I give in and get my tongue pierced

“I don’t know,” I say, clearly ****.

Emily is literally pulling on my arm now. “Come on, let's go. It only hurts for a second,” she assures me. The store is not busy at all and much to my displeasure, someone is available to give it to me. And more, the clerk is familiar with Emily, who showcases it to him. “I’ve convinced my friend, Eliza, here to get a tongue piercing just like me.”

“Oh yeah?” he says. “Well, I’m free and available to do it for you.”

I look at Emily who goads me with a smile.

“Alright. Can we get it over with?” I say.

“It’ll be real quick, honey,” the man says. “Just take a seat in the chair and I’ll get it done for you.” I take a seat which naturally makes my body recline. I try to relax as he gets the piece ready. When signaled, I stick out my tongue as far as I can extend it. He clamps on my tongue with tongs, causing me a bit of pain as he has to hold it still. I close my eyes, trying not to see the procedure being done, but I try not to protest. Suddenly a sharp pain is felt as my tongue is impaled by a tool. “And done,” the man says suddenly. Before I knew it, there was something sitting in the hole that the tool that impaled the muscle earlier had taken up. And keeping it there are two spherical ends. I wince from the lingering pain. “Don’t worry, it’s bound to hurt when you eat or talk, but to keep the swelling down and promote healing of your tongue, which will take about four to six weeks, some cold liquids will be best.”

Emily pays for the piercing as well as materials for cleaning the piercing and then we take our purchases to her car and return to UC Santa Barbara. While my tongue feels sore, the pain is smaller than I initially thought. There is just a constant throbbing in the hours after the piercing. Emily comforts me by rubbing my thigh on the trip back to the college.

We make our way to our dorms. When Emily and I arrive back from our shopping trip, I start unpacking and settling into my room. Eventually we hear the guys coming in next door. As soon as Emily hears her boyfriend come in, she excitedly leads you next door to meet him and your other neighbor. Any attempt to converse with Tyler is met with him completely ignoring me, as his attention is devoted solely to his girlfriend. When they disappear into my room, I’m given a chance to get to know his roommate.

“Mason, right?” I ask, finding that I can talk normally with the tongue piercing it, but it causes pain to flare up.

“That’s right. Don’t know if you heard, but they accidentally assigned me to San Miguel, which is the dorm for upperclassmen. And of course, there were no spots. Gotta thank Tyler once he’s done making out with your roommate. If it weren’t for him, I would’ve had to stay off-campus,” he explains. Seeing his dark brown skin, I remember the list of names that Emily had me look at. I imagine all those names were of white boys, or at the very least, the list wasn’t very diverse. Mason has a thin build and he isn’t that taller than me, maybe a couple inches taller.

“I’m… I’m Eliza,” I say with difficulty. Talking does hurt.

“Are you okay?” Mason asks. I do not answer him with words, but instead by opening my mouth and showing my tongue piercing. “Shit, girl. Did you get that today?” I struggle to nod. “You got some guts, Eliza. I’ll give you that. Probably more guts than me.”

“Thanks,” I say. Moans and giggles can still be heard from next door. I look to Mason, who chuckles at the weirdness. The fact that my roommate and his roommate are in the next room making love like there’s no tomorrow.

“I’m gonna guess that this year’s gonna be like that. Most likely you’ll be transitioning into my room, just to give them every opportunity to do what they do best,” Mason says. I nod. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t swing that way. Meaning, I like girls, but I don’t have an interest in dating girls or doing that to them. In fact, if Emily wasn’t his girlfriend, I might give Tyler a shot.”

“Really?” I ask, actually surprised.

“Yep. So you’re safe with me. I ain’t gonna try anything with you,” he says, reassuring me. We talk for an hour or so, getting to know each other. He also gives me a cold water bottle to help with the swelling of my tongue. After an hour, Emily emerges from the room, Tyler having to leave for work. This gives me the chance to finish settling into my dorm. I put my clothes into one side of the closet, the other side being Emily’s section. I also fold the underwear into the drawers in the closet. All my toiletries and my piercing’s aftercare go in a bag, knowing that the bathroom is shared among the four of us. Lastly, the vibrator that Emily got for me is put in the side table, in its own discreet bag.

Emily takes me on a tour of the campus and we get dinner at the cafetera. Afterwards, we spend our time hanging out with Mason in the shared common room.

The next day, after getting ready and learning to apply makeup by Emily, we go to the Job Fair that the X-Change Corporation has set up for us in one of the auditoriums.

I see Ms. Stephens, the liaison for the Student X-Change Program, as well as, Olivia, Charlotte, and Amelia waiting for us with their respective mentors. The mentors take their leave and Ms. Stephens brings us together in a circle. “Welcome back ladies. I hope everyone had a good first day in their new bodies. I hope everyone took the time to get to know your mentors a bit better as well. Most of you probably hit it off right away. Although, for some of you, it might take a while for you to grow on each other. But if you have any difficulties, remember, your mentor is only trying to look out for you, as best she sees how,” she greets us and reiterates the reason why our mentos have done what they’ve done. While I may not forgive Emily for encouraging me to get a tongue piercing, I can’t discount the other stuff she has done for me. For example, she didn’t get a slutty wardrobe for me yesterday. I can honestly say the clothes are appropriate enough that I could wear them in my own home. Which reminds me, I will have to tell my family all about this one day. Or they could also try to contact me. I don’t know what could come sooner. Ms. Stephens’s voice breaks me out of my reverie. “I can see you all had fun on your shopping trips yesterday as well. The first shopping trip was on us. But you'll need some money of your own for the next one. Which brings us to today's event. We’ve lined up several local employers with job openings that some of you may qualify for. These include both on and off campus employers. There are also some representatives from the athletic department here as well. Those positions aren’t technically allowed to pay you. But they do offer scholarships that would cover some of your tuition. That means you’d get to keep some of the money X-Change would have paid to the school. So it works out about the same as if they did pay you. And, before you head out to the fair, talk to your mentor. She may have another job for you to think about while you’re looking over your other options. But keep in mind the choice is yours. Well, yours and the employers. Your mentor is just giving you another option to choose from.”

Emily returns to me after the liaison speaks with us and we are allowed to browse the booths. “I checked out the job booths while you were talking. There are some pretty good choices out there. There’s probably one that you’d like that isn’t in this Job Fair. I myself didn’t know of any jobs to recommend for you so I asked Tyler about it and he had an idea. His brother is a manager at an office that’s not too far from campus. Their receptionist quit not too long ago, and they are looking for a new one. He said he could put in a good word for you. Take a look at the other options too, and let me know if you’re interested.” Emily explains.

She leaves me, probably to go back to her boyfriend for another kissing battle. I considered the offer that was recommended by her boyfriend. Immediately, I imagine that a receptionist is an entry-level job, so in an office setting, I would be the lowest employee. I’d have to get everyone’s coffee or something like that. I keep that in mind as I browse the other booths.

There is a booth for student athletes, where students can apply to be part of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. One of the coaches, a man who appears to be in his forties, approaches me. “Interested in becoming a student-athlete? Just know that you’ll be training or competing 5 or 6 days a week. You’ll have access to state-of-the-art training facilities and the help of the university’s trainers. So you’re sure to stay in peak condition. The partial scholarship from the athletic department will free up some of the X-Change stipend that was paying for tuition, so you will have some spending money available,” he explains. “Impress us enough, you’ll even get on the teams for basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, swimming or volleyball.

Him mentioning X-Change in such a public setting probably means everyone here now knows that we are guys who became girls and are part of the Student X-Change Program. I wonder how confidential these people are. I hope no one here informs people outside, especially other students, about our real identities.

The next booth is for the cheerleading squad. A cheer captain approaches me and says, “Showcase your charisma and your physicality by becoming one of our cheerleaders. You’ll be practicing or working out 4 days a week, and then going to games to cheer on Saturdays. You’ll also be expected to attend university fundraising events occasionally.”

There are smaller booths for on-campus employment, each manned by female students. I wonder if any of them are part of the Program and had participated a year or two before. The first one is for the position of Campus Fitness Center Assistant. The position entails the work of trainers and masseuses, tasked for the benefit of the athlete by keeping their bodies in shape. The second position is for the campus library, as a library aide, whose duties include processing check outs and returns, refiling returned books. The third booth’s position is for the Engineering Department. They have two positions that can be filled. One is open to anyone, but the other requires the student to have a major in a STEM discipline. The last booth is for the Art Department. Seems they are only looking for models to pose for various classes. They do require the student to be okay with showing off their naked bodies.

I’m going to need a job for other expenses like for food and pleasure, as the Program has already taken care of my tuition, housing and school materials.