My still sleepy eyes saw cars go by fast on the highway. I yawned and snuggled a little bit with Mary. It was still early and the sun was not going to rise for another two hours. I felt a little bit anxious but mostly excited about this new beginning. Mary smiled at me and squeezed my hand, just to reassure me that everything will be okay. Sometimes sisters just know.

After a few more hours we were coming closer to the city of Boston. The school was not far from the city. We were almost there. Soon we were going up several hills. A sign informed us that we were entering private property. My dad parked the car and all three of us headed to the main entrance with a ton of Mary's and my luggage. We arrived at the front desk and checked in with the secretary who made a quick phone call to get some staff people down here to take our luggage. Mary and I were impressed how quickly they showed up. One of the staff people asked us to follow her so that she could show me my new dorm and show Mary where she would stay for the next few days.

At first I was shown my new dorm which I would be sharing with a girl named Alice. She was not there right now because classes were in session. The dorm was bigger than I thought it would be. It had a large window that would let a lot of sunlight in. I probably would have to wait until spring because it was just another dark and grey day out there. Typical for January. The window had some fancy looking blue curtains. On the right side of the room was a bed that looked like it hasn't been used in a while. On the opposite side was another bed which obviously belonged to Alice. A pink care bear was sitting in one of the corners. There were a lot of pictures on the wall with different people. Mostly girls from my new school I assumed. In one of the other corners was a nice little couch and a flat screen TV. There were also two desks and a large bookshelf. I was impressed. Mary and my dad took it all in, just like me. I could not wait to meet my new roommate.

Dad helped me put my luggage in the corner next to my bed. I was sure that I would find time to put my stuff away later. Soon we moved on to see the place where Mary would stay for a few days. I was so excited my big sister was here with me. We walked quite a bit until we came to a big door that said “Guest rooms”. We entered another small hallway and found ourselves in front of a big door that said “Princess suite”. This part of the school looked fancy and more exclusive. The door was made of nice looking wood and the size of the door hinted that this room was going to be bigger than my dorm. The nice staff lady opened the door and we walked in. I was aghast.

The “Princess suite” deserved its name for sure. This was a fancy room. It had a beautiful four poster bed, worthy of any princess. The dark blue sheets on the bed looked expensive. I estimated that the fancy looking sheets were at least five hundred thread count sheets. The room had a beautiful big window. There was a section with a nice couch, a beautiful armchair and a big screen TV.

I looked at Mary and dad. Both were as amazed as I was. We admired this beautiful room.

“How come Mary gets to be a princess and not me?” I asked, pretending to pout a little bit.

“You will always be my little princess, babe.” Mary assured me while trying not to laugh.

“Haha, very funny.” I replied while sticking my tongue out a bit at her.

“This is amazing. I am worried Mary just might stay and forget about College in Oregon.” dad added to the conversation.

“That is tempting. Who knows. Maybe I might just stay here and never leave.” Mary said, seeming a bit thoughtful.

“I don’t blame you. Alright, girls. I think I better get going. Riley, have a wonderful time here. You too, Mary. Have a safe trip back to Oregon. I can’t believe that both of your rooms are going to be empty for a while.” dad told us, while seeming to get a bit teary eyed.

Mary and I looked at each other. We walked over to dad and both gave him a big hug. All three of us cried a little. After a few more hugs and kisses, dad left and was on his way back home. Of course, we promised to stay in touch with him and mom.

There I was. At the beginning of a new life. Half a year ago, I was a nerdy boy who didn’t have any friends and was the target of bullying. After my beautiful transformation, thanks to Sammy, Mary, Alyssa and my parents, I am now a self confident girl who is ready for adventures.

Mary and I admired her room a bit more as she started settling in. I decided to go back to my room and we agreed to meet in the cafeteria for lunch. Katie, the cute girl who gave us a tour the first time we visited this school, would meet us there. The rest of the afternoon was free for us to use any way we wanted. Mary and I wanted to decide later what we were going to do. A sisters conference would probably be in order.

I entered my new dorm. I still couldn’t believe that I was here. I looked around a little while more, getting lost in thought. What kind of girl and roommate would Alice be, I wondered. I started unpacking by putting my laptop and other school stuff on the desk. I was also eager to put my clothes into my closet which I started doing next. I wanted to feel at home as soon as possible. It seemed that Alice and I had to share a closet because I could see only one in the entire dorm. I actually didn’t mind that at all. I decided to throw my stuff in there. I was planning on organizing it later.

When I completed that task I took a little break and tried to decide what I should do next. I put the new sheets that were sitting on top of the bed on it. I assumed they didn’t put them on the bed so that they could show me they were new and clean. After I got my bed ready, I decided to test it out and read a book while getting myself comfortable. I must have dozed off after reading for a bit because my smart phone, making the text message noise, woke me up.

I checked my messages and saw that Mary texted me. She wanted to know if I was coming to the cafeteria soon as it was almost time for lunch. I told her that I will pick her up so that we could go together. A few minutes later, Mary and I entered the cafeteria which slowly started to fill up with students.

The cafeteria at Cherry Blossom Hill wasn’t unlike normal cafeterias. It looked more like a fancy lounge you can find in first class hotels or at the airport, if you are a member of one of their exclusive clubs. Mary and I were amazed. We tried to keep our eyes open for Katie. We were told she was going to meet us here. After waiting for a few minutes, I heard someone calling Mary’s and my name. Katie was a little bit further down on the other side. There seemed to be several access points to this impressive building.

Finally, Katie made it to the other side of the cafeteria. She seemed to be holding several folders in her hand.

“Hi, Riley and Mary. How are you two doing?” Katie wanted to know.

“I am well. Thanks, Katie. It is good to see you again.” I told her.

“Me too. It is very nice to see you again.” Mary added.

“Same here, ladies. Why don’t we sit down and I will give you a few welcome folders. We should go over a few items so that Riley will have a good start.”

Mary and I both nodded and smiled. We soon found an empty booth and got ourselves comfortable. I loved that the cafeteria had cozy little booths everywhere which made hanging out fun.

“This won’t take long. I bet you are hungry. We should get ourselves some lunch after we are done. They have a lot of yummy choices.” Katie assured us.

Katie gave each one of us a folder. The folders contained several interesting items.

“So, there is a map of the entire school. A cafeteria card which you can use to pay for your meals. You can always add funds if you need to. The school decided to give each one of you $ 25. I guess that Mary can give her card to Riley when she leaves since she won’t need it anymore. Also, there are other maps and brochures of the surrounding area, a list with important phone numbers, emergency procedures and a fancy pen. Finally, the school decided to give each one of you a $ 50 gift card for the book store where you can buy a lot more than books. They have cool hoodies, school supplies and all kinds of other stuff you could possibly need.” Katie told us.

“That is great. I might just buy some stuff I can use for College.” Mary pointed out.

“You should. Let’s get some lunch. I am hungry.” I urged the other two girls on.

“I am alright with that.” Mary agreed.

“Just follow me, ladies.” Katie said, leading us toward the order section of the cafeteria.

There were so many choices. This cafeteria had fried chicken, pizza, hamburgers but also a lot of healthy options such as salads, fruits, a broad variety of vegetables which were cooked in many different ways, a yogurt bar and a smoothie station. I was very impressed. I decided to go with a chicken salad and some yogurt.

After we settled back in our booth we started eating. For a little while there was silence because everyone was focused on getting their tummies filled up. After we were finished, we started chatting again.

“So, what are your plans for the rest of the day? I am sure that you both feel overwhelmed, especially you Riley.” Katie wanted to know.

“I was hoping to meet my new roommate, Alice. Other than that, Mary and I don’t have any other plans. We just wanted to rest. Maybe you, Alice, Mary and I could go for supper somewhere if we can find a way to get into town. If not, I am assuming that the cafeteria here will offer dinner as well?” I inquired.

“Yes, it does. The cafeteria offers a lot of choices for dinner. You won’t be disappointed.” Katie promised us.

“Why don’t we just eat here tonight. It will be convenient and save us time.” Mary suggested.

Katie and I both nodded. We chatted a bit more and soon finished our lunches. Mary and I decided to go back to my dorm. Katie wanted to meet with us again for dinner to discuss the next few days.

Mary and I took a detour with the goal to explore the school a little bit before we went back to my dorm. We used one of the maps Katie gave us to kind of have an idea in which part of the school we were.

We walked a bit while I observed my surroundings carefully. The architecture of the buildings was impressive but I was more interested in the different people who came here to get an excellent education and to make friends. I paid close attention during class changes when the hallways filled up with girls who had to go to their next classes. I especially loved the school uniforms. All the girls were wearing a white shirt, a red tie, a red and grey skirt and black tights. I could not wait to put on one of those uniforms and be one of the girls.

After more walking and getting lost in thought, we discovered the bookstore Katie talked about. As book lovers, Mary and I could not wait to browse for interesting and exciting new books. The bookstore offered a lot more than just books. Katie mentioned during lunch that you can buy all kinds of things there and she didn’t lie. They offered a lot of clothes with the school’s name on it. School supplies, beverages, candy, feminine hygiene products and a whole lot more was on display. Mary and I took ourselves time. My big sister decided to buy a nice hoodie with my new school’s name and crest on it. We eventually made our way back to my dorm.

Mary and I had a sisters conference right after we entered my dorm. We made ourselves comfortable on my new bed.

“So, babe. What do you think?”

“I already love this place. I think I will do very well here. I can’t wait to get started.”

“I can tell that you are thrilled. Do you need me to help you set up anything?”

“I already set up my work station on the desk. The only thing I still need to do is to organize my clothes. I already stuffed them in the closet. It appears that Alice and I have to share one. That doesn’t bother me.”

“Okay. Cool. Let’s see if I can help you out.”

Mary walked over to the closet and started folding and dividing up my clothes. I also walked over to the closet so that I could help her. Looking to the side for a moment, I remembered the pink care bear that was sitting on Alice's’ bed. I decided to pick it up and take it with me on my walk over there. It was super cute.

I offered Mary help and tried to instruct her where to put what when I discovered that on the right side of the closet were some beautiful sparkly dresses. One of them looked like Princess Elsa in Frozen could have worn it. Another one looked like Elsa’s sister Anna owned this gorgeous dress once. I started to take these dresses out so that I could show them to Mary.

“What do you think? Don’t they look cute?”

“Oh wow. They are pretty cute. I bet you would look good on either one of them.”

“Wait, Mary. There is more cool stuff.”

I took out another dress, which was actually more of a costume. I believe it was a cat-woman costume. It looked rather sexy.

“Check this out, Mary! I could be cat-woman.”

“Nice! That is actually kind of sexy.”

“That was my thought as well. Do you think I should try the Elsa or Anna dress on?”

“Try the Elsa one on. I bet you will look super cute.”

“I will. It looks like Alice and I have the same size.”

“Hurry, can’t wait to see how adorable you will look.”

I went back to my bed and started undressing. Mary watched me carefully with a big smile on her face. I needed her help to close the zipper in the back. Once I had it on, I checked myself in the mirror. I thought I looked very nice. I was holding the care bear again for extra cuteness.

“Wow, babe. You look beautiful and cute. Now sing “Let it go”.

“Ha ha, very funny. I like how it feels too.”

“Well, I am glad that you like to wear my dress but why are you holding Mr. Snuggles? What do you two think you are doing here anyways?” a girl who was suddenly standing there wanted to know. This must be Alice.

Mary and I were under shock. I felt so embarrassed. I didn’t know what to say but just looked at the girl intently. I didn’t feel comfortable at all but I noticed one quick thought rushing through my brain. That thought was: “She is kind of cute.”