I looked at the ceiling and tried to calm my beating heart. The ginger girl was still hugging me. "Why are you naked!?" I cried as she nuzzled her face against my chest. "If I didn't strip down, everyone would just see a bunch of floating clothes whenever I used my power." she explained as she looked up at me. "Please just go change. I don't know where to look." a look of recognition crossed her face before she frowned. "Sorry, I know I'm not handsome or fit like the other girls so I'm probably not very pleasant to look at."
it seems she had misinterpreted my words. "that's not what I meant. You're not unpleasant to look at. It's just awkward to talk to a girl while she's naked." I could feel my face growing hot. "a girl.." she muttered quietly. an awkward smile slowly crept onto her face as she started to blush. The two of us briefly locked eyes before she suddenly vanished into thin air. The stall door magically swung open and a patter of frantic footsteps indicated that she was gone.
The bell rang shaking me from my stupor. I was late for my second period class. I thought about attending but there was a sizable bulge growing in my pants that I was none too eager to share with my classmates. embarrassed I sat in the empty stall and did a bit more research about this worlds gender norms on my phone while I waited for my member to calm down. halfway through the period, I left the stall and decided to look for somewhere less embarrassing to spend the rest of the period.
As I turned the corner to one of the halls, a figure collided with me and I was knocked onto my back. dazed, I stood up and saw a girl on the floor in front of me. she had a small round face, light brown hair, and an ample chest. what was more striking however was the floppy brown ears stop her head and the fluffy brown tail protruding from her back. I had seen a few girls with animal-like or inhuman features since this morning but this was my first time seeing them up close.
Apparently, powers were loosely separated into three basic categories. Mutations, Augmentations, and manifestations. Mutations were visible physical changes like this girls animal features. Augmentations were not noticeable physical changes like super strength or the ginger girls invisibility. Manifestations were powers that were generated outside the body like summoning fire or Jen's supposed power to alter luck.
"Are you okay?" I asked as I reached out a hand to the girl. "Ah!" she whimpered as she crawled away from me. "poochy is sorry, poochy did not watch where she was going, please forgive poochy!" Her face was panicked and the ears stop her head angled downwards. "No, um, poochy. I'm fine so there's no reason to feel sorry. It's my fault anyway for not looking where I was walking." The girl hesitantly accepted my hand and I helped pull her surprisingly light body up.
"Sorry again about bumping into you, are you alright?" I asked. "poochy is fine." she responded. I continued walking but noticed that there was now an additional set of footsteps aside from my own. I turned around and saw a fluffy brown tail poking out from behind a corner. continuing to walk, I would occasionally turn and find poochy hiding behind something several steps behind me.
After a few more minutes, I finally called out to her. "do you need something from me poochy?" I asked. Her fuzzy brown ears which were peeking out from behind a trashcan shot up at the mention of her name. She stepped out into the open and stuttered. "P-p-p-poochy is sorry for following you. Poochy was just.. um, lost." her ears dropped. I pulled out my phone and glanced at the time. "second period ends in a few minutes so it wouldn't be worth heading there anyway."
"oh. I see. Poochy is sorry for bothering you" she muttered. "you're not a bother, I'm new here as well so I don't really know the school all that well either. I can still try and help you find your next class though." I told her. her tail wagged and her eyes lit up. "really!?" she asked as she reached into her pocket. she retrieved a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to me. It was a printed schedule listing her classes and their room numbers.
I pulled up a map of the school halls on my phone and drew a crude version of it on the back of her schedule. I then marked each of her classes on the map. "here you go, my drawings kind of suck but you should be able to find your classes with this." The bell rang and students flooded the empty halls as second period ended. noticing her apprehension, I offered her my hand, "do you want me to walk you to your next class?"
She nodded meekly and wrapped her hand around mine. As we walked through the crowd, I turned to look at her. "sorry if this is a rude question but is poochy your real name?" she frowned slightly. "Poochy is what everyone at school calls poochy, but poochy's real name is penny. Momma said it was short for Penelope."I had a feeling that poochy wasn't hear real name but now I can only sigh internally. I'm almost certain that this poor girl is getting bullied.
"Alright then penny, I have to head to my class. Just look out for me if you need anything." I turned to leave but the girl didn't let go of my hand. I suddenly felt like an owner abandoning their dog and a terrible sense of guilt washed over me. "Your name?" she asked nervously shifting from foot to foot. It dawned on me that I had never introduced myself. "I'm Tracy. I'm a senior but I just moved to this town over the summer." She nodded and muttered "Tracy, okay Penny will remember it. Penny promises!"
I left the girl and began heading to my own third period class. The day wasn't even halfway over and I had already had multiple odd encounters with girls in the school. As I weaved between the lingering students in the hall, I wondered if it was due to the changes in this world or rather, some stroke of divine luck.