{"sf1_id":696325,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Lost and Confused","author":"assilsasta","words":5966,"posted_at":"2014-04-23T12:01:00.000Z","tags":["Advanced classes","Avian","Blackouts","Canine","Cat","Clean","Culture shock","Dark","Feline","Female","Gazelle","Gothic","Introductions","Jonestown","Lupus","Main Coon","Male","Maned Wolf","Missing memories","New School","New Student","No Yiff","Pangolin","Purple finch","Rabbit","School","Wolf","bird","finch","goth","macabre","no sex","owl"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/696325-lost-and-confused","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/696325","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=696325\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n Feathers, Fur, and Shadows01. Lost and confusedby Assilsasta°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º° \n Delilah let the\nbundle of books fall from her talons the short distance to the ground as she\nlanded. She brushed her black school uniform skirt down and straightened the\nmatching black vest and tie before letting the thick winter cloak fall over her\nwings to block with chilled breeze, then pulled the fur trimmed hood over the\nshirt feathers of her head. She was out early again, well before sunrise, at\nthe nearly deserted private school campus. The grouping of large gothic\nbuildings seemed eerie in the low light of the predawn hours. The red and white\nstone structures loomed over her into the dark sky. When her father had first\nbrought her here in the daylight, nearly two weeks ago, the place seemed more\nfrightening and overwhelming to her. The students teaming the halls, rushing\nfrom one class to the next, the noise and chatter of then passing furs as they\ncommented on her muddy brown colored feathers. She had listened and taken in\neach word that was spoken, the rumors had started already and she did not know\nwhat to expect.She picked up\nthe small bundle of books, held together with a leather strap, and clutched\nthem to her chest with her wings as she started toward the administration\nbuilding. The gothic architecture of the private school was more welcoming to\nher in the quiet solitude of the early morning. The school itself housed all\nthe grades from kindergarten through high school, separated into the different\nbuildings on campus. She stopped at the door to the administration building,\nwhich also housed most of the grade school classes only to find the door was\nlocked. She walked back down the stairs to the stone benches that sat around\nthe large lonely willow tree, it low hanging branches and foliage almost bowing\nin welcome to her to the old world institution of learning. She pulled her legs\nup into the cloak, crossing them and hiding her bare feet from the late winter\nchill. She continued to clutch the small bundle of books to her chest as her\neyes closed and mind drifted in the dark early hours.It had been two\nyears since she had last attended school. The accident that took her mother\nfrom them had taken its toll on her, both physically and mentally. She had\nspent much of the first year after relearning how to walk and fly. The next\nyear had revealed the other, non-visible damage wrought by the accident. The\ndays of solitude and loneliness had their own effect on her as she was attended\nto by nurses only when she needed, and visited by her father only in the dark\nhours of the night when he could break free from his work. She had grown\naccustomed to the silence and solitude as her body healed enough to begin the\ntherapy to rebuild her strength. Only when they had attempted to place her back\nin the public school did they see her new aversion to crowds and people. Back\nthen, she did not think much of it, keeping to herself and studying her free\ntime away. The solitude had become her comfort, but also her undoing.Delilah was\nsnapped back to reality as she heard a heavy weight dropped into the bench next\nto her. She looked out from under the hood to see a slightly older maned wolf\nsitting beside her, his arms spread across the back of the bench, one even\nbehind her shoulder, as he looked up at the old willow tree. The red and black\nfur of his face and muzzle seemed to have a sheen to it even in the fading moonlight.\nShe looked at the one blue eye that was near her as the white vapors of his\nbreath rolled out of his snout.\"Just cold\nenough to snow,\" he started to say as he looked into the sky above, \"But still\nto warm for it to hold to the ground.\"\"Excuse me?\" she\nasked not sure if he was talking to himself.\"The weather,\"\nHe replied as he looked down at her, his mismatched blue and brown eyes meeting\nhers, \"It at that time of year where we can still see the snowfall, but it will\nnever land, rejected by the warming of the season.\" He smiled at her as he went\non, \"I didn't expect to see anyone here this early. I'm still getting used to\nthe time change from Africa.\"His smile was as\nconfusing as his words. Why was he here? Why was he talking to her? Was he planning\nsomething like her classmates from the public school? She licked her beak as\nthe memories of a year ago faded in and out of the edges of her mind, only the\nfaint memory of the taste of iron on her tongue. She only remembered fragments\nof the night after the incident at the public school. Delilah was jarred back\ninto the moment as he continued to speak.\"I'm Jasper, by\nthe way,\" the large wolf said as he smiled down at her, \"I just moved here from\nAfrica... well more like got dumped here on my cousin by my parents. They said\nsomething about needing to get a proper finish to my education here in the\nstates. Not that I really mind, it's something new. I've never been to a school\nlike this before. Mostly attended small tribal schools that my mother thought, but\nthose were mostly just simple math and reading, mostly the Bible translated\ninto their language. She had me do,\" He tossed his paws up into air quotes as\nhe added \"REAL studies after the classes were over. Math, science, history, all\nthat stuff could put me to sleep the way she went over it. I think I did better\nwhen she would just leave me alone to figure it out.\" He looked down at her,\n\"so what's it like, going to a real school I mean. Having teachers that\nactually know the subjects and aren't just stumbling through home school\ncurriculum?\"She watched his\neyes as he spoke, still confused by the sudden intrusion of her solitude. He\nseemed different for the school mates from a year ago, strange and disconnected\nfrom the world. As she listened she could feel her heart race and her vision\nbegan to blur. His words faded into a distant mumble as the dark morning seemed\nto waver on the edge of her vision. She felt the books drop from her wings as\nshe looked into the washed-out visage of the wolf that now spoke at her\nwordlessly. Her body began to move without her direction as she stood and\nbacked away from the strange smiling wolf. She watched to colorless wolf's\nsmile turn to a frown as she moved away slowly. She felt herself lifted into\nthe air as her wings flapped and the world slowed to a crawl around her.\nEverything melted into shapeless blackness as the chill of the night air sifted\nthrough her feathers. °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º° Jasper watched\nas the young finch lifted into the air wordlessly, her small bundle of books\ndiscarded on the stone bench where she sat only moments ago, unsure of what he\nhad done wrong to make the girl flee. The maned wolf sat confused by the\nvisible change he saw as he tried to make small talk. The girl's expression had\nshifted from surprise when he first looked down at her, through fear, to\nsomething he could not place as she gracefully left the ground and flew into\nthe darkness above, the black uniform and cloak hiding her from him in the\nnight sky. He slumped down on the bench, held in place only by his arms draped\nacross the back.His cousin had\nbeen right. Americans are different for the tribal Africans. He knew that well\nenough, but he didn't think that just talking to someone would run them off.\nShelly had told him that his size was intimidating. He was only fifteen but\nalready stood six feet tall, and still growing. He stood head and shoulders\nover most of the tribal jackals in Africa, but they seemed to accept him well\nenough. He tried to run the explanation of cliques and social standings through\nhis mind again, his cousin's words still more confusing than anything he had\never heard. He wondered just what clique he would end up in. He didn't think of\nhimself as a jock or sports nut, though he did love to play football.\"Soccer damn\nit,\" he scolded himself for not translating the common world word for the\nAmerican naming of the sport, even after hours of practice after his cousin had\nlaughed at him for the use of the mis-matched sport name. So many things were\ndifferent now, almost like moving to a completely new world where nothing made\nsense.He stood and\nstarted to walk to the administration building as the first rays of the sun\nstarted to peek over the eastern trees. He snatched up the bird girls bundle of\nbooks, not wanting to be the person who let them get stolen or lost. As he\nwalked through the door to the administration building the hum of the\nflorescent lights invaded his ears. The strange new sound felt out of place and\ndisconcerting to him as he watched the few faculty members move through the\nhalls, into and out of different rooms.He scanned the\nsmall signs that stood out from the walls near the doors as he passed one\noffice after another, until he came to one labeled Administration. As soon as\nhe stepped through the door the sound of the lights was drown out by the commotion\nof students chatting as they waited in line before the three foot high wooden\ncounter that separated them from the three office workers. A young Maine coon\nin her mid-twenties stood by the counter shuffling small pieces of paper as she\nhanded them to the mix of cub in line. Uncertain of the proper thing to do,\nJasper fell into place at the end of the line. He stood there contemplating the\nnumber of students that were inline and the fact that none had passed by him\nfrom the school entrance when he sat talking to the young bird girl.\nOverwhelmed by Curiosity he tapped an opossum in front of him on the shoulder\nto get his attention.As the slightly\nolder boy turned to look at the taller maned wolf with a look of discontent he\nasked, \"What do you want?\" The opossum's discontent with being interrupted\nevident in his voice.Slightly taken\nback by the other student's attitude, Jasper asked apprehensively, \"Um... When\ndid everyone get here?\"The opossum\nscoffed as he rolled his eyes, \"Noob. This is the sick line for getting a pass\nto the nurse's office before class. Everyone that stays in the dorms has to get\none if they need to go, or think they are sick or something.\"Stopping for a\nmoment, the thought of dorms and students staying on campus being one of the new\nthings his cousin had mentioned, He stumbled through an apology. \"I'm.. Um\nsorry. It's my first day, so it all kind of new to me.\"\"No shit?\" the\nopossum retorted in a mocked voice of shock, \"And I bet you're one of the\nscholarship kids too. Mommy and Daddy proud of their little private school\ncharity case?\"Unsure of what\nto say to the smug boy, Jasper stood in stunned silence. His cousin had warned\nhim that things would be different here, but this was more than he had\nexpected. The reactions from the first two people he meet made him rethink his\nentire plan of trying to fit in the way he had always done in the past. He ran\nthe distant memories of all the small tribes and tight knit family groups that\nhe had come to know as normal through his mind as he waited silently in line\nfor his turn. His mild disconnection from reality was broken when the voice of\nthe feline behind the counter asked, \"And what are you in for, sore throat or\nrandom P.E. excuse?\"\"Um... I'm not...\nI.. um... A bird girl dropped this out front and flow off. I just thought I\nshould turn it into lost or found... or something.\"The Maine coon\nlooked up from her small stack of slips as she realized it was not another\nnurse request. Her eyes went wide as she looked at the bundle of books held\ntogether by the leather strap and the tall maned wolf that held them. \"You must\nbe Jasper,\" she said as she stuffed the sick slips under the counter. \"To be\nhonest I've never seen a maned wolf before. You're a lot taller than I\nexpected.\"\"Excuse me?\" He\nasked as he tilted his head.\"Oh, I'm sorry,\n\" she started with a smile, \"I'm Miss Adams, the student adviser for grades\nsixth through eighth. So you're on my roster. I like to know my students so\nit's nice that you came in and I didn't have to hunt you down like I usually\nhave to do.\" She scrunched her eyebrows together as she continued, \"You're here\nmighty early. Was there something wrong with your schedule or did you need\nsomething?\"\"Oh, no ma'am,\"\nhe said as he looked down at her, \"I just couldn't sleep, the time zone change\nand all. But I came in because that girl dropped her books and...\"\"Here, I can\ntake those,\" she said as he reached her paw toward him, \"I'm sure whoever lost\nthem will come looking for them. Anyway, since you're already here, how about\nwe have a little talk in my office?\"\"Well ma'am, I\nshould be getting to class, I don't want to be late on my first day.\"She smiled at\nhim as he placed her paw on his over the counter. \"Your first class is\nhomeroom, where they basically just take attendance for the day. You won't miss\nanything since you don't have any assignments to work on, and you can never get\nin trouble for being in the office. I understand you're coming from a basic\nhome school environment where your Mother was teaching you while your family\ntraveled on mission trips. We don't expect you to learn the ropes in one day\nand I am here to help you.\"Jasper's blushed\nwas hidden under his red fur he felt the soft touch of the main coon. He\nglanced down at his paw a moment before he jerked away from her touch. \"I\nthink.. Um.. I should... find... my way to class,\" he stammered as he took a few\nsteps backward. \"th... thank you for holding onto that girl's books... Miss... um...\nAdams.\" He swiftly turned and nearly slammed face first into the door before he\nstopped just in time to grab the knob and retreat into the hallway. °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º° Shellie Adams\nwatched as the obviously embarrassed wolf fled from the office. As the door\nswung shut behind him, leaving only the office workers in the room, a pangolin\nleaned back from her desk, the rusty brown of her thick scaled head a stark\ncontrast to the white fabric of her blouse, as she said, \"Looks like you have\nanother one with a crush on his guidance counselor.\"\"Shut it, Lexie,\nhe's just a young man not sure of the world around him.\" She turned and looked\nat her companion as she continued, \"Besides, It's his first time in a place\nwithout his mother dictating what's right and wrong, he's bound to have\nconflicting emotions when dealing with something THIS hot.\" The main coon waved her paws down her body as if Vanna\nWhite presenting a prize on a game show.Lexxie rolled\nher eyes as he looked back at the paperwork on her desk, \"you are so full of\nyourself Shelly. One of these days one of those boys is going to take your\nflirting seriously and do something about it.\"\"And if it is\nthat chunk of wolf hunk, I might just let him.\" Shellie stood up from her place\nleaned against the counter and started across the open room to her side office\nas she added, \"and if we play our cards right, we both might get to play a\nlittle.\"\"You are such a\nslut,\" the pangolin said with a smirk on her muzzle, \"I Just hope you don't\nbite off more than you can chew with these boys.\" °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º° Delilah stood\nfor a moment as the cold wind cut through her feathers while she looked down\nfrom the top of the bell tower. She wracked her brain as she thought through\nthe last few moments that she could remember. The tall wolf that had talked to\nher was all that came to mind, his words lost in the sound of rushing blood and\nher pounding heart. The winter cloak flowed behind her in the sudden strong\nwind as she stood there unsure of why or how she had arrived at the lofty\nperch. She looked down at her shaking hands as she turned them over looking for\nhints of crimson, and licked her beak in search of the taste of iron, as her\nmind grasped for fleeting images of red stained fur and dark fluid. Was it just\nmemories of a year ago, or were they new. The gaps in her memory seemed to come\nmore frequently, and the shadowy images less defined.As she stood,\nshivering from both the cold and the fear of not remembering, one thing entered\nher mind, Miss Adams, the Maine coon that she and her father had spoken with on\ntheir visit to the school when she was registered. Her smile was welcoming and\nshe had said her office was always open if she needed someone to talk to. But\nhow could she talk about thing she couldn't even remember?She looked down\nat the long shadows cast by the tall bell tower in the early dawn as students\nfrom off campus began to arrive at the school. The small figures seemed to\ntaunt her as she pulled her cloak out of the wind and back around her. She\ncrouched down, nearly sitting with her knees to her chest under the thick fabric,\nher wings hugged tight to her chest as she looked over the courtyard in search\nof her bundle of books from her lofty perch. She quivered at the thought of the\nbundle being in the paws of another, the three old hardbound books had not left\nher possession since the day she could hold them again. She had latched onto\nthe three literary classics after her recovery, the three last books her mother\nhad read with her before the accident. The thought of having lost the last\nconnection she had to the older finch brought the sound of blood being pumped\nthrough her veins heavy and loud in her ears as she watched the tiny, distant\nfigures go about their lives, oblivious to her observation. Her only hope was\nthat maybe someone had taken them to the office and left them for her to\nretrieve. °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º° The grey beak of\nthe finch poked just past the edge of the fur trimmed hood of the cloak as she\nmoved through the crowded hall of students and faculty. The flowing torrent of\nbodies seemed to part as she walked, as if pushed away by an unseen force that emanated\nfrom her. She peered out from under her hood while she slowly navigated to her\ndestination. Her black eyes meet those of passersby for only an instant as they\nquickly looked away from her, their expressions shifting between curiosity and\nanxiety. Chatter fell silent in the small sphere of tension that surrounded her\nas she moved. She watched as a pair of ferrets whispered between glances in her\ndirection, only to see them swiftly escape down a side hall at their first\nopportunity to withdraw from her path.She felt the\nchange in the air as the door to the administration office closed behind her,\nblocking out much of the commotion in the hall. She looked down at the gray\nbarber carpeting of the room, a soft and welcome change under her feet from the\ndark black marble laced with white and gray veins of the main hall. She quiet\nof the nearly deserted room was also a much needed deviation from the hallway\noutside. Slowly she looked up to meet the eyes of the pangolin the stood at the\ncounter waiting for her to approach. Her soft smile seemed out of place in the\nworld around the young finch. The only one she had seen that day other than the\none on the maned wolf. The look was disconcerting to her, forcing her to\nquestion the pangolin's motives. So many smiles had brought nothing but pain\nand lies, smiles that only covered deceit and trickery. The melodic voice that\naccompanied the smile gave nothing to add any comfort or reassurance. For\nDelilah, as it felt like a distorted mimic of the voice and smile of her\nmother, the last thing she could remember as the years slowly claimed the few\nremnants of the older finch from her mind. She shook her head slightly as the\nalmost alien words came to her again, now audible and understandable.\"It's nice to\nsee you again Miss. Nicholson,\" the pangolin said as she leaned on the counter,\n\"How can I help you today?\"Softly she\nspoke, only audible due to the silence of the room, \"I lost my books, my\nmother's books.\"\"Oh, dear, I\nthink a young man did bring a bundle of book in earlier, \"the older woman said\nas she knelt down behind the counter, \"Let me see if I can find them.\"Delilah felt the\nshivers of anxiety and confusion rush through her body as she suddenly felt\nutterly alone in the room with the two remaining office workers. She looked\ndown at the carpeting again as she felt the rush of dizziness and the hollow\nsound of her heartbeat grow distant. She looked up at the vacant counter as she\nfelt her beak move with the word, \"Is Miss. Adams in?\" only moments before\nreality faded to darkness.\"You gave us a\nbit of a scare Miss, Nicholson,\" an odd voice said as Delilah opened her eyes.\nShe found herself in a smaller office laid out on a couch. Across from her at a\nsmall desk was the main coon cat that seemed to be the only person she had\nfound beyond her father that did not make her question motive or plans.\nSomething was different about her, about the way she felt. \"Miss Broom found\nyour books. They were brought in earlier by a young wolf named Jasper Watson,\nhave you meet him?\"Delilah's mind\ndrifted past the solid memories and she shadowy fragments as the morning's\nevents tried to play out. \"He... he tried to talk to me.\"\"Did you have\nanother episode?\"\"Y-yes.\"\"You know you\ncan tell me about them right?\" the feline woman stood, walked over to the couch\nand sat on the end by the young bird's feet, \"That is part of why I am here, to\nhelp you.\"\"He... He was\ntalking...\" Delilah paused for a moment as she tried to remember, the fragments\nthat she knew were from the past bleeding in, and new fragments, dreamlike\nmoments of cold dark skies. The sudden feel of something small crushed and torn\nin her talons flowed in, clear as the vision of the gray and black striped fur\nof the feline that sat intently listening to her. \"I... I did something... I think...\nI don't know... All I remember is looking down from the bell tower... before coming\nhere.\"\"It's okay\nDelilah, you didn't hurt anyone,\" Shelly looked into the finch's black eyes\nwith as much reassurance as she could manage. \"Do you want me to call your\nfather?\"She sat up\nquickly as the words sprang from her beak, almost as if beyond her control,\n\"NO!\" she froze for a moment as the look of surprise and shock faded from the Maine\ncoon's face. \"I... I don't want to leave. I want to stay... for now.\"\"Okay,\" Shellie said\nthe reassuring smile once again on her face, \"Then let's get you to class, your\nfirst period should be starting soon. If you have any problems just come back\nhere.\" °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º° Most of his day\npassed just as his cousin had described it to him. Home room was no more than\ntaking attendance, morning announcements and a quick introduction of him by the\nteacher, only to be rushed off to the next class a few minutes later. Everyone\nseemed to be in a hurry as he made his way between the classes. He started to\nsee the cliques his cousin had talked about between classes and even\ncongregating in the rooms until class started. Jasper had almost made a game of\ntrying to figure out how the groups fit together from one class to another.\nOften it was easy, the jocks and sports players were easy to pick out, there\nwere the obvious bookworms or nerds as she had called them. Other groups were\nnot as easy to decipher and in every class there was one or two that did not\nfit into any group, though he had seen some of them later in their defined\nspace in the schools ecology. He found it almost amusing until he thought about\nhow he fit into this little world.He found that\nunlike the others he was often in one of two places in all of his classes.\nEither he was well ahead of the curriculum and felt out of place or behind and\nsomewhat mocked by his teachers and peers for his rudimentary knowledge of what\nmust have been considered common sense. He knew his parents and the other\nmissionary teachers had done their best to get him ready for this transition\ninto traditional school, but now it all seemed so distant. He was fluent in ten\ndifferent African languages, but was looked down upon when he only knew basic\nSpanish. He was even further confused by the looked of anger and animosity he\ngot when a group of girls gathered around him during a break in class and\nnearly forced him to speak in and explain other languages. The social dynamics\nof this co-ed system of boy being taught alongside girls seem wrong. The\nopenness of girls talking to and even touching boys felt almost taboo. even\nthough his parents and cousin had told him about it many times over the years.He had got used\nto the idea of needing to wait for the class instructor to introduce him before\nassigning him a seat. As he entered his one advanced class, chemistry, he\nwatched the collection of what his cousin would call science geeks rolled in\nand take their places at the small workstations, each situated with beakers,\ntest tubes and gas nozzles for the Bunsen burners. Among the class was one or\nmaybe two jocks, he was still getting used to classifying his fellow students\nby their posture and demeanor. He waited patiently as the bell rang signaling\nthe beginning of class with no instructor in sight. Jasper began to get nervous\nas the quiet conversations between the paired up students slowly got louder and\neventually moved across tables and groups. He felt almost as if he was on\ndisplay for the entertainment of those around him. Several times he heard his\nname mentioned in hushed tones as one or more students would look his was.He was suddenly\nrelieved when a large owl walked through the door and the room fell almost eerily\nsilent. That was until he saw the small cloaked figure that followed him into\nthe room. It was the bird that had fled from him earlier in the day. As she\npassed him in her close pursuit of the teacher, the whispers began again, so\nhushed that he could not make out a word. The entire class jumped as a wooded\npointer smacked against the podium at the front of the room.\"Good morning\nclass,\" the owl began, \"Today we have two new students joining us. The first\nsome of you may have meet in other classes, Mister Jasper Watson. We also have\nthe young Miss Delilah Nicholson joining us as an advanced student from the\nmiddle school.\" Almost as soon as the owl said her name the whispers erupted\nbetween the students once again. With a second loud crack of the long wooden\npointer against the podium he added, \"We will have none of that in this\nclassroom.\" His stern voice almost frightening to Jasper. \"Miss. Sweets, Please\nmove to the back desk and pair up with Miss. Nicholson so that you can help her\nget up to speed. Mister Watson, Please take the seat Miss. Sweats left next to\nMister Turner. Everyone else begin where we left off Friday with the project on\npage 127.\"Jasper watched\nas the rabbit girl grudgingly grabbed her stuff and moved to the vacant\nworkstation at the back of the room. Before she moved, the young brown\nfeathered girl looked up at him, her black eyes meeting his mismatched blue and\nbrown. He was suddenly drawn deep into the emotionless black pools as she said\nsoftly, \"I am a finch, not a sparrow.\" he cocked his head to the side slightly\nconfused by her comment as she walked to the table with the rabbit girl. He\ncontinued to watch her as he walked to the table by the gazelle boy. She sat on\nthe high stool, still short in comparison to her older lab partner, but she\nseemed more out of place than her actual size, as if she was from an entirely\ndifferent world. As her winter cloak fell away from her smaller frame he noted\nthat unlike the other female uniforms, hers had no sleeves. Both the shirt and\njacket were more vests than those around her. He assumed that the thick ridged\nprimary feathers were the reason she differed from the others.As Jasper took\nhis place next to the other boy he heard him say in a hushed tone, \"You really\ndodged a bullet on that one, I just feel bad for Sweets.\"\"What do you\nmean?\" Jasper asked, nearly unable to keep his voice to a controlled low.\"You really are\nnew here, aren't you? The Nicholson girl, she a freak. They tried to put her in\nthe public school last year. My cousin goes there, he said that during their\nP.E. class, something happened and she fell, or got hurt or something.\" The\ngazelle looked around as if trying to see who else was listening. \"Well, her\nshirt got torn and he said she had scars and stitches all over her chest.\"Jasper scrunched\nhis brow confused, \"So she got hurt some time before, what does that have to do\nwith anything?\"\"No, you don't\nget it,\" The gazelle glanced around again as he spoke in a more hushed tone,\n\"Her dad is some kind of mad scientist. Does all sorts of experiments on ferals\nand stuff. Something about genetic manipulation or blending, something like\nthat. See how she is brown like most finches, well her dad is bright red. They\nsay its from all the blood from his experiments stained the white from his\nfeathers.\"\"I'm still not\nfollowing you here?\"\"\"What are you,\nsome kind of fucktard? He experimented on her, that's why she hasn't been in\nschool until now, might even be why she's taking all these advanced classes. I\nhear that she's not even really his daughter, but something he made in his lab\nafter his wife and real daughter died in a horrible car accident. I'm telling\nyou, it's best to just stay away from her if you can.\"Jasper looked\nover his shoulder at the rabbit girl as she grudgingly showed the finch where\nthey were in the lessons. \"Dude, I think you are a few sandwiches short of a\npicnic.\"\"What?\"\"The scars on\nher chest could be from that accident you said her and her mother were in. And\nmaybe she's really just smart. I know a lot of smart kids that have a hard time\ninteracting with people. Their brains work different, it's hard for them to\nrelate.\"\"Fine, dude, you\ncan think what you want, but I'm telling you, weird stuff happens to people\nthat mess with her. I'd stay clear if I were you.\"\"Whatever, let's\njust get to what we are supposed to be doing here. I'm already a few month\nbehind the power curve here.\" Jasper pulled the book out and turned to the page\nmentioned by the instructor and began to read. Just as he was getting up to\nspeed with the project from what he had learned from the kits and curriculum he\ncould get on the mission field the sound for breaking glass got the attention\nof the entire class.\"What the fuck,\nyou little freak?\"\"I'm sorry.\"\"That's fucking\nacid, and you almost got it one me.\"\"Watch your\nlanguage Miss Sweets. Now what's going on?\"\"She dropped the\nbeaker of acid on the desk.\" the rabbit girl nearly yelled as she backed away\nfrom the workspace. \"Look, it's even on her cloths.... and her...\"Before the\nrabbit could complete the thought the owls pushed her aside, picked up the\nfinch and ran to the wash station where he submerged her hand and wing into a\nquick stream of running water that erupted from the faucet with his foot on the\npedal at the base. \"Okay, I need a volunteer to take Miss Nicholson to the\nnurse's office.\"After several\nmoments of quiet murmuring, Jasper looked around the room at the questioning,\nand odd looks of the other students as the whispered to one another. \"I'll take\nher,\" he finally spoke up.\"I'm fine, I can\ngo alone.\" The finch pushed her way out of the owl's grasp as she walked back\nto the workstation to get her things.Jasper swiftly\nmoved from his spot to the where the finches bundle of books sat, snatching\nthem up only a moment before she could reach for them. \"I'm sorry Miss\nNicholson, but But Mr. Fuller said someone needs to help you get to the nurse's\noffice.\"She looked at\nhim with an almost emotionless expression as she turned to leave the classroom.\nHe quickly trotted after her, not sure exactly why he felt to need to help her.\nThe young girl seemed even more ostracized and outcast than he was. He followed\nher not really sure where the nurse's office was in the large school. Eager to\nbreak the silence she looked down at her and asked, \"So.. Um.. what happened, Miss\nNicholson?\"\"Delilah.\"\"What?\"\"My name is\nDelilah, you are Jasper Watson. You tried to talk to me this morning and...\" She\ntrailed off as the two continued down the hall, \"I... Just dropped the vial, it\nhappened.\"\"But, the acid...\non your hand... didn't that hurt?\"She stopped,\nturned and looked up at him, her black eyes once again meeting his mismatched\npair, \"No, it didn't, I didn't feel anything. I never do.\" He looked into her\neyes, unsure of what emotion, or anything she might be feeling at that moment.\n\"You've heard stories about me. You should listen to them and stay far away\nfrom me. I don't care where you go, or what you do. Just give me my books and\ngo away.\" She reached up and took the small bundle of three books from his paw\nand turned to walk away.Dumbfounded and\nslack jawed, Jasper stood and watched her disappear down the hall, but he could\nnot bring himself to let her go alone. No one deserved to be alone and of\neveryone he had meet, this young finch was the only other person that did not\nfit into any of the cliques like him.  "}