The start of Abigail Brown's sophomore year was going to be a lot different from the start of her freshman year. Every high school student has a somewhat rough time getting used to high school, meeting new people, taking classes. But they've adjusted by the time they're in their second year. But Abby's story is a lot more different from others. On her first day in high school, she was still the only human who had been converted into an Animalian. That alone would have been enough to earn her plenty of stares, let alone the fact that she had the body of a voluptuous, muscular adult. In fact, the fact that she was a horse seemed rather secondary to some, particularly the boys. Abby had been nervous to meet her friends, not certain what they think of her. The fate of the fledgling Animalian community was still undecided.
But this year was different for many reasons. This new school for Animalians made her feel less hulkish. Yes, she was still taller than a lot of people because she was a horse, but she didn't tower over everyone. The school's dimension made things a lot less of an obstruction than they were before. While her hoof-tipped fingers weren't too nimble, they would be less of a problem in this school. And she wouldn't have to take so many extra precautions to avoid infecting others. Well, she wouldn't want to accidentally give some single-dosers an extra dose, but the vaccine that Horizon Labs developed made accidental exposures a lot less common than what they used to be.
But there was another reason that Abby was walking towards the front doors with confidence instead of timidity. At the start of her freshman year, Samson was still taking remedial classes to try and catch up. But now he was walking by her side, ready to begin his second year of school. "Sure is a lot more roomy," said Samson, looking up at the taller front doors.
"That's mostly for the benefit of the megafauna, the elephants and giraffes," said Abby.
"Yeah, but at least I won't have to sidestep through doors now," said Samson. His very broad shoulders, which were enhanced by his bodybuilding, sometimes clipped the sides of door. But here, Samson was certain to have plenty of clearance. "Can't wait to see the whole gang again," said Samson.
"Too bad they won't all be there," said Abby a little sadly. Sophie and Roland were still good friends with the group, but a pair of humans would be very undersized here and the chances of them getting accidentally infected would be higher. So they were still at Lyre High School because they weren't Animalians. (Or as Malice liked to say 'aren't Animalians yet'.) Simon had already graduated high school and was now at the police academy. Even Tiffany was gone to UNLV. It was a little odd to be thinking that one, but the former queen bee had really mellowed out since she had come to terms with her Animalian self. The fact that she was dating Riley now also made her more pleasant to be around.
"Hey, we've got plenty of friends here already and new friends to meet," said Samson.
"So, what are you looking forward to seeing?" asked Abby, "I want to see how the new track looks. I'd like to be able to do a few laps."
"The weight room of course," said Samson before lowering her voice, "And after we're done with those, we can have steamy sex in the locker room."
"Samson!" admonished Abby, "We can't have sex in the locker room!"
"Why not?" asked a genuinely puzzled Samson, "Why else would they have a coed locker room?"
Abby opened her mouth to tell him off but closed it when she couldn't think of a proper reason. Why DID the school have a coed locker room just for the high school students? "I'm not really sure about that one," said Abby, "Maybe we should ask Principal Marigold about that."
The school's faculty was made up of several converted Animalians who had come out of retirement. The principal was none other than Eliza Marigold. Eliza had been a schoolteacher for many years before her retirement so she was happy to volunteer to work at the Worldwide School of Animalia. When it came to deciding who would be principal, Eliza was elected for having the most experience. Of course, there were now plenty of good-natured jokes that Eliza would probably spend most of her time taking catnaps in the principal's office and other feline-based puns. But those who told them were wise not to say it within earshot of the teachers or Eliza's girlfriend, Beth, who was still attending school.
But right now, Abby was focusing on walking through the front doors. The first year, she was nervous, embarrassed by her altered body, acutely aware of the way the other students were whispering about her. But as they walked through the front doors, the students who saw them waved cheerfully. Abby's popularity had went up a lot not just for being one of the members of Animalia Ambassadoria, but for winning the gold medal in the triathlon. This year, Abby's head was held up high and her chest was jutting out proudly as she entered her first year at the Worldwide School of Animalia.