The start of school was always a point for new starts and new beginnings, as well as new challenges. Particularly in relation to WSA's showers and for PE. Peter could easily tell that as he got ready for his own PE class, with Mara beside him. There were plenty of other Animalian students there who went about changing for class and getting ready, putting their normal clothes in their locker and then putting on their exercise clothes. However, this year had something that WSA's first year didn't have, Human students, many of who likely grew up in households that praised privacy and sexual abstinence until legal adulthood. And while in general, Animalia did support the idea of being "abstinent" until one was grown up, it wasn't going to pretend that those sorts of desires weren't there either and essentially demand people repress those desires.
However, that didn't mean that people wouldn't be nervous on the issue. Particularly in the fact that even some of the single dosers in the class that were around seventeen or eighteen, depending on whether they were Seniors or Juniors, as PE was a class that was generally treated like an elective in that things weren't "class" specific. There were even some Sophomores and Freshmen in the class as well. One was a rather meek looking girl to Mara's right sitting nervously on the bench as Peter and Mara went about their business of getting ready for class. The girl periodically looked to both of them and some of the others in the locker room, be they Human or Animalian.
"Come on," Mara encouraged, "It may be the first day... but PE is pretty easy and we'll still have some regular exercises to go through."
The girl's eyes widened as both Peter and Mara slipped out of their shells and placed them in the lockers, revealing the clothing they wore under their shells. Changing to more exercise clothing then followed, which Mara noted that the girl's eyes remained rather "wide" as it were and that her attempt to change into her gym clothes was rather limited. The girl ultimately blushed and looked away when Peter turned his head toward her.
"But I'm not that big... and..." the girl began nervously.
"That's fine," Peter answered, "I don't think we'll be doing anything with the weights today. And even when we get to that, the weights that are here ARE of varying sizes and made for all Animalians. The teachers are also all well aware of which bars are appropriate for smaller Animalians and what ones are for the larger ones. Which means, you won't be overtaxed in trying to lift things that are too heavy for you. The point of the class is to be healthy, which is always good."
"And in the end, you don't have to be big," Mara commented, "Peter wasn't very big either before he became an Animalian... but my sisters and I liked the kindness in him and that was why we liked him, not because of how big his muscles were then."
"And no one will judge you... or at least no one should judge you..." Peter began, but fell off as he didn't know the girl's name.
"Athena... Athena Shepard," the girl answered.
"No one will judge you, Athena," Peter then assured her.
"And while we, as Animalians, have a higher libido than Humans, that DOESN'T mean we lack control or that you are in any danger," Mara added and softly patted the girl's shoulder, "and if someone tries... we'll do our best to protect you."
Athena managed a weak smile at that and then progressed in undressing. Peter and Mara stood by, as if to protect her, while she did so. This part of things was going to be where many of the Human students would HAVE to adapt to many of Animalia's more sexually open culture. The Edicts forbade public mating and simply being nude for the sake of nudity, but within specific contexts, they were more tolerant of nudity and between bond mates with some degree of privacy in the showers Animalia would also tolerate mating between those bond mates. In theory those rules would cross over to the Human students as well, in that if Athena found a boyfriend and wanted to be with that boyfriend, Animalia wasn't going to forbid it outright. Though, Peter could see that to some degree, even with the Claw Coliseum and its being open to the people Lyre every bit as the Animalians, and doing a fair amount of business with Lyre's Humans that things like the unisex showers and locker rooms would pose some potential issue.
Some people might be shy or nervous. They might be fearful of being judged negatively, which for Human students who were often smaller than many Animalians and often weren't as developed as even single dosed Animalians, to say nothing of double dosed Animalians like Peter and Mara. So while Human students would have the hurdles of accepting how open Animalians were with regard to sex, Animalians would also have the hurdle of retaining and showing that they kept control over themselves, which Peter and Mara were both very willing to do. In a sense it was something that very much related to the Green Glacier Clan's acts of charity and respect at helping little old ladies cross the street. And so far it was something that so far seemed to be going well. Athena also noted that as she finished changing to her gym clothes that neither Peter nor Mara had put their shells back on. The two turtle Animalians stood there in a tee-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts.
"Don't you guys need your shells?" Athena asked.
"For things like PE... not really," Mara smiled, "in that, having the shell on could be a bit of a limitation as it would hinder our ability to move. And we're not going to get into any serious contact type sports today, as it is the first day."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Some meetings were actually more like old friends meeting up again after summer break. This was especially true for Dean as he and Nzinga as they started the school year. Generally speaking, Nzinga had been older than a teenager and mentally tested above that of a High School student after the initial outbreak, but as Dean was still in High School and as Nzinga had found herself more and more in love with the young bull Elephant Animalian, the more she was willing to follow him simply because he was there. This had been why Nzinga had followed him into the Lyre School District after the outbreak and transferred over to WSA when it opened. The new school was something that gave the larger Animalians far more comfort than Lyre High could.
Dean was pleased to have his bond mate with him, as he found her to be lovely company and quick to pick up on a lot of things. And many of his friends didn't exactly abandon him. Many had also played football with Dean before the outbreak, and a few even joined Animalia as well. By the time that WSA was established, a few had even become Elephant Animalians as well, one becoming an Asian Elephant and the other two becoming African Elephants, like Dean and Nzinga. Through the course of the previous year, they'd formed something of a small impromptu heard, often jokingly called "the tusk brigade." Now that WSA and Lyre were reintegrated again, some of the Human friends that he had that weren't converted were now free to hang out with them again. And it was agreed to give them "honorary status" in the brigade.
"Man... many things here aren't too terribly different from the old school," said Max one of Dean's still human friends.
"You were expecting something radically different?" Dean asked back as they walked along through the hallways. They shared a fair number of classes, which was good to help Max and the others find their way around the new school, but so far the biggest thing that seemed to be the topic of conversation was how things seemed to be similar to what they'd had in Lyre.
"Well..." Max said sheepishly, "Yeah. I mean Animalia is new and everything... so why not go totally out there and do everything new. That last class was just like ones I had last year."
"Well... the PE courses will be a bit different," Nzinga commented, "and not just with regard to the showers. It won't be just a repeat of soccer, dodgeball, hockey, and so on. A lot of the activities will often be grouped for what helps each Animalian type be active and healthy. Running Animalians, like horses and cheetahs will have some running activities and can test them. Wrestling Animalians, like dogs, wolves, lions, tigers, and so on will have a mat to wrestle on. The flyers will have their own "wing" that will essentially let them race through the high vaulted ceiling of the gym in races and maneuvering through obstacles. Swimming Animalians will go over to the adjacent pool area for swimming exercises."
"We won't have to run the mile, will we?" asked Max.
"Some of the testing things will probably still be there," Dean told him, "but a lot of the emphasis is more on the health of those at WSA... Not how well you can set records, which will mean there will be some specialization that the classes will have."
"Must put Coach Anton through a lot of work," Max commented as they made their way into their next class, "If he's having to handle species specific exercises."
Dean chuckled at the use of the nickname that many had often had for Anton Williams. While Anton had never actually coached any of the school teams that Lyre had had before the outbreak, the fact that he'd cut a rather imposing and muscular figure, even when he was human, had meant that many students in the Lyre School District had taken to calling the PE teacher "coach." It seemed to be something that just stuck, and Dean couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"I think he actually has a bit of a staff that helps with a lot of the specific activities," Nzinga commented, "and at the same time, while there is a fair amount of specialization, there will be some occasional general exercise days and testing how well one does at things outside the typical comfort zones."
"Just let me know on the day they want you to fly," Max joked as they settled down into the chairs.
"No..." Dean managed a chuckle as the then reached over with his trunk, curling the end of the appendage into a ball and then rubbing it on Max's head, "We don't fly..."
Nzinga ignored the result hilarity as Dean laughed and Max vowed to get "even" once he got the seat high enough and set about with the adjustments needed to allow the table to be at a comfortable height for Dean and her. The two friends were giving their own sort of playful banter that Nzinga had seen whenever Dean had been able to meet up with his friends that hadn't converted in the outbreak or for other reasons later. The one "friend" that had seemed to be rather distant was a young man whose name that Nzinga couldn't fully remember at the moment. Dean had said that the two had been pretty good friends before the outbreak, and there had been the hope to get Lyre to the state title game in some sport, preferably football. But then the outbreak happened, Dean became an Animalian and the friend did not. Dean had said that he'd seen the other young man around, but he'd been rather distant, almost as if they'd been drifting apart. That could be a potential issue, that Nzinga knew that eventually that Dean and his old friend would have to come to terms with, but their next period was getting ready to start and the friend that they were missing was not there at the moment.
"Okay class, settle down," the teacher spoke as he moved up one of the aisles between the tables toward the front of the classroom, "I know everyone is excited to be here and meet with new friends and meet old friends again. I know you're also excited because its the first day, but let's keep things calm and not raise a ruckus, as we will have a lot to do between now and the end of the semester before Christmas."
There were a few chuckles and a couple human students came in just as the bell for the period started, but with the fact that the Human students weren't as familiar with the school's layout, some of that was bound to happen. In fact the teacher only nodded and moved on to start the class.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And then there were some others on their first day at WSA that just seemed to be a bit... out of it. Trevor and Reilly shared the same period at the end of the day, which was a pretty standard Math class that one would expect from High School Seniors. Some of it was harder than what they'd had before, at least according to what the teacher said it would be, but with the first day largely focusing on introductions to the classes and helping Humans new to WSA find there way around, there was a lot of things that just seemed to be rather quiet and low key. Most of the period was mostly in assigning books and so on.
For much of it, Reilly just sat in his chair and simply listened as the teacher would say the name of a student while standing by a large set of cabinets and the student in question would then come forward to retrieve the book and return to their seat. Though, after awhile, Reilly lost a bit of attention and was soon being poked in the side by Trevor. He turned to the wolf Animalian, who only pointed to the teacher who was also looking to him.
"You had me for Algebra last year, Reilly," the teacher said calmly, "You should know that I expect you to be paying attention."
That earned a few laughs, with even some of the Human students laughing. Reilly got up and approached the teacher and accepted the textbook for the class that he would have to protect and keep in good condition for the year. He filled out the appropriate sign in information and then returned to his seat with the book where he found both Trevor and a human student waiting.
"So... first day of school and already lovesick for Tiffany," Trevor teased, knowing that was something that would get a rile out of Reilly.
"Very funny," Reilly grumbled as he sat back down and the teacher resumed going through the rest of the students in the class.
"Tiffany who?" the girl asked to Reilly and actually with a bit of interest, though not that Reilly noticed.
"Tiffany Chappelle," Trevor answered, "He found himself a nice Poodle girl."
"Ugh," the girl gave a snort of disgust, "a real bitch."
"Well... technically," Trevor began.
"No, I mean it," the girl answered, "I may not have been converted... but that doesn't mean that I don't know who she is or was. And she was not particularly nice to me... even AFTER Animalia."
Trevor glanced over to the girl. In many ways she was not one that many would feel the need to write home about. She was short, slightly overweight, and had some issues with acne, but that really wasn't going to be the issue. He knew that Tiffany Chappelle had gone through a host of issues that related to her upbringing and the fact that she'd had so few choices for a potential husband after she becoming a Poodle Animalian. That had all been back when Reilly and Trevor were uplifted themselves, and been direct rivals over Jaime. In the end, Jaime choose Trevor and Tiffany caught Reilly on the rebound... though a part of it included some recognition on Reilly's part that he'd seen Jaime more as a sister than really as a potential lover. At the same time, thanks to quite a bit of coaching from Jaime, by that time as well, Tiffany had gotten over many of those issues and had been trying to do better.
Of course, the fact that Tiffany had been a Senior in High School when the outbreak occurred had also meant that like Malice had to deal with Simon being away, so did Reilly. Though, UNLV had had a bit more openness to their campus and that Tiffany was able to come up from time to time, especially on weekends, which proved enjoyable And from what he heard, Tiffany was getting along fairly well with the other students at UNLV. In this, he guessed that this girl had probably been someone that Tiffany would have picked on before her conversion and possibly even while she was frustrated with regard to her relationship status after her conversion.
"She was in a bit of a bad place when she first converted," Reilly commented, also remembering some of the sorts of therapy type sessions that Jamie had had with Tiffany.
"And that excuses calling me a midget all through Middle School? And continuing even into High School?" the girl answered with some degree of anger evident in her voice, "I'll admit... I'm not tall and won't ever be the most attractive girl in the room. But that doesn't mean she has the right to belittle me because of it. Not all of us got so lucky as to get accidentally converted."
"I'm sure it doesn't," Reilly answered, "and those past actions were wrong, if true. But that doesn't mean she can't grow and learn from her mistakes. Be better than who she was in the past."
"Perhaps," the girl admitted, "but I haven't seen it."
Trevor and Reilly exchanged glances as the teacher called the girl's name and she got up to make her way to collect her book. There had been no intention on Trevor's part to trigger such a debate over Tiffany's past behavior. His joke had been far more of a typical jibe the two had had at each other as befitting their friendly rivalry. In many ways, he could remember seeing some growth in Tiffany's character over the past school year and when they'd been able to be together as a group during the summer, and in that Trevor was pretty sure that anything that had gone on in the past between Tiffany and this girl in the past wasn't an issue any more and he had no intention of triggering the girl in any way. He just wanted to get a rise out of Reilly for looking so distant on the first day of school.