Jenny and Artemis were now in the playground. The defuse light from the sun, was just enough to make the strange crater patterns appear on Artemis's face. A lot of children stared at her, mostly out of intrigue and interest. Though a few were a little timid to approach, despite her charming smile.
Jenny walked with her exploring the grounds hand in hand. A curious picture was painted on a wall, and it stretched out quite a distance. She trailed her finger along the brickwork. It was a painting of a very long ship, with vibrant colours.
"My mummy is taking me to see the doctor after school," Artemis said to Jenny.
"Oh... That's okay. Lilly's father is one. Doctors are nice," Smiled Jenny as they continued to walk along the wall.
"I feel fine though!" the moon girl giggled. Why couldn't she see how fortunate she was to have two mothers? She felt safe and happy. Better then ever. "Where's Lilly?" she asked glancing around.
The girls glanced around but couldn't find any sign of their other friend. She had rushed out quite quickly after class without even a word.
"No idea," Said Jenny glancing around too. "She's a strange one. She disappears a lot." The squirrel seemed to be a bit of a loner at times, despite the attachment she placed on them. She didn't know what to make of her... but she did like her.
"I feel kinda bad when I said boys were silly," Artemis said with a slight blush. The rise of blood on her cheeks gave two distinct craters a pinkish aura around them. It almost looked like a gentle moonrise on her skin.
"I'm sure she'll be okay," Smiled Jenny re-assuring her. "But- she's not happy bein' a girl. I wish there was somethin' I could do."
Jenny ran her hand across her long white hair. This was just so difficult! The magic she had was made to fight... not 'cure' people. She wasn't sure why but the dream she had last night sparked a memory... Lilly was so heavy in a dream, was there ever a time she was not quite this light and care free? She couldn't remember... but she wished she could give Lilly that feeling of freedom.
Artemis glanced around. "She keeps askin' if I can turn her into a boy... I really don't think I can!" the moon girl confessed a bit sadly. "I need to see my other mother... an' I can't take Lilly with me so... I dunno if she can help either."
Jenny sighed. It would seem her squirrel friend was stuck as she was, for a while yet. But no more then anyone else suffering similar issues. becoming younger was quite a rarity from what she observed. She hoped there was a reason for it... even if there didn't seem to be one right now.
Lilly was waiting standing on top of an ajar side door of the school. It was a precarious balancing act, and anyone watching would feel disbelief that she managed to attempt such a feat. The squirrel girl's claws were embedded into the wood, as she waited patiently. Finally she saw her quarry... the kid who threw a nut at her. He was some kind of transformed human. Almost as human as Jenny, but there were tale-tale signs of a wolf-like tail on him, silver in colour as well as wolf ears. It almost reminded him of Julian, though not quite as far gone as he was...
She jumped down forcing the wolf-boy down.
"H-huh what the-" the boy said in some shock.
"You threw a nut at me! I'm gonna get you for that!" Lilly said angrily. Was it because she was a squirrel? Did he think this was funny? Who was this boy to make fun of her!
The wolf-boy managed to push the two-tailed squirrel off. "I was only jokin' with you!" he said.
"You was mean!" Lilly said pushing him again. She knew she promised not to get into any fight but this wolf started it! Why were wolves always such jerks!
The wolf-boy couldn't believe how aggressive she was acting. He was just trying to get her attention. He didn't want to fight her. His parents told him he shouldn't fight girls- even if she seemed to be gearing to hit him. "I- don't wanna fight you! You're a girl!"
Lilly just got even angrier. "I'm not a girl!" She said about to hit him.
The young wolf boy chuckled even as he dodged. "Oh yeah? Think you can beat me in a game instead?" This kid was easy to tease. "Girly girl girly girl girly girl!"
The squirrel girl was really riled up now. "You tell me the game an' I'll beat ya!"
The wolf boy gave another little chuckle. The small thing really seemed to want to hurt him! Not that she could but... it was amusing. Given how much she wanted to fight, there seemed to be only one adequate game. "Let's arm wrestle. And if I win, you got to hold my hand in class."
Lilly was taken aback. "W-what?!"
"And if you win, you get whatever you want. Sound fair?"
"I'll throw water on you an' make you soggy in class!" Lilly said. The threat sounded bad even to her own ears, but right now she didn't know quite where this was going. Why was this boy teasing her? And why did he want to hold her hand?
The two got onto the ground, Lilly's tails flickering back and forth as the wolf boy grasped her paw. "Go!" he cried.
It was over less then a second.
Lilly blinked seeing her hand on the ground.
"I'm Bruce," he chuckled.
Tiffany relaxed a bit now as the voices outside the office became distant. It was sadly one of the drawbacks of being popular. Everyone took an interest in you in every moment, the bad moments as well as the good. Everyone knew her... and yet right now, she just wanted to disappear. To just be somewhere else.
"They will not bother you Tiffany," said the Gorgon.
Tiffany looked gratefully. Part of her was already wondering what 'excuse' she could make that she came here... but then she wondered, why exactly did she have to make any excuse to 'them'? Who did they think she was? She was Tiffany! What she did was her own business damn it...
It's her own business....
"Now... tell me dear..." The councillor said gently. "I want you to go back to the moment you first changed... what were you doing?"
"What was I doing?" Tiffany asked strangely. "Does that matter?"
"I don't know. But your first transformation may have done you more harm then good... you must be starting to question it... are you not?"
"M-Maybe... a little," She admitted. Tiffany wasn't sure. So much inside her was trying to convince her to seek out a way to return back to her 'true' form. Yet all these questions distracted her. Made her think it was a 'bad' thing... But it was her true self! She became what she was on the inside, expressed in substance and power... raw energy to direct as she desired.
The gorgon sat down on her own chair, as she carefully observed the girl. Nobody had ever been trained to consider the effects of a transformation...yet Tiffany was displaying signs similar to a trauma in her view. It wasn't a trauma she could understand, but it seemed to encompass a wide variety of diagnoses. Psychology was not an exact science, everyone was unique with their own issues...
Tiffany seemed to be giving the first question a lot of thought.
Principal Erin glanced up as the door opened, and miss Summers came in. She closed the door, leaving his office back in its strange darkened light. The sound of sprinkling dust on the bowl as pieces of the strange sand-creature that was the principal was heard.
"Miss Summers... how is Tiffany?"
"With the councillor," she said. "I am hopeful to ask a favour of you..."
"I believe we have discussed similar matters before." The principal said. "Exactly how much are we willing to interfere with our students?" Erin sighed thinking back to his own experience with Sarah... he looked with a measure of regret.
"I know what happened with Sarah... you can't blame yourself."
The principle looked up, the strangely pitted bands of white and black on him. "My only desire.. was in trying to keep things as they were... a safe place for all students," He said softly.
"Tiffany is facing a very difficult time..."
"I will watch the situation... thank you Miss Summers."
