I was so excited to be finally starting college. I had met my room mate a few weeks before, when we met for lunch just off campus. My name is Lindsey a Marketing major, and my room mate is Kristy, a food sciences major. While I should have been in a dorm with other students who were in the School of Business, overcrowding saw me rooming on a floor with a students from the Chemistry department. None of that seemed to matter as we seemed to hit it off right away, it just seems like we are complete opposites of each other. I am a really shy, petite girl, with long blonde hair, while Kristy is very tall at nearly 6′ and weighs at least 60 pounds more than I do. She is also very outspoken and has hair that doesn’t reach her shoulders.
It took a while to get used to college life. I am very shy, and it usually takes a while for me to get comfortable around others. This, of course meant I preferred to stay close to home. The dorm I’m in is set up in pods, so 4 rooms are grouped together around a common area with a small area to lounge and make food. Being in a pod where 6 of the 8 girls are Food Sciences majors meant that there was always more than microwave popcorn and ramen noodles being prepared.
Kristy quickly took me under her wing, like a little sister. With our size difference, she definitely looked about 4 years older than me. It seemed as if every meal she was bringing me food, pointing out to me that I was the tiniest girl in our pod. I always had a good appetite, plus all the girls were great cooks so I didn’t mind at all.
I was doing great in my classes, but socially I was still quite reserved. Kristy had really started taking the big sister role very seriously, seemingly always there to walk me to class, then back to our dorm after. She also made sure that my school work was done, my laundry clean and folded, even my teeth brushed twice a day. I had gotten comfortable with this routine and after a few months never gave it a second thought.
I went home for holiday break and even though I hadn’t noticed myself, my family was quick to comment on how I had already gained my ‘freshman 15’. I just explained away as a byproduct of living with a bunch of foodies as the Food Sciences girls all called themselves. My parents were actually happy that I was getting bigger, my mom gladly buying me some new larger clothes to take back.
When I got back to school Kristy was there to inspect my new clothes, even matching up outfits for me to wear to classes. As we moved into the second half of the year not only did I continue to pack on the pounds, but I also became even more of a little sister to Kristy and the other girls in the pod. I never went anywhere alone, as it seemed at least one of them was always there to walk me to or from class, and anyplace else I needed to go.
It was late February and Kristy and I had just made our way back from class. As we entered the pod I saw a chair in the common area with a bunch of hair on the floor surrounding it. I walked past it on the way to my room when Kristy called out to me…”Go throw an old t-shirt on so Keri can give you your haircut.” I hesitated at her statement, as I usually only get my ends trimmed a couple times per year. I had just had it done over the holidays, so I thought I should still be good…”I’m okay, thanks.” I said as I walked in to my room.
As I sat at my desk to start my homework, Kristy poked her head in the door…”Lindsey, Keri has been waiting around here to give you your haircut. Don’t keep her waiting.” I knew she wouldn’t leave me alone until I sat in the chair, so I went and took my place. I wasn’t the only long haired girl in the pod, but several of the others now had theirs to their shoulders.
I walked out and saw a bunch of little bits of hair around the chair as all of the other girls at least had their ends trimmed, or more. I was about to ask Keri for just a trim, when Kristy spoke up…”You need something a little more easy to take care of.” I held my ground at first…”Kristy no, I don’t need my hair cut.”
Kristy, of course played the mother hen role, “Keri has things to do, so be a good girl and let her take care of you.” I just sat there and Keri started combing thru my hair. A second later I felt the scissors at my neck, and before I knew it she was working her way around to the side. Most of the other girls from the pod made their way over to see my hair hit the floor. I kept hearing comments to both me and Keri from “It’s about time she finally had a proper haircut” to “Make it shorter.”
And make it shorter she did, by the time they were done telling Keri what to do my neck and ears were fully exposed. I was given a kind of short back and sides cut, with a lot of length left on top. I started the year a skinny, long-haired girl and here I stood a short-haired chubby girl. The girls in the pod couldn’t have been happier for their little sister as they all called me.
As the year wound down I was now being dressed in the other girls clothes everyday. I never questioned why, or told them no as my wardrobe had gone from little t-shirt dresses and very stylish clothes that showed off my body, to relaxed fit jeans and loose fitting shirts and flannels that hid every inch of my womanhood. Any interest that I seemed to get from any of the guys in my classes had long since dried up, so all of my free time was spent with the other girls from the pod.
As the year ended, and I went home for the summer, I started to wonder how I had let things change so much for me. I spent the next 3 months working out, and growing out my hair. While I had managed to lose 25 pounds, I was less successful with my hair. As it started to grow over my ears again it just looked worse. By the end of summer I was comfortable enough to start wearing dresses again, and even went out with some old girlfriends from high school. As they talked about all the guys they had been dating and hooking up with, I just started to go back in my shell.
Returning to school for the second year I had the option to move into a dorm with girls who were in the Marketing school, but with as shy as I am I didn’t want to have to meet all new people, so I decided to room with Kristy again. As soon as she saw me she made comments about how I was too skinny now, and how bad I needed a haircut. I didn’t make it 2 days before Keri, the pod barber, was waiting for me when I came back from class.
I sat in her chair and looked up to tell her just to clean it up on the edges, but she was looking at Kristy who nodded for her to start. It started like a usual haircut, some light trimming on top to take off the split ends. Things to a major turn when she reached for the clippers. I had never seen her use them, but before I could say anything Kristy spoke first…”Relax Lindsey, you’re going to look great” Keri wasted no time running them up and around my ears, all I could do was let her finish. By the time Keri was done, all of the girls had all commented about how much better I looked. It was the first time that I started to question why I never saw any of them out on a date.
As the weeks went by Kristy again was treating me like her little sister, always fixing me a plate of food and choosing my outfits for me again. Like year one I started to pack on the weight again, but this time I was getting bigger every week, by the rime I went home for the winter holidays i was heavier than I had ever been. My mom’s first words to me was about how ‘mannish’ I had become. I thought I actually looked good with the extra weight, thinking about how it made me less shy. So, rather than be upset over what she had said I had decided to embrace being a bigger girl.
I certainly embraced my larger size for the rest of the year. With the foodies in the pod continually keeping me well nourished, I put on another 25 pounds by the end of the term. I was now clearly the chubbiest one in the pod, but all the girls loved the new me.
We were only allowed to stay in the dorms thru our sophomore year, so next year I would have to find off campus housing. I wasn’t surprise when Kristy told me I was going to live with her, she was from a rich family and her parents had already leased one of the best condominiums in town for her. Once I saw the place, there was no way I was going to tell her no. I decided that I wasn’t going home for the summer, and would get a job near campus and stay at the condo.
I was there by myself for two weeks before Kristy came back from her vacation, that’s where everything took a big turn. The day after Kristy returned she told me I was overdue for a haircut. While for the past 2 years that meant Keri the pod barber would have her way with me, now I didn’t know where to go. I started to look for places on my phone, but then Kristy said “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a guy” I told her to go ahead and make an appointment for me, but she just grabbed her keys “Let’s go.”
Kristy didn’t say much on the ride to her ‘guy’. When we parked on a side street near town I thought I knew the place we were going, but instead we walked right past the salon in town and stopped at a unmarked glass door. Kristy held it open for me and I walked in to a tall set of stairs. With a little push Kristy sent me on my way “Up you go. Charlie is waiting for us.” I climbed the stairs, and at the top expected to see some evidence of a salon, but it was just a bunch of numbered doors. She pointed me towards the end of the hall towards the last door. The door read ‘Charlotte Williams Studio’. There were 2 barber chairs and a wooden bench to sit on. I started for the bench when Kristy grabbed my arm “Your seat is over there” as she pointed to the first chair.
As hesitated to sit in the chair the other door opened and out came who I guessed was Charlotte, or Charlie. This was Kristy’s Guy. She was what I could only describe as a extreme butch woman. She wore a tank top which showed that she was quite muscular. She also wore her hair in a longer flat top with the sides faded well above her ears. She greeted Kristy as a friend and gave me the once over “You got a real cute one this time Kristy.” I had no idea what the comment was all about, and before I could ask Kristy anything Charlie was helping me get into the chair. I was caped, then Charlie started to comb thru the top of my head “So did you have something in mind Kristy, or is it my choice?”
I don’t know why, but I expected Kristy to tell Charlie how to cut my hair, but instead left it to me. “It’s all up to her Charlie” I don’t understand why, but for some reason I didn’t feel intimidated with Charlie looking down at me “Well sweetheart are you going to let me take this all off?” Instead, even though I had not given it any thoughts before I came here I spoke up clearly “Just like yours only a little longer on top.” I couldn’t believe I just told her that. Before college I had never thought about having short hair, but at that moment I felt it was just what I always wanted.
Kristy was beaming with joy as the clippers came to life. I still can’t believe how comfortable I felt as I saw Charlie running that little clipper most of the way up the sides. The sight of my bare scalp almost made me feel like that’s I how it should have always been. As Charlie took the fade on the sides higher I was starting to admire not only her skills as a barber, but I started to feel a bit of an attraction towards her as well.
I was walking out the door as a whole new girl. When I saw my new look in the mirror I didn’t understand why, but it just felt right. I knew it wouldn’t be the last time I would see Charlie, professionally and hopefully socially. All Kristy kept telling me was how she knew from the first time we met where my interests were.
I was about to graduate with my degree in Marketing. Over the past year and a half My new girlfriend Charlie has helped me refine every part of my new butch image. We had decided that we wouldn’t live together until after I finished school, but any free time was spent with her.
A few weeks before I graduated I was offered a job in the marketing office at the same company where Kristy was also offered a position. When I asked her if she had anything to do with my offer Kristy asked me to sit down as she had something big to tell me.
I sat, oblivious as to what Kristy was going to say, but when she spoke I could not believe what she was saying. “Lindsey, there’s a secret that you must know.” She then unloaded herself to me a story that I could hardly believe. Kristy and all the other girls from the pod weren’t undergraduate students at all, but all graduate students working on their masters degrees in food sciences. If that wasn’t enough of a surprise, what she said next was even more insane. The projects they were all working on were different additives that would open people up to becoming their true self.
The first additives I was given would take away any inhibitions I had about my weight. In addition I was given large dosages of liquid weight gainer in my food. My continued comfort with adding all the weight meant that they would keep feeding me the supplements. In 4 years of college I had added just under 100 lbs of weight.
The other additives I was given worked on my sexuality. I had a boyfriend in high school, but once I got to college it just wasn’t important to me. At first it was just me being very comfortable with all the girls in the pod, but once Kristy and I moved in together I was given the next round of supplements, and of course given the opportunity to meet Charlie
Kristy said she had noticed which way my tendencies by my sophomore year, but needed me to choose just how far I wanted to go. She then explained that as a part of my involvement in the study I would be offered a position in the company.
At first I was infuriated, but as I thought about it i realized that I was truly happy with who I had become. I spent years as a shy, long-haired, skinny girl and only thought was that was the way I’m expected to be, but now I know that this is who I want to be. If it took some chemistry to get me here then I guess I shouldn’t be angry.
As part of my job offer, the company paid off all my student loans, plus a rather large bonus. Charlotte as I had grown accustomed to calling her, and I were engaged soon thereafter, much to my parents disappointment their daughter wouldn’t be wearing a fancy white dress at her wedding. Thanks to a coin flip that all fell on Charlotte, but my dad was still happy as he got to walk his daughter-in-law down the aisle.
