CHAPTER 12. Draper, to whom we must now apply the feminine pronouns "she,""her," and "hers," stood forlornly inside Colin's bedroom, leaning back against the closed door, sobbing quietly, and soon awakened Colin, who sat up in bed clutching the bedclothes to her breast and stared at the tearful young woman whom she could see plainly enough by the early morning light streaming in through the open window. Colin thought she was beautiful, with her luminously pale skin, her sumptuous figure and her long, dark hair. Their eyes met for an instant. With a jolt, Colin felt she had seen those eyes before... But, no. This girl was a stranger. She was mistaken. "Wh...wh....who are you?" Colin asked. "What are you doing in my bedroom? And why are you naked? " Draper did not reply. She merely sobbed more profoundly. Suddenly, she scurried across the small bedroom and threw herself into Colin's arms. "O, Colin! It's me, Peter!" she blubbered. "I've been turned into a girl like the rest of you! O, this is terrible!" "Peter?" echoed the redhead. "Peter? O, No! This is terrible! It ruins everything!" Colin began to cry, too, holding Draper's head against her breast and stroking her hair. "I was hoping Peter would marry me," she wailed, "and now he... he.... she can't... because you're Peter." "It's true! It's me, Peter!" Draper wailed, "And I don't know the first thing about being a girl!" Colin had to laugh through her tears. "I wouldn't worry about that!" she snorted, "You'll learn all about it soon enough. Have you had to pee yet? That'll teach you a whole lot in a jiffy.... But, seriously, Peter, you're gorgeous! Tell me what happened..." Draper sat up and let Colin dab at her tears with a corner of the bedsheet. "It was those horrid Greeks - Stavros and Dimitrios," she sniffled indignantly, "They did it to me. They drugged me with something and tied me ever so tightly to a chair in front of that mirror not half an hour ago. And just look at me now!" Draper whimpered, gesturing deprecatingly at her breasts and her love-mound. "And then," the new transmute continued, "That awful Dimitrios went and shoved her fingers in my... my..... in my you-know-what! Oooh! I hate them! If I could just get my hands on them, I'd scratch their eyes out!" Draper broke into a fresh cascade of tears. "Anyway," she resumed, as her tears subsided, "They're jealous because I'm prettier than they are! They have hairy legs, and I don't! And they have little moustaches, too!" Colin, of course, saw that although Draper's brain was being rapidly feminized, she was still in the initial stages of gender confusion, common to all fresh transmutes. After all, Colin knew the symptoms well enough, having suffered them herself only a week earlier. Why the two Greeks had retained their masculine minds was perplexing to her: they were the only transmutes on the island who did. All the others had quickly become female in mind as well as in body, even the little Greek lesbians, and, judging from the way she was already talking, Professor Peter Draper did not appear to be another exception to the general rule. Why, Colin was half expecting that Draper would start asking about lingerie next! As if on cue, Draper stopped her crying. She stood and glanced alertly about the room, searching for something specific. Not finding it, she turned to Colin. "I say, Old Girl," Draper began, in an over-deliberately calm and well- modulated soprano, as if she had not been bawling her heart two minutes earlier about being changed into a female, "I say. You wouldn't happen to have some silky, uh... silky, um, undies lying about, would you, dear? I mean undies that you're not... uh, personally using at the moment? I'm afraid I'm fresh out, and I just can't walk around nude all day long, you know. It's hardly respectable... So, d'you have any?" Colin stared at Draper for several moments, then broke out in silvery laughter. "You really are a woman, Peter!" she exclaimed when she recovered her breath. "Well, of course, you're physically female - that's obvious - but you're already thinking like a woman! It took me at least a day before I starting mooning over silky undies." "I am most definitely not thinking like a woman!" Draper shot back, stamping her little foot. "I may look female, I admit, but I'm as male as ever! I'm merely being practical. I mean, well, I couldn't help noticing how smooth my skin is now, and how, um, soft I've become, um, down there. Some nice silk undies would be most appropriate, I should think. Just because I may look like a woman doesn't mean..." "...doesn't mean you are one," Colin interrupted. "No. Of course not, Peter. You're as male as ever. You're merely a practical guy who happens to find himself female all of a sudden and wants to do the practical guy thing - to put on girl's undies even though he isn't a girl, simply because he happens to look like one... Yes, very, very practical, Peter. Very logical, too." Here Colin had to stop to guffaw. "What's so Goddamned funny?" Draper snapped. "O, nothing, nothing..." replied the redhead, choking with laughter. "Well, are you going to answer my question or not? Do you have any spare silky undies?" "You mean, spare silky undies for a guy who isn't a girl?" Colin teased. Tears of laughter were streaming down the redhead's cheeks. "Exactly!" "Yes, Peter, lots. Over there in that chest near the window," Colin replied, gesturing to a cedar chest against the wall, its lid standing open. "I think you'll find just the ticket... Here, let me show you." The redhead got out of bed, still clad in her lovely jade-colored panties and bra. She gently took Draper by the hand and led her to the open chest. Draper's eyes grew large when she saw that the chest was filled with shiny silks and satins in bright colors and pastels. "Ooooo!" Draper moaned in ecstasy, "Look at all this stuff! A guy could find something nice here, I'm sure." "Yes, he certainly could," Colin agreed, holding up a scrumptious pair of panties in garnet-colored silk, with symmetrical garnet-colored lace panels in front and ruffles of the same lace over the seat (we need harly mention the obligatory dainty little flat satin bow at the waistband). "Here," Colin said, thrusting them at Draper. "Feel the how soft the gusset is - like thistledown. Imagine how it'll feel against your.... against your you- know-what, as you call it. I'll bet you'll soak them through in five minutes flat! Ooops, sorry, Peter! I forgot," she said, retracting the panties, "I forgot you're a guy. In that case, you'll most likely stay dry. Too bad. Perhaps you'd like something in sensible, practical cotton...." "No!" Draper exclaimed, "No cotton! These look OK. I'll try 'em!" She snatched the panties from Colin and began to examine them minutely. "Gee! These are nice!" Draper exclaimed after running them through her fingers several times and concluding that they were soft enough for her intimate parts. Without further ado, she stepped into them. Like all transmutes pulling on panties for the first time, Draper was electrified by the erotic sensation of silk against her body, by the sensual snugness of the garment as it conformed to her contours and curves. Needless to say, she had to go through the mandatory ritual of stroking herself through her new panties. Draper became completely oblivious to Colin's presence. In fact, she had closed her eyes and was moaning in rapture. After about five minutes, Colin poked her in the ribs. "Hey, Peter! Come back to earth!" Draper opened her eyes halfway and stared languorously at Colin, a bland little smile on her lips. "Why should I? I like where I am!" she purred. "Still think you're a guy, do you?" asked Colin. "Um.... I think I'm getting wet down there, Colin," Draper announced in a reverential whisper, as if she were imparting a monumental disxovery, like, say, fire or the wheel. "I feel as if I'm flowing... I feel so.... so penetrable!" "I'm not surprised. But that doesn't answer my question, Peter." "Yes it does. Do guys get wet down there, Colin? Do guys flow like a river when they get turned on? Do guys feel penetrable? I don't think so," said Draper, furrowing her pretty brow in earnest analysis of what she was feeling. "In other words...." "In other words, I have to admit I'm a woman, after all," continued Draper. "And I like how it feels." "Good! I'm glad you finally see the light, Peter. I was beginning to worry about you. As you'll soo find out, to be female is to live in a state of perpetual arousal. You'll be wet a good part of the time...."