I had to part ways with Eva for my first class, the dreaded english. I hated it so much, and for good reason, my teacher was absolutely and completely dull. Ambien in human form, cosplaying as business casual Gandalf the Grey.

I also didn’t really know anyone in that class, so I had no one to talk to either. Chatter was always a thing too, the old man wasn’t going to notice.

It was sort of surreal going back into the classroom after so long away. First covid had destroyed everything, then we’d gone back to school once everyone had gotten sick of caring about it, then the magic thing happened and school got entirely cancelled.

Sitting down in my usual seat, I surveyed the rest of the class warily. I had a few eyes on me, people staring at the unknown girl with the fox ears and tail, which I had hooked around to lay in my lap where I could play with it.

The other kids were all immersed in catching up with each other in person for the first time in like a week, which meant that they left me alone, thank god.

Well, that is until Jake sat down on my right. I knew Jake because he had been in a few of my previous classes, but also just because he’d sat there before school had gone on hiatus. I knew that he was a sporty, athletic type of dude, but not part of the social elite of the school because he played soccer and tennis and shit. The “uncool” sports. If what I had heard was to be believed, he was actually pretty good too.

I’d never asked him though, because yeah… nothing more than a pair of kids who had spoken a few times during class. I think he’d tried to be my friend at one point, but I was such a sullen little shit in middle school that the attempt had failed miserably.

That was about the extent of things, which made it all the more awkward when he immediately began glancing at me like every two seconds.

“Jake, please stop staring at me,” I sighed, finally giving in and turning to him.

His messy blond hair looked like it had been quickly combed into position with his fingers, and he had somehow contorted his lanky frame into something he probably thought was a cool pose. Oh no… please don’t tell me…

“I uh, don’t think I remember you sorry. You know my name though, have we met?” he asked with a casual air that was anything but natural.

“Yes, we’ve met,” I said warily, uncertain how to do this next part. I wasn’t going to go around pretending to be my own cousin or something dumb like that, way too much effort. “I used to sit here before the big magic crisis thing.”

“That magic storm, they’re calling it the Concord Event, right? Because it started here,” he nodded, a moment before his eyes widened in awe and recognition. “Wait, you’re Itias?”

“Yup, although as you can see, the name doesn’t really fit me anymore, so I go by Tia now,” I said with a surprisingly happy smile. I mean, my change had definitely been an upgrade in pretty much every aspect except peeing versatility.

His reaction was… a lot to handle. For both of us, probably. He sort of sat there and stared at me with confused thoughts clearly visible whirring around inside his skull. I could take a guess at what they were, or I could just read the slight blush on his cheeks or the way he kept looking my whole body over. Poor guy was probably wrestling with his sexuality in a way he’d never thought he’d need to.

“Um… Hi Tia, I guess,” he finally said with an uncertain smile. “You’re a girl now.”

“Yup,” I agreed, unable to hold back a chuckle that sounded annoyingly like a giggle. “Fox girl, actually, like some sort of fuckin’ anime character.”

“Like a cartoon porn character?” he asked, eyes almost falling out of his head.

I groaned. “No, dumbass. That’s hentai. Like a dragon ball character or something.”

“Oh right, just normal cartoons then,” he said with an awkward laugh, cheeks red.

“Yeah, normal cartoons,” I nodded. I did not have the motivation or energy to explain what the difference between anime and hentai was. “Look, point is, I’m not just a girl, I’m a weird magical creature too.”

Again, his eyes drifted up and down my body, he was too bamboozled to hide it I guess.

“You look hot,” he blurted. He followed up with an apologetic smile as his cheeks and ears lit up red. “Sorry. It’s just… well you do, you know? Got that whole rebel chick vibe going.”

“The follow up was better,” I laughed, finding that I actually enjoyed the compliment. I guess I liked the idea of being hot? Well, let’s be real… most people enjoy being good looking, it’s just that I used to be a boy and now I was a girl who was girl-hot. “Thanks dude. Wish I could say the same, but… I’m not into guys. I think you’re good looking? No idea.”

“Oh,” he said, looking slightly crestfallen. Yup, dude had his hopes up. I guess I should be thankful that he wasn’t trying to power past my sexuality like a dickhead. “That’s cool.”

Jake’s friend arrived soon after, and although he tried to get me involved and talking, I sort of checked out and put my head down to work when the teacher arrived. He was a little overwhelming with the way he was all puppy eyes fawning over me. Like dude, chill… I literally just told you I’m not interested.

English class was predictably dull, although not as bad as usual. Jake was entertaining at least, which sort of helped.

Next up was social studies… with Eva! I was excited to see her again, even though it had only been like an hour since the bus. What can I say? I had a cool best friend.

I sat down next to her without saying hi, prompting her to glance over at me, pause for a second as her brain registered that it was me… then she hugged me super tight with a squeal. “Tia!”

“Hey Eva,” I grinned, letting out a proper giggle. I didn’t feel weird being feminine around her, it felt natural.

“Ready for the incredibly interesting topic of how the government operates?” she asked, pretending breathless excitement. “I totally am!”

“I bet you’re going to bounce out of your chair from sheer boredom,” I laughed, poking her shoulder. “You’re always so hyperactive, even more than me… actually no that might not be true anymore, but still.”

“Blame the ADHD,” she said, poking me back. “Maybe you got a dose of it too when you transformed.”

“Probably,” I snorted, thinking of the smudge mark on the hallway opposite my bedroom door. I’d slammed into that exact same spot so many times now on my way out of my room that there was a funny black mark on the wall.

“It’s okay, we’ll be hyperactive together,” she smiled, leaning her head down on my shoulder. It didn’t stay there long though, because she popped back up to look at me again. “That’s not all ADHD is though, the worst part is trying to pay attention to boring teachers when your brain is thinking about a million different things. I call it thinking in a sphere. Cos like, you think in all directions instead of just focusing in a more narrow way like normal people seem to be able to.”

“Yeah, I remember you talking about that.” Eva had always had trouble with concentrating in class. Sometimes if the teacher was nice they’d let her bring in something to fidget with, but a lot of teachers weren’t all that nice about it.

Speaking of teachers, ours walked in and began the class, starting with the whole, “Welcome back to school!” thing. 

Our teacher was one of those younger types who was still trying to be the cool teacher that everyone liked. She was pretty, light brown hair and a big smile that could turn thunderous if someone really pissed her off.

Class progressed as expected, a whole lot of reintroduction to what we were meant to be doing and not a lot of actual substance, at least during the first half. The second half got a bit more into actually learning, and as Eva had predicted, she got very bored, very quickly. Thus began ten minutes of search for something to keep the back half of her mind occupied while the front half listened to the teacher.

That ended when she began to flip a pen around her fingers, getting faster and faster with each repetition until it whizzed off through the air, landing on the floor a good dozen feet away.

Ms Moreno paused in her lecture and stared at Eva like she was trying to figure out if she should play good cop or bad cop. Finally, she walked over and picked the pen up, then returned it to Eva’s desk with a sharp look. “Eva, having trouble paying attention?”

“A-ah… I’m sorry,” my friend squeaked, staring up with wide eyes at the grumpy teacher.

Quickly, I raised my hand, “Sorry ma’am, she has ADHD and can’t get any proper meds right now. She was concentrating, just needed something for her hands to be doing while she listened. I think I… I might have something she can do that’s less disruptive than pen flipping.”

Our teacher seemed to calm a little as I spoke, giving me a nod, “And what would that be Miss Tia?”

Huh, guess they had sent an email out about me? Come to think of it, my english teacher hadn’t batted an eyelid at me either. Cool, nice not to have to explain myself to the teacher in front of the whole freaking class. Oh right, helping Eva!

“Uh, this,” I said with a cheeky grin, flopping my tail down into my friend’s lap. “Play with that.”

A few chuckles followed from the class as Eva, face afire, twined her fingers through the fur of my tail and began to idly brush it.

Ms Moreno, who had joined in on the chuckling, gave a nod. “Good enough, and Eva? See about getting some medication, I’m sure the school counsellor can help.”

“Counsellor can’t get my mum health insurance,” my friend muttered, but otherwise she smiled and nodded, giving her a, “Yes Miss.”

Class resumed, with Eva now happily playing with my tail, brushing and unbrushing the fur with delight written across her features. I caught her sneaking looks at me a few times as I wrote notes, each time a small, funny little smile on her face. Personally, I was just glad I could help my friend through one small part of the day. Her situation meant that her supply of medication was spotty and usually reserved for important days when there were exams or whatever. Good old US of A. Wooo...

QuietValerie

I BINKY WHERE I PLEASE. Awooooo. Hope this chapter finds you well, and if not, I BELIEVE IN YOU <3. Also hope this chapter helps :3. See you all later!