Pledging Tau Geta Delta Pt. 07

"You look a bit wound up, is everything ok?" I felt Max's hand on my shoulder when he finally found me sitting in the student union cafe. I'd just been staring out the window, waiting for him and debating all the finer points of life.

"It's looking better, now." I smiled over at him. "Come, sit down I need to talk to you about something."

"Oh." Max seemed to flinch a bit. "You need to talk, to me, in a nice public space..."

I laughed, the raw absurdity of his assumption. It was perfect, I wish I'd have seen it, so I could have avoided the implications, but I was almost glad I hadn't. It was the perfect joke for the day I was having.

"Oh, you silly idiot!" I shook my head and pushed him towards the seat across from me.

"So you're not going to break up with me? Or whatever since I didn't think we were going out..." Max looked oddly cute with the furrowed eyebrows and a total look of confusion. I'd underestimated just how out of his depth he was now with the current state of our relationship. That didn't make this any easier though.

"No, but I do have something to tell you that you won't believe, but first you have to take this and hold it in your hand." I held out the little token so that he could see it and the lightly glowing runes. Thankfully, the same magic that would allow Max to remember the old me also let me tell him about the initiation rites at the Tau's. Otherwise, I'd have still been bound by the spell of secrecy I'd taken that night when I first transformed.

"What is it?" He asked as he reached for it. "How does it glow like that?"

"Just take it, stupid." I shot him a quick glare and then he plucked it out of my hand. For a moment he just looked at it, and then he just seemed to stare at it. For a minute he was quiet. Then, with a sudden jolt he snapped back. His eyes were wide, and he looked at me.

"Alison?" He took a deep breath and looked at me like a deer caught in headlights. "I remember you, and yet I don't, there's a guy, he was like my best bud, and yet he's like you, and we met in the same lab, but you weren't in that lab or he wasn't, but you both were but not together..."

I grabbed his hands, and he shook his head again. "It's okay, just let me explain, all right?"

"Sure. I'd like that." He nodded. I could only imagine just what was going through his head. My girl memories had kind of seeped into me over the first few days, until I was used to them as a normal part of myself. For him everything was just crammed in all at once. It may have only covered the last few years, but it was enough information to be disorienting, and in this case, the parallel was obvious. In one set, I wasn't there and my guy self was, and only my girl self was in the other set.

"You remember, I decided to pledge a sorority, right?" He nodded. "I know we talked over how crazy their initiation process was, and how it was so secret. Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. Think back a week, and you remember your guy friend, he was pledging for Tau Geta Delta, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, he was, and we had the same conversation, well, almost as when I talked to you, but it was the same walk, back from class, on the same day, and I talked to both of you but..." I squeezed his hands to pull him back, and he looked up at me again.

"Okay, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I'm that guy, and the crazy Tau initiation process, well, that's what turned me into Alison and filled your head with memories of her." I tried to be as clear as I could. I didn't know if it would burn through his confusion. The way his eyes kind of sparkled for a moment told me that I'd broken through.

"The token allows you to remember both sides, what was real and the fake reality that was created when I became Alison. The only Alison memories that are real are the ones that are from after I started pledging." I explained. I felt him tense up for a moment, but he didn't pull away. I knew this would take a moment for him to sort out, but despite being a bit of a doofus, I knew he'd connect all the dots now.

"Holy crap." He sat there, blinking as the little mouse wheel inside his head must have been going on overdrive. His unfocused gaze continued for a moment and then he snapped out of it and looked at me.

"So you were a guy, and we like totally..." He took a deep breath. "But you were a woman, and I knew you were a woman, and it was awesome. But you're really a guy?"

"Right now, I'm a woman, Max, and I've been one all week. But I am the same person." I was just glad the magic was supposed to be calming him down, because if this was the calm version of Max, I didn't want to think what the regular Max would have been like.

"Holy crap." He repeated. This time, though, there was a hint of surprise, and wonder. It wasn't just that I was a girl, there was more to it than that. He was starting to put the pieces together. The only question was, where would he jump to once everything got figured out.. "They changed you? Changed everything?"

I nodded. "If I called up my Mom right now she'd start asking me about my boyfriend status and how she wants grandkids as soon as I graduate."

"Do you want that? To have kids, you know get pregnant?"

I laughed, of course he'd jump on that part of things. "Maybe, I guess that's why I'm here right now, the change isn't permanent, it was only for the initiation, but I don't have to change back."

"And you want me to help you decide?" He was starting to come down now. He understood the situation and the time had come for him to pull his weight.

"You got it, hot stuff." I smiled. "I kind of hate to throw you in the deep end like this, but you're the best friend I have, and you know that was true in two lifetimes now."

Max sank into his chair, threw his head back and just laughed out loud. For a moment I wondered if I'd finally broken him. I'd tried over the years, but perhaps the time had finally come.

"Oh, Alison, that's crazy! Why come to me?" He asked. He knew, we both did, but now I had to say it.

"Because we've been as close as two straight guys can be, and as close as a guy and a girl can be. Most of all, Max, right now, I think I love you."

The words hung in the air as I clamped my hands over my mouth. How did I say that? I knew it was true, as much as I'd fought not to recognize it. I just hadn't planned on telling him that.

"Holy crap." He reached out and grabbed my hands, pulling them back down to the table. He looked into my eyes. "I love you, too, Alison."

My heart stopped in that moment. You go your whole life looking for that moment, when someone else tells you that, not because they were your parent or relative or just to be nice, but because deep down they really felt that way. I'd never heard those words spoken to me with such conviction before, and now I didn't know how to react.

We sat there, looking at each other, our words hanging in the air between us. Slowly our lips started to quiver. Then together we let out a nervous laugh that soon became a riotous sound. This was just too serious, and neither of us were any good with that for too long.

"So what now?" He asked once we calmed back down.

"Well, I have to decide tonight. They induct the new Taus at a party this evening. If I don't change back then I can join the Deltas, but I have to decide by then." I explained.

"This is just wild." Max was starting to get past the shock. I was happy for it, but also kind of anxious about just where he would go with this. "So you really know both sides now, girl and guy?"

"Yeah." I nodded. He knew just how much I knew about being a woman. After we'd spent a whole evening in bed together, and a few times since then, Max couldn't doubt that.

"So is it better as a guy or a girl?"

I laughed, of course he'd ask that. I suppose it was something everyone really wanted to know. "It's really hard to say, it's so different, Max. Besides, a girl has to have some secrets after all."

"Oh! Tease!" He grumbled. "Seriously, though what do you want? It's your life, I know how I feel, but I don't want to pressure you about something like this."

"I don't know. It may sound crazy, but I'm kind of used to being a woman now. It's so different, but it's fun too. Honestly, in a lot of ways it's just life. There were plenty of times I didn't even feel like things were different, like I'd be doing the same thing if I was still a guy." I appreciated the support, but I hadn't asked him here to be a neutral sounding board. "You know why I asked you here right?"

"Because you trust me." He nodded solemnly. "And there wouldn't have been any point in giving me that little glowing thing if you didn't want my advice."

"Pretty much." I smiled. "That, and I care a lot about you. If we hadn't been so close these last few days, I'd have probably changed back and just looked at this as some wild adventure."

"But now, you wonder if there is more to it. If we can have more." His face was turning serious. I knew he was starting to struggle with the same questions I'd been working over for the last couple of days, when I'd been unable to distract myself.

"Yeah, pretty much. I think we have something special. Something I've never felt before on either side of the coin. I don't just want to throw it away, not if you feel the same way." I continued. This was the core of it. The scariest part of it. I knew just how fleeting young love could be, I'd been through enough relationships not to doubt it. Yet, this felt different. It wasn't like we'd just fallen into bed together or been caught up in some random romance. I'd known Max for years, we'd shared things together, bonded in a way I'd never done with another person.

"You've kind of sprung this on me, you know." He fidgeted a bit in his chair. "Normally, I get weeks to screw up a relationship, and now you've anchored me in the deep end. I guess I should be honest then."

"That might help." I nodded.

"I've been thinking about us a lot. I mean, even before this, at least when you were a girl or however that works. When we slept together, it was like everything had just come together in this one perfect moment. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, and well you didn't make it any easier yesterday." He smiled. I blushed a bit, remembering how I had taken him around the library and let him fuck me silly before we got caught and released by a campus cop. Then we'd spent a good bit of the afternoon burning off the adrenaline from that in his bed.

"I know what you mean."

"And I've always liked you, we just never worked it out before. I was almost getting ready to talk you down from the whole sex buddy thing and maybe try a real relationship." He fidgeted some more. I knew he was compressing weeks of anxiety and awkwardness into one conversation. Max usually wandered randomly around his relationships until they blew up.

"But, then I told you all of this." I added. I knew I had to let him get this all off his chest before he could move on to the next part.

"Yeah, and this is some high grade crazy, Alison, but I don't think it changes anything for me. I really do love you. I think I have for a while, but I don't know if I can ask you to stay a girl for me, I don't want to think you chose this because of what I say."

"Thanks for saying that." I looked into his eyes again. It still felt a little weird looking into a guy's eyes like this, but if I chose now, I'd have to get used to it. "I understand that. It's really crazy you know, the Alison part of me is having a hard time not just jumping over and kissing you and squeezing you till you pop. I've really enjoyed it, you know, being a girl, and even if we don't work out, I think I could be happy living this life."

I went quiet, thinking, deciding. I hated deciding. There was only one thing to do when it came to deciding.

"So..." He leaned in, as anxious to hear as I was to tell.

"So, why don't you come to the party tonight and watch me become a Delta?" I moved in and kissed him before he could say another word. It was a tender, soft kiss, just what I needed, the perfect way to seal the deal.

"I'd love to." He smiled as we broke the kiss.

We sat there for a while after that, talking and trading quick kisses. He was full of questions, and I did my best to answer them. I peppered him as well. It was so weird to get his different perspectives on me as both a guy and girl. Sometimes it was a bit awkward, given that he now knew things he'd told the guy me that he'd never told Alison. Despite our closeness, there was a level of crude that Max had spared Alison, but now he knew I had all his dirty little secrets.

Finally, we parted ways. We both had to get ready for the party and the final ceremony. The warm comfort I'd felt with Max quickly started to burn off as I walked back to the fraternity house. Was I really going to go through with this? I asked myself that as I was acutely aware of every jiggle from my chest and the airy emptiness between my legs in a way I hadn't felt for days. If I did this, I would always have this body.

It still felt like complete madness, but I went through with the rest of my preparations. A quick shower left me standing in front of my closet staring at my choices with only a towel wrapped around me. If I was really going to be a girl, it felt like I should wear something girly, but nothing quite felt right. What should I wear for my first night as Alison? Until now it was almost like I'd been sharing her life, but once I decided not to change back then I would truly and fully be Alison.

I made my decision, pulled on the clothes and then worked my way through my makeup and made sure my hair was set perfectly. It was all so natural now, as I let the girl part of me take over. I remembered how awkward it was that first time, and how strange it felt. As Alison I'd been doing this since I was in high school, and it was perfectly natural. The strange juxtaposition was ebbing though. I knew I'd never forget being a guy, but it would be more like a crazy dream than my real life soon.

As soon as I was dressed, I raced back outside. Max was going to meet me there, and we'd have a short chance to talk again before the ceremony would begin and he'd be left with the other guests while the pledges finished the rituals.

"Wow, you look amazing." Max gushed as he took in the sight of me. I blushed a bit as I noticed his eyes wandering all over. He wasn't trying to stare, but with my legs and chest on display, I couldn't blame him. I'd gone with a cute white dress with a ruffled skirt, big pink belt, and a rather plunging neckline. It showed off everything without being too openly lewd at the same time.

"Thanks, and you're doing nicely too, hot stuff." I smiled as I checked him out. He had on a nice button up shirt and slacks, which for Max was pretty much dressed to the hilt.

"Shall we?" He held out his arm and I giggled. The notion was ridiculous, but I couldn't resist. I hooked my arm around his and we started towards the door. I rarely walked arm in arm with a girl before, but it certainly felt different with Max. The difference in size alone made me squirm a bit, but in the end, I welcomed it.

The party was already underway when we arrived. The older members of the house were busy with their dates or flirting with the older Deltas. The whole place was packed, and I knew our time was short. I couldn't waste any more.

"There's one last thing before I sign the Delta's scroll, Max. Do you want to remember the old me? The spell from the token will wear off when I sign, but I can have them cast a new one so you won't forget." I explained. My stomach twisted a bit. I didn't really know which answer I wanted him to give. It would be nice to have someone share my memories, but I could imagine how strange they would be for him at the same time. He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful and then gazed down into my eyes.

"Yeah, I want to remember. If we're going to make this work I want to remember everything about you I can. I'd hate for you to get angry at me for something I told the guy you and I wouldn't even remember." He replied. I smiled and punched him in the shoulder.

"Like I won't find new reasons to get mad at you." We both laughed. There wasn't any doubt that he was a complete cad sometimes.

A chiming started in the other room and quickly grew louder than the din of the crowd. I knew what that meant. "I've got to go. I'll see you soon."

Max pulled me in for a quick kiss and then I headed off for the basement. The room was filled with girls. I spotted Alex and Brittany standing next to Megan. The scene couldn't have been more divergent if you'd have tried. Alex was in a slinky red dress that showed off every curve. Brittany was decked out in a cute polka dot number that screamed cute far more than sexy. Megan was the real odd duckling, wearing sweat pants and a T-shirt. The same thing was repeated all across the room. About a third of the girls were dressed to kill and two thirds looked like they were waiting for their laundry to finish.

"So this is it." I smiled as I saw them. We all knew Alex's choice, and now it seemed that Brittany was going to be a Delta as well.

"Yeah, it looks like it'll be the three of us." Brittany blushed a bit. I could understand her embarrassment. Being dressed like this was a sure sign of her choice. Guys weren't supposed to want to be girls, and yet here we were, about to choose to be girls forever.

"I'm just curious what kind of a guy you're going to be." I stepped over and gave Megan a big hug. She hugged me back hard. I'd almost forgotten how muscular she was.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to miss being one of the girls, but don't ever tell anyone that." She laughed.

"You'll always be welcome to visit us." Alex smiled. "I'm sure we'll be happy to show you a good time."

I shook my head. I didn't doubt that Alex had chosen to stay a girl just because it was so much easier to have sex. Especially given how attractive she was. I also knew she could dial things down so it didn't appear like she was the raging crazy slut we all knew she was. In a way I kind of envied her confidence, but I knew I'd be just as happy with one guy as she'd be tied up in some guy's dungeon.

"Ladies, your attention please." We all heard Prescott shout out from the stage and turned to look at him. "Tonight, I want to congratulate you all. I know this has been a huge week for all of you, and I am pleased to see so many of you made it this far. So with that I want to welcome you all as full members. You have one last choice to make before completing your initiation."

He waved his hand towards two pedestals on the floor in front of him. Each had a book on top and a pen resting on top of the aged paper. Beside the first book was a man dressed in a burgundy robe, with the house letters embroidered down the front. On the other side was a woman dressed in a white robe, with the Delta's letters sewn into it.

"Sign your name in the registry and choose your house. We welcome you all, knowing that you now know truly what it is to walk in another person's shoes, and to understand both halves of humanity, and with that knowledge, we of Tau Geta Delta and Delta Kappa can go out in the world to make this a better place for everyone, man and woman alike."

He bowed to us and then stepped back, falling into darkness and then behind the curtains at the back of the stage. I wavered for a moment. This was really the final moment. I could still back out, go over and sign my name on the Tau registry. I knew no one would judge me for doing it. Even Max would understand.

"Okay, ladies, it's time to make it official." Alex grabbed my hand and Brittany's. It was just the nudge we needed, and all three of us were soon at the head of the line.

The Delta smiled as we walked up. "Welcome, sisters."