FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

“Don’t want to go,” Cassidy muttered while pulling her purple backpack out of her closet early the next morning, dragging it across the floor before her bed.

The sun was out, barely, filling her room with its sunless white gaze through parted curtains.

She sat on the matress’ edge beside Fenny and a curled up Añu and raised her hands to hold her cheeks, smooshing them. “Don’t…” She sighed.

Fenny leaned against her bare thigh while eyeing her face.

She shifted her eyes down to him. “I will be okay.” She stood from the bed, went to her dresser, and pulled open the top drawer. It was where she kept her tops and Pokétch.

She grabbed her Pokétch and tossed it underhanded onto the bed, then sifted through her shirts. She settled on a long-sleeved one with a white collar and crouched to snag a pair of black jeans from her lower drawer, swapping with what she wore currently.

Next was hygiene, so she trudged out into to the restroom and stood before the mirror. Her eyelids were slightly swollen from what little sleep she’d gotten last night, and strands of her stuck out jagged in random spots. Cassidy ran her palm over them; they flattened under her hand only for a moment before they shot up stiff.

She also looked her outfit over, tugging and smoothing out certain areas.

She lowered her hand and held a dull stare with slightly parted lips, then reached to turn on the nozzle, leveling both to create a warm flow of water. She watched the stream pour from the faucet and hit the sink in an unending patter. She let it fill her ears and ease her head before putting her hands under it to wet them.

In a total of ten quick minutes, she begrudgingly washed her face, brushed her teeth, and fixed her hair.

Now back in her room, Cassidy was checking her backpack to ensure she had all of her books and equipment inside, pushing through her books and binder. She’d also put the wafers the man gave her yesterday in one of its side pockets afterward, she zipped the bag back up and stood with it, hanging one of its straps over her shoulder.

Fenny had been grooming himself while watching her prepare, but all of his focus was now on her since she was readying to leave the room.

As was Añu’s. He sat up with a yawn and outstretched his arms over his head with flexed paws.

“I will see you later, Fenny, Añu.” She leaned over the bed and nuzzled Fenny’s head with her nose while cupping his cheeks, which he butted against.

“Nhen,” he replied with a nod.

She moved over and patted Añu’s head, rubbing and holding his cheek.

“Lu.” He raised a paw to press it to the back of her hand, grinning.

“Bye.” Cassidy snagged her Pokétch, strapped it on, and left, entering the living room, where Garna sat on the couch with her hands in her lap while watching TV. “Leaving.”

Garna looked over and studied her trainer. She broke a grin. ‘It’s nice seeing you dressed up again.’

She went over to the door and slipped into her boots. “I have to.”

The gardevoir faded her grin. 'Have a good day.'

With that, Cassidy was out the door and on her way to school, strolling the pavement. It was just past the residential area on Laverre Central’s outskirts. The morning air hit her sleepy eyes as she walked. She spotted other teens and children on their way.

Most walked alone or with friends. Laverre was as safe as a city its size could be, but some walked with their parents. She despised recognizing it. It made her want to turn back around already.

She couldn’t, so she shifted her attention to the outer fields and its abundant greenery, where people took early jogs and pokémon roamed about.

She spotted pidgeotto flying overhead through the air and gliding along cool breezes, pidgeot flying even higher, zigzagoon darting through the field and using tall grass patches as cover, as did bidoof, and taillow perched on tree branches or nest. Ledyba hid in their thick leaves.

Passing that by, she eventually entered Central, which was readying up to be as busy as usual. Mornings saw businesses preparing for another day to come, grumpy and cheery employees starting shifts, and teens running last-minute into markets to grab snacks for lunch.

This time, Cassidy returned greetings when she received them, albeit half-heartedly. Admittidely, it felt better than attempting to ignore them outright, but not nearly enough. It was negligible.

She dragged through the city and its outskirts, barely lifting her steps along the way. Just after the residential area was Laverre’s school, which she saw sitting less than a mile ahead.

It was a wide wooden white building with red lining. “Hhgh…” she groaned. Students entered the school’s open doors in droves.

As Cassidy approached, she realized she had absolutely nothing prepared to respond to questions throughout the day, zero drive to pay attention to lectures or write notes, and even less to converse.

She was numb. Step after step, numb; before she knew it, she slipped through the main doors, her boots now stepping on tile. She passed laughter and play fights and shouts and slamming lockers.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

---

Between teachers prodding at her attendance and piling accumulated homework to friends and acquaintances annoying her in too many ways to describe…

It was as awful as she’d expected—the entire day.

Cassidy paced down the hall that afternoon, eager to be freed from the draining social grasp. In her hand was a pack of wafers she’d saved in her bag. She’d eaten the other earlier in place of attending lunch.

As she passed by plenty of other students packing up for the day, she caught a particular group of four people out of the corner of her eye. They wore black and purple.

They stood and chatted at a group of lockers. Four of them. That group kept to themselves entirely; not because they were popular. In fact, most people stayed far away from them over the years as recommended by– well, just about everyone around Laverre and elsewhere.

She exited the school and briskly walked until far, far away from the grounds. She went to a vacant bench upon reaching the outskirts and sat. “I feel worse than when I woke up.” Cassidy leaned over and blinked slowly with lidded eyes. Moisture formed under them, which she wiped away “I cannot,” she whispered, her next breath stuttering in her chest.

“Not like this…” She uttered a soft breath and looked down at her feet as people passed; the last thing she wanted was for anyone to stop and try to talk since students often walked this path, so she started getting up but stopped after seeing who was walking by.

Cassidy eyed the backsides of the hex group she’d seen in the halls. They strolled down the road toward the city limits. She studied their outfits and hair closer: a mixture of black and purple—violet.

“Hm.”