Chapter Text
It was almost a whole hour before first period, and the campus was already teeming with life. A small flock of short Pteranodons tease a larger, taller Tropeognathus for the placement of his crests, along with his larger size. A small mixed herd of Herbivores and Humans talk amongst themselves. Wait. Humans? Holy shit. The last time I could spot human classmates was back in Deino Hills. Both Volcaldera and Sarcomento were so densely packed with Dinos that I was a minor celebrity walking onto campus for all of, like, 15 minutes. Statistically speaking, if all my old campuses were 100 dinos to 1 human, this place was more like 20:1.That's at least 5 times as many humans, if I'm doing my math correctly. So I feel like five times less of a stand-out, as not a single fucking person comes to greet me like I'm ex President Barnoc fucking Omaha coming to dish out pocket change to the thirsty public.
I'm kind of awestruck, if I'm honest. Seeing a school be this lively three-quarters of an hour before first period? Either these kids actually like being at school or they're paid actors, and I'm leaning towards the latter. Regardless, with the enhanced Human population, it's the first time since my balls dropped that I don't feel like an outsider walking into an exhibit. The buildings are all vintage, constructed mostly of brick and mortar with only the roofing, windows and interiors being updated. This school, like everything else around here, is old as balls, giving it a vibe that sticks out to me, definitely a better vibe than the brutalist architecture of every school I've been to before. Like, if school normally feels like jail, especially with the bars on the windows they had in the last couple places, this felt more like an old-timey jail. It has a zazz to it.
Probably the best part about seeing other humans around is that for once, Physical Education will probably account for my flimsy skinnie body. I'll be the first to admit it. I'm glad my bro helps keep me in fighting shape, because doing PE with a bunch of Dinos is absolute hell. The entire curriculum is usually built around their dense bones and powerful muscles, but here there's actually a chance I'll get treated to a program that doesn't grade me on how well I measure up to the Dino kids. I'm done taking D's in PE.
I make my way to the front office of the school, past a statue of the Amoreaux Auroch. The office is a predictably brick building with a glass double door, the frame of which is a vibrant blue, which I pass through casually. The interior is cozy enough, beige walls and brown carpets, blanketed in a kind of pale Sepia light from the lights above. Ahead of me are two hallways, a big wooden desk cutting a semi-circle between the hallways with enough seating for a few people. A pale obsidian Auroraceratops woman sits behind the counter, first tapping away at the computer terminal in front of her, then noticing me. She straightens up in her seat, amethyst eyes giving me a once-over before she smiles and folds her hands in front of herself.
"Hi! What can I do for you?" she asks me cheerily.
"Yeah, I'm the new kid. James. I kinda need to know what to do around here. Where to go. What to expect, so-on. I figured the student office was the best place to look." I said, leaning on the counter a little, casually.
The Auro receptionist blinked. "Oh. You mean you didn't get your beginning-of-the-year packet in the mail?" She asks, turning to her computer and tapping away. "Last name?"
"Walker. And no, yeah, didn't get anything like that." I said. "Must not have had enough time since I just moved in like. Last week."
"Walker, Walker... Ah! There you are. James Marie Walker?"
I click my tongue. Of course Bro filed my full name. He's not even here and he's hazing me. "Yeah. But you can call me Marie." I joke, rolling with the embarrassment with a shrug.
She chuckles a little, before typing something into her computer and before long, the printer behind her is printing something out. She stands up, the woman only being about chest-height, barely seeing over the tallest parts of the desk as she collects some papers from nearby and neatly stacks them with a packet. Then, she adds the items from the printer before returning to me.
"Here you go! The whole packet, with your schedule included. There's a campus map, though you probably shouldn't manage to get lost here, a booklet about our school and its history and last but not least a copy of your schedule. If you need any help at all, don't be afraid to ask around! The other students around campus should be more than willing to help. Is there anything else I can get you?" She asks, folding her hands in front of herself.
"Nah, thanks. I'll figure the rest out." I say, turning and heading out the front door again. Once i'm outside, I side-step the door and quickly study my papers. Wait. What the hell? My schedule's all fucked up. So far, every school I've been to had you do every class every day. About an hour each. But this schedule is different.
Mondays and Wednesdays I've got Science with Ms. Shii for two hours, Break, followed by English for another two hours. Lunch, followed by Math with Mr. Keel, Study Hall for an hour, and Physical Education at the end of the day for an hour. Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's Music homeroom with Mr. Cain, followed by Integrated History and Geography, Photography with Ms. Shii again, Study Hall, and PE. Fridays, it's everything for a half-period. I'm kind of baffled by the way it's organized, but I guess the trade-off is that I don't have 4 classes worth of homework every night.
According to my map, Ms. Shii's class is just to my left around the corner from the office, and down the dogtrot on the end of the first brick class block to the right. Turning the corner, I can see all the way up the alley, into the center courtyard and the gymnasium beyond.I haven't been on a campus with outdoor breezeways between the classroom buildings like this before. Every school I've ever been to was primarily an indoor building with proper hallways between the classrooms, so this whole open-air thing is a bit strange.
With nothing else to do, I just spend a little bit of time watching other students around the courtyard area, and I gotta say, I'm kinda impressed. It's High School, so it's got all the cliques and groups you'd expect. Jockstrap wearers, Ohmahgah girls, a few punk rockers hanging by an unpopular corner of the courtyard nearby a trash can, Brass lovers stroking their fuckoff instrument cases possessively, a group of kids with a permanent layer of paint stuck to their scales, hair, and fingernails respectively. Oh, and we can't forget the geeks hanging out by Shii's classroom. Or, three geeks and a goth, I guess.
Three of them look like your standard nerds. One's a tan, short, wide stego kid, wearing box frame glasses with a crew cut. Then there's a wiry lookin' little brown compy with a black perm. No chance he's not a compy. He kinda doesn't even look like a nerd, except the video game tee. Then there's a really thin looking Apato kid with rose scales and fucking coke bottle glasses, like. His eyes are doing that whole cartoon thing where I bet if I looked behind his glasses he'd have these beady little— Shit he turned his head and yeah his eyes are the size of peas, jegus chrumbst.
Then there's the six-foot-tall Gator. Or, at least I think he's a gator? He's green, he's got long brown straight hair, though it gets more frayed and wavy the further down it goes, until it ends at his chest area. He's wearing some black combat boots, black cargo pants, black overcoat a... is that the cool S in red on a tee shirt? Oh, no. Looking closer, it's a band shirt for Slipshot. And rounded square-frame glasses. Bro's wearing that Harris-Klebold chic look, like he's hiding something in his clothes. I mean, there's no way this guy actually likes this look, right? It's gotta be an ironic facade to make people keep their distance. As if the dude needed that, he's a fucking giant. Nobody's gonna mess with someone his size.
I divert my attention before anyone can tell I'm staring. Not that anyone can tell I'm staring through my shields. I can kind of just stare off into the distance, looking all introspective and shit, side-eyeing everyone subtly. Helps me keep an eye on my surroundings without looking like a twitchy-eyed tweaker or something. I move a little closer to the courtyard to lean against the corner, and from here I can tell the white and blue paint on the gymnasium is starting to peel and flake off. The lockers against the wall around the corner I'm leaning on? The paint's peeling off of a lot of 'em, and they've suffered from years of use. Missing paint, rust touching the surface of a few. Man, this place kinda looks like a dump up close.
I mind my own business, memorizing the map of the school and my schedule for the rest of the morning, until the morning period bell goes off, prompting me to put my map and schedule back away and go wait by the door to my science class. A small smattering of students begin hanging around the classroom as well, and before too long, a woman in a labcoat begins approaching the class, clutching a book and some papers to her chest as she fishes in her coat pocket for a pair of keys. She looks like... An Axolotl? But she's got these really sharp looking front teeth. Is she a Dunkleosteus? A Hybrid? Is it actually possible to get a hybrid out of a Fish and an Amphibian? Am I totally misreading her physical features? She's got green scales, black hair tied into a ponytail, yellow sclera with bright amber-orange irises, some genuinely cute yellow discolorations that look like freckles, and she's got circle rim prescription glasses. Yellow turtleneck tucked into a dark green skirt, and that white labcoat with long legs that end in a pair of mary janes.
"Hello, class! Come in, come in!" she says cheerily as she unlocks the door and pulls it open for everyone to come in. As I get closer, I notice she's wearing some decorations on her coat. Pins? Anime pins. So she's a weeb. No, it's even worse. As I step into the classroom, I can see posters pinned up behind her desk of a bunch of popular sci-fi anime. Great, the science teacher's a weebasaurus. I'm about to make my way towards a desk after everyone else gets settled before me, when the door closes behind me, and the teacher moves to my side. "Good morning, everyone! My name is Susan Shii, but you can just call me Ms. Shii. Last year I was just a substitute, but this year I'm cleared to teach Science and Photography!" She pauses, before gesturing a hand at me. "And this is our new student this year! Why don't you introduce yourself?"
Great. I'm already on the spot. "Yo. I'm James Walker. 'Sup?"
There's a silence for a moment, as if both the rest of the room, and the teacher are expecting more from me before Ms. Shii breaks the silence. "Um... is... is that all? Where're you from? What brought you all the way over here to Amoreaux County?" she prods, just like I was hoping she wouldn't. Fuck. I glance at her through my sunglasses and take note that she's actually got a stubby short little tail as I rub the back of my neck.
"Deino Hills, Texas. Then Volcaldera. Sarcomento. Now here. Dunno why I'm here, you'd have to ask my bro." I said, dropping my hand down to my side. "He's the dude with the plan, I'm just here for the ride."
"Ah..." She finally says, sounding disappointed at my pointed lack of details. She gestures to the only empty seat in the room, "W-well, why don't you go have a seat near frank, and we'll get started on class, then, James?" she asks before walking over to her desk near the front of the class, and setting the papers and books she was carrying down. I begin approaching the empty seat and the point of reference Ms. Shii pointed to. A brown megalodon— An Ocean Puppynever fucking say that— with a blonde buzzcut, wearing a letterman with the school colors— Blue and Yellow— on it. He's built like a football player in denim pants and yellow sport sneakers, and he's got the meanest resting bitch face. I don't talk to him, he looks like he's about to bite my face off and I haven't said shit to him.
"Once you're ready, please collect a textbook from the shelves by the window, and we'll begin today's lesson." Ms. Shii announced as she stood up walked to the back of the class to get something. Sick. At-school textbooks. Familiarity. I bet they're just as shitty as— Yup. California Gold Standard. Basically the puppy chow of textbooks. Outdated at best, Maliciously wrong at worst. Thankfully, Ms. Shii comes to the front of the class with a projector and pulls down the projection screen, turning it all on. "The textbooks are all out of date, but they're still useful. So we're going to do a mixture of reading from the text, and fact-checking the textbooks from authorized sources online for our lecture. Please turn to page..."
The lecture takes the first hour and a half of the class. It looks like some of the previous kids actually took to writing corrections in the margins of the copy I've grabbed. Once the lecture's over, Ms. Shii just hands out out homework assignment and goes back to her desk. "I'm supposed to make you all take it home, but... if you learn the material in class, what's the harm, right?" Word. The weeb is a cool teacher. I finish the homework pretty quickly, given the time to work on it in class while the knowledge is fresh in my mind, and not long after, the bell rings to take us to our first break.