"An orange mocha frappuccino with extra whipped cream please"
Samantha Aston groaned. The 16-year-old was just starting the second hour of an five-hour shift at Starbucks and she was already annoyed. Samantha had started working there six months ago part-time as a way to save up money for a car. Well, she wasn't saving enough money ($875) and she felt her sanity slipping.
"I'm sorry sir, we don't make that drink here." The perturbed customer glared at her. "Areeeee you sureeee?"
"Yes. I wouldn't even know how to make an orange mocha-"
"Look, missus, maybe you should get your manager." Samantha could feel her teeth slowly grinding themselves into dust.
"Our menu has a series of options. I can provide you with a mocha frappuccino. It's delicious." The customer was not having it. "Look, I want the orang mocha frappuccino I saw in Zoolander and I want it now!" Samantha had enough. "THIS IS NOT ZOOLANDER AND WE DO NOT MAKE THAT DRINK, NOW ORDER SOMETHING ELSE!" she screamed from the top of her lungs.
---------------------
Following her outburst, Samantha was a Starbucks barista no longer and realized that her dream of buying a car was that much farther away. The teenager, of Indian-Israeli descent, brushed her long black curly hair away from her face as she was walking home. The cold November wind was already pissing her off. She hated this time of year...the weather dropped 15 degrees ago and it started getting dark before 5:00.
Samantha was frustrated. Her mother and father was already saving money for her college education, whic meant that she had to try to buy a used car all on her own. She didn't particularly NEED the car, she just wanted it. All of her friends had one and she didn't want to feel left out. Plus, the car would represent her first steps towards independence. Samantha knew that life had big things ahead for her, she just wasn't sure what they were.
As she was walking down the street, she saw a flyer posted on a lightpole:
UNIVERSITY OF DUVENT GENDER STUDY
LOOKING FOR ALL WILLING PARTICIPANTS
SIX-MONTH STUDY, PAYS $15,000 IF COMPLETED
LEARN WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO BE A MAN OR WOMAN
Samantha was gobsmacked. $15,000?!?!!? That would be enough to get her a new car and then some. The university was 15 minutes walking from her house. She reversed direction and started sprinting towards the university.campus.
--------------------------
After 10 minutes of walking and another 10 minutes of looking, Samantha had finally found the research center.
Walking up to the receptionist area, Samantha blurted "um, I'm here to get more info about the gender study."
"Hmm, you're quite young...I'm not sure if Dr. Creight has an age limit for this." the receptionist pondered. "Well, fill this paperwork out and go ahead and take a seat, he'll be with you shortly.
Samantha sat down. She looked over the papers, asking general information and some weird psychology questions such as "What do you consider your most appealing trait" and "Do you ever feel obligated to make certain choices?" After filling out the questionnaire, she waited for what seemed like an eternity, before hearing an old man's voice.
"Samantha?" the old man asked. "Hi, I'm Dr. Alex Creight. Why don't you follow me into my office."
------------
Samantha was intimidated from the outset. The 58-year-old professor stood a foot over her 5"4 frame, and had the look of a man who had been doing this for a very long time.
The teen plopped into the chair opposite Creight's desk. He looked at her for minute, collected his thoughts and began:
"Gender is a concept that has existed for quite a long time, and yet, in the last 30 plus years, we have really started to ask ourselves "what does gender actually mean"? For the longest time, we had it conflated with biological sex; if you're born with a penis and testes, you're a man, and if you have ovaries and a vagina, you're a woman. However, we've come to see through not just transgender people but straight and queer people, that gender identity is a wholly separate concept from biological sex."
Samantha wondered where this conversation was heading.
"With that being said, the conflation exists in many people's minds still. So, the University of Duvent and a molecular biology institute decided to pair up for a study that asks a simple question; what, exactly, makes a man and a woman a woman?"
Samantha was confused. "Sooooo.....what are you paying people 15k for?"
Dr. Creight laughed. "This is not a typical study. This requires an effort, a sacrifice. If you decide to follow through on this study, you will be required to transform. Samantha, you will look like a 16-year-old biological male and have the reproductive parts of a 16-year-old male. For six months, you will live as a teen boy."
Unable to fully process what was just said to her, Samantha stared at the professor with her jaw dropped.
-----------------
Dr. Creight explained the experiment further. The institute had provided machinery and chemicals that could change a person at the molecular level. The person who underwent the transformation would go back into their normal environment. They would write weekly diaries about their experiences in their new body, how they feel, how people treat them, and how it's altered the way they think/act. After the six-month period, the participants would be changed back into their original bodies and be required to follow up with diaries three months after that. For Samantha, she would start in January, after winter break, and end in June.
"This study will provide a never-before-seen view into just how much a person's body shapes their self-image and their interactions with the rest of the world. Your experience, especially given how young you are, would provide insight into how early these notions are born and reinforced."
There were a billion thoughts going through Samantha's head, and about 99% of them amounted to "why are you even considering this, it's insane!". And it was. She was an attractive 16-year-old with friends, a boyfriend, and a good amount of self-confidence. Would she toss all that away for money? Yet....it was a lot of money. It would help her, her family, and her future. There was also the possibility that this experience would help her grow as an individual, make her more of a well-rounded person.
Whatever she decided, it wasn't going to be today.
"This sounds very interesting, and I'm super tempted, obviously, but I need time to think. "
Dr. Creight nodded. "That's okay. This is a big life change; it shouldn't be done in haste and without a lot of thought. However, we're going to move forward with the study soon, so I need to have a definitive answer from you two weeks from now."
Samantha got up to leave. "You will". As she was walking out the door, Dr. Creight stopped her.
"One more thing...as a minor, I will need both of your parent's consent to conduct this study on you."
She rolled her eyes. $15,000 didn't seem like it would be worth all this effort.
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author