I refused to act so petty, especially since I had never actually met the woman.

“All right,” I muttered to Chloe. “I’m going in.”

I arranged my face into a semblance of a smile and walked forward to greet her. “Hi, I don’t think we actually had a chance to meet before. I’m Holly.”

“Veronica.” Oh, damn. Straight out of Archie. I had always preferred Betty, myself.

“Looks like we’re living together this summer. This is Chloe.”

They shook hands and traded platitudes. Veronica went back to staring into the middle distance right afterwards. I was determined to make conversation, though. “So, any idea what they’ll do in Orientation?”

She looked down at me. Sure, she was only a few inches taller, but I know looking down when I see it. “Tell us about the company and the job, I would expect.”

Oh damn. British on top of everything else. She had really taken her cue out of the cliché playbook. I exchanged glances with Chloe, who shrugged. Chloe didn’t seem particularly put out, and I determined that I would do well to do the same.

Instead, I looked around the lobby. There was a receptionist behind an enormous desk, speaking on the phone to some unknown party. Men in suits and women in pant suits strode from one side to the other, on some unknown errands. Two younger men stood on the other side of the lobby, engaged in some unknown conversation. There were a lot of unknowns, I decided.

The door opened, and another young man entered. He looked familiar, but it still took a moment to place him. “Lamar!” My words were loud in the cavernous lobby, and I tried to ignore Chloe, who was clearly trying not to smirk.

Lamar had been heading over to the other two young men, but upon hearing my voice, he turned and approached me. “Hey! Holly, right?” He pretended to look behind me and to the sides. “Did anyone follow you? I’ve been working a lot of private security lately.”

“Veronica Hurleigh,” said Veronica, offering her hand. Lamar shook it. “Are you working as an intern as well?”

“That’s the idea. Hey, I think they’re with us.” He beckoned to the other two men, who came over.

“You... you’re interns too?” The bottom of my stomach had dropped out. “But you’re guys!”

“It wasn’t women only.” Lamar’s eyes narrowed. “Unless there’s something they’re not telling me.

“But then why....” My voice trailed off. I wasn’t ready to admit to my conversion experience, even if the conditioning allowed it.

Chloe had not blinked when the guys came over, but now she was looking at me through narrowed and concerned eyes. She mouthed something that looked like, “Are you okay?”

“Later,” I mouthed back. I tried to focus on the introductions of our two other fellow interns.

The taller of the two was David. He was lanky, with a head full of curly dark hair and a charming smile. He had broad shoulders and a dimple on the left side of his mouth. The other, shorter, stockier, and powerfully built, was named Chris.

“That’s...” What was I going to do, finish the sentence? That’s my name? I changed halfway through. “That’s good, I mean, it’s good to meet you.”

Veronica was more vocal, now that there were men in the group. She laughed at their jokes and once even put a hand on Lamar’s arm. I’d been female for only a week, but I knew what that meant. I decided I hated her, realized I had already decided that, but decided it again for good measure.

I suppose I could have launched myself into the conversation, but it was clear that Veronica knew precisely what she was about, and was competing way above my grade level. Instead I sulked, upset at feeling so powerless, and even more upset that I had to endure this change when there were three interns who had been allowed to keep their genders intact. Were they just trying to balance out the numbers? If that had been the case, why not pick someone else?

They could have. But they picked me instead, gave me the opportunity to decline or to accept with the one big condition. I had accepted. Perhaps that said more about me than it did about them.