<blockquote><div><cite>Mute Fox wrote:</cite>"How fascinating..." Jarek observed dryly under his breath. He had just finished counting the human-to-feral ratio in his geometry class after the last few students walked in. As he suspected after three years of attending the academy, ferals were always present in higher concentrations in advanced classes; and as everyone knew, geometry was for 'tards, even if it was Honors. Hence the tight, angry knot of fur in the center of the class, surrounded by a sea of nervous, bare flesh. He wondered if ferals took the advanced classes because they were genetically more intelligent, or because they were a minority with a point to prove. Either way, it made the other humans nervous. Jarek thus gained a pleasant diversion as he tried to read his fellow students' minds through their faces and body language.<br/><br/>The two angriest-looking specimens were the easiest to read. He knew one of them - Angela West, sitting near the back as usual, probably plotting how to best cook and eat the tigerish-looking feral up front who had been giving her dirty looks. Jarek didn't know that fellow very well, though he had seen him skulking the halls, looking ferocious as some ferals were wont to do. If these two weren't fighting by the time class was over, Jarek would be very surprised - not that he wanted to endure their inevitable, petty bickering.<br/><br/>The rest of the humans were, variously: bored, antsy, horny (especially amusing since the human in question kept glancing at the lone female feral in the room), nervous, or falsely boisterous. The boisterous ones were the cool kids, who were obviously too cool to be put off by their first day of senior year, even if they actually were. The ferals, by contrast, were, in order: angry (Mister Snarly, as Jarek began to call him in his head), uncomfortable (the female wolf feral who was being visually devoured by the human pervert), uninterested, trying-to-seem-cheerful, andâ€¦<br/><br/>â€¦and then, Jarek tried to read the odd-looking cat-bat-what-you-may-call-it with the white fur and pink wings, but the teacher had already caught it's attention.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">"Donta," he said, "Administration has notified me to tell you to go to the infirmary. It seems your medical information is vastly outdated." He lowered his eyes to his screen then back up to look him in the eye. "It seems the only medical records any of your previous schools had were your records at birth."<br/><br/>"I'm sure I had more recent scans done, Sir." Donta said, getting nervous.<br/><br/>"Well, go to the Infirmary now and get new ones done," the teacher said. Donta hesitated and his nervousness showedâ€¦When the Teacher cleared his throat, he stood and padded up the aisle and out into the hall.</span><br/><br/>Jarek wondered what sort of strange hybrid this new student must be;  for he must be new. If heâ€™d been walking around the school before without Jarek noticing, then he was certainly a ninja to boot.  Poor fellow, he mused â€“ it was hard enough being a feral in this faux-multicultural clusterfuck of a school, without a pair of bloody wings growing out of oneâ€™s back.<br/><br/>Jarekâ€™s attention switched to his terminal as the new student left for the infirmary. Already, the teacher had uploaded the syllabus for this semester, and locked everyoneâ€™s screens so that they would be forced to either read it or zone out.  Staring at a random spot in the classroom until his vison blurred was tempting, compared to anything math-related; but then Jarek thought of his parents, and all the hard work they had put in, the strings they had pulled. He sighed, and downloaded the syllabus to his tablet. Good enough; heâ€™d read it later. <br/><br/>If not for his family, he wouldn't be taking an honors class, let alone geometry. It wasn't that Jarek wasn't smart enough. To Jarek, intellectual pursuits were a natural part of learning to survive in a harsh world. However, his opinion of the educational system that he had been thrust into was less than flattering. If he had had the option, he'd have been home-schooled, but universities loved private education, especially private educations that involved interspecies cooperation. With any luck, he'd land a job as a cultural liason for some corporation. The thought made Jarek smile wryly. It's not the ferals you have to worry about, silly suits, he thought.<br/><br/>After the new student returned from the infirmary in the middle of the teacher's first day harangue, Jarek made a note to talk to the fellow after class. Jarek always enjoyed meeting new people, especially ones who caused trouble...intentionally or otherwise.</div></blockquote>