Sophie's return to school for her Sophomore year was quieter than her arrival for her Freshman year. In her Freshman year, she, Jessica, and Sarah had all met up on the front steps to Lyre High and looked forward to starting off with the "big kids" as the high school students had only been called. They'd shared in their excitement at being in high school and even talked a bit about what they'd done over the summer, though in many respects they'd already known. The only one who had been missing from that arrival meeting was Abby, who, back then they figured might not even come because of what had happened with Animalia coming into existence. But Abby did show up, in fact Abby had arrived shortly after they did to start their Freshman year, and despite Sarah and Jessica BOTH becoming Animalians later on, the group still remained close friends. That had been enough that Sophie had hoped that at least Abby, Sarah, Travis, Malice, Jessica, Roger, and Samson would still enroll at Lyre High for their sophomore year.
But that had proved not to be. With Animalia continuing to develop, a true school in Animalia had been in the works through the spring and summer months and had been finished just in time for school to start. In this, the Animalia School District was established, further showing that while Animalia and Lyre worked closely together and cooperated on nearly every level, Animalia was truly becoming a separate city from Lyre. As a result, the Brown farm was grouped within Animalia's "city limits" and thus Abby's files were transferred to the new school and she was assigned to go there with Samson. While the group had been reporting on the Nautical Museum at Mieni, Sophie had also learned that the new school in Animalia was operating under an open enrollment policy to allow Animalians in Lyre to transfer to the new school in Animalia.
Some of the announcement made sense, as those that had become Animalians based on African/Asian megafauna had some difficulties with the fact that the facilities at Lyre were best suited to humans. Even Abby had had some of those difficulties with those sorts of issues. Sophie didn't have a problem with that. The problem soon came later when Sarah, Travis, Malice, Jessica, and Roger were all transferred to the new Animalia School as well. In some cases it was an open transfer and in others it was by a "health requirement." Sophie had asked if she could transfer as well, so she could stay with her friends, but was ultimately told "no" as that the school was to be for Animalians. That ultimately came as a sort of slap in the face to Sophie. They were her friends, and regardless of "health concerns" over the possibility of the Animalia Virus spreading by accident, Lyre had NEVER had an incident at school. In theory, that whole issue came off as segregation to Sophie and not integration which was the very goal that Animalia had claimed it wanted.
"Hey... why the long face?" came a male voice from behind her that made Sophie turn around with a small smile to see Roland jogging up to her.
Roland was a new friend she'd made during the previous school year, perhaps even a boyfriend, though their relationship was no where near as close as Abby's involvement with Samson, Sarah's with Travis, and Malice's with Simon. That wasn't a major problem though, as she and Roland did get along well and the two had come to like each other.
"Hey, you," Sophie answered with a small smile and then looked back into the entry way in the high school building. There were a fair number of students going about their business, but it was empty when compared to where it was the previous year. Many students were missing, largely now at the school in Animalia, which only reminded Sophie of the problems that the new Animalian school presented. The real problem was that the on the wall between the doorways that lead into the main hallway hung a picture, which showed Animalia Ambassadoria's coverage of how well Animalians did at Lyre High and how well the two sides got along. The picture was a triumph of integration, which Animalia had rejected in favor of its own segregated school district.
"Something's wrong," Roland commented, seeing Sophie's downcast face. He'd arrived a bit after Sophie did and saw her walk into the building with her eyes focused downward. She didn't even see him coming. He could also see how she stood with regard to these issues by how her face looked.
"Our friends aren't here and we aren't with them," Sophie finally said after a moment.
"Oh... that..." Roland sighed, "well... it isn't like they've rejected you and don't want to be your friends anymore."
"It's not that," Sophie answered, "I know Sarah, Jessica, Abby, and Malice... they ARE my friends... but the whole point of Animalia Ambassadoria has been to help promote integration. Help Animalia integrate itself into human society, which you and I both know isn't going to give up everything to Animalia. The key is to help provide humanity with the PR needed to accept Animalians and let everyone live side by side."
"And this new school only allowing Animalians doesn't do that," Roland said slowly.
"It's segregation," Sophie grumbled, "Shoot, Samson and Abby didn't even get the choice of "open enrollment" with the school. The Brown farm is counted as part of Animalia's city limits, so when the district was established, they were transferred. But it's still Animalians only and all the Animalians that came here to Lyre and did well are now there... by requirement. The whole thing is a step BACK."
Roland carefully put a hand on her shoulder with a heavy sigh, "Well... on some level, I think there WAS some legitimate concern over the potential of the virus spreading. Especially as not every Animalian has been vaccinated or could afford the vaccination. There may not have been an incident, but you have to admit that it DID put Lyre High through a lot of extra effort to make sure of that. And at the same time... this building really wasn't built for the Elephant and Giraffe Animalians. Shoot, even Abby and Samson had to duck under a few doors. There was also some "crowding" issues with the fact that so many Animalians came into Lyre that the teachers were overworked..."
"Then build a bigger school and unite both districts," Sophie spoke, "build it bigger and with more classrooms and double the teachers to handle the load... or if you build another district of the same size to Lyre, let both be integrated so that you have humans at Animalia and Animalians in Lyre. In theory that might take time before humans move into Animalia but stay human... but it would still show and demonstrate that Lyre and Animalia are integrated. Don't build a school of comparable size to Lyre's, give it "open enrollment" and then say that only Animalians are allowed to enroll there. By its very principle, that IS segregation. And it's taken our friends away and wont' let us be with them."
Roland only patted Sophie's shoulder, "I'm sure there is ultimately more to it than just that. As, while the vaccine is available, not every Animalian has taken it yet. Perhaps they want to make sure that everything is controlled and safe and that any and all teachers aren't being saddled with work they aren't prepared for. In fact, I think some of the teachers here at Lyre are also working there as well. Perhaps that means that ultimately that is the end intention... a large unified district for both Lyre and Animalia together, but they want to make sure they have it working before they get into it."
"I'd hope you're right," Sophie only said as the first bell rang indicating that they had five minutes to get to their first class.