Marcella Walker sat nervously in the back rows of the gymnasium at WSA. She looked over the other WSA students that were there in their caps and gowns. Most were Animalians, though not all of them were. There were a fairly large number of Humans that attended the school, and many of which coming from Lyre. It provided Marcella with the proverbial reminder on how Animalia actually saved Lyre from having its school district consolidated into a larger and more "centralized" building for the northern part of the county and included those that lived in Desert Flats. Human kids in Lyre didn't have to go some twenty miles just to go to school, they could essentially stay within the town that they had grown up in. Marcella felt lucky just to be included as she looked around to see Manfred and his wife seated in the stands.
For that luck related to everything that came from what had lead to her present status as an Elephant Animalian. The feelings of betrayal and hurt that she internalized and dwelled on to where she stole samples of the Animalia Virus and then used that to trigger Chrissy's transformation into an Elephant Animalian, which then lead to the fight and her getting sneezed on before becoming an Elephant Animalian as well. What followed was the fight and damage to Rocky's club in Desert Flats and then Marcella's arrest and the political circus that followed. She lost her parents, and that still really hurt her, and with regard to school, she'd lost that as well. She'd been enrolled at the same consolidated school that Chrissy and Steve went to, and after her arrest and even before the political circus came in with her trial, she'd been expelled from the school on that basis. As she came to learn all that, she'd felt the world collapse around her.
But WSA was willing to take her in, and Manfred had been able to act as a go between as the court appointed guardian. They couldn't take her to in person classes until after she'd completed her four punishments, but they were able to see to the transfer from the consolidated school to WSA for the online learning program. Many of the lessons and assignments were developed out of what WSA had managed to do through 2020 and 2021, but it gave Marcella the opportunity to catch up with her lessons while going through the four punishments. And she did catch up on those lessons, and was able to then go in for in person classes after the fourth punishment and the apology given to Chrissy. There had been some things that were shocking at WSA, like the unisex bathrooms, but hardly anyone really paid that much attention to her. There were no taunts on what had happened in Desert Flats or the trial. No one even threw jibes at her for embarrassing Animalia with her antics, things that Marcella privately expected.
And now she sat with WSA's graduating class of 2025. A good part of her wasn't sure on what would be there in the long term future. For the moment she would still have to finish out her work at the Meat Market to pay off her part of the financial damages that her fight at Rocky's club had caused and there would be the mandatory therapy sessions that would keep her in Manfred's custody through the summer and potentially into the fall or so. That all depended on how often Doctor Jones would want to see her a week. But, all things considered, she was grateful for what had been managed. For things could have been much worse for her, all things considered. Her thoughts were only paused when she heard Eliza Marigold-Jonson speak her name from a podium that was on a raised platform.
"Marcella Walker," Eliza spoke in a calm and clear tone.
Marcella got up and made her way to the center aisle and then walked forward. There were some eyes on her, and she could see some frowns, but nothing seemed too judgmental. As she came around to come up the stairs and onto the platform, she found Eliza waiting there with Marcella's diploma in hand.
"You've done well, all things considered," Eliza said to Marcella while handing the Elephant Animalian the diploma, "just keep that in mind as part of a new start."
"I will... thank you," Marcella responded, "thank you for taking the chance on me when you had no reason to."
Eliza nodded and returned to the podium while Marcella then walked across the stage and down the sets of stairs on the other side. She looked up to see Manfred and his wife look on, and managed a small smile. They may not be her family, but they were tolerant and supportive, and for the moment, that would do.
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"I can't believe you actually forgave the little witch," said one Human teen to Christina Moore as she sat with a small group of high school graduates from the consolidated school that Chrissy and Steve Herrons attended.
Among them for the moment were also some of Steve's friends, lead by George Stairs. Graduation had been fairly standard for them. The fact that their school was consolidated and had people from a great many small towns and rural residences didn't change much about the format of how graduation worked. The only thing that was really different was transport, and particularly for Chrissy. Dean and Nzinga were able to drive her to graduation, as they did for many of the things that had required transportation. Thus many of these groups were discussing some things before they headed home for things like graduation parties and the like. For some it was to talk on future plans, for at least the summer, though for Chrissy, it came back to Marcella's last punishment and Chrissy's role in it.
"I'm not defending what she did," Chrissy answered, "but... we did grow up together in Desert Flats. And for a time, we were relatively close. So, it isn't like I don't know her and can't read her."
"And what did you read?" George asked curiously.
"A lot of pain... and things that went beyond just being petty," Chrissy answered, "as in that her own parents abandoned her and essentially accused her of terrorism."
"Seeing you turn into an Animalian was kinda scary," one of Chrissy's friends commented.
"Yeah, but fear wasn't Marcella's intent," Chrissy answered, "and that everything was born out of jealousy and immature rage. Which was what she admitted to in court. To her it was all personal stuff. Terrorists... their action would be impersonal and purely for the point of causing fear. They'd also have some political manifesto that they'd want read in connection with the act, and that didn't show up in anything Marcella put online."
"And her parents abandoned her?" Steve asked.
"That's what she said," Chrissy answered, "and when she sobbed... I didn't hear an act. It was actually the same little girl I grew up with in Desert Flats."
Chrissy sighed and looked over to the couple of girls that she had made friends with after the sixth grade. Like Steve, they didn't grow up in Desert Flats. One lived in a rural home not too far from the grounds around the consolidated school they'd attended for the past four years and she and her parents had actually walked to graduation together. They had picked on Marcella for her weight and at times rather fizzy red hair, just as Chrissy did. Though they weren't the first to bully Marcella. There were a few that bullied Marcella for the same things going through elementary school and the first year or two of middle school. It'd been something that Chrissy knew was wrong then, and prior to the sixth grade, she had been willing to stand up for Marcella. However, after sixth grade, as Marcella really didn't do anything that would help her avoid being bullied and some of the more popular kids started to see some of Chrissy's strengths, Chrissy began to just grow apart from Marcella. She'd endorsed her own bullying as a means to tell Marcella that they'd grown apart and that it was best to let that sort of thing be. And through high school, Chrissy had figured that Marcella would have caught on to that and moved on.
Seeing Marcella cry and whimper while face down on the mat in the Claw Coliseum had been something of an eye opener to Chrissy. For Chrissy had also thought that as Marcella adapted to being an Animalian, she'd become more confident as one. That she'd be more willing to accept many of the things that went with being an Animalian. As, why else would one be willing to work around with Horizon and the mutagenic virus that they had engineered. But Marcella hadn't done that and had been extremely defensive when Chrissy threw punches at her. It only reminded Chrissy of the past and showed that many of the assumptions she made about Marcella's actions were probably wrong. That Nzinga had been right about Marcella actually getting far worse than what Chrissy had felt when she'd first become an Animalian. And seeing a few of her new friends stay with her as an Animalian, and seeing Steve actually become more amicable as a boyfriend after she became an Animalian also confirmed to things that Marcella had said in the punishment. Chrissy still had friends and loved ones, Marcella had found herself with nearly nothing.
"It doesn't justify what she did to me," Chrissy spoke, "it doesn't make it okay...but I could see that the pain that she'd felt was real. And maybe, I could have been more honest to her about how we were growing apart and perhaps tell you all to stop with the over the top circus jokes. She wouldn't have had so much that she was internalizing that way."
"And that's why you forgave her?" the other girl asked Chrissy.
"Seemed like the grownup thing to do," Chrissy answered, "particularly when it also seemed like all the other punishments were weighing on her and her own parents abandoned her."
"I couldn't imagine what that would be like," George commented, "I mean... I've done some dumb stuff in my time. Stuff my parents didn't like... but they still loved me, even when they disciplined me for that dumb stuff."
"So... what'll be next for you?" George asked.
"Right now... it'll probably more and longer shifts at the Meat Market," Chrissy gave a sigh, "they cut both mine and Marcella's shifts down until they could handle Marcella's fourth punishment and making sure that we wouldn't just resume the fight that started at Rocky's club. Now that Marcella's gone through the punishments and does seem truly sorry... we'll probably both be paying off the tab that Rocky wants for the smashed up tables and chairs from New Years."
"And probably some other stuff too," a different girl spoke up, "Rocky's actually replaced everything that got smashed already. He's likely milking you for more money."
"Maybe," Chrissy shrugged, "but unless my parents fall into a record setting lottery win, we wouldn't be able to pay for the lawyers that would be needed to prove that Rocky had misvalued the furniture from the New Years Eve fight. Hopefully, though, we'll get all that worked out... and maybe we can get in some time in a pool."
"Animalia has a good pool at their coliseum!" George gave a smile.
"Yeah, but with the IAC coming, it's also going to be in use with races and the like," Steve commented, "at least the races that would be for many of the land based Animalians. The sea and river based Animalians might have their own race elsewhere."
"And for now... we may need to head out," Chrissy commented, "I've had grandparents come that want me to be there for the graduation party... and I don't want to make Dean and Nzinga wait any longer than they have to."
With that, she nuzzled the front of her head to Steve's and feeling the flesh on that part of her trunk compress a little, and then waved to the others. She then made her way toward where she could see Dean and Nzinga standing with her parents and grandparents and found herself smiling. There were still somethings about being an Animalian that were odd and carried some pain at what Marcella had done, but at the same time, the fact that Steve had stayed loyal to her, his friends were respectful, and that some of her friends weren't panicked over the potential of another accidental conversion, even though Chrissy was presently vaccinated and wouldn't need it boosted until January 1, 2026, was good. And managing to go through graduation without too much difficulty was also give her some sense that she could also rebound, and that felt better.