“Emily! Where’ve you been for the past week?!”

The moment Emily stepped through the door to the classroom, with me following just behind her, a blonde-haired girl seated near the back of the room called out to her energetically.

“You texted me saying you’d be away on Monday,” she continued, her voice somewhat losing out to the chaos of all of the other students talking over each other, “but you never said anything past that.”

Who’s this? Since I usually spent most of my time at school studying in the library, by myself, I was unfamiliar with most of Emily’s school friends. Last week, she said that she’d introduce me to her friends, but a lot has happened since then.

“Oh, Caitlyn,” Emily briefly waved, before speeding up to find a seat next to her before it was claimed by someone else. “Yeah… sorry ‘bout that. There was a lot going on.”

When she was just about to reach the empty seat next to Caitlyn, she turned around, gesturing for me to follow her. Caitlyn followed her gaze, noticing me as I clutched my folder closer to myself and quickened my pace. The girl sitting next to her leaned forward, brushing her long, dark brown hair out of her face as she peered around Emily to stare at me.

“Who’s the new girl?” the brown-haired girl asked, pausing for a moment as she stared at my silver hair.

“She’s a friend of mine.” As Emily replied to her, she sat down next to Caitlyn, subtly turning her back towards me as she adjusted her tail out of the way underneath her dress. “She’s the reason I was away for all of last week.”

“I’m… sorry about that,” I timidly said, sitting down into the seat next to her.

“Nah, it’s fine. You went through a lot.” Pulling her school supplies towards herself, she motioned to the two girls sitting next to her, on the other side. “Flora, this is Caitlyn and Amelia.”

The two girls waved at me as I shrunk back slightly in my chair, nervousness beginning to set in.

“Caitlyn, Amelia,” Emily continued, pushing her chair back so that her friends could get a clear view of me, “this is Flora, one of my friends.”

“Um, h-hi,” I mumbled, giving both of them a small wave in return. I look fine… right? They can’t tell that I used to be–

Caitlyn leaned towards me, her entire upper body intruding on Emily’s space as she excitedly began chattering away at me. “You just transferred, right? How long have you known Emily? Where’d you meet her? And what do you think of our school?”

Too close!

Emily grabbed Caitlyn’s shoulder, slowly lifting her up out of her personal space as I grew flustered under the load of all of her questions.

“Give her some space, okay?” She leaned in front of me protectively. “She’s barely had a chance to get used to everything. Don’t overload her like that.”

“Right, my bad.”

“U-um,” Amelia nervously spoke up from her seat next to Caitlyn, trying to join the conversation, “y-your hair’s… really pretty.”

“Uhh–” My mind blanked for a moment, and I pulled a lock of hair in front of my eyes to stare at it.

It’s still the kinda silvery colour that it turned after I used spirit magic for the first time… am I going to get in trouble for dyeing my hair?

“Is this another hair thing?” Caitlyn interjected, turning back towards Amelia.

“Well–but,” Amelia looked away nervously, seemingly trying to muster up energy as her face turned slightly red under Caitlyn’s gaze. “Look at her… her hair’s silver!”

Caitlyn reached towards her, placing a hand on her head and ruffling her hair. “Yeah, yeah.”

“My hair–” she wailed, ducking down to get away from Caitlyn’s hand and whimpering as she tried to smooth out her hair.

“Alright, that’s enough,” the teacher called out, clapping his hands. Amelia and Emily both flinched at the noise, and Emily’s nearly-transparent ears folded back along her head.

She’s hiding her ears and tail with illusions… but not her eyes. It doesn’t seem like either of them have noticed, though… 

As the students around us slowly quietened down, pulling their textbooks out and flipping to the appropriate page, the teacher began setting up for his lecture.

I remember where we were up to, but I’m a week behind, so I might have to sit in the library for a few days to catch up. Emily should be in the same boat, though… will we be okay?

 

…

Why is this so easy?

It was weird. Maths was… well, I usually did alright on my tests, thanks mostly to my habit of studying in the library during lunch, but I was never an outstanding student.

It’s so clear. I feel like I can understand everything, as long as he explains it. Wait…

Sitting back for a moment to take a breather, I realised the strange feeling I was having.

It’s like… that weird language thing that happened last week. Do spirits learn things differently to humans?

Glancing over towards Emily, I watched the tips of her ears twitch as she worked her way through the questions our teacher has assigned for us.

No… that doesn’t really make sense. The language thing seems like it only affects spoken words. Something about “the intent of the speaker”–I remember asking Aeriel about it a while ago, because I was worried about whether I’d be able to take language classes.

“You’re Flora, right?”

“Wah–” I almost screamed, managing to cut off my voice as I suddenly found the teacher crouching down in front of my desk. “Um… yes, that’s me.”

He laughed as I grew embarrassed from being caught off guard, a light, disarming laugh.

“Sorry about that, uhh–where was I… You just started classes today, right?” He spoke quietly, seemingly trying to calm me down. “Miss Crawford told me.”

“Miss… Crawford?” Who’s that?

“That’s Elena,” Emily interjected from the side, not even looking away from her workbook.

Is that her last name? I never knew… 

“Anyway,” the teacher continued, glancing down at my desk, “I see you already have the right textbook. Where are you up to?”

“Um,” I rotated both my textbook and my workbook around, so that he could read them. “I’m up to date on the theory… I just need a bit of time to catch up.”

It really was weird. My mind felt clear, more so than it had the past few years of school. The way I feel right now, I could probably catch up in a day or so, easily.

“Ah, that’s good. Let me know if you need any help okay?” He placed his hands in the free space just to the side of my desk, using them to lift himself upright. “I’m Mr. Brown, by the way.”

“I–cool, thank you.”

I just barely stopped myself from saying “I know” and making him realise who I was! He… didn’t realise that my folder and pencil case are all the same as before, right?

 

*****

 

Glancing up at the clock to the side of the classroom, I lightly nudged Emily’s side.

“Emily, the bell’s about to ring.”

“Right, thanks,” she replied, her body tensing up slightly.

 

When the bell had rung before, to signal the middle of class, Emily was completely unprepared for it. She had to stifle a yelp as her hands shot up on top of her head to fold her ears flat, and she gritted her teeth at the noise coming from the nearby speaker.

Everything’s so much louder for her now… she has to get used to it all over again.

Caitlyn and Amelia both grew quite worried for her, causing her to panic a little as she tried to find an excuse for her new reactions.

“Sorry–um… I’m okay,” she said, trying to reassure them. “I was just startled, that’s all.”

“I-if you’re sure.” Amelia seemed unconvinced, and Emily quickly turned away, trying not to face either of the two girls sitting next to her.

 

In the end, thanks to my abnormally clear state of mind, I was able to keep an eye on the clock as the class went on, so that I could warn Emily when the bell was about to ring.

“...still so loud,” she mumbled, flinching when it sounded from the speaker just above us, at the back of the room.

Though Caitlyn immediately leaped out of her seat, having packed up her books before the end of class, Amelia awkwardly hung around, glancing between Emily and I, and Caitlyn, who was quickly making her way to the door.

“Um–a-are you… okay?” she asked, stammering slightly.

Emily quickly went on the defensive, trying to handwave away her reactions to the sound. “I’m fine. I’m just… anxious about a few things, that’s all.”

That’s probably not a lie, knowing her… she’s good at hiding what’s really troubling her.

“O-okay. Um, I can–you can talk to me… if you need…” Amelia looked around nervously as she gathered up her books. “Um, I’m… gonna go find Caitlyn. I-it was nice meeting you, Flora.”

She lifted a hand away from her books to wave at me, before dashing off in Caitlyn’s footsteps, clutching her belongings tightly.

“Y-you too,” I called out, as she left.

She seems nice… though a little nervous. Is it just because I’m new?

“Hey, Flora?” Emily turned to me as she gathered all of her belongings together. “I… I wanna ask you about something.”

“Hm?” Is she struggling with her hearing, or something?

She glanced around, waiting until the classroom had mostly emptied of students, before leaning in towards me.

“I really wanna tell them about the whole… fox thing,” she whispered, fidgeting with the torn edge of one of her folders. “I trust them, so… I don’t want to hide something like this, but…”

Her ears drooped to the side as she nervously looked around,  double-checking to make sure that no one was listening.

“I-if I do that,” her voice shook slightly as she continued, “You might have to… tell them about what happened to you, as well. Not the whole girl thing, but–though I think they’d be okay with it, um…”

“Honestly,” I began, my steps light as I stood up and hopped around her seat towards the door, “those two seem really nice.”

“Y-yeah… they are.” Emily slowly lifted herself out of her seat behind me, the facade of confidence she kept up slowly disintegrating. “I just–I don’t want to force you to…”

“We can work out a plan in Elena’s office.” Making my way next to the door, I waited for Emily to catch up, as she slowly plodded along the side of the classroom. “I think she wants me to check in with her, anyway.”

“O-okay.”

 

Emily’s energy seemed to return as we walked back to our lockers, and she energetically dashed ahead of me in the corridor.

“I’ll text Zoey and let her know where we’re going,” she said, as she swiftly opened her locker and shoved her stuff inside.

“Right.” ...Wait, wrong locker.

As I awkwardly crouched down in front of the correct locker this time, I heard the sound of Emily’s footsteps rushing past me towards the admin building.

Geez… nervous one minute, and hyper the next. You’d think she was running on pure caffeine! Did she even grab her lunch?

Slipping my books inside my locker, I opened my bag and rummaged around inside it.

...Did I even make a lunch for today?

…

Well, I guess I’m going to the canteen, then.

Dejectedly closing my locker, I rummaged around inside my pockets, searching for my wallet.

I know I brought it… The moment I stood up to make my way to the canteen, my wrist was tightly grabbed, and I began to be pulled along the corridor.

“Hey!” I screamed, panic beginning to set in. “Wai–”

“Shhhhhhh.”

Stumbling back upright as I was dragged along, I finally caught a glimpse of who had grabbed me.

Grey-brown hair… 

“You were staring at me before!”

“I…” the girl in front of me began, her hair streaming behind her and dress fluttering backwards as she sped up through the open door to the schoolyard, “I need to talk to you.”

“O-okay, but can we talk somewh-”

“Alone.”

Swinging around the corner of the art wing, she ducked inside, leaping up the steps two at a time. I stumbled on the lower one, almost falling flat, but she effortlessly lifted me back upright before my knees collided with the floor.

She’s so strong!

Still pulling me, she ducked through the chain of interconnected art rooms, before yanking open the door to a small paper storage room between them, dashing inside with me, and closing it behind her.

What’s going on… My knees gave out from underneath me, and I collapsed to the floor, panting heavily. That strength wasn’t normal. Did she…

“I’m sorry–I just…” Still facing away from me, she hung her head, her voice apologetic as she spoke to me. “I really needed to talk to you. Um…”

Nervously turning around, she crouched down in front of me as I tried to catch my breath.

“Yesterday… you were at the shopping centre down the road… right? When the fire alarm went off?”

Did she see? No, I shouldn’t have been visible, but…

“And… you were floating…”

She saw me! I quickly scrambled upright, trying to make for the door, but stopped as she called out to me.

“Wait!”

Frozen in front of the door, I glanced back, looking at her staring up at me. Her blue eyes were filled with anxiety, a few tears slowly dripping down her face. 

“Don’t leave!” she wailed, her shoulders shaking. “You know what’s going on, don’t you?”

She saw me floating… so either she has spirit sight, or…

She reached out, latching onto my hand as I stood near the door. “Um–you’re… not human, are you?”

Taking a deep breath, I tried to chase away the panic that had set in.

She sounds really scared… if she’s gone through a change and doesn’t have any idea what’s going on, or doesn’t have anyone she can talk to about it… 

“T-that’s right,” I replied, taking a deep breath as I resolved myself to tell her. “I’m half-spirit.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” The strength left her arms as she slumped to the floor, and she weakly held on to a nearby shelf to lift herself upright. “I’m not the only one…”

“Um, did you go through a change too?” I timidly asked, massaging my wrist where she had grabbed me.

“Yes! Uhh,” she energetically stepped towards me, before stopping as she quickly averted eye contact, her cheeks turning red. “Could you… turn around for a bit?”

 

“Okay, you can… turn around now.”

Following her lead, I spun around to find her standing in front of me, nervously fiddling with her hair.

She's got…

On the top of her head were two small, triangular furry ears, the same grey-brown colour as her hair. They twitched slightly as she scratched at them with her free hand. Reaching down with her other hand, in which she held a brown plastic headband and a rolled-up bandage, she massaged the base of her back, causing something to twitch at the back of her skirt. A small, furry tail drooped down behind her, the fur the same grey-brown as her hair, save for the black tip.

As soon as she spotted me staring at her, she leapt forward and grabbed my shoulders, the headband and bandage still in her hands.

“You know what happened, right?” she pleaded, her hands shaking as she held on to me. “I… I think I turned into a werewolf!”