“So what’s your story, JiSoo? Why did your roomie leave?” Winta asked.
JiSoo froze, then stiffened her shoulders. Ava melted right then—she knew that gesture so well in this school. It came from having to defend what you were to others—every time.
“I’m a pug, so it got awkward...” she tossed at them, carefully arranging shoes by color. “The eye thing…it freaked her out. So when the attendants asked if anyone wanted to swap, she jumped at it, and I guess I don’t blame her. I’d freak, too, if I were her. It’s pretty weird.”
"Well, she might not have thought it was that strange if she knew anything about pugs," Ava offered. "Sure, it surprised me, but now that I know, I can deal with it. We had to take my pug back home, Buster, to the vet for it as well. If someone can't accept you for who you are, screw them."
JiSoo relaxed back on her heels. "You guys really don't mind?"
"Mind?" Winta asked. "I kind of want to see it now…"
JiSoo laughed. "Well, I'm certainly not doing it on purpose! I'm sure it will happen around you soon enough if you spend enough time with me."
Winta grinned. "Fair enough."
"It really is just so embarrassing shifting into someone's house pet though." JiSoo looked dejected again.
"You think I don't know how that feels?" Ava stood, walked to the center of the room, where the light could pour over her, and shifted into her tabby cat.
"Oh, you're adorable, Ava!" JiSoo made her hands into fists and waved them excitedly. "I remember you from the first day of school. I thought you were so cute."
Ava meowed warningly.
"Don't call her cute. She hates that," Winta said, stepping over to stroke her friend's furry back.
"Yeah, I guess I can totally understand that." JiSoo nodded.
A few moments later, Ava was standing in the middle of the room again, back in her human form.
"Now it's my turn," JiSoo offered.
Before anyone could object, not that they would have, the room filled with the sound of cracking bones and stretching sinew. Less than twenty seconds later, a fat, wrinkly little pug was running around in a circle on the rug, barking happily.
"Oh my gosh!" Ava yelped, dropping to her knees to hold her hands out to JiSoo. JiSoo ran to her and jumped into her arms. "You remind me of Buster! But much prettier!" She added that last part after JiSoo gave a little bark at her comment.
"What an interesting creature you turn into," Winta said slowly, eyeing JiSoo.
JiSoo turned her attention to Winta and trotted over to her. With hesitation, Winta reached her hand out carefully. JiSoo licked her palm, and Winta burst into a giggle fit.
Ava laughed, too. "Have you not seen a pug before?"
"No!" Winta was still giggling, and now JiSoo was running back and forth in front of her, wagging her tail and hamming it up. "We don't have them in Kenya. But now I see I've been missing out. What a splendid animal! Look at that wrinkly little face…" She grabbed the sides of JiSoo's cheeks and shook them.
Ava cringed inwardly, imagining how horrified she would be if someone did that to her in her cat form. But JiSoo didn't seem to mind at all. Instead, she sat back on her hind legs and wiggled her head back and forth, letting her wrinkles shake even more. Wow, I can't believe this is really happening!
After at least ten more minutes of JiSoo entertaining Winta, she finally shifted back. "I'm so glad you enjoyed me as a pug!" she exclaimed. "Really, you don't even know how much that means to me."
"I wish I could return the favor right now," Winta told her. "But if I transform here, I would trash your room. So I'd rather not."
"Can I see your mark, at least?" JiSoo asked.
Winta lifted her right shirtsleeve to show off her shifter mark, barely visible against her dark skin.
"Wow," JiSoo whispered. "I bet you're the only elephant in the school, right?"
Winta nodded. "There haven't been many of us here in the last hundred years or so. The few who have attended here were all my family."
"I've got to see you."
"In due time, I'm sure. Just like you said about me getting to see your eyeball." She winked. "Let's finish helping Ava, and then, maybe, if there's time, we can head to the courtyard."
Together, they went back to arranging the new room setup and chattering excitedly. Ava didn't know it yet, but she just formed a small army. Ride-or-die friends who would be there for her no matter what.
And now, with genuine friends by her side, she had even more to distract her. In fact, she’d been so preoccupied in her search for anything concerning her father, being mad at her mother, and dealing with mean old Elaine, that she forgot about the very spectacular occurrence that had taken place in Professor Bills’s class…
She could heal.
18
Tarun had two main skills. One was running, naturally, as he was a tiger, and the other was strumming his old guitar. His friends never ceased to compare his voice to Indian celebrities. As a little boy, he dreamed of playing in Bollywood movies. But, as he got older, he just liked to do it for fun.
That afternoon, sitting under an alcove of trees in the back courtyard, and surrounded by other students, he belted out some tunes until he eventually settled on the Friends theme song. It was one of his favorites.
His parents had loved that TV show, and he had watched every episode with them, eventually coming to love it, too. Playing that song on his guitar made him feel more connected to them and their favorite series.
"So no one told you life was gonna be this wayyyyy…"
Several other shifters joined in. "Your job’s a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOAaaa…"
Then everyone who knew the song joined in for the chorus. "I'll be there for youuuu." At the end, he strummed a few more chords, then returned to the beginning.
Behind him, where no one could see her, Ava stood with JiSoo and Winta, her mouth hanging open. What in the universe did an alpha jock like Tarun see in a sappy show like Friends? She couldn't believe they had that weird little thing in common.
She could only see his back, and the way it arched over the guitar. His soulful heart-wrenching voice that somehow made the mundane theme song sound melodious, rang out through the trees. His white hair tickled the tops of his ears.
"That's the guy you like? Wow. Tarun. He's super hot." JiSoo broke the silence and snapped Ava from her stupor.
"I don't have a crush on him!" she insisted.
"Yes, that's her crush," Winta concluded as she elbowed Ava in the side playfully.
"Okay, maybe I kind of find him attractive… And I like his personality…" Ava answered, sounding a little dreamier than she meant to. It frustrated her that she couldn't approach him around all those people. It would be too embarrassing for both of them. Especially with so many predators in the vicinity.
The three girls had gone out to the courtyard together that afternoon so JiSoo could finally see Winta as an elephant.
They had already been there, done that, now, having retreated to the back woods behind the building, far from view of any wandering students.
Even Ava hadn't seen Winta shift very many times. They were separated for many classes, so Ava enjoyed watching the transformation almost as much as JiSoo. And Winta had done it slow and steady, just to make it extra dramatic. She started with giving herself a trunk, and then one foot, followed by the other. Then out came the ears, and after stomping around and trumpeting several times, she twirled in a circle until she eventually morphed fully.
As an elephant, Winta was truly an impressive sight to behold. Ava didn't think she would ever tire of seeing her do it. It was such a shame she was too embarrassed to do it in front of others. If only the other shifters weren't so cruel.
"Damn, girl, you got it bad!" JiSoo chimed in again, teasing Ava. This time imitating the face Ava was supposedly just making, mouth hanging open and all.
Ava elbowed her, and JiSoo squealed. The noise caught Tarun's attention, and he stopped
singing and swiveled around to see what the ruckus was all about. As soon as he saw Ava standing there with her friends, his face broke into a big smile. He immediately waved them over.
"Don't even invite them over, Bro," Colin wheedled, his lips turning down at the sides, already getting up and brushing off the back end of his jeans. "I'm not hanging around."
Tarun pretended not to hear and continued waving. If anything, his wave got more exaggerated and his smile grew bigger.
He could clearly see the girls arguing, of course, and the minor scuffle taking place between them. Ava dragged her feet, flailing her hands, while Winta pushed her forward. Ava pulled her strands of brown hair in front of her face again, and Tarun really wished she wouldn't. It seemed like she always had her hair covering half of her face, and he wanted to see those rosy lips and catlike eyes more clearly. But, especially on the few occasions she tucked it behind her ears, her hair looked beautiful. Down almost to her waist and always parted in the middle.
Finally, the tiny dark-haired girl with them, JiSoo was her name, if Tarun's memory served him correctly, came bounding over to where he sat.
Giving in, Ava followed, with Winta giving her an occasional push behind the elbow. The scene was fairly comical to watch.
Patiently, he waited as he strummed a few nonsensical cords. James, who sat next to him, had just looked up to see the girls coming toward them. And, as expected, his face went from cool and collected to, well, looking like a blundering idiot again. A few others remained in the group as the girls approached, which Tarun appreciated. At least they were enjoying his music, and probably wouldn't give a rat’s ass if they were all earthworm shifters.
As Ava moved toward him, he admired her slim figure, but tried not to stare. Her walk was unique, fluid and free, very feminine, especially in her heeled black boots.
She sat down beside him on the cobblestones, her mates sitting on either side of her. "So you're a Friends fan? I wouldn't have guessed."
James immediately scooted closer to Winta.
"I think there's probably a lot you don't know about me…" Tarun started, leaning closer to Ava and trying to smile coyly at her.
But then a tiny hand poked him in the face. "Hi! I'm JiSoo." JiSoo extended her hand so abruptly that Tarun had leaned his face right into it at the same time.
"Right. JiSoo. I met you at the cafeteria a few weeks ago, yes?" He flashed her a charming smile.
"Oh yes! Yes, you did!" JiSoo seemed excited about that. "I didn't think you would remember me."
"Sure, of course I remember you. You have cool hair." He winked, but then immediately regretted it, worried Ava might see it and think he was flirting with her.
But Ava just smiled at their interaction, seemingly pleased that he was being so nice to her new friend.
"So what were the three of you ladies doing back there? Hiding from me and my god-awful singing voice?" he teased.
"Yeah, right." Ava sat there cross-legged with her back straight, twisting her unpainted fingernails over and under each other on her lap. He wanted her to point those lovely doe-eyes on him. But the way they flashed, sometimes he couldn't tell if she was upset or amused.
"But I guess you couldn't resist all my awesomeness, so you still had to come over?"
He chuckled when she shot him a glare that could maim. "You wish," she blurted.
After a moment, he muttered softly, holding her eyes captive, “You've been avoiding me."
"Well, now I'm confused. I'm avoiding you or I can't resist you? Pick one." Was she trying to sound cute and flirtatious? Because it just came out catty. Yeah, pun intended.
"I haven't seen you since the library—"
"What's the deal with Levine?" Ava interrupted, changing the subject. "She's always by the door now every afternoon."
Tarun pretended not to notice the deliberate change in subject matter. "It's the best way for her to monitor the water shifters. Out of everyone, they are some of the most violent, and I guess they've been fighting a lot lately."
"The water shifters are more violent than the dragons?" JiSoo entered herself into the conversation.
"Yeah, overall. For the most part, the dragons don't try to devour each other." Tarun pointed. "Just like those two are doing in the water right now!"
Ava broke their gaze right when he said it to turn and witness to silver sharks snapping viciously at each other. Alarmed, she said frantically, "Someone needs to stop them!"
"Oh, don't worry, that's nothing. They do this stuff all the time. Levine won't intervene until the water stains red."
"That's awful," Winta added, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, well, wait till you see what happens then." Tarun let out a low whistle. "You know sharks can't resist blood."
"Yes, I do know." Ava nodded her head emphatically. "Back home, I refused to swim at the beach for that exact reason. What if I had a cut on me and didn't know? They can catch the scent of blood from miles away! That's terrifying."
There were another several moments of silence while the group watched the shark shifters. Then Tarun spoke. "So, how have you been holding up? Elaine still giving you trouble?"
She cut him another incredulous look. "You really don't know?"
"Know what?"
"I had to change rooms. She made it impossible to stay with her, threatened me, and then got me kicked out."
Tarun didn't know what to say so he didn't respond.
"But it all turned out for the better, because now I stay with JiSoo here." She nodded her head in JiSoo's direction. JiSoo was chattering animatedly with James and Winta.
Tarun felt immensely relieved for Ava. He knew Elaine was a nightmare and could probably make a person lose his or her mind. He also knew she had it out for Ava in a big way.
"I didn't even know it was possible to switch roommates! I wonder if Levine would let me do that so I could stay with James instead of Deacon…" he pondered aloud.
"Very doubtful." Ava shook her head. "I really don't want to tell you all the horrible things Elaine said about me to get the room switch to happen."
"Well, JiSoo seems nice."
"She is nice, just don't wear shoes in her room," she deadpanned.
He laughed and held out his hand as he moved to a kneeling position before standing up. "I'm Indian, I've been trained properly. I never wear shoes in someone's living space. Now, come with me?"
"Where we going?" She stood on her own without taking his hand.
He was going out on a limb here, but he was glad she was going with it. “You'll see."
Curiosity. Blame it on her curiosity. It always got the best of her.
"Winta, JiSoo, I'll be back soon, okay?"
JiSoo had the gall to wink outrageously at her and even make kissing sounds.
"Stooooooppp!” Ava tried to say to her so only JiSoo could hear, but she didn't know if she was successful. She was about ready to throw her new roomie through a pug-sized hole in the wall.
Thankfully, Winta, friend that she was, backhanded JiSoo in the stomach.
Thank you, Winta.
Still glaring at JiSoo as she followed Tarun, they took off down the cobblestone path. Wondering where he was taking her, she tried to crush the butterflies filling her insides. Walking behind him didn't make them go away. Instead, her eyes were glued to his backside—er, ahem—pants. Yes, his plaid uniform pants. On most of the boys there, she thought those pants looked horrendous and ridiculous. Like a bunch of clowns waltzing around. But on him they were, well, kind of cool looking. She could see the tails of his shirt poking out from below his blazer.
She took a deep breath and grasped for something to say. Anything to distract herself right now. Finally, "I'm dying of curiosity. Seriously, where are we going? I've never been this far away from the school building."
He merely chuckled and reached for her hand. When she finally took it, after about ten seconds of hesitation, he said, "Careful now. Curiosity killed the cat, you know." He winked flirtati
ously.
Ava tried to roll her eyes as dramatically as possible. "Oh, please, very original. Like I haven't heard that a million times!" Even though my curiosity gets me into trouble all the time, Ava did not say.
As they came to a grassy field, the school was now a blur from that distance. "I'm so confused about this school's location," Ava admitted. "At first, I thought the school was underground. And then I thought it wasn't. But then I was told it was, and all this stuff is just a glamour. But how are we under skies that I can very much feel the breeze from, hearing the ocean that I can also feel a breeze from and smell the salt, and now we are walking on a grassy field? This is grass! Definitely grass."
Tarun gave her a weird look. "That's what's bothering you? We’re at Animage Academy. There are people who can turn to jellyfish and three-toed sloths here. Our headmistress is a mythical beast, and you watched a girl burn to death in class only to explode into a magical firebird."
"Yes. So?"
"So I'm just saying, it's not entirely impossible for the school to create an atmosphere suitable for human and other mammal habitation."
"But we’re underground. Standing on grass. Looking at the sky."
"You look so confused. It's cute." He squeezed her hand. "Headmistress Levine's family has been here since the onset of the school. That was like a thousand years ago or something insane like that. Ava? Are you listening?"
Omigod! He said she was cute! She could probably die happy now. Wait, what did he say? "What?"
He laughed at her. Oh crap. She definitely missed something.
"I was talking about the origins of the school. Griffins are magical creatures, and they've been running the place since the beginning. They have all kinds of powers we can't even fathom nowadays because most of it has died off. Levine is the oldest living griffin left that we know of. There are only a handful of phoenixes, and unicorns are extinct now. So aside from the handful of other mythicals, and the legends I've heard about some human mages out there, there isn't much magic left. But it still exists."
Animage Academy: The Shifter School Down Under Year One Page 13
