Lilly tried to just keep her head down on her desk, concentrating on her maths problems. The assignment was... humiliating. She had already memorised the multiplication tables! Seven times eight was... was...
The squirrel girl blinked as she struggled to remember. What was the answer again? She reluctantly looked for it in her maths book. Didn't she used to know this? It was so unfair! Not only was she so small.. she was also... well... not dumb exactly... her parents assured her that was not the case, and she had to believe that. But why couldn't she do things that she knew were very simple?
Jenny smiled a little. Maths seemed to come naturally to her. The number four was like an anchor that allowed her to know the answer to many problems. She wasn't sure exactly how it worked, or why it was second nature to her. But working questions to the number four, slowly guided her to an answer. It only became a problem when something was not related to four in some way...
Lilly glanced over at the white haired girls book gasping slightly. How did she get so far ahead? It made her want to re-double her efforts... it made her make many mistakes, and her attempts at writing neatly started to fail. About half an hour into it, the teacher saw her work with a disapproving look.
The drider cast a long look, leaning her spider torso towards Lilly's desk. "Lilly, Remember what I said? Write neatly, and go at your own pace," She advised wisely noting her glance to Jenny. She also noted that she might have to challenge the white haired girl more. It was good that they were friends, maybe her talents would rub off.
"Y-Yes miss," Lilly said with a sigh. Why was she so slow! Still, she did want to do this right... so she did as the teacher advised. Slowly, there was some improvement. She did pick out a few of her mistakes as she went back though it re-reading each question. But it was just so slow!
The squirrel girl was also trying to put behind losing the bet with Bruce... she wasn't a 'strong' person before, but surly she couldn't lose to a kid like him...
But she was a kid. And a little one at that... a little girl.
She glanced back at Bruce, who caught her looking. She tensed slightly, both her tails bristling. What exactly did he want from her? Then she realised, this was probably the first time she had any interaction with a boy her own age... something she had been avoiding since her transformation. She just wasn't ready to even deal with the very concept of being a girl, feeling more comfortable with just the problems of being young again. After all its not as if she had to deal with anything other then the 'toilet' problem...
However Bruce changed that... it was like a big wake up call, that other boys would see a girl... She was so confused... what if a boy liked her? That would be gross! But.. don't Lilly and Artemis feel the same way as real girls?
She looked down at herself sadly. The body didn't feel like hers... yet it responded so easily to her thoughts. Her twin tails seemed to allow her to balance on things with ease... but it wasn't her! Couldn't anyone see that? Feeling comfortable in her uniform though added to the weirdness of her situation. She really hoped Artemis's mother could do something.
The gorgon councillor regarded Tiffany with increasing concern. She had heard many people talk about their transformations. She had even given her number to one of the teachers, that suffered a very difficult change... but nobody had ever given an account like Tiffany's. Many described feelings of surreal detachment, as they confronted something that just didn't seem plausible. Still, people adapted quickly to the situation....
There was something about Tiffany's account that was very disturbing. It was almost as if she were describing some kind of 'intrusion' in her transformation. This could be the result of some kind of stress. There were also many psychological illnesses that produced symptoms like this, and who knew how it might have interacted with a transformation...
Yet... Tiffany had never shown any indication of mental illness. So it didn't make much since for one to suddenly manifest in a transformation. Her gut told her, that Tiffany wasn't ill... but then, what was the explanation? What made her go through all this?
Tiffany started tearing up a bit on the couch. She had done so in silence for several minutes. The Gorgon lady decided to get the poor girl a class of water. The act calmed her some, as she also took some tissues.
"Tiffany?" The Gorgon called her name gently.
"Y-yeah," She said wiping her eyes.
"What do you think of your fellow students?" She asked. "cast aside your own transformation... both previous and this one... is there any of them, that you would rather have been?"
Tiffany thought about it. It was a strange question and she didn't really see the point. Was there a 'better' transformation then to have remained human or 'ascended'? Jon lost her legs, Sarah lost her arms... she still had all her own limbs... was that something she was afraid of happening to her? Is that why... she said such things to the other changed? Those who seemed to lose the most dignity... how in the world can they live with themselves?
"I... I don't know," Said Tiffany. "I... couldn't decide. Their all freaks," She said though her voice lacked its sharpness. "I didn't want to be a freak... not like them."
"Everyone is unique Tiffany... this you is no less you, then any other you," She said with a smile.
"No... less... me?" The girl said with a blink.
"Tiffany... if I have learned anything from when this sun changed... we're not defined by our forms. A jerk could still be a jerk in a new body... or they could decide to have a new life. Nothing stops them being themselves... our minds are not supplanted."
"But- I've heard things on television-"
"There might be a few extreme cases... yes I have heard the reports... but even so, those people are no less themselves. You can't create a personality from nothing. You are the sum of your memories and experience... and the Tiffany I know, has had many great memories... and could continue to do so. Even if she might look different...."
Tiffany felt her heart rise a little at those words... yet there was still a lingering anger deep inside. If this was the truth... if it was accepted as truth, then there was no getting away with the fact that attempting to redefine herself with power, and above human influence turned her into something 'less' then human. Even if it didn't feel that way...
Was the Gorgon trying to ask her, who Tiffany was? She thought she knew once... now... she didn't.
