Chương 199: Interlude 45 – School Days Pt.2

=::= Kaylee's PoV =::=

As soon as I was dressed I slipped on a pair of dark comfortable flats and grabbed my little backpack. I didn't bother with a jacket, there was no need really. For one thing it was still the first half of September and the weather was fine, but beyond that I wasn't going to be outside for any length of time anyways.

I didn't need to worry about breakfast either, or a morning coffee or latte or soda or anything else for that matter. I still enjoyed the taste of mortal food and I'd eat when I was with my girlfriends or our other friends, but the fact that I didn't need to anymore was incredibly freeing. No more hunger, no more cravings for snacks, it was great.

With my tails swishing happily behind me I turned towards my girlfriends and stretched up on my toes to give them a kiss. Then as I stepped back I grinned, "See you later Cass!"

I was already focusing on my destination, and as soon as I was ready I teleported to school.

That still left me feeling almost giddy, the fact that I could instantly transport myself almost anywhere. One moment I was at home with my girlfriend in our room, the next I was seventy kilometres away in a gender-neutral washroom in the large central academic building of the university campus.

There was a wide happy grin on my face as I checked my hair and make-up in the mirror, while my tails continued swishing around and my ears were both perked right up. It was Monday morning, but I honestly felt pretty darn good.

With a spring in my step and my tails swaying back and forth I emerged from the bathroom and started making my way through the halls towards my first class. Along the way I spotted a TA that looked stressed, so I altered my path just a bit. One of my tails lightly brushed against his thigh as we passed each other, and his morning got a little less stressful while I enjoyed a little energy boost.

That was just a light snack, but I knew by the end of the day I'd have had a feast. This was only the start of week two but mornings really seemed to bring out the tension in people, and I had a feeling Mondays would be the best. And it was easy for me to draw out a bit here and there, from almost everyone I saw.

When I got to class it was even better, just walking between a row of desks with my tails stretched out left and right meant I could gather a bit from every single student I passed. By the time I reached my spot at the front of the class I felt better than ever. And the seven students behind me felt like their morning just got a bit brighter too.

I pulled my laptop out of my backpack and set it up on my desk, along with the textbook we had to buy for this class. Then I looked ahead at Professor Wilcox who was sitting behind his desk in front of me. He was staring at his own laptop, and I figured he was probably reviewing his notes for this morning's lesson. At least, that's what I liked to believe. I was actually pretty sure he was just scrolling through social media while he waited for the last few students to arrive.

He must have realized I was looking at him, as his eyes flicked up towards me a few seconds later. Then he sighed, "Miss Holt I thought I told you not to wear that ridiculous costume in class anymore."

"You did," I nodded. Then I flicked my ears and swished my tails as I reminded him, "And I told you it's not a costume. I'm a kitsune, my ears and tails are real."

That led to some whispers and murmurs behind me, just like it did every other time someone asked me about my ears or tails. My tall fuzzy ears swivelled around this way and that, it was easy for me to hear all the comments no matter how discreet my classmates thought they were being. Not that anyone had anything interesting to say.

I'd heard it all before. People were wondering what my 'deal' was, some wondered if I had a medical condition that made me so small, others questioned my sanity or assumed my 'costume' was some sort of elaborate cry for attention.

One witty guy at the back even suggested I was so simple I'd gotten lost on my way to drama class but couldn't even tell the difference. I made a point of remembering him, so I could enjoy the look on his face when my grades crushed his at the end of the semester.

Meanwhile the prof just stared for a second or two, and I could easily imagine what he was thinking. I couldn't actually read his mind or anything, but I could almost get a feel for his emotions, and from there it wasn't that hard to guess the rest.

He was positive my foxy bits were some kind of advanced costume props or something, but he didn't care enough to make a fuss about it. As far as he was concerned, if I wanted to be weird and different and 'pretend' to be a mythical creature it didn't really matter to him.

Professor Wilcox finally sighed, "Just make sure you don't bother any of the other students Miss Holt."

"Of course sir," I replied with a polite smile.

Then I swished my tails once more, before wrapping them around onto my lap. I brought one around my left hip while the other two came around the right, with my favourite tail on top.

Once class actually began I paid close attention and took plenty of notes. Despite being a demonic kitsune with a goddess girlfriend I still took my education very seriously, even if I probably wouldn't ever need to use my eventual degree to find a job.

That was pretty much the template for my morning. When the first class was over I made sure to brush my tails against a few more people on the way out, and probably a dozen more as I hurried through the halls to my second class.

That more or less began with a replay from the first class. The only difference was my second prof was less formal than Professor Wilcox. She addressed me as Kaylee rather than Miss Holt, but she still asked the same sort of questions.

It even ended the same way, with quiet comments from the students behind me while Professor Holland decided to ignore me as long as I wasn't causing any trouble for her or the other students in her class.

The rest of the morning went ok, like usual I was focused on the lesson and made sure to take notes and everything. Then after it was over came my least favourite part of the day.

I still hadn't figured out what to do with myself during lunchtime. It seemed pointless buying and eating food when I was all by myself, which was a bit of a shame since the university had plenty of interesting options.

It was nothing like the small boring cafeteria we had at high school, they actually had two complete food courts on the university campus. One of them was in a residence hall, but the main one was in the big academic building I teleported into this morning. On top of that they had a couple coffee shops and cafes spread around the campus, along with a couple more fast food places scattered here and there.

Except since I didn't need food anymore all that was kind of wasted on me. I thought briefly about visiting the campus library, I had a book with me that I could read and I knew they had some comfy chairs in there. But I also knew it would be harder to meet people and make friends if I hid myself away like that.

In the end I picked the big food court. I could still read my book, but I could also people watch. And it was another opportunity to feed on more stress, as I fanned my tails out to either side and made my way through the multitude of students all looking for something to eat. I stopped at a vending machine to get myself a bottle of orange soda, then I found a small table and sat myself down.

I got out my book, and planned to divide my time between reading and quietly observing all the humans around me. There were plenty of students sitting together in groups, some large and some small. And there were plenty of folks sitting by themselves like me, mostly first-years who were new and hadn't really got to know anyone yet.

Unfortunately it was hard to people-watch when half of them were staring back at me. And my tall fuzzy ears had no trouble picking out all their comments through the general din of conversation. So after a few minutes I gave up on that part of my plan and just focused on my book instead, which meant I didn't notice anyone approaching me until they suddenly spoke up.

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"Hey," someone greeted me as she stood next to my table. "You're Kaylee, right? Mind if I join you?"

I looked up from my book and found an attractive young woman standing before me, holding a tray from one of the fast food places. She had something that smelled tasty bundled up inside a paper wrapper alongside a large drink container.

The girl was average height, and appeared to be about my age or maybe a year older. She had short black hair and dark eyes, and her pretty face was perfectly tanned. She was dressed all in black, from her ankle boots to her jeans to her blouse. Even her leather backpack was black. In fact the only colour on her at all was her make-up, and the three pride pins that were prominently visible on the strap of her pack. There was a trans pride pin on top, then lesbian pride, and finally the rainbow flag at the bottom.

"Sure," I finally nodded. Then I added, "Sorry, are you in one of my classes or something? You look familiar but I'm drawing a blank."

She smiled as she sat down across from me. Then she leaned forward and lowered her voice, "You'd probably recognize me if I had my ears and tail out. Mallory Tate, we met very briefly at my mom's farm a couple weeks ago."

"Oh of course!" I nodded as I suddenly made the connection. "Wow, I didn't expect to run into any familiar faces here. It's a nice surprise though. So what are you taking?"

Mallory unwrapped her lunch but answered before taking a big bite, "Third year computer science, with a focus on information security. How about you?"

My eyebrows crept up as I responded, "Third year? Wow, did you start early or something?"

"This is only my second week. I'm majoring in ancient history by the way," I added while she was still chewing on her food. It looked like a large pita stuffed with thin slices of meat, along with diced vegetables and topped with some kind of sauce. And it smelled really good, like even if I didn't need to eat I could still appreciate when stuff seemed interesting.

The werewolf washed down her food with a gulp of cola then flashed me a sly smile. She leaned closer and lowered her voice again as she told me, "I'm surprised you don't know this already, what with being friends with a couple weres? But we age slower than humans. I know I look like a freshman but I'm actually twenty-six. I've already done a few years of college back home, before coming down here."

"I'm sure it's the same for you right?" she asked a moment later. "I understand demons don't age at all, so you're probably doing the same thing? Attend a few years, graduate, then switch schools and start again? Or take a decade off then come back as a new student?"

I couldn't help smiling while my tails swished around behind me. That honestly sounded really nice, considering I wasn't going to have to worry about working for a living. And knowing I had all the time in the world ahead of me, spending a decade or two as a student might be a nice way to pass the time.

After a couple seconds Mallory changed the subject, but she kept her voice down. "Gotta say, I was really surprised to see you here with the ears and tails all out on display. My mom would flip if I tried attending class in my wolfgirl form."

My grin got a little wider while my tails swished around a bit quicker. I admitted, "I do attract a lot of attention being so obviously different. And not all of it's good either. But I think I can handle myself, and hopefully when people see me it helps open up their minds a little bit? I know a lot of people dismiss it as a costume, but if one or two people are left wondering then it's been a good day, as far as I'm concerned."

"Huh," Mallory frowned as she munched on another bite of her lunch. "So why'd you want to open up people's minds? You want folks to know kitsune are a real thing?"

"I want people to know magic and the supernatural are real," I told her. "I want folks to know gods and demons and werewolves and witches and sorceresses and fae and fairies are real. I want all of us to be able to be ourselves, proudly and openly."

Then I gestured to her backpack that she'd hung on the back of her chair, "Like you've got those pride pins out where everyone can see them? If there was a supernatural pride flag I'd be waving that around. In lieu of that I wave my tails and twitch my ears."

That left her with a thoughtful look on her face as she took another bite of her meal.

While she was chewing on it I finally asked, "By the way what's that called? It smells really good."

"Shawarma," she replied after swallowing. "It's the traditional lamb one, but they do a chicken one as well if you're not into lamb."

Then she added, "And speaking of pride stuff there's a pretty good LGBTQ club that does a bunch of social stuff here. If you like I could take you and show you around? There's a weekly coffee get-together on Fridays at one of the cafes, that's a good low-key way to check it out if you're interested."

"Yeah that sounds great!" I nodded while my tails wagged.

Mallory smiled, "Cool. We should exchange contact info, so we can keep in touch. It'd be nice having another supernatural to hang out with. So are you in one of the residences here? I scored a spot in one of the townhouses at MaGrath. It's cosy, plus it's got good access to the greenbelt along the river. You know, incase I want to go out for a moonlit run or something."

I shook my head, "I'm still living back at the clubhouse in town, with my girlfriend and our other friends."

"You commute down here every day?" the werewolf gasped as her eyes widened. "Dang, that's a heck of a drive. I thought about it, it's rough being away from the pack for so long, but spending that much time in a car would suck the life out of me. Not to mention the price of gas, that amount of driving would bankrupt me."

I couldn't help smiling as I shook my head, "I don't drive. I just teleport back and forth, it's a lot more convenient."

"Oh wow!" she gasped as her eyebrows shot up. "Gosh that must be nice. So you can chill with your gang every night and all weekend long, but still be here for classes during the week. All without the ninety-minute commute."

"It's pretty awesome," I agreed.

By the time we both had to head off our our afternoon classes I was in a great mood again. I'd made my first university friend, and she was going to introduce me to more folks at the coffee meet-up on Friday.

Plus I couldn't wait to tell Melanie and Cerys that I'd run into Mallory Tate at university, I was sure they'd be interested in getting to know her better too.