Wear - Chapter 7

Wyatt wakes up the next morning, and Emma was still asleep. Wyatt decided to wake Emma up, although it took a few tries for her to finally wake up. When she did, she seemed to wobble as she sat up on the bed, rubbed her eyes for a bit, yawned, then asked “What time is it?”.

“It’s 7:20” Wyatt says, “almost time for class. Are you feeling alright?”.

Emma yawns again and says “Yeah… just… a little dizzy, and my throat is just a little dry”.

“Are you feeling sick?” Wyatt asks.

“No, I’m fine, really” Emma says.

Wyatt brings a cup of water for Emma and the two get ready for class. When class starts, and Refus walks in, the classroom was silent for a few seconds. Refus stood at the podium, and he got ready to talk to his class. Suddenly, Emma sneezes, stopping Refus from talking. The class looks back at the group they call The Rejects, as Refus looks up with a bit of concern. “Emma Frey” Refus asks, “do you need to see a nurse or something?”.

Emma rubs her eyes again and speaks up with a congested voice “I’m fine… probably just a little tired is all. I won’t let it happen agai- ACHOO!”. Emma sneezes before finishing her sentence. The students in the front of the class began giggling amongst themselves.

“If you’re sick” Refus says, “you should take some medicine and get some rest”.

“I’m fine, I’m fine” Emma assures.

Wyatt grows concerned as the class continues. However, he wasn’t the only one concerned. Jackson and Aeris seemed to be worried about something as well. As lunch period began, The Rejects eat at their usual spot. “You’ve been sounding really congested” Wyatt says to Emma, “Are you sure you don’t want to go rest for a bit?”.

“I’m sure” Emma says, “I don’t want to go home just because my nose is a little stuffy”.

“Talk about determined” Jessica says. “The moment I get any excuse to skip class, I’d probably not even try to show up”.

“There’s a difference between determination and initiative” Jackson says with a short laugh, “you’re just lazy, Jess”.

“Oh, so now it’s Jess?” Jessica asks, while laughing. “I thought I was Wingus!”.

“Hey, I said you were lazy” Jackson says, “I didn’t say I wasn’t also lazy”. Jackson, Jessica and Wyatt begin laughing. However, Emma suddenly sneezed really loud. When the rest of them looked over at Emma, Aeris had covered her head with a beanie hat.

“Seriously” Aeris says to Emma, “you should get some rest. At least wear something to warm yourself up. That way, you don’t get even more sick”.

“Where were you keeping a beanie?” Jackson asks.

“I used to wear them all the time” Aeris says, “now I just keep it in my backpack… I guess for nostalgia or something?”.

“But why do-” Jackson begins to ask. Aeris pokes Jackson on the side with her elbow and slowly lifts up the beanie. Aeris carefully lifted the hat, so that only she and Jackson could see what was underneath. When Jackson looked, Emma’s fox eyes popped out again. Emma was getting so sick, that she was having troubles maintaining her human form.

“I mean it, Emma” Aeris says, “go get some rest and stay warm”. Aeris then leans in close to whisper to Emma as she says “You won’t be able to maintain your shapeshift like this. Go home before everyone finds out about you”.

Emma panics for a second, then says “I… I guess you’re right. Wyatt, can you bring me the study materials?”.

“Sure” Wyatt says, calmly, “you’re heading home after lunch?”.

“Y-Yeah…” Emma replies, “please let the teachers know I won’t be attending today”.

“Alright” Wyatt says.

Emma says “Thanks” and then begins coughing lightly.

“No problem” Wyatt says, “just make sure you take better care of yourself”.

After they finish eating, Emma was the first to leave. She was still wearing Aeris’s beanie when she left. “Those two sure seem close” Jessica says.

“Yep…” Jackson says. “Anyways, what about your beanie, Aeris?”.

“Oh, that old thing?” Aeris asks, “she can keep it. If I need one for winter, I can buy a new one”.

“Well, thanks for thinking of other people like that, Aeris” Wyatt says.

“It’s… whatever” Aeris says. “Not sure… why… you’d be thanking me”.

“It’s just…” Wyatt says as he thinks. “Friends have got to look out for each other, I guess”.

“No, it’s because you fancy her, isn’t it?” Jessica asks.

“Is that… a bad thing?” Wyatt asks.

Jessica laughs and says “So straight forward! At least the guy has guts”.

“What’s wrong with that?” Wyatt asks.

“Nothing” Jackson says. Jackson slaps Wyatt on the back and says “Go get ’em, tiger” in an unenthusiastic voice.

As the next class was beginning, Refus had met with the principal. Principal Ryan Schafold, who looked to be in his 60’s at least, with gray hair but a refined sense of fashion. He wore a tailored suit and aviator sunglasses. “I’ve heard the usual complaints about your class” Ryan says. “Although, I’ve also seen a lot of your students around school, and they seem to be calming down recently. I must say, I’m glad to see the progress”.

“Thank you, Principal Schafold” Refus says.

“No, no” Ryan says, “you’re the one doing the work. Do you know why I allowed Quincy to announce the first laibah teacher ever, in our school?”.

“Wasn’t it… for promotional reasons?” Refus asks.

“That’s a benefit, without a doubt” Ryan says. “It’s controversial, and unexpected. It’s bound to put this school on the map, and increase our budget so we can expend more for our students. However, I only let them announce who you are after I met you. I have faith in you, Refus. I’ve had bad blood with laibah before, but that’s all in the past. You’re the kind of teacher I’m looking for, in order to raise this school to a more proper foundation”.

“I’m… honored” Refus says, “but… how am I supposed to handle the other staff?”.

“Oh, they’ll get over themselves in due time” Ryan says. “After all, they’re not the ones who went through any actual rough patches with laibah before. That was a different time though, and they need to understand that progress can only be achieved when you consider the past to learn from it, not dwell on it”.

Refus sits down at the chair, in front of Ryan’s desk. “I agree” Refus says. “A lot has happened in the past, but we can always try to fix what remains of it. It’s a delicate situation”.

“A delicate situation” Ryan adds, “that I think you’re handling very well. I know of the terms of the agreement between you and Quincy”.

“You do?” Refus asks.

“I’ve known for a while” Ryan says. “It may be too late to change the minds of most adults, but I believe that they can change themselves over time. However, it’s important to show the next generation the visions we have as adults”.

“But it’s not the job of the next generation to pick up what we left behind” Refus says.

“Also correct” Ryan says, “it’s their job to consider what we want, and then carve a path of their own. With enough delicate touches, there very well may not even be the obstacle we stand in today. The obstacle of prejudice and segregation. Maybe not with the current upcoming generation, but with time, that problem will cease”.

“Like a domino effect” Refus says.

“Precisely” Ryan says. “That’s why I like you. Your sense of understanding is well refined. With that, you may very well have the natural ability to lead even a nation. However, this time we’re not leading a nation to war, but leading them out of the debris of one. A war that should’ve been buried long ago”.

“What problems did you have exactly, Mr. Schafold?” Refus asks.

Ryan lifts up his sunglasses and reveals his eyes. One eye had a scar over the eyelid, and the eyelid looked like some scar tissue had sealed the eye shut permanently. “That’s for a time that had already passed, Mr. Maloney” Ryan says. “The war ended more than a hundred years ago, but I guess some people didn’t want to accept that. That time, had long since passed though. No point in dwelling on it”.

“The war…” Refus says. “The Great War… it should’ve never happened to begin with”.

“People were different back then” Ryan says. “Two species were competing over which is the dominant species. However, no one cares about ‘dominant species’ anymore. People change, and they keep changing. That’s the beauty of nature, Refus”.

“As teachers…” Refus says, “it’s our job to make sure we keep moving forward, right?”.

Ryan smiles and says “Correct again, Mr. Maloney. Anyways, keep up the work, and don’t let the others get to you”.

“Thanks, Principal Schafold” Refus says calmly as he stands. “I’ll consider what we’ve talked about and keep that in mind”.

As Refus walks away, Ryan says “Don’t let me down, Refus! I have faith in you, don’t make it to where I’ve placed my faith in the wrong man”.

Refus waves back at Ryan and, without looking back at him, says “Don’t worry about that. Leave that part up to me”.

After school had ended, Wyatt makes his way back to the dorms quickly, in order to check up on Emma. When Wyatt arrives, he sees Emma laying on her bed, wrapped up from head to toe in her blanket. She wrapped herself completely, as if trying to pretend like she were a burrito with a face sticking out of the side. Emma slowly opens her eyes when she hears the door close. Lightly groaning from the pain of her headache, she then asks “Wyatt? School’s over already?”.

Wyatt laughs lightly and says “Yeah. I’ve brought the materials you need”. Emma begins to sit up, but Wyatt stops her. “Hold on” Wyatt says as he gently pushes her back down on the bed. “You still need rest. Take your time to get better before you try to work yourself harder”. Emma nods her head and briefly falls back asleep. Wyatt then prepared to leave for work while she’s sleeping.

Hours after Wyatt leaves, Emma wakes up again. She grabs a cup and stumbles to the bathroom to get some water from the sink. After filling up her cup, she looks up at the mirror and nearly freezes with panic. Her tail and ears were showing, and she began to worry more. “Wyatt didn’t see anything, did he!?” She asks herself. “That’d be such a mess. S-should I ask him when he gets home!? What do I do!?”. Suddenly, the door of the dorm starts to unlock, and Emma left the bathroom door open. She was completely visible from the front door. She scatters, and quickly stumbles to her bed. She grabbed the beanie and put it on her head, as she also covered herself from her shoulders to her feet with a blanket.

“Feeling better yet?” Wyatt asks as he walks into the dorm.

“A-ah! N-no… not really” Emma replies. “I just got up to get something to drink”.

“Well, hopefully this will help” Wyatt says as he reaches into his back pocket. Out of his pocket, he pulls out some medicine he picked up from the convenience store he works at, Out & About. “I’ve got some medicine for colds and stuff” Wyatt says. “I figured it’d help”.

“T-thanks” Emma says as she slowly walks up to Wyatt. As she takes the medicine from him, she thinks to herself “Should I ask him? Should I?”.

“If you’re not feeling any better by now” Wyatt says, “then you’ll probably need to stay home from class tomorrow as well. I’ll get you the materials you’ll need, while you recover”.

Emma nods and says “Alright, thanks”. After she crawls back into bed, realizing she didn’t ask Wyatt anything, she thinks to herself “IDIOT!” as she tries to go back to sleep. Suddenly, she feels something cold touching her forehead. When she opens her eyes, she sees Wyatt standing in front of her, holding his hand up to her forehead.

“You’re really burning up!” Wyatt says to Emma, “You really need to rest more”.

“Y-Yeah” Emma says. “Sorry to make you worry”.

“I’m sorry you got so sick” Wyatt says. “I should’ve done more to help…”.

“No, no… it’s fine. You’re helping a lot” Emma says. “Umm… Wyatt?”.

“What is it?” Wyatt asks.

“It’s…” Emma says as she thinks to herself. “No… it’s nothing, sorry”.

“Well, think of it this way” Wyatt says, “at least you’re not sick during The Autumn Festival”.

“Geez, I sure hope I won’t be” Emma says with a laugh.

“Get some rest now” Wyatt says as he begins to sit down on his bed.

With a weak voice, Emma says “Goodnight” before she falls asleep yet again.

The next morning, Wyatt wakes up for school. He puts his hand over Emma’s forehead to check her temperature once more. “Her fever went down” he says to himself, “that’s a good sign”.

Emma groans lightly in her sleep and says “Mom?”, all the while, not waking up.

Wyatt sets the medicine on the floor next to the bed, and then sets aside some food she can’t eat later, for when she wakes up. After that, Wyatt takes a shower and leaves for class. When Wyatt gets in the classroom, Aeris asks “Is Emma still sick?”.

“Yeah” Wyatt says. “She must’ve worked herself a lot, while living in such poor conditions”.

“Wait, where does she live?” Jackson asks.

“A-ah… somewhere” Wyatt says as he tries to think of an excuse. He couldn’t tell them he was hiding her in the boys dorm. “I-I’m not too sure where. I think it’s kinda far from here”.

“Probably is” Jackson says. Then Jackson stops talking because he realized he can’t tell Wyatt that ‘she likely doesn’t live in the city, because she’s a laibah’.

After a short awkward silence, Jessica speaks up and says “Good start to a school day, boys. Really adding into the awkwardness of being alive…”.

“You’re welcome” Jackson says, then Aeris rolls her eyes.

“Good morning, class” Refus says as he walks in the classroom.

“Oh, Mr. Maloney” Wyatt calls out. “Emma is sick today, so she won’t be attending this morning. I’ll take the materials to her when school is over”.

“Thanks for the heads up, Wyatt” Refus says. “I’ll have everything prepared at the end of class. Today we’re going to be talking about the effects after The Great War”.

“Ugh, not this stuff again” one of the student complain. “We learned about the war in like… middle school. Why are we talking about it in college!?”.

“Because, you’re adults” Refus says. “Soon, the economy, society itself, and the world as we know it will rest on your shoulders, so to speak. It’s important to have reminders of our past, and learn from it, so as not to repeat the mistakes we’ve already made”.

“What mistakes have humans made?” Another student scoffs.

“We’ve all made mistakes” Refus says. “This isn’t about exclusively The Great War, it’s about putting the past behind us. The effects of the war put a weight on both the human’s and laibah’s shoulders. Because both wanted to exist separately for a long time, neither were able to make very many scientific nor technological advancements. However, after the two finally began to coexist, our progression in both areas more than quintupled. Now, I know what you’re thinking… what does this have to do with you? Well, it’s all relative in a sort of sense. If generally, both sides could benefit from coexistence that quickly, then don’t you think that we as individuals would be able to learn more about the life around us as well? I realize this sounds like I’m telling everyone to have at least one laibah friend, but that’s not going to solve anything. What I mean is, if you open your mind a little bit more, and preoccupy yourself less with social standards… then don’t you think you could be better people? You don’t have to like laibah… hell, you don’t even have to talk to them. You just have to worry less. The same should go for the laibah as well, probably even more so. Many laibah spend their whole life in hiding, fearing the outer world. Don’t you think that if they came to accept humans, that they too would be able to show that they are just like you? It’s a two way street, and the laibah also need to do their part, not just the humans”.

Most of the students took their time to think about what Refus had said. “He’s not… wrong” one of the students say.

“Maybe if they weren’t so weird, they’d be pretty cool people to hang around” another student says.

At the sound of the students referring to laibah as ‘people’, Refus couldn’t help but to smile. Progress as planned.

“Do you think they mean us?” Jessica asks the others.

“They mean US” Jackson says, “as in laibah… you’re just a weirdo”.

“That’s fair” Jessica says. Jessica snickers to herself and says to Jackson “You’d be a lot cooler if you weren’t weird”.

“I will end you” Jackson says in a low voice.

“Oh come on” Jessica says with a laugh, “I’m just messing with you. You weirdos are already pretty cool in my book”.

“That sounds like a pretty stupid book” Jackson says. “Stupid, or at least a very small book”.

“It was a figure of speech, Jackass” Jessica says.

After school ends, Wyatt heads back to the dorm to check up on Emma. When he gets there, she’s sitting up on her bed. “Feeling any better yet?” Wyatt asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine” Emma says. “My sore throat is gone, my headache went down and I haven’t been sneezing or coughing lately. Just got this runny nose to deal with. I should be able to attend class tomorrow”.

“Good to hear” Wyatt says as he prepares to leave for work. “As long as you’re feeling better, that’s all that matters”.

“Hey, Wyatt?” Emma asks.

“Yeah?” Wyatt responds.

“Did…” Emma begins to say as she thinks to herself. “Ah… I guess it’s nothing. Thanks for helping me while I was sick”.

“Don’t worry about it” Wyatt says with a smile.

“Good luck at work, I guess” Emma says.

Wyatt smiles and says “Thanks”.

After that, he leaves for work and Emma was left alone in the dorm yet again. Emma sighs to herself and says “What am I supposed to do? I don’t think he saw anything, but… I can’t help but to feel bad about it… should I just tell him?”.