The fact that the new year had started and Christmas break ended wasn't enough to let the peace to last forever. It wasn't necessarily war, and one could even make the case that the issue was "love," but it also seemed to sit with what would be considered typical high school politics. Jamie might not be a senior but that didn't necessarily mean that she didn't see the things the Seniors got into in the hallway. She came out of one class to see Tiffany practically hanging onto Simon's arm as they left another class.
"Come on, handsome, it'd be fun," Tiffany offered, "think of it... it'd be the thing to do..."
"To go around and pretend to make out at old haunts of yours?" Simon asked.
"Who said anything about pretending?" Tiffany laughed, "You're the biggest wolf here... the biggest and the strongest. I am the biggest and strongest dog here... not to mention the best looking. It's natural."
Jamie watched as Simon seemed to cringe and move away from Tiffany. Once they were far enough apart, as his next class was in a different room from Tiffany's. He stepped away and said slowly, "I'll think about it, but I don't know if I'll have the time." Jamie got the sense that he was using that as a dodge. She knew that Simon did have a fair amount of free time after school, which Jamie had noticed included hanging out with Malice and her sister. In that, Jamie knew that Simon liked Malice and from what she'd seen, Malice wasn't after Simon for popularity the way Tiffany was. Malice wanted to love and be loved.
"So, what's going on?" came a male voice from behind her.
Jamie turned to find Trevor and Riley standing behind her in the hall. The two of them eyed each other, but the attempts at trying to outdo the other seemed to be much less, which Jamie had thanked Sarah for, as the two males that she liked were starting to be more open with regard to courting her, which Jamie liked. Their practices in Animalia's version of the octagon might be part of their wishes to show their strength, but the thing that Jamie had always wanted was something to let them prove to her that they were worth her love.
"Nothing much," Jamie answered, "Just seeing a bitch being pushy."
"So?" both Trevor and Reilly both asked.
Jamie sighed and remembered her mistake. The word bitch was used to identify a female dog, which would conflict with the way it was often used in human slang. Jamie fell into using it without thinking, forgetting that Reilly and Trevor were both canine Animalians like her.
"I mean more that she was trying to put someone in a corner to get what she wants, even if he doesn't necessarily want her," Jamie explained.
The growl was to be expected, and made Jamie giggle a bit. Both of "her" boys were naturally protective and did understand a lot on what was "right" and that was how they stood. In many ways they were so similar, it sometimes made Jamie wonder why the two didn't become best friends from the beginning.
"So, what do we do?" Trevor asked.
"Ultimately try to convince her to let him be," Jamie spoke, "would you like to help?"
"Anything for you," Reilly answered.
"Okay, then," Jamie smiled, "we'll get our chance to talk to her after our next class. Come along boys."
Jamie moved on her way and her suitors followed suit.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jamie's planned meeting came at the end of the next class. Jamie, Trevor, and Reilly came out of their class at roughly the same time and managed to catch Tiffany as she left her class, which happened to be next to the classroom Jamie had come out of.
"Hey, Tiffany, can we talk for a moment?" Jamie asked, with Trevor and Reilly right behind her.
"I suppose," Tiffany said slowly, "I have a free hour next. What is it?"
"I want you to leave Simon alone," Tiffany stated plainly.
The Poodle Animalian blinked, glanced at Trevor and Reilly and then answered in a semi-growling tone of her own. "Are these two not enough for you?"
Trevor and Reilly both growled in response, as threats to Jamie were things that they liked least. Jamie only held up a hand and they backed down a bit. Inwardly, Jamie smiled but kept her focus on Tiffany.
"It isn't about me," Jamie answered, "I have my choice between Trevor and Reilly. Simon may be a friend, but he isn't one that I'm looking to mate with."
"So why would you want me to back off?" Tiffany demanded, "He's hot and he's strong. Easily the strongest male canine here..."
"But he's clearly uneasy with your advances," Jamie pointed out, "Surely you've noticed that he's not eager jumping at the prospect of being with the most popular girl in school?"
"Well..." Tiffany began.
"Mateship isn't about popularity," Jamie answered, "it's about finding someone who loves you and wants to be with you because of that love... not because they're popular."
"But no one else wanted to become dogs!" Tiffany answered, more of a whine than anything else she'd tried, "and my dog... my... well, I guess sister would be the best word.... my Princess is a girl!"
"And that means you can just make someone be with you?!" Reilly challenged.
"Especially when there were a ton of male dogs that were uplifted as well as female dogs," Trevor commented, "they may not come to school here, but they are out there."
Jamie nodded, "and they are viable options... and a source for a new start. I can understand wanting a mate and getting attention... but it shouldn't be for your gratification only. And Simon clearly hasn't shown any obvious interest. If need be, we can head by the park after school, many of the uplifted dogs, even if they still live with their humans do like to go there."
"Jamie," Reilly protested, as it was his turn to take Jamie out.
Tiffany blinked and sighed for a moment, letting Jamie relax a bit. She didn't want a fight if it could be avoided, and so far things looked good. She'd even gotten a few insights into Tiffany's personality that she'd want to inform Sarah about, since much of this was to ultimately help Malice. People tended to look at "popular kids" as though they had no problems, as they tended to be at least middle class, peppy, perky, and surrounded by people that were "friendly" to them. But in the end, that was at best an image. "Popular kids" might hang out a lot in school or outside it, but those relationships weren't necessarily as close as what one would expect with a real friend. The fact that many of the male students from the circles that Tiffany hung out with before had more interest in the large and more obviously well muscled Animalians, if they wanted to be Animalians at all, sort of left Tiffany out to dry. She couldn't breed with the human ones, as that would transform them, and with the others, that would get into violating the Edicts.
In a sense it left her "alone" and outside the sort of "power circles" that she'd once occupied. Without it, it'd meant that the things that to Tiffany made her popular were no longer viable. Things had changed and she was desperately trying to change with them. It wasn't that she was a bad person or anything, but Jamie privately guessed that Tiffany had her own struggles regarding being an Animalian going on and that Simon had just been the first to appear that gave her a shot at trying to regain what she'd had. Things might take some coaching and working to get Tiffany to fully accept that she wasn't human anymore, but if it gave Simon some peace, Jamie was willing to try, even if it meant altering her own plans.
"We're doing this for Tiffany and for Simon," Jamie said to him, "Giving Simon the freedom to choose his own mate and help Tiffany come to better grips with being an Animalian and find herself a male dog that she doesn't have to put on an "image" for. Someone who she can be herself with."
This then lead to Jamie getting a surprised blink from Tiffany before she said, "Thanks."