Chloé grumbled as she reluctantly opened her eyes. Her alarm wasn't set to go off for another forty minutes, but a loud conversation and a series of noises from the kitchen had woken her up. Her roommate, Kendra, was probably on the phone again while making breakfast. With ample knowledge that it was impossible to sleep through her roommate's gossip, Chloé got out of bed.
Before braving whatever mess was likely in the kitchen, Chloé made her way to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, combed her hair back into a ponytail, and applied some basic eyeliner. Heavy amounts of makeup didn't flatter her, and she was happy she never had to spend more than five minutes on it. After putting her eyeliner back in her drawer, the only one of five that didn't belong to Kendra, she pulled out everything she needed for her weekly hormone shot.
Syringe, needles, disinfecting wipes, and a bandage, all the usual fare. Always incredibly paranoid about air bubbles, she moved slowly and carefully as she prepared 0.25 mL of estrogen.
"Alright Chloé, last week you used your right thigh, so this week we're using the left. It's just a small pinch, you've done this dozens of times, it's going to be fine," Chloé whispered. She pushed the needle in, wincing a little, then finished the injection and sighed with relief. After tossing everything in the garbage, and carefully dropping the needles in her sharps container, she finally walked towards the kitchen.
"--so I told her 'In that dress? Seriously?' and you should have seen her face! Oh, morning Chloé, could you clean this up for me?" Kendra had just finished making herself bacon and eggs, and was now gesturing to a pile of dirty pans behind her.
"Um, I really think you should--"
"Great! Thanks!" Kendra said, clearly not listening. She ran off to her bedroom, resuming her phone conversation without batting an eye.
Chloé sighed. She knew there was no point in trying to argue, and started moving pans into the sink to scrub them clean. As the sink filled with soapy water, she began thinking about everything she needed to do today. She had one final in the morning, and then she could meet up with everyone for lunch. There was only one final after that, for her accounting class, which meant she had a chance to talk with Sam.
Sam was the cutest guy on campus. He had dark brown hair that Chloé desperately wanted to run her hands through, hopefully after they'd finished inspecting his muscular chest. Sam was on the school's lacrosse team, but he was so much sweeter than all the other athletes.
At first, other than a casual attraction, Chloé hadn't known much about him. She learned early on that he played video games, but whenever he talked with his friends, they were focused on generic shooter games that Chloé didn't care for. A few months back, she'd been paired up with Sam for a class project and had learned that he actually played all sorts of games. He was a huge fan of the Dark Souls series, and Chloé had talked him into trying Bloodborne, which he'd ended up loving.
They talked fairly frequently, normally before and after class, but she hadn't yet mustered the strength to ask him out. She had no idea if he was interested in her that way, and even if he were, she hadn't told him she was transgender. What if that changed things?
"C'mon Chloé, you don't know until you ask. Remember everything Amara has told you! I just have to put myself out there, and even if he says no, I still get the benefit of not having to stress over every last detail. Besides, college is nothing like my hometown, he's not going to turn into an asshole just because I tell him I'm trans. Everyone I've told has been so nice!"
Eventually, she finished cleaning up the kitchen. Tired from all the scrubbing, she opted to not dirty anymore pans, and instead poured herself a bowl of cereal before returning to her room. She set her breakfast on her desk, then fell backwards into her bed as she groaned.
"Ugh, Paige, why is it so hard to ask someone out?" Chloé looked over at her pile of stuffed animals, making eye contact with one in particular; a ram with soft gray fur and two curled horns.
"You'll help me practice, right?" Paige said nothing, predictably, but Chloé continued talking anyways. "Okay, pretend you're Sam, you're in my class, we've just finished the test and I have nothing to do all afternoon. I'm just going to say 'Hey Sam, class was a lot of fun this semester! I really like talking with you, and I'd love to spend more time with you. Would you be interested in getting dinner with me tonight?'"
Paige stayed silent, her beady eyes staring back at Chloé, who eventually groaned in frustration before burying her head in a pillow.
She eventually pulled herself free, then moved to her desk to turn her computer on. She ate breakfast while catching up on last night's VOD from her favorite Twitch streamer, though her thoughts refused to focus on anything but Sam.
Soon enough, her alarm went off, and it was time to prepare for class. She threw her pajamas in her closet, replacing them with comfortable jeans and a green, short sleeve tee. Next, she threw on her long blue peacoat, knowing she'd need it to make it to class without freezing to death. As happy as her transition had made her, it certainly made it harder to deal with colder temperatures.
Chloé walked quickly to her class; she wanted to escape the autumn chill as fast as she could. She wasn't entirely looking forward to her first final, but at least she shared this class with Vee. The two were always early, and normally had plenty of time to talk before class started. When Chloé arrived in class, however, Vee was nowhere to be seen.
Weird, Vee always gets here early.
Chloé checked the hallway one last time, then texted Vee to ask if everything was okay. Sadly, by the time the teacher started handing out the tests, Chloé still hadn't heard anything. Her mood deflated somewhat by the absence of her friend, the test gave her more trouble than it probably would have otherwise. She had only barely finished the last essay question when the professor called for everyone to set their pencils down.
She sighed with relief, glad she at least managed to finish the test despite her distracted thoughts. Getting to the front of the classroom, however, proved to be a challenge. A small group of students were standing in the aisle, and she couldn't find a way to walk past them.
"Um, excuse me? I need to--"
A loud burst of laughter cut her off, and she reflexively dropped her head to look at the floor. Instead of trying to speak up again, she simply waited for the students to leave of their own accord. It took much longer than expected, but eventually Chloé was able to give her test to the teacher and start towards the cafeteria.
Lunch in hand, she eagerly walked around until she found Nick and Tessa. With a smile on her face, she approached her friends and took a seat. "Hey guys! How are you doing today?"
"You know, same old same old," Tessa said, looking up at Nick briefly.
"Uh, yeah, just prepping for finals, all that boring stuff," Nick said.
