Over the next several days, Sasha grew more and more confident in zir ability to read, and started reading other materials with Lyrica. Ze also managed to have everything removed from the truck and organized out in the garage with Lyrica's help. The two also started calling instead of texting, so that they would be able to better understand each other's emotional inflections.
On the day before Sasha would be attending school, Dr. Hawthorne reached out to see what classes Sasha would be wanting to take. He was very surprised when every class Sasha could choose to take were all sciences and mechanics; however, he was really proud of Sasha and very much wanted to see zim succeed.
Sasha was more invested in zir dream of making a better system for zir truck than before because the feeling of accomplishment meant so much, especially now that Lyrica was involved. Ze got new tools to make fabricating the parts for this dream possible, and they fit nicely in the garage.
***
Sasha was waiting outside the special education room to start zir day, but some kids at the end of the hall were pointing and laughing at zim. Ze couldn't make out what was being said, and it was starting to zim start counting the seconds, until other students got there.
"Look at her. She looks like a space villain." A girl with long brown hair, snickered with her company as she walked past Sasha.
"Who even wears horns to school?" Another girl, beside the first, with long black hair, dark glasses, and piercing gray eyes that only seemed icy cold said with a sneer.
Sasha snapped out zir arm faster than ze knew ze could and had the black-haired girl's arm within zir grasp.
Sasha could see the girl's eyes shift from being prideful to fearful, and when ze lowered zir head to look her in the eyes, she flinched.
"Who are you?" Sasha spoke in a low tone.
"Let go of-of me." The black-haired girl stuttered.
"Tell me who you are."
"Who do you think I am?"
"I can only see your fear, but from what I know many entities feel fear... and that can't be all you are."
"My father is Parker Storm of Storm Automotive."
"I didn't ask who your father was; however, I did ask who you were."
The black-haired girl tried to struggle out of Sasha's grip, but Sasha could see her face change when Sasha didn't budge whatsoever.
"I am Rae Storm! Who the hell are you?!"
"You can call me Aleksandria, but I don't want to hear my name out of your mouth unless it's an apology." Sasha let go and turned away, not paying note to any of the consequences of zir actions, and returned to waiting, patiently.
Moments later a teacher was trying to work their way through the clump of chaos made entirely of students, and they opened the door for the special education class.
After all the students filtered inside and found seats, Sasha was still unsure of where to be. The only open chair was all the way at the back and in a corner.
The teacher stopped Sasha before they could move towards the spot.
"Hello, class! I wanted to mention that today we have a new student with us. Would you be so kind as to introduce yourself?" The Teacher queued in the class.
"Uhm, sure. I am Sasha Thornbury. My pronouns are ze/zim/zir."
"Could you tell us a little more about yourself?"
"Okay… I am not from here, I have been working on a truck as of late, and I recently moved into a new home. I don't think that I am allowed to share anything else…"
"Alright. Go ahead and take your seat."
"I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name."
"I'm Mrs. Anderson."
Sasha could see what looked like a lingering look of disgust on the teacher's face, but ze didn't dare stay where ze would be the center of attention long enough to contest her.
Sasha would be staying in this class until lunch, then ze would go off to mechanics, chemistry, and astronomy afterwards. This class didn't manage to pique any interest, so Sasha spent the whole time just trying not to bring any attention to zimself. Sasha was happy that the class left off with just some homework for mathematics.
The students were allowed to splinter off for their lunch activities at noon, on the dot, and, along with the other special education students, Sasha was just as eager to be out of the class. Sasha was definitely done with Mrs. Anderson making snide comments to students who most likely would've been eager to learn, otherwise, and picking out random students that were struggling to be embarrassed by her in front of the whole class.
Sasha just followed the rest of zir peers to a giant room with a bunch of tables where everyone sat and ate in groups. Ze could see that everyone else was being very selective about who they would be sitting with and trying every means to keep reservations at those tables.
As Sasha was thinking about where ze would sit, someone ran into zir back.
"I'm so sorry." Sasha turned around to see that it was Rae that had run into zim.
"What on Earth? You should really look where you're going." Rae said just before Sasha made a glare that dug into her soul.
"Say that again, Rae."
"You should look where you're going."
"That's brave to say considering I am not moving. You should watch your mouth tell lies right through your teeth, and you're none the wiser. You, Rae, are a fool."
"Fool?! You're wearing cosplay to school. It's ridiculous."
As Rae was turning to walk away, Sasha grabbed her arm, again.
"Feel them." Sasha said loud enough to be crystal clear to Rae.
"What? Not this, again. What do you want with me?" The fear returned to Rae's eyes.
Sasha didn't let go of Rae's arm and knelt in front of her when she turned around.
"I said to feel my horns."
Sasha raised up Rae's arm to zir head, and reluctantly she did as she was told, even giving them the customary shake that moved zir whole head. Rae then moved to Sasha's ears and rubbed them.
"That's crazy…" Rae said with defeat.
"They are real. A part of me that I doubt I could change, even if I wanted to. What you say can really hurt people, if you're not careful."
Sasha let go of Rae's arm, but remained looking into Rae's eyes.
"What… are-" Rae looked mystified before she was interrupted by what Sasha assumed to be her friends.
"Hey, freak. Why are you still talking to Rae? Didn't you have enough this morning?" The brown-haired girl from earlier tried to get in Sasha's face.
Sasha slowly stood up, now towering over the brown-haired girl.
"I wasn't talking to her."
"That's what I thought, asshole."
Sasha wanted to do something about the way she was talking, but something about having the power to end it just seemed to be enough for zim to get a hold on zimself. Ze wished that it wasn't happening, though, and caught Rae looking at her hands before ze made zir way to an empty table.
As Sasha was daydreaming about being back home and working on zir truck, someone patted zir head, softly. This time, though, it was Lyrica with a couple other people.
"Hey, Sasha. These are my friends, Heather and Claire."
Heather waved with a lot of confidence, but no malicious intent either. Heather had thick, bright, red, orange, and yellow hair with a soft waive. They also had dark brown eyes that were so dark that they almost looked black. Sasha mostly noted her skin color being more of a tan than a pale white, though, but then looked at zir own skin to see it was a lot pinker in its tones than anything. Heather wore black skinny jeans and a T-shirt with a vibrant depiction Sasha had never seen before on it. Their clothing complimented their more curvaceous figure, but Sasha didn't know whether that was intentional or not and quickly decided not to say anything, for fear it would be upsetting.
Claire had long, brown hair that was straight and went down to their knees, which was accented by the brown naturally lightening closer to the ends, not by a lot, but it gave more dimension to their hair. Claire had blue eyes that were lightly framed by metal glasses, and black lines on their eyelids that formed wings at the outer corners of their eyes. They also wore black short-shorts and pastel colored blouse that showed off their much more athletic build. Claire waived, but it was much less flamboyant than Heather's.
"I'm new to this, but I am Sasha. It's nice to meet you guys. My pronouns are ze/zim." Sasha sheepishly waived.
The others sat around Sasha.
"I saw you were talking to Raelynn." Claire pointed out.
"I was just pointing out to her that I am not wearing cosplay. I can't take off my horns or change that I do hear out of these ears. I had a run in with her this morning, too."
"Don't mind her too much. She really changed after her father started to do well and I guess the attention got to her head. She wasn't always like that, ya know?" Heather said.
"Thanks for that. I just couldn't deal with seeing that much ice in somebody's eyes, and never have them actually know who I am. It's exactly how scientists look at you. I felt like I needed to do something about it."
"It's good that you stood up for yourself." Lyrica said softly.
"I don't know why I am so worried. She'll either see me or she won't." Sasha sighed.
"Stand tall and fight on, that's all you can do." Claire said with a nod of affirmation from the others.
"Thanks. You're right." Sasha smiled gratefully.
"Oh, Sasha. I meant to tell you that I spoke with Dr. Hawthorne about your achievements in reading. He was really surprised that you picked it up so quick, so I think congratulations are in order." Lyrica smiled, along with the others who had also just heard Sasha's good news.
"Thank you. That really makes my day better, maybe I can get out of this special education class. Mrs. Anderson doesn't know how to treat people who are in need."
"I actually think that might be in order. Dr. Hawthorne actually asked me about your classes before he enrolled you. I told him that I really think you can do it. I mean, I watched you take apart your truck just from some manuals that you couldn't even read. Math and science aren't even an issue for you. I actually asked him if I could try teaching you how to read from home in the normal special education hours, since I normally have those free. Would you be okay with that?"
"I really would. You promise it wouldn't be too much for you?"
"No, not at all. I actually get to put it in my portfolio because I am on a path to be a teacher someday."
Sasha nodded with supporting nods from the others.
"Do you guys-" Sasha was interrupted by a tap on zir shoulder, and a unanimous look of surprise from the others.
Sasha turned around to see Rae, again.
"Please, don't insult me. If you want me to leave, I'll leave." Sasha stared right into the glaciers that started to melt.
"I'm so sorry. I really didn't know they were real. Can you please forgive me, Aleksandria?"
"On one condition…"
"What condition?"
"You sit with us at lunch from now on and don't say anything insulting to anyone. Can you do that?"
"I… I'll do it. Please don't make me apologize, again."
"I won't, unless I hear you insulting people, then you will need to apologize to them."
"Okay… "
"This is Lyrica, Heather, and Claire." Sasha said with gestures.
"Hi… I'm Raelynn Storm. I'm sure you know me..."
"What made you want to change, now?" Heather asked, firmly.
"Aleksandria grabbed my arm in the hall, and it really shook up my thoughts. They were the first person to look me in the eyes and tell me I was wrong. The second time is when it really clicked for me. I was angry at Jocelyn for calling you a freak when she didn't even know you, and… It hit me that I did the exact same thing. I needed to apologize." Rae answered with her head held low.
"Trust and respect are earned. What's your plan?" Claire responded.
"I'm going to ditch the terrible people I called friends, even if that means I have none. I don't want to keep hurting people. I don't know where I will go from there."
"I mean, you could try therapy. I think you need it." Heather added with a glare.
"Yeah..." Rae looked down.
"I was going to ask, what are everyone's special interests?" Sasha asked after it seemed enough time to soak it all in had been given.
"I really like environmental science, actually." Heather spoke up without breaking her glare at Rae.
"I like working out and playing sports." Claire followed.
"I want to be a librarian because I love books." Lyrica went next.
"I am also in the mechanics course, but I am determined to make a much better truck than I started with." Sasha finished.
Lunch was smooth, as far as events, but Sasha definitely noticed that Rae was quiet and looking down the entire time. It was also clear to zim that everyone else wouldn't look at her or address anything they said to her. Sasha thought it was a little cold, even if ze took into account how Rae was acting before. Ze was glad that Rae at least wasn't making things any worse for anyone for the time being.
Time slipped by as Sasha watched Rae play with her thumbs and try to muster up some words that ultimately ended up swallowed back until the bell rang.
Everyone started to get up to head off, but Sasha remembered zir phone.
"Wait! Before you guys leave, can I get everyone's number?" Sasha asked and passed around zir phone.
"How do I do this?" Claire asked, staring at the framed pane of glass she had been handed.
"Uhm, just tell Analyst your number and it should be fine but say your name before your number, just to be clear."
They took turns saying their numbers and were completely puzzled as to how Sasha would end up with any of these numbers, until Sasha started talking to Analyst to make sure they could catch everything, even Lyrica was impressed by the conversational functionality that Analyst possessed.
After everyone went their separate ways, Sasha was left with Rae, who was looking around cautiously.
"What's wrong, Rae? I can smell your distress."
"I am worried about Jocelyn… Hold on… You can smell my distress? What on Earth does that smell like?"
"Well, your scent went from floral to musky floral. It's not bad, but definitely notable."
"Are there any other things I do that I should know about?"
"I can hear your heart beating frantically, and I also have fangs, most people usually miss those the first time around."
Rae wrapped her arms around her chest, tightly.
"I'm just really worried that Jocelyn and her cronies will do something awful to one or both of us. Even if I deserve it, you don't."
"That's fair but try to focus on just living your life the right way."
"Okay."
Rae still looked uncomfortable but was acting less frantic.
"Do you have a class this way? I've noticed we are still walking together." Sasha asked.
"Yeah, I have a mechanics class that I have to take before the school administration will let me go any further in my aerospace classes."
"Oh? I also have mechanics."
"Do you have something requiring you to take it, too?"
"I just want to make my truck the best it can be."
"You have a... truck? Like a normal truck?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Trucks haven't been a thing for decades. Well, semi-trucks are still a thing, I guess. Where did you even get it or the money for it?"
"Uhm, I got it off my phone, and the money came from a... grandparent?"
"Oh? That's nice of them."
Rae returned to looking around for danger until they got to the classroom.
Rae took a deep breath and calmed down, drastically, when they finally got through the classroom door. Sasha went to sit down and noticed that Rae was still following zim like a lost puppy.
"Have you never been to this class before?" Sasha asked while sitting down.
"Yeah, I have. Why?"
"I just found it interesting that you chose to sit with me and not, I don't know, your usual group."
"I don't really have a usual group. I mostly end up working alone because… of the way I treat people… "
"You're going to have to apologize sooner or later, if you're ever going to want people to actually think of you as a respectable person."
"I know. Can I just start with making up for the things I said to you, first?"
"That's not for me to decide. If you feel that is what you need to get started on the right path, I don't see why not."
"Alright. That's what I'll do for now."
"Do you think you'll be my friend, now?" Sasha asked with a jovial smile.
"Do I even deserve to be your friend?"
"Deserve isn't the word I'd use. Think of it like renting my trust… You get it upfront and then pay it back over time. I'm willing to let you do that, but only if you're willing to pay it back."
"I want to be your friend. Something about you seems magnetic. I want to get to know you, I mean, the real you. Do you want that?"
"Yes, I do. I want to change that look in your eyes."
"What do you mean?"
"Your look is ice cold and analytical, but right now you are analyzing everything that I am not. I want you to be analyzing everything that I am. I don't know why, but I feel the need to do that for myself."
"I feel like you're being too kind and putting too much faith in me."
"I feel like you're not putting enough faith in yourself and that's why you ended up where you are. You are perfectly capable of being my friend. I'm also not going to make you do it alone. I know what it's like to be alone, and I won't do that to you. Maybe my wishes are entirely selfish, that would be a fair assumption to make, too."
"How is it selfish?"
"Because I want to bask in the glory of having achieved just that, and I can't let myself continue without letting you know that I am in this for me. It doesn't mean that such won't change, though. I believe it will change with time, honestly."
"I suppose that is selfish, but I have been selfish for a long time. I can't fault you for wanting something for yourself, even if it is at my expense. I appreciate your honesty. I am still grateful for your effort to better me."
"No worries, Raelynn. We all have our scars…"
"How do you know about... my scars?"
"No, I meant that we all have a past, mistakes, regrets, etc. In some cases they are literal scars."
"Oh, yeah. That's fair, sorry."
"What did you think I was saying?"
"Please don't talk to others about this, but I thought you were talking about me being… trans…"
"No, I don't know what that is."
"In my case, it's when I changed my body's sex to match what I feel is most me."
"I honestly don't know much of anything about human anatomy and how it translates to what I know of my anatomy. Where I am from, that stuff never existed, nor had a higher purpose. I am also too scared to show my body to anyone to learn more about such. I have no judgments about that. Your body is yours to do with as you please." Sasha looked concerned.
"That's okay. I just misunderstood, but now I know that you might understand me more than I thought."
Rae finished talking when the instructor came in.
"Alright, class! We have a new student. If you would, just stand up and share your name. I'm not much introductions myself, though you can call me Mr. Smith."
Sasha stood up and completed with an introduction before sitting back down.
"Today, we are going to be going over the tools used to build pieces and parts. I have to go over every safety lesson, but after that we will be building engines. This is a chance for you to work on something you believe to be important and make it happen.
"The only grade in this class will be upon your ability to produce a running engine. As for the best one's, they will go on to do a showing for all of the major truck companies. This showing can be put on your resume and in your portfolios for career potential."
Rae raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Storm?" Mr. Smith responded.
"Does it matter what kind of engine it is? I don't have a lot of experience with engines as they are in cars."
"As long as it is capable of running stably and being used to power something, no it doesn't matter."
"Can we work on it with other people?"
"Of course, but everyone is required to have worked on it in some way."
Rae started to write something down on a notebook she had pulled out, and to Sasha it was obvious that Rae was passionate because she didn't even look up from the notebook for anyone else's questions.
"Were you intending on doing this with me?" Sasha asked quietly.
"Yeah, is that okay? I have never had a friend who had even remotely similar interests as me, and I have some ideas that would require your knowledge. If there is any reward we split it evenly.
"Works for me. I just wanted to be certain."
"Perfect. I'll talk to you about my ideas later, if that's okay? I don't want to get in trouble."
"Alright. I'll be expecting your messages." Sasha smiled.
"Woah."
"What?" Sasha turned zir head.
"Your fangs are really cute."
Sasha could see Rae blushing ever so slightly while she smiled into her notes that she resumed writing out. Ze smiled to zimself and decided not to say anything.
Sasha really like the way both Lyrica and Rae's compliments felt and their blushing, but in very different ways that were equal in gravity. Ze couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like if Rae played with zir ears. Ze always kind of drifted into that feeling while staring at Rae with a dorky grin.
"Is everything alright?" Rae asked, quietly.
Sasha snapped back to reality.
"Uh, yeah. Why?"
"You were staring at me, smiling. Did I do something funny?"
"No, you didn't. I was thinking about something else. I'm sorry."
Rae flipped a page in the notebook and passed it with the utensil she was writing with.
"What were you thinking about?" Rae had written.
"Lyrica scratches my ears sometimes, and I was wondering if it would feel different when you did such because you are so different from one another. I was picturing in my head how it would feel."
"You want me to scratch your ears?"
"You don't have to."
"I would love to, actually."
"Oh. Why is that?"
"Your ears are really soft. If that'll make you happy, too, then I'd really enjoy that. I just worry that Lyrica would be jealous."
"Why is that?"
"It sounds fairly intimate from my understanding. Maybe she'd get upset."
"I'll ask."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Sasha typed into zir phone, "Hey, Lyrica. Would it be upsetting to you if Rae scratched my ears?"
"No. It wouldn't bother me at all, as long as she doesn't hurt you. Just make sure you purr real loud, okay, pretty boy?"
"Just because you told me to."
Sasha waited a minute before turning back to the notebook.
"She said 'as long as you don't hurt me.'"
"Are you two together?"
"I don't know what that means."
"Are you guys in a relationship together, like, romantically?"
"I'm not sure. Should I ask?"
"If you feel comfortable with that. I don't want to step on your boundaries. I already feel bad enough with myself."
Sasha turned back to zir phone.
"Are we in a relationship?"
"I need to give that a little more time to say. Do you want to be?"
"Let me explain. Rae is asking me questions I don't have the answers to because she is worried she is going to make you upset by scratching my ears."
"I am grateful she thought of me, but if she is okay with that, we can share you, okay?"
"I will let her know. Thank you for being so understanding."
"It really is no problem. You talked to me before you did anything, even though you didn't have to, and I really appreciate you for that. Have some fun and don't get hurt, okay?"
Sasha turned back to the notebook.
"She says you two can share me, if you are okay with that?"
Rae looked really surprised and covered her mouth with her hand, but it was still very obvious that her face was growing much more red.
Rae then quickly wrote, "Are you even okay with that?"
"Yes, so long as you don't hurt me."
"I have no intentions of hurting you. I really don't want to hurt you. I would be okay with that."
"Promise?"
"I promise, Aleksandria."
Rae let Sasha read her last response before she tried to hide behind it, but Sasha still was able to see that her smile stretched across her face and revealed her teeth in contrast to her dark red cheeks.
Sasha motioned for the notebook.
"I didn't say something wrong, did I?"
"No, not at all. I just really want to scratch your ears, now."
Sasha wrote Lyrica's phone number in the notebook.
"What's this for?"
"It's Lyrica's number, so that you can ask her all about it."
Rae seemed to be no longer capable of containing what she was feeling and was hiding in the notebook for a while. She then took a deep breath before writing again.
"Thank you."
"No problem."
Sasha could see that Rae must have been thinking about a lot, but was really clueless as to what was going through her head.
"Would you like to come over to my house tomorrow morning?" Sasha wrote and handed back.
"I would love to. Will Lyrica be there, too?"
"Yeah. That's why I asked."
"I'll text you about it later, but yes, I would love to."
"Sounds good."
The rest of the class, Rae seemed to calm down, check her phone occasionally, and wrote notes on what Mr. Smith was saying. Sasha also focused in on Mr. Smith who was now starting his demonstrations on how to use the various tools, which ze was very interested in.
Before too long, it came to be tike to move onto the next class in the day.
As Sasha was starting to head off to zir next class, Rae stopped zim.
"Thank you for having faith in me. I'll be better." Rae said before hugging Sasha.
"You're welcome, Raelynn." Sasha said, while hugging back.
"Text me, okay? Don't get in trouble, though."
"Will do."
After Rae separated from Sasha, they went their different ways, as to not be late.
The rest of the school day went by quickly, even though Sasha was really looking forward to texting Lyrica and Rae.
The next class, chemistry actually gave a lot of ideas to Sasha in regard to using Hydrogen as a fuel source and being able to get it from electrolysis, which is what the experiment in that class was all about building and using.
Sasha was quick to get out and meet up with Renee to walk home.
"So, how was your first day, Sasha?" Renee asked through the quiet that had formed.
"I, uhm, it was strange. I thought I had made enemies, but it turns out we are friends, now. That's really been occupying most of my thoughts today. What about you?"
"Well, it was a school day like any other. Nothing strange happened for me. I saw you talking to the Storm's kid at lunch, though. I decided to keep my distance and give you space. Has she and her friends already started on you?"
"It was that way this morning, but something changed throughout the day. I have faith that she isn't going to be like that, at least not the same."
"Did you do something to her?" Renee looked very concerned.
"No, I just grabbed her arm and said words to her. Now, she is actually trying to be my friend. I am not sure how loyal humans are to say it'll stick, but I see something in her eyes that makes me believe she won't just run back to what she knew this time."
"This might sound weird, but do you think she is into you? I mean, that's the only reason I can think for someone to change their behavior so drastically."
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean."
"You know, uhm, like she is interested in being with you intimately. Wouldn't Lyrica be upset, if the Storm kid were into you?"
"Oh. I have already talked to Lyrica and she has said she is okay with what's happening, as long as Raelynn doesn't hurt me. She said she was fine sharing."
Renee was surprised with how nonchalant Sasha was being, even though ze had just admitted to something deep and personal.
"I'm sorry, Sasha. I didn't mean to pry into your personal life."
"I'm not upset. Honestly, I just really like being around the two of them, for completely different reasons. I don't really understand how things like this normally work, not even for my species."
"I just want you to be careful, that's all."
"I do know that they don't want to hurt me, though. I can definitely tell that much."
"I am glad you were able to find some people who don't want to hurt you. I will support your decision, I promise. I think, if you give it some time to develop, Mom and Dad will, too."
"Thank you, Renee."
"For sure, Sasha. It's what a good sister is for."
Renee smiled, almost identical to the way their mother smiles, and continued walking.
Sasha wanted to relax but kept checking zir phone expecting someone to say something to zim. It was actually kind of annoying to zim that ze felt this way. It wasn't annoying because of either Raelynn or Lyrica, but because the anticipation was just enough to itch.
Sasha's relief only came when zim and Renee got to the door of their home.