As exciting as the start of class had been, the rest of it passed without incident. Roxy found herself rather interested in the subjects to be discussed, though the class was over before she knew it, dumping her out into the crowded hallways. It was lunchtime, which meant pretty much everyone was filing into the cafeteria. Roxy considered just finding an empty classroom and waiting for her next class, but her grumbling stomach had other plans.
The cafeteria was a large open area with benches dotted around for students to sit at. The back side had several doors onto a patio overlooking the athletic fields with more benches for anyone who wanted to eat outside. A long line of students had gathered at a window that was clearly a serving station. Roxy had only two dollars on her, which was hopefully enough to get a bag of chips or something.
As Roxy stood in line, her stomach was only grumbling even more from the smells filling the room. She was already annoyed by the fact that she was surrounded by other students, and every single one of them seemed to be walking away from the window with a full tray of food. It didn't take long before she was at the front, with a cheerful looking female ferret.
"How much for a bag of chips?" Roxy sighed as she scanned the list of menu items, not seeing any prices.
"Oh, there's no charge if you're a student," the ferret replied. "Just show me your ID and tell me what you want."
Roxy just stared, a bit stunned by this. Her mood improved a little as she was handed a tray of food with a burger, fries, and a chocolate shake, and was only asked to show her ID. She still would have preferred to find a quiet room to herself, but security wouldn't allow anyone to leave with trays of food, so she settled for an unoccupied table in the corner.
Her attention turned towards the students all filed around the room. Roxy hadn't forgotten what she had been told this morning about another student with a bandana. She kind of wished she had asked for a species, but all she had was the name Rose. Aside from a couple students wearing scarves, she didn't see anything until she noticed Will. Deciding his company would be better than anyone else's, she waved him over, but quickly realized he wasn't alone.
The figure with him was several inches taller than he was, and much more wide. Roxy thought at first that he might be a security guard, but he was clearly dressed like a student, with a red tank top, tan slacks, and of course white canvas shoes. He was a lion with tan fur, and a bit of red hair on top of his head that showed the first hints of a mane. His arms were surprisingly thick and muscular for someone his age, and his pecs were pressed against his already stretched tank top.
"I'm telling you, you're going overboard on this," the lion said as he took a seat across from Roxy, placing a tray of food on the table.
"Then call it getting ahead," Will said as he sat down next to him with a similar tray, but an open textbook lay on it next to the food.
"Miss Prower told you that this Edo period stuff isn't taught to freshman," said the lion.
"Then I'll be far ahead of everyone," said Will, not even looking up from the book. "Besides, all this stuff is too fascinating to ignore."
"What has you so interested in schoolwork?" Roxy glanced over at the book.
"Forerunner studies," said Will, lifting the book just enough for her to see. "You haven't had that yet?"
"No, it's my next class," said Roxy.
"It's amazing," said Will, seemingly caught up in his book, but eventually snapping out of it long enough to realize he hadn't introduced his friend. "Oh, right. Tolbin, this is my weirdo sister I told you about."
Tolbin gave Roxy an acknowledging nod, but Roxy just ignored him, instead giving Will an annoyed glare before turning her attention back to her food, hoping Tolbin wasn't looking to chat with her or anything. Fortunately, the two were more interested in Will's book than her, so it looked like she could have some semblance of a quiet lunch, at least until Serena and Arnold found them.
"Oh my gosh! What a day!" Serena exclaimed as she sat down right next to Roxy. "I feel like I've taken on as much information as I can."
"That's too bad, because I think Will is going for some kind of record," said Tolbin jokingly as Will kept his muzzle buried in his book.
"Oh, I don't blame him!" Serena said in her normal chipper attitude. "Forerunner studies is absolutely fascinating!"
"Um... I haven't had that class yet," Arnold muttered quietly.
"You're in for a treat," Serena said, gently nudging him. "The forerunners are absolutely fascinating!"
"Oh yeah? Then why are they all dead?" Roxy grumbled, not looking up from her tray.
"Aww, that's not very nice," said Serena.
"Eh, leave her be," said Tolbin, grinning at Roxy. "I get the feeling she's not in a great mood."
That was enough for Roxy. If they were going to start talking about her, she was out. She picked up her tray, and quickly stormed off.
"What? What did I say?" Tolbin called after her, but Roxy just ignored him, dumping the remnants of her lunch into the trash and leaving the tray to be collected.
Students were allowed to roam the school at their leisure during break, so security wasn't going to stop her. If students weren't in the lunch room, they were usually either in the lounge or the gardens. Roxy instead wanted to be where nobody was, and figured there was no better place for privacy than the bathroom. She quickly found the nearest one, but was almost stopped by a student who seemed to be pacing around outside.
"Um... excuse me-"
Roxy didn't give him a chance to finish his statement and just barged right into the bathroom, knowing he couldn't follow her. She let out a sigh as she parked herself in front of the sinks, splashing a bit of water on her face. Nothing felt right today. She didn't fit in here. She briefly considered just leaving, not wanting to deal with being around other students anymore, but quickly dismissed the idea, as she'd just get in trouble.
Shutting the water to the sink off, Roxy tried to relax a little, but her ears perked up as she realized she wasn't alone in the bathroom. She could hear from the stalls that someone was in there, and it sounded like they were crying. Roxy's first instinct was to just leave, but against her better judgement, she decided to take a closer look.
The stall wasn't locked, allowing Roxy to gently push it open. She peeked inside to find the same silver fox girl she had run into, curled up into a ball on top of the toilet, and sobbing gently. She had either not noticed Roxy's presence, or just didn't care. Roxy quickly backed up, not wanting to be any more involved, quickly exiting the bathroom. The student who had been outside had vanished, possibly going to find a female guard.
With 10 minutes left in the break period, Roxy just went to her next classroom. It was still empty when she got there, but students slowly started filling in as the period neared its end. She had taken a seat next to a window overlooking the rear of the school, with a view of the gardens and sports fields. She'd hoped to have a quiet class until she saw she was sharing this class with Arnold, who had walked right up to her.
"Um... I don't know where to sit..." he said to her nervously. "Can I-"
"Whatever," Roxy shrugged, cutting him off.
Arnold nervously took a seat next to her, seeming like he was afraid of Roxy somehow. There was an awkward silence between them until he finally spoke up. "You don't like me and Serena too much, do you?"
Roxy paused for a moment. She hadn't expected him to be that blunt about it. Maybe they'd leave her alone if she said yes, but she preferred to be honest with him. "No, you're both fine. I just prefer to be left alone."
"Why do you want to be left alone?" Arnold said curiously.
"Because people frustrate me," said Roxy. "I don't find myself enriched by the company of others."
Arnold paused for a moment. "You and Will seem to get along fine."
"That's different. He's my brother," said Roxy. "We've grown up together, so we kinda..."
She trailed off as something she had been looking for all day caught her attention. A student had entered the classroom, which Roxy's eyes were fixed on now. He was a red fox like her, wearing a yellow t-shirt, khaki shorts, a tan suede vest, and the usual canvas school shoes, tipped yellow. But what had her attention was what was wrapped around his neck. A bright red bandana tied neatly around it. Was this the elusive Mr. Rose she had heard about?
He took a seat near the front of the room, not acknowledging Roxy or Arnold. Roxy scanned her memories, trying to remember if she had ever met him before. His fur was lighter than hers, and his markings much different, but that didn't rule out the possibility of him being a relative of hers.
"Do you know him?" Arnold had noticed her interest in the mysterious fox.
"No... I don't think so," Roxy said as she tried desperately to remember all her encounters with her extended family, but she was drawing a blank. She'd have to ask her parents about it.
Her thoughts of being related to this mysterious red bandana boy were soon replaced by something much more interesting as the bell rang that class was about to begin. Will and Serena had both been talking forerunner studies up a lot, but Roxy had figured it was over-hyped. At least until the teacher walked in.
Roxy's jaw almost dropped at the sight. A dragon! An actual anthro dragon! And not just any dragon. A Lumaren dragon! She hadn't even known anthro dragons existed, but here was one right in front of her! She was absolutely beautiful too. Her glowing golden scales were speckled from the sunlight streaming through the window, and her eyes were the most vivid blue you could imagine, hidden just behind a pair of half-moon spectacles. Her wings were tucked neatly behind her back, jutting out from her white dress suit, which matched the canvas school shoes on her feet.
"Good afternoon, class," she said in a warm and calming tone. "I am Zoe Prower, your teacher."
Each student seemed to be in awe of Zoe's appearance before them. The sight of an anthro Lumaren was as much of a shock to everyone else as it was to Roxy.
"You are here today to learn about our forerunner's," said Zoe. "Or, as we will be referring to them in this class, humans."
She held out her hands as several streams of light flowed from them. The light danced around the room over the students heads before taking shapes. Roxy was completely caught up in the spectacle of Lumaren magic as the shapes took the forms of some sort of bi-pedal animal. They looked similar to a normal anthro, but no fur or tails, and flat faces with small ears on the sides of their heads, not on the top.
"Anthro civilization was not the first to grace this planet," said Zoe, effortlessly causing the human figures to walk around through the air, performing various actions. "Our society was founded on the basis of theirs, making us their inheritors. Tens of thousands of years of growth and progress left for us to build upon. And I will manage to teach you as much of it as I can in the next four years." And as amazingly as they had appeared, the figures vanished.
"Now, who can tell me exactly what a human is?" said Zoe, scanning the room, but no hands were raised.
"Many fictional movies and TV shows like to portray them as divine beings, possibly from another planet," said Zoe, extending her hands again to emit more light. "This could not be farther from the truth. Human's began life as primitive beasts, with no knowledge of this world, or even a sense of self." The light had formed into another figure, this one much larger and bulkier, but hunched over, covered in hair. An instant thought crept into Roxy's head, but luckily, a voice from the back said out loud what she and probably everyone else was thinking.
"Heh, that looks like the principal!"
"Very good, Miss Parr," said Zoe. "You should tell him next time you see him. He loves hearing that one."
The class collectively laughed as the light figure vanished once again. "Think of these creatures as progenitors of humanity. Simple beasts with simple minds. But these minds did not stay simple. A process known as evolution led them to being the creatures who would guide civilization. If you would open your books, we will take a closer look into the path of evolution."
The class rolled on as Zoe talked at length about early humanity, and the early stages of evolution. It was all fascinating, but Roxy couldn't help but flip a bit further into the book to see what else there was, and was surprised to see just how varied forerunner culture was. No wonder Will had been so absorbed in this book at lunch time.
The bell rung all too soon for most students as Zoe dismissed them. Roxy felt like she still had hundreds of questions to ask, but she would have to save them for another day. She had her tech class to get to.
Technology class would be the first elective for Roxy to try out. The electives seemed odd, but they would at least make the second half of the day more interesting. The classroom itself looked like some kind of laboratory, with tons of machines and various junk littered around. The desks were tables similar to her science class, obviously to allow students to tinker with the machines they'd be studying.
Once again, Roxy took a seat in a spot where she'd hoped not to be disturbed. Arnold hadn't followed her here, so he obviously had another class somewhere else. Her curiosity of the red bandana kid was still lingering in the back of her mind, but he had disappeared after leaving her previous class. Her mind was more focused on the forerunners. She had always thought of them as this strange, mystical race that had probably never existed, but now they seemed more real than ever.
"Excuse me, these seats taken?"
Roxy was snapped out of her trance by a student who had approached her. She recognized him from earlier as the student who tried to stop her outside the bathrooms. He was a skunk, dressed in a black t-shirt and khaki slacks along with the standard canvas shoes.
"I dunno," Roxy sighed, getting tired of making excuses to avoid people. Annoyingly enough, the skunk sat directly next to Roxy, not even giving her a space as a buffer. She briefly considered trying to find another seat, until she saw him motioning to another student to come join them. It was the same silver fox girl from this morning that she had run into in the bathroom.
"You sure you're alright for this?" the skunk said to her as she took a seat next to him.
"Are you kidding?" the fox replied. "I've been waiting all day for this class." She grinned and held up her left arm, making a triumphant gesture. Roxy stared blankly for a moment, not believing this was the same girl she had found having a nervous breakdown in the bathroom almost an hour ago.
"Alright everyone, settle down, settle down!" A voice from the front of the room called out over the noise of the students. Roxy looked up to see a short, squat, older looking mole in a lab coat at the front of the class.
"Welcome everybody," he said, adjusting the glasses on his face. "I am Napino Torte, and I will be your technology teacher." He picked up a small clipboard that was presumably had a list of student names on it. "We will begin in just a moment, but first... which one of you is Lola Kit?"
Everyone glanced around the room to see who was being singled out, only to have one single metal arm raise into the air. Roxy glanced over to see the silver fox with her arm in the air, and a big smile on her face.
"Ah yes," said Napino. "I have a note here about your... condition. May I take a look?"
He approached the girl slowly as she held her arm out, letting him examine it. "Fascinating! I didn't think medical prosthetics could be this advanced!"
"It's experimental," she replied. "I assisted in the design."
"And it's fully articulate?"
"My last upgrade was two months ago. They told me it has 85% articulation of a real arm."
"I'm quite impressed! At your age, even being able to withstand surgery on that level is commendable. And assisting in this design? You seem to be a natural with engineering!"
He paused for a moment, realizing the entire class was staring at him fawning over this girl's arm. "Oh! Excuse me," he quickly stepped away and shuffled back to the front of the class. "Sometimes I can get carried away."
Roxy's gaze was fixed on the silver fox, who had a satisfied grin on her face, while she was clinging to her tail nervously. Just thinking about that much attention being on her was almost giving her a panic attack.
"Now then, as this is the first of your elective trials, I hope I can do my best to ensure you do not forget about it come the end of the year," Napino said as he turned to face the classroom. "I'll do my best not to bore you with the uninteresting bits too much. But it is imperative we begin with proper safety procedures."
"Now, first I would like to bring attention to everyone's footwear. I trust you all received school issued shoes this morning?" He held out his own foot, showing the class his own issued footwear, as the class nodded, each of them having similar canvas shoes on. "Bit of an interesting fashion statement, but they have a unique advantage for us. Can anyone tell me why?"
Almost instantly, the silver fox's metal arm shot into the air. "The rubber soles keep us grounded to prevent electrocution!"
"Very good, Miss Kit!" Napino nodded at her. "Many of the electives you will take will require other specialized footwear, but these will suit us perfectly for this reason. Of course, this will not be the only safety measure we employ."
"Now, everybody come to the front and pick up your gear, and we'll go over what we plan to do today," Napino said as he opened a cupboard. "Grab a pair of safety goggles and gloves, then take one of these circuit boards you see here on the right."
One by one, each student came to the front to take their equipment. Roxy looked over the circuit board, recognizing it as a more advanced version of something you would give a child to play with. Once everyone had one, Napino started explaining the basics of circuitry in an effort to understand how they could wire their devices to do any number of things. By the end of the class, all Roxy had managed was to produce a high-pitched whining noise from her device. She glanced over at the sliver fox and the skunk, who had managed to create a repeating pattern of lights. Giving up in defeat, Roxy threw her gloves and safety goggles onto the table in frustration as the bell rang.
"Alright class, great work all of you," Napino called out over the bell. "I will see you all tomorrow!"
Roxy quickly hurried her way out of the class, wanting to put as much distance between her and the strange one-armed silver fox. One more free period, and then the dreaded magical studies was here. She was still debating internally whether or not she should just book it and walk home, but she knew she couldn't do that.
Every place was crowded with students on their break, leaving Roxy to just wander around, looking for a quiet spot. She quickly gave up, instead parking herself in an empty spot in the student lounge with a grape soda she had gotten from a machine, still surprised she could get stuff for free.
The lounge was anything but quiet, with students chatting with each other, watching TV, or, worst of all, using the ping pong table. Roxy did her best to block the noise out, loading up whatever games she had on her phone, keeping her head down to avoid eye contact with anyone else.
It wasn't long before the bell rung, signaling the final class of the day. The lounge quickly emptied, soon leaving Roxy as the only one there. Maybe nobody would notice she was there? She could quietly skip magical studies, and nobody would notice.
"Ahem!"
Roxy winced, knowing she was busted. She slowly looked up to see a guard standing over here, a male dog with long, shaggy fur, looking down at her with his arms folded.
"Don't you have a class to go to, young lady?" He said in a stern voice.
"I dunno, maybe?" Roxy grumbled.
"Well, I can do one of two things," he said. "I can escort you to your class in an easy, peaceful manner. Or I can restrain you and bring you to the principal. Which will it be?"
Roxy just glared up at him. She knew the guards weren't allowed to harm students, but she still didn't want to find out what he meant by restraint. "I'll go to class," she growled as she stuffed the remainder of her soda into her bag.
"Good choice," he said. "What class is it?"
"I can find it myself," said Roxy as she tried to walk past him, but he held his arm out, blocking her way.
"I said I would escort you," he said in a much more serious tone. "So, which class is it?"
"Magical studies," Roxy sighed.
"Alright then, let's go," he said as he led her out of the lounge. "You're not rhabdophobic, are you?"
"No," Roxy said. She had never considered herself to be afraid of magic. Her dad had always done funny things with fire when her and Will were cubs that had amused her. She had just never had an interest in being an Ignaren.
"Well then you have nothing to worry about," the guard said as they ascended the stairs. "My name's Teddy, so don't feel afraid to ask me or any of the other guards here for help if you need it."
"Uh huh," Roxy nodded disinterestedly at him as they reached the top of the stairs. The classroom was at the end of the hallway. Teddy led her all the way there, before parting ways with her.
Roxy stood nervously in the doorway. She could see Will and Tolbin near the window, and they were chatting with the raccoon from the beginning of the day, who had once again slid his shoes off. She cringed, hoping Will wasn't going to force her to be friends with him too. Near the front were the silver fox and skunk duo again, the fox looking much more disinterested than she did in tech class. There was also a cheetah girl who Roxy thought she recognized from another class, but didn't care enough to try to recall her specifically. Last of all, Serena and Arnold were here too, Serena quickly trying to motion Roxy to come sit with her. Roxy just ignored her, taking a seat in a spot where there were no taken seats.
"Alright everyone settle down," a teacher had entered the room. Roxy recognized her as the teacher who had given her the school supplies that morning. "My name is- ROSCOE, SHOES ON!" Everyone jumped a bit at the sudden outburst before turning to the barefoot raccoon, who was hurriedly stuffing his feet back into his shoes as Will and Tolbin giggled silently at him.
"Sorry. As I was saying," she said, recomposing herself. "My name is Maya Fenne, and I am here to teach you all about magic." She picked up a piece of paper from her desk, looking over it. "Hmm, it seems we're short one student. Where is-"
"Wait! Wait! I'm here!" A voice was calling from the hallway, accompanied by the sound of feet pounding against the floor as the door burst open.
"Riley Rose, glad you could join us," Maya smiled.
"Sorry..." Riley said, in between his heavy panting. His bookbag was hanging awkwardly off one arm, his bandana was crooked, and one of his shoes was hanging off his heel. "I... I forgot which class..."
"It's alright, just take a seat so we can begin," said Maya.
Riley nodded, still panting, taking a seat right next to Roxy. She glanced over at him as he straightened his bandana and slid his shoe back onto his foot. She clutched her tail nervously, hoping he wasn't going to talk to her.
"Alright, magic," said Maya, stepping into view of the entire class, her multiple tails fluttering behind her. She held out her hands, and flames shot out over everybody's head, dancing around the room before vanishing as quickly as they had appeared. Roxy's grip on her tail intensified knowing that Maya was an Ignaren too. Everyone else was impressed.
"When do we get to learn how to do stuff like that?" Tolbin's hand raised into the air.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but it will be a while before any of you will be that proficient," said Maya, leaning against her desk. "You'll all need to learn your elemental alignment before you can begin training, and we won't be doing that until the end of the week."
The class let out a collective groan at this news, except for Roxy, who breathed a small sigh of relief.
"Now now, I don't want to hear any complaining," said Maya, trying to restore order. "Magic can be dangerous if used improperly. It is a strong mental strain that takes years of practice to master. Of course, I don't mean to scare you. We begin small scale on a level you can handle, and in time, we will progress to more advanced techniques."
"Now I will point out that magic is a responsibility," Maya continued, holding up her hand, which burst into flames. "Anyone caught misusing their abilities will be... punished." She clenched her fist, extinguishing the flames. The entire class just stared at her nervously. Roxy could see Arnold shaking in his seat out of the corner of her eye. "With immediate suspension or expulsion, at the principal's discretion."
"Now, enough gloom and doom," Maya jumped off the desk and walked to the back to the chalkboard, writing out the worlds ‘Principles of Magic' on it. "We shall start at the beginning. Can anyone tell me where the gift of magic comes from?"
"It's because of dragon's, right?" said Serena.
"Very good, Miss Milgran," said Maya. "Our earliest ancestors were graced with the gift of magic, and was passed down through generations. And now we are free to use it in our everyday lives as we please. This is the bond we share with dragon-kind."
"Is that why we have one working here?" the cheetah near the front of the room said, causing several people to let out a small laugh.
"Perhaps," Maya shrugged. "I assume Zoe Prower has her reasons for working here, but it is not my place to make assumptions. Though if I can tread on her territory for a moment, it is worth pointing out that forerunners never shared the gift of draconic magic. As I understand it, some of them wrote fictional stories about crude magic coming from small sticks." Maya paused for a moment, an obvious smirk creeping across her face.
Roxy was rather surprised by that revelation. Forerunners not using magic? There was still so much more to learn from her forerunner studies course, but she had always figured they had similar powers to anthromorphs. How had they co-existed with dragons then?
It was hard to focus on the rest of class. Roxy's mind had gone right back to thinking about forerunners. She was only snapped out of it by the end of day bell.
"Alright everyone, have a nice rest of the day, and remember to prepare for Friday," said Maya as everyone filed out of the room.
Every single student had congregated at the front entrance where the lockers were. Roxy's anxiety was reaching peak levels as she pushed her way through to her locker. Will was more focused on conversing with Tolbin and Roscoe as they each stashed their books away along with their school shoes. Roxy had become so accustomed to them, her normal shoes felt heavier than usual as she strapped them back on.
"So your house is a no go then?" said Tolbin to Roscoe as he tied his shoelaces.
"Uh... afraid so," Roscoe said as he nervously scratched the back of his neck. "Can't one of you do it?"
"My parents probably wouldn't mind us hanging out there some time," said Will. Both Tolbin and Roscoe glanced over his shoulder at Roxy, who was staring at both of them awkwardly. "Oh, don't mind her," said Will. "She's more afraid of you then you are of her."
Tolbin and Roscoe both shared a laugh with Will, but Roxy just groaned nervously, her fingers digging into her tail fluff.
Outside, students were making their way onto busses lined up along the parking lot. Tolbin and Roscoe parted ways with them finally as Roxy and Will got onto the one that would take them home. Almost on cue, Serena and Arnold followed after them, taking a seat directly behind them.
"Oof... I'm exhausted," Serena slumped her head against the seat in front of her, causing her ears to droop over Will's head. "Maybe I should've taken a power nap during free period..."
"Heh, and here I thought that pep of yours was infinite," said Will, pushing Serena's ear off his head.
"Kinda disappointed we don't get to practice magic yet," said Serena, pushing her ears back. "I'd be happen being an Arean. Or an Aquaren maybe. Ooh, but Flurian seems nice too."
"I'll probably just end up being a Gairen," said Arnold.
Roxy growled to herself, digging into her tail once again.
"Uh, how about electives!" Will jumped in, trying to quickly change the subject. "I had plumbing today. Wasn't really that great."
"Eww, that sounds gross," Serena cringed. "Arnold and I had culinary. It was nice, but I don't think I'd be very good at it though. What did you end up with today, Roxy?"
"Technology," Roxy muttered, not moving her gaze from the window.
"All of them seem so hands on," Serena sighed. "I feel like I'm not right for anything."
"Well, there is stuff like banking," said Will. "Or office tech."
Serena just laughed. "I can't picture myself sitting behind a desk all day either."
Roxy just cringed, clutching at her tail, trying to stay out of the conversation, keeping her gaze fixed on the outside world passing by. It felt like a long time before it was their stop. Serena and Arnold waved goodbye as they left on their own.
"So, did you have fun?" Will asked in a mocking tone.
"Shut up," Roxy growled back at him.
"Oh come on, you're not even trying," Will sighed.
"Why should I? Everyone just wants to mock me," said Roxy.
"That's not true," said Will. "You're over-reacting to this whole thing."
"I don't care!" Roxy threw her arms up in frustration. "I hate that place, and I don't want anything to do with anybody!"
"Well, you'll need to get used to it," said Will. "We're gonna be there for the next four years."
Four years. It felt like such a long time to her. Roxy's mind started to race with countless swirling thoughts. How was she going to get through four years of this? Her mind had wandered so much, she hadn't even noticed her pace slowing down.
"Give it a few days. I'm sure you'll... Rox?" Will stopped in his tracks and turned to see Roxy stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "Hey, Rox? You ok?"
"I... don't know," Roxy's gaze was fixed on the pavement in front of her. "I feel kinda nauseous."
"Rox, c'mon..." Will walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're being too hard on yourself about all of this."
"I know, but..." Roxy looked up at Will, a couple tears forming in the corner of her eyes, "I don't think I can do this..."
"Oh man..." Will sighed, wrapping his arm around Roxy to give her a nice firm hug. She buried her face into his shoulder in turn. "Rox, I need you to believe me that nobody actually wants to hurt you there. And if they do, they're jerks, and anyone decent will know that."
"I just wish I could be invisible," said Roxy, wiping her face.
"Well you can't," Will said with a slight chuckle.
"Then what am I supposed to do?" said Roxy, pushing away from him and sitting down on the curb.
"Well..." Will let out a small sigh as he sat down beside her. "What you really need is to just chill out a bit, but I'm not counting on that. All I can say is that I know you'll figure something out."
Roxy grunted in frustration. "That doesn't help me now, does it?"
"You know that if anyone gives you a hard time, just come to me," said Will. "No one messes with my little sis."
"I'm not younger than you!" Roxy snapped at him. "We're the same age!"
"Meh, semantics," Will just shrugged her off as he stood up. "C'mon, lets go home already."
Roxy growled under her breath as she got up and followed after Will. Her nerves hadn't settled at all, but she'd feel better once she was alone in her room.
"Oh! You're home!"
Both Roxy and Will found themselves smothered by a hug from their mother almost the second they had walked through the door before they could even drop their bags.
"Oof! Hey, gimme a break!" Will said as he managed to struggle free.
"So how was it? Tell me everything," their mother said as she let them go.
"What's there to say?" said Roxy as she slid her shoes off. "It was school. Nothing special."
"Roxanne, you could at least try to have a conversation," said their mother, frowning a bit.
"It went exactly as you think it did," said Roxy, not turning to look at either of them as she started up the stairway towards her room, shutting the door behind her, tossing her bag into the corner, and throwing herself down on the bed. Her head was still spinning with anxiety and fear about spending the next four years in that building, surrounded by people silently judging her. Whatever she was supposed to think up to cope with it wasn't coming to her easily.
Her train of thought was derailed somewhat as she felt something rub against her foot. She glanced down at the end of the bed to see that Corrin was still here, and seemed to be trying to get her attention by nuzzling against the sole of her foot.
"Huh, you're still here, are you?" said Roxy as Corrin glanced up at her, his eyes gazing into hers. She let out a small sigh as she laid back down, letting her toes nuzzle against the fluff on Corrin's head. The tiny wyrm let out a delighted chirp, responding with his tongue against Roxy's foot.
"Hey! Stop that!" Roxy laughed from the warm tickling sensation against her foot. "You might set me on fire if you aren't careful."
Corrin backed away from her feet as he bounded up the bed and jumped onto her chest. "So I guess you're sticking around for a while, huh?" said Roxy, giving him a small pet across his back. "At least you can't mock me."
The rest of the afternoon was mostly uneventful as Roxy fell into her normal routine of playing video games until dinner. Their parents had endless questions about school, which Roxy did her best to ignore as Will filled them in on any information he had. Though in the back of her mind, Roxy still had one question to ask, and that was about the kid in the red bandana.
"Red bandana?" her father paused for a moment, seeming to scan his own memory. "I think I remember my grandfather wearing one, but other than that, nobody in the family wears one."
"Who was this boy anyways?" asked their mother.
"I think it was Riley... Rose. Yeah, that was it," said Roxy.
"Rose, huh?" said their father. "Never heard that name in our family, so I doubt he's related."
"Ooh, thinking of asking him on a date, Rox," Will said with a smug smile.
"WHA-!" Roxy burst out, completely horrified by the idea of going on a date, as she ended up inhaling the mashed potatoes in her mouth, sending her into a coughing fit.
"Will! Don't tease your sister like that!" said their mother as she patted Roxy on the back to help her catch her breath.
Roxy was finally able to stop choking after downing an entire glass of water, and by calling Will a name that got her yelled at slightly by their parents. The rest of the night passed with more video games until Roxy was tired enough to drift off to sleep, her head still dreading the looming inevitability of learning magic.
