Simon was soon finding that his status at Lyre High had changed quite a lot following his conversion. If becoming a double-dosed wolf Animalian wasn't enough of an attention-grabber, being one of the first volunteers for Project Phoenix certainly was. He got quite a bit of respect from his fellow classmates. However, the main source of attention was something he hadn't anticipated. Yes, he was expecting more girls to be interested in him, but not THIS many girls.
While one of the Edicts of Animalia prohibited cross-species mating, it didn't mean different breeds of the same species couldn't co-mingle. The horses were openly endorsing this and other subgroups were less picky. Now wolves were quite capable of breeding with their domesticated relatives. Simon could even hook up with a coyote girl, though he wasn't sure if a vixen would work or not. Either way, nearly every single canine girl had been flirting with him today.
Penny was an uplifted Golden Retriever. She seemed very excited to meet Simon. Though she was cute, she seemed a little on the ditzy side. Not to mention her attention was on a loose swivel. Simon had the feeling she was more interested in him for being new than anything else.
Kai was an uplifted Border Collie and quite the opposite from Penny in several ways. She was actually very intelligent, doubtlessly a holdover from being the smartest breed of dog. The biggest problem with her was that she was a little TOO smart. It's not that Simon had a problem with girls being smarter than him, but Kai seemed to have the opinion that her answers were always the smarter one. It kind of made Simon wonder why she'd show interest in him, but she'd probably be a better match for someone closer to her IQ level.
Violet was an uplifted Corgi and didn't seem too ditzy or too intelligent. She was only a single-doser so she was a lot shorter than Simon. While the Animalia virus made all animals to human scale, some tended to be shorter than others. Violet was currently on the small side, though that may change as she got older. She had an interesting personality in that while she wants to make friends, she soon shrinks away when too much attention focused on her. Simon thought she was adorable, though not exactly attractive. He was getting the feeling that her feelings were closer to hero worship than anything romantic.
But it wasn't just the uplifted canines that were interested in him. Some girls had been exposed to the Animalia virus through their dogs and were now showing their interest in Simon, though some of them he'd prefer not to deal with. An excellent example of this was Tiffany. Tiffany had been one of the reigning queens of the popular kids during the high school years that Simon had attended school. During that time, she didn't seem to even remember Simon's name, expecting him to be one of the faceless mass that would quickly give up his seat just to please her. If the rumors were true, she was pretty distraught when she got infected by her poodle, thinking she'd be a freak for the rest of her life. But apparently, she bounced back with the idea that if she was going to be a freak, she was going to at least be the queen of the freaks. Animalia's acceptance by the people of Lyre quickly lifted her ego back to its former level. She even claimed that being a poodle worked out great for her since now she could do her hair in so many different ways.
Simon had been rather surprised when Tiffany flirted with him openly. He probably would have been flattered, but he could guess a few of her ulterior motives. To her frustration, most of the jocks were more interested in becoming bulls, horses, lions, tigers, or some other overly masculine animal and there were very few canines for her to pick from. Simon being a double-dosed wolf made him more than attractive enough and his fame for being one of the first Project Phoenix volunteers would be very appealing to her. While it was tempting to put a feather in his cap and date Tiffany, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to date a girl who had the title of 'school bitch' before the virus ever got loose.
Beth was a girl for which Simon felt an unusual mixture of fear and pity. Before the Animalia virus got loose, Beth had quite a reputation for being a bully. Not the typical cutting jibes that high school girls were known for, but the kind of girl who'd literally kick your ass if you annoyed her. She was scary enough when she was just a black girl, but after becoming a Doberman, everyone kept a clear distance from her. She might have only had a single dose, but she was still more muscular than any of the human girls and most of the human guys. It certainly didn't help that the Doberman had an intimidating appearance and a fearsome reputation.
And yet despite all this, she was trying to reach out to him, in a shy yet trying-to-look-as-backhanded as possible. Simon was very certain that Beth had a lot of insecurities that stemmed before she was converted. Her tough girl image seemed a little bit like overcompensation to him and there were plenty of rumors that Beth was a lesbian beforehand. That's what gave her the nickname 'Butch Beth' and more recently 'Bitch Beth' and 'Butch Bitch'. Not that anyone was foolhardy enough to say it within her extended hearing range. Simon didn't feel much attraction in her offhanded approaches to him, which made him suspect that she only wanted to date him to quiet the rumors about her homosexuality, which he was starting to suspect was true. And since no uplifted animal has yet to be homosexual, that left Beth with a very small dating pool. And while Simon did feel sorry for her, he didn't bad enough for her to be her beard.
Jamie Newman had Simon's attention more than most. The most obvious reason for that was she was like him: converted to an anthro wolf. She had black and grey fur which did little to hide the curves and muscles of her double-dosed body and she had a healthy mane of hair, though its color made it a bit hard to discern from her fur. Jamie was two years younger than Simon, but she seemed really sweet. She was also laid-back and known for a good laugh. Most people would think the two of them would be a good match.
However, Simon was certain that Jamie was only flirting with him to make a certain someone jealous. The way she had been exposed was that she had been walking her dog Riley when they stumbled across a recently uplifted wolf named Trevor. Riley attacked Trevor to protect Jamie, even though Trevor hadn't done anything. Jamie tried to get between the two of them and break up the fight only to be bitten by first Trevor then Riley. Trevor's bite turned Jamie into a wolf and since Riley had just been infected himself, his bite counted as a double-dose. Since then, Trevor and Riley had been at odds with each other, though it was mainly a rivalry for Jamie's affection. Jamie considered the attention flattering, but she wished they'd spend less time fighting each other and more time trying to court her. Simon was certain that Jamie wasn't taking a third option with him, more like trying to make the other two stop fighting and pay attention to her. While Simon did find Jamie pretty and a fun personality, he'd rather not get involved in that lover's triangle.
And there were other dog girls that were trying to get Simon's attention. He was soon finding it to be a bit too overwhelming. He became a wolf so he could be a police officer after he graduated, but he didn't realize he'd gain the attraction of so many women. It was really hard to pick just one, though his thoughts often drifted back to Mary Alice. Yes, she was incredibly forward, but she didn't appear to have any ulterior motive. There was something about her naughty girl attitude that appealed to Simon. However, getting to talk with her wouldn't be easy. There were a lot of girls jockeying to be at his side and they were not going to let any competition get ahead of them. Simon hoped this would settle down before they actually started fighting each other.