Lila anxiously played with her blonde hair as she waited at the campus Starbucks. She was still getting used to it being this long, though it was only at an awkward growing out stage so far. College was when she planned to finally be herself, yet at the beginning of her sophomore year at Apollonia University she had only taken baby steps.

She perked up when she saw a familiar redhead in pink scrubs, timidly waving her over.

Zoey plopped down across from her. "So, how was your first week?" She grinned, showing off her stunningly perfect teeth. Zoey was studying dental hygiene, she and Lila met the year before at orientation. So far, she had been the only one Lila had confided to about her identity.

Lila smiled back, showing off her own slightly crooked teeth. "So far so good!... It's nice to be back." Lila's parents were kind, but she wasn't sure if they'd be ready to understand just yet...

The pair ordered some drinks as they both chatted about their classes. They'd become quite close in the past year, even if Lila was quite shy around everyone else.

After about an hour of conversation, Zoey remembered something. "Oh, Lila, I almost forgot..." She pulled a pamphlet from her bag, pushing it across the table. "There was a stack of these in the dental center. It... seemed like something you might be interested in..."

Lila raised an eyebrow as she looked over the pamphlet.

"They're looking for transgender students for a study on hormone therapy. The school's paying for all of it, so you don't have to worry about insurance or anything like that." Zoey explained.

Lila's heart was pounding as she looked over the document. It seemed too good to be true. Though, Apollonia University was known to be a very progressive school, and its medical research was known worldwide.

"I'll definitely check this out, thank you so, so much!" Lila hugged her friend as she slipped the pamphlet in her bag.

One thing seemed odd though. According to the last page, the study wasn't being done by an endocrinologist. The head researcher was a woman named Dr. Pearl E. Whites, an orthodontist.