First Day at School

[Cedahlia]

Nel's hair had been left down, it cascaded around her shoulders in waves. If she ducked her head, then she could easily hide behind it. Her skirt was long, it hid her chunky boots and most of the floor around her.

Her top was a black and purple corset, with a black lace top underneath that covered her arms and just underneath her neck.

"Wow, girlie." Wolf said from the door behind her. It had been just a month since Morgan had dropped this girl off at his door. She had gone from inconsolable, to a silent mess, to this. "You are dressed to kill."

Nel smiled at Wolf. He'd made it clear to her that he wasn't interested in her sexually, but also that she could do whatever to push him and it wouldn't make him lash out. "I was hoping I would go unnoticed today."

"Even if you wore a paper bag, everyone would notice you. You look almost like a vampire, with your pale skin and red lips. Your eyes are such a bright blue too, so sorry. But that's not going to happen. You ready?" Wolf laughed.

Nel sighed, but picked up her bat backpack and threw it on. "No, but when am I ever?"

"When you have to be." Wolf said, he gently took her arm to lead the way, but she still flinched when he touched her. He stood still, his hand still in place, patiently waiting for her body to relax and then he'd keep moving.

"I'm so sorry." Nel said, tears springing into her eyes.

"Don't be, princess." Wolf said, but when he saw her tears, he pulled the derpiest face. "We haven't got time for round two of touching up make up, girlie. Come on, no tears. I can't handle those. Please. Stahp." He said all dramatically.

And finally Nel laughed and she relaxed. Wolf grinned, gave her arm the most gentlest of squeezes and then took her to the car. "Don't be nervous okay?"

"Okay," Nel breathed as she climbed into the passenger seat.

"you've got your phone right?" Wolf asked, and right on cue, the thing let out a creepy sound in her bag as Hikari text her. "Okay good. Text me between classes and breaks. If it's too much, well... Keep trying. Okay? But if you really can't, call me and I'll be there, faster than you can say please help."

Nel smiled as he got into the driver seat beside her. She put her hand on his shoulder. "I don't remember my parents, but if I had a dad, I hope he was like you..."

Wolf just stared at her then. His face was riddled with a bunch of confusing and conflicting emotions. "No chick flick moments." He said, after blinking rapidly to stop tears forming in his eyes.

"Right." Nel said with a laugh and then proceeded to tease him all the way.

Wolf stopped the car, leaned over her and popped open the door. "Get out of my car, you wicked, wicked woman."

"Okay," Nel said and kissed his cheek before jumping out. Leaving Wolf again, momentarily stunned.

"Don't skip classes and I'll be here after school is over!" Wolf said as she closed the door. "you got this princess!"

"Shh, stop yelling." Nel said, because people were looking. "Bye." She said then and scurried into the school. She needed to find the office to get her school timetable and such.

[Cedahlia]

Sirius, Vale, Mandisa and Mireya were hanging out by the lockers near the entrance of the school. "Why doesn't this lock ever work for me?" Sirius complained as he fought with the lock. He'd put in the combination just right but it still refused to budge.

"Obviously it hates you," Vale commented, not overly bothered. Lockers for him weren't so much about storing books as they were about checking his appearance in the mirror between classes.

"Mandi, give the boy a hand, would you?" Mireya asked her sister. "We'll be stuck here for another ten minutes otherwise and I just can't be late to Mr. Gordon's class. It'll throw off my whole day."

Mandisa approached the locker. Her hand went right through it, as if she were a ghost rather than a human girl, and within a few minutes she'd opened it.

"And you're a lifesaver," Sirius said and grabbed the report he'd been so desperately trying to get out.

"I know," Mandisa said, her voice airy and slow.

Sirius slammed the locker shut with a flourish and happened to look towards the doors then. "Whoa. New girl alert."

"New girl?" Mireya asked in surprise as both Vale and Mandisa looked too. "No one told me we were getting a new student! I don't have enough time to prepare a proper welcome now!" she lamented.

"I don't think she'd want your welcome," Vale commented, taking in what she was wearing and her overall look.

"Agreed..." Sirius said. "She does not look fairy friendly." She looked dark, which was a very nice look for certain people but dark and fairy did not get on exactly.

"Oh..." Mireya pouted in a disappointed manner as she looked at the new girl. Her mind kept right on racing as she thought of something to do. "Well, there's only one thing to be done then. You'll have to greet her." She pushed her sister forward. "You appear more her speed."

Mandisa gave her sister a look but went over to the girl anyway. "Hey," she said in her haunting voice. "You're new."

[Cedahlia]

Nel had really not wanted to be noticed. She had definitely not wanted to be approached. But the girl wasn't just any girl.

Wolf had told her of the ghost princess. "Oh... Hello." She said then, though her eyes wandered just a little at the group behind her and Nel immediately went stiff. One was so colourful and looked just like the one who had spoken to her. The princess of fairies. The rest...were guys. No

[Cedahlia]

Mandisa noticed that reaction because she was so close to the girl. It was obvious she didn't like the sight of Mireya, Vale and Sirius. "They're loud but they're okay," she told the girl. She'd already started talking to her so she wasn't just going to stop. "I'm Mandisa. Who are you?" she asked.

"Oh I don't think she likes us," Mireya whispered unhappily to the boys.

"I don't think she likes you," Vale said. "There's nothing wrong with us." He poofed into his fox form and jumped up onto Sirius.

"Ah no, white fur on my clothes!" Sirius gasped but held the fox anyway.

[Cedahlia]

"I'm Nel. Nice to meet you, princess." Nel replied, she didn't foxes, she realised. She didn't mind fiends at all. But if he was in boy form, she wanted to run. She kept one eye on the people, but she paid attention to Mandi. "I'm sorry. I don't dislike them, or anything. They seem fine. I'm just..." broken? Psychotic around guys who hadn't done anything to her? She thought to herself and just sighed softly. "Sorry, I uh.. I got to go get my schedule from the office." She said and tried to escape.

[Cedahlia]

"Do you know where that is?" Mandisa asked, not commenting on the girl having a tiny spaz over boys, apparently. Not her sister. The boys. She glanced back at them. "They're not that cute..." But most of the school would disagree with her on that one. She looked back at Nel. She assumed that like a lot of shy girls, boys made her tongue and body go all weird where they wouldn't work properly. She didn't think she was actively scared of them. "I can take you to the office. They don't have to come."

[Cedahlia]

"I mean, yeah they're okay looking. But it's not that." Nel said, lots of her mending was hidden. Her scars not visible while she was clothed. "But please. Yes. I mean, no I don't know where I'm going. That would be wonderful."

[Cedahlia]

Mandisa turned toward her sister and the boys. "I'm leaving. Don't follow." And then she marched off with Nel in tow.

"Have fun!" Mireya shouted after them in a friendly manner. It was just killing her not to talk to the new girl. But she was trying to give her space since she seemed to want it. She bit her lip. "Oh I hope we didn't scare her somehow."

"Maybe she just doesn't like people with glasses," Vale teased Sirius.

"I will drop your fluffy butt on this floor. Right here. In front of the whole school," Sirius said.

But by then Mandisa had gotten out of earshot so she didn't know what became of that. She brought Nel to the office and opened the door. "Gaius, I have a new person," she said as she steered Nel into a specific office with a large, warm wooden desk. A vulpix sat at the desk, wearing a red sweater and looking both prim and adorable at the same time.

[Cedahlia]

Oh. Fox. In clothes. Adorable. "Thank you, Mandisa." She said with a smile for the girl. "Hello, Gaius, was it? My name is Nel. I just started here?"

[Cedahlia]

Gaius tilted his head to the side as he looked over Nel. "Oh yes, I was expecting you," he said. He was one of the few fiends that was capable of understanding and speaking human languages in fiend form. Foxes were just pretty awesome at that. "I have your paperwork to fill out here," he said and slid a folder across the desk towards her with one paw. "And you'll find your class schedule, map, and other pertinent information about the school in this one." He slid another folder with his paw. "You'll need to decide on what extracurricular activities you'd like to be signed up for by the afternoon," he informed her.

Mandisa just hung back in the doorway like the creepy ghost girl that she was.

[Cedahlia]

"I have to do extea curricular?" Nel asked, she wondered if it was a school rule, or Wolf enforced to make her come out of her shell. She was already pale, but the colour still drained from her face.

[Cedahlia]

"Yes, we encourage all students to involve themselves in activities other than classes," Gaius informed her. "I included a packet on everything we offer. Just give it a look over. You can take as many or as little as you'd like, so long as you take at least one."

"I dance and fence," Mandisa offered.

[Cedahlia]

"Oh. Those sound fun." Nel said, but then she looked over at Gaius. "Did my guardian, you know, fill you in on my situation?" She asked, because she wanted to be sure the school was aware.

[Cedahlia]

"He did, yes," Gaius said with a nod of his fluffy head. It was, after all, why he was meeting her in fiend form instead of in his usual human form. "But he also left of express instructions on his feelings on how to handle your situation and for now I would like to listen to those. We can revisit them later, after you've spent some time here and have adjusted to school life."

[Cedahlia]

"Okay, but how many of these extra curricular activities run by men?" Nel asked, her voice shaking.

[Cedahlia]

"We have fairly even distribution," Gaius said. "Each class also has an assistant so even if the class is taught by a man, there will be a female to assist. The classes are not segregated by gender either," he informed her. He went quiet for a moment, just looking thoughtful. "This is not really my field. Trent is in charge of the activities. It might do for you to speak with him about accommodating you."

[Cedahlia]

Him. Speak with him. Immediately Nel started to shake. No. "I'll do dance, fencing and martial arts." She said then and grabbed the paperwork and ran off.

[Cedahlia]

Mandisa just followed after her. It's not like the girl knew where she was going and clearly she was shaken up over the idea of talking to a guy. "Trent's not a human," she told the girl. "He's a liepard. You're the Princess of Darkness, right? He can't hurt you, whatever it is you're afraid of. You pretty much rule him."

[Cedahlia]

"I don't... It's just..." Nel started, she took a deep breath. "I'm a survivor of physical and mental abuse at the hand of a guy. I have trust issues. I am terrified of them. I can't talk to them."

[Cedahlia]

"Hm..." Mandisa said. "I guess even darkness can be hurt by itself," she said after a moment." But then she shook her head. "The guys I hang around are not like that. Most of them are gay, actually, even if they won't admit it yet. I can understand the fear but I cannot support it fully. Half the human population is male and some of them would rather be killed then hurt a girl. So we'll have to work on finding the good ones, okay? I'm not saying pushing you into a room full of guys and making you chat with them. But you can start with the gay ones, I guess."

[Cedahlia]

"Gays are fine. I trust them." Nel said, she thought then for a moment. "Both your friends are gay? Or just the one with glasses?"

[Cedahlia]

"They might as well both be gay," Mandisa said. "Neither of them is out yet, you know, but if you just hang out with them you'll find it ridiculously obvious that they are not at all swayed by feminine wiles or bodies. Just don't call them gay. They're not ready for labels or something." She didn't know or care, really. "Gaius back there is pretty much everywhere when it comes to handling things for the students. Tutoring and all that too. But he's also gay and probably the sweetest guy you'll ever meet so you don't have to be scared of him either."

[Cedahlia]

"Not everyone is gay and safe though." Nel said, shuddering at the very thought. "And before you say it, the guy who did... What he did... Started out nice too. I think my darkness broke him."

[Cedahlia]

"Well your darkness can't break those that are already dark," Mandisa reasoned. "So we go with gay people and dark people for now. It's an easy start. You're going to have dark specific classes too because of who you are so the people in there with you will also be dark, just not as easily talented at it since you're the Princess. And the dark teachers and assistants shouldn't be too bad either. At least not to you. Trent is one of those, of course. He teaches both fencing and dance, by the way. So you won't be able to avoid him."

[Cedahlia]

Nel just took a moment to breathe. She was so unsure about all of this. "Can I fill this paperwork out at home? Or do I have to do it now?"

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