As she watched the ghost leave the room, Jess absentmindedly stroked Cheez-It's back, to which he responded with a purr. Then, she stopped, much to the dismay of the familiar. At least I made one friend. I know from Arnold that school starts tomorrow. Aw crap! I forgot my schedule from Mrs. Renae! I can be such a dunce sometimes....

Gently placing the practically unread book back in its place, Jess picked up Cheez-It like a baby, to which he squirmed, and hurried back down to the office.

She set the cat down once she neared the office, but there was a demon girl with wings waiting in front of it. She had light skin, but patches of lighter skin were scattered over her shoulders. Vitiligo? She had long, wavy brown hair that fell down to the start of her ripped jeans. When she turned around, Jess could get a better view of her. Her eyes were red, all six of them, and had a pair of glasses to match. Her black horns had a slight curve to them as they pointed to the sky. She wore cross earrings and her presumed vitiligo covered patches of her face. She also had a golden cross necklace that sat on a sheer top attached to a tank top. The jacket she had was rainbow-colored with pastel flowers on it. It sat in the crook of her elbows.

The demon's eyes narrowed at the sight of Jess.

"Who are you?" She nearly spat, clearly upset. Jess tried not to match her energy.

"I'm Jess, a new student. And you?" Jess tried to calm the situation down a bit by being friendly.

"Like you get to know." Jess tried not to laugh out of nervousness.

"Okay? Um. I respect that-"

"You better respect me. What is a human doing here?" She angrily turned to Mrs. Renae who smiled kindly while gesturing to Jess.

"She is our newest student of course! She's plenty nice," Mrs. Renae tried to sooth the demon, who only shook her head.

"As if I would associate with a pest." The demon rolled her eyes.

"Now Miss Brenarian, you will treat Miss Brown with respect. She is just as important as you are as a student of this school. Now run along. You have your dorm to settle into." Mrs. Renae took a more stern tone. With one final glare, the demon girl marched up the stairs. You'd think she'd fly. Her wings did look rather small though... "How can I help you, Miss Brown?" Her tone softened once all three of her eyes laid upon Jess. Jess gave her best hopefully-not-quirky looking smile and ran a hand through her hair.

"Oh, uh, I was just wondering if I forgot my school schedule here or not," Jess awkwardly admitted. Mrs. Renae's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh yes! I must apologize, I forgot to give it to you when we first met. Now yours is different. You have to go to every teacher unlike the other students, but you'll be taking classes that are purely skill based, unlike the others which are about how to live as that species. Make sense?"

"So I basically have a normal schedule, but I just flop between teachers for classes that fit my needs?"

Mrs. Renae smiled.

"Well aren't you rather bright? Yes, you explained it better than I did." She handed Jess a piece of folded up paper. Cheez-It hopped on the counter as if he wanted to read it, too. With a smile at her cat, Jess unfolded the paper and read it:

"6:00 AM - 8:00AM : Breakfast in the Great Hall

8:05 AM - 9:05 AM : Angel Skills with Professor Jamie Pittman in the Angel Tower

9:10 AM - 10:10 AM : Ghost Skills with Professor Eddie Heidman in the Ghost Village

10:15 AM - 11:15 AM : Fairy Skills with Professor Merida Strong in the Fairy Forest

11:20 AM - 12:20 PM : Lunch in the Great Hall

12:25 PM - 01:25 PM : Siren Skills with Professor Rose Anaklyn in the Siren Lake

01:30 PM - 02:10 PM : Free Time

02:15 PM - 03:15 PM : Demon Skills with Professor Reficul Lykman in the Demon Dungeons

03:15 PM - 05:30 PM : Study/Free Time

05:30 - 07:30 PM : Dinner in the Great Hall

07:30 - 09:30 PM : Study/Free Time

10:00 PM : Curfew*

*Those not in their dorm rooms by the curfew time and are caught will face consequences set by that administrator or professor."

Jess inwardly groaned, and Cheez, probably sensing her discomfort, licked the back of her hand. Not only will I have to get up early in the morning, but I have his class to look forward to at the end of every day. Though, I must say the free time I was given after being in the lake to dry off was nice...

"Thank you for giving me time to dry off after the Siren class," Jess smiled at Mrs. Renae, to which she winked at her in response.

"Well. I didn't know if you had a siren form for not. Do you have a swimsuit?" Mrs. Renae inquired and Jess' eyes widened. She laughed. "Well, that's alright. I might have an old one you can borrow... one second please." Mrs. Renae walked away for a second. Jess looked around a bit.

There were passing students looking at her wide-eyed. She tried to pay no mind, as she was when she was talking to Mrs. Renae or reading her schedule. Unfortunately, it seems as though she'd be a hot topic for a while. She heard their whispers, but decided it would be best not to listen in. She wasn't taking too kindly to being called fresh prey...or meat or whatever they meant.

Mrs. Renae came back with a small box and opened it on the counter, pushing Cheez-It off.

"Oop! Sorry little fella...," she apologized.

"His name is Cheez-It," Jess explained. "My familiar."

"I see." Mrs. Renae nodded. "And why can't I scratch behind those cute ears again?" Jess smiled awkwardly, and made sure no one was too close. She didn't need these students knowing her weakness.

"Well," Jess leaned in and whispered. "The, uh, sensations Cheez-It feels when other people touch him amplify themselves on me. So let's say he likes being pet just a bit too much..." Jess trailed off and Mrs. Renae's eyes widened in understanding.

"So I take it you don't want other kids knowing about this?"

"Well, seeing that interaction I just had with that demon girl and the things I've heard from passersby, not necessarily." Jess gave a weak smile.

"Still, I'm sure you'll make at least a few friends, and if you don't, you'll always have me." Mrs. Renae placed a firm but gentle hand over Jess' with an accompanying smile.

"Thank you, Mrs. Renae."

"Now, let me show you the things I had in mind." Mrs. Renae opened up the box to show off a beautiful two-piece swimsuit. It was a nice red color that would pair nicely with Jess' brown hair and blue/green eyes. It wrapped around her stomach and tied off in the back.

"Wow..." Jess breathed and held it up to see the top better. "It's so pretty! Are you sure it'll fit?"

"Well, no, but surely you have something you can do to adjust it, right?" Jess nodded, looking at the ties and adjusters. Jess noticed more things in the box.

"What else is in there?" Mrs. Renae's smile widened.

"Well," She winked. "Principal Willow and I put together a new school uniform for you!" Jess gently pulled out a sweater, and long-sleeve shirt that looked like Bri's, except under the school logo was a little wand. Jess couldn't help but smile. The tops are tan, whereas the ghost's uniform is black..

"What are the colors of the other uniforms?"

"Well, as you can imagine, the demons' uniform is red, angels' are white, fairies' are green, sirens' are a light blue, and the ghosts' are black. We made yours tan, I hope you don't mind. We were afraid it would come off as something bad." Jess continued to pull out the bottoms. There were skirts and pants in nude colors, so white, black, brown, and tan. She was thankful for the small choice in colors, but she didn't like the tan on tan combo.

"Oh no worries! It doesn't to me, and I love it. Thank you." Jess held out her hand to shake, and Mrs. Renae looked at it confused. "Oh, it's a human thing. You shake it when you greet each other, thank each other, or agree on something." Mrs. Renae gently took her hand and laughed slightly when Jess shook it.

"It seems I have a lot to learn from you, Miss Brown. Now why don't you take this to your room and continue to explore?"

With a node and a final thank you, Jess took out her wand and levitated the box, as it was uncomfortable to hold, and headed up to her dorm. Once inside, she set it down and let Cheez-It sniff around. Surely I don't have to switch into these now. I quite prefer my flannel jacket. I should locate the laundry room. She put her wand back into her pocket and started unpacking. Out of her bags, she found her messenger bag. It was perfect for her future textbooks if they don't use technology. She kind of found that to be a nice change. Ever since she came out as omnisexual, she got a lot of hate online. Maybe this will be good for her mental health. She packed things like her wallet, tools, sanitary bag, journal, pens, and fidget toys... just in case she or someone else gets too anxious.

The bag itself was black with brown accents. It had a lock on it keeping it shut, but it wasn't anything Jess couldn't get by... especially considering it was her bag. She put the bag on, the strap crossing her body to the other shoulder.

"Cheez-It?" She called, and he came scampering over with a squeaky meow. Jess just had to laugh. He was so cute. He seemed to have done some sniffing around and found a nice, cozy spot to sleep in later. It seemed to be the corner between the bed and the wall. She looked down at him. "Are you ready to keep exploring?" She felt the energy from the tools in her bag. There was a lot of magic in this place. She could feel it. He squeaked once more and she placed the leash back on him. He swatted at it, but she just rolled her eyes. "Cheez-It, you know we can't have anyone touching you. That would put both of us in danger." With a huff, Cheez stopped.

Jess stood up and peaked out of her dorm room, making sure she had her key, she stepped outside. Immediately, she was the topic of conversation from the peeking eyes of the hallway.

"What's a human doing here?"

"I hope she's a demon or something..."

"She better not try talking to us."

"Who would let a pest into our school? Isn't this our safe haven?"

Jess kept her head up, but her cheeks were red from embarrassment. Cheez-It brushed against her leg, sensing her discomfort, and Jess felt better about it. She blocked out the whispers as she explored the floors of the dorms. It seemed that one side was for girls and the other side was for boys, but they were not separated by species. Finally, on the first floor, she found the laundry room. It made sense in retrospect. Taking note of it, she walked around and headed her way outside. She could take time later to explore the rest of the main building.

As she passed by Mrs. Renae, she waved with a smile and received the same in return. She stepped outside and felt the sun on her skin. There would only be a few weeks left until fall, and she was so excited... maybe for not how cold the lake could be, but excited nonetheless. She gazed at the demons, fairies, and angels soaring through the sky and wondered how it would be to fly. Can I do that with magic? Would it even be smart to try? I should probably try that indoors. Wouldn't want to float off into the sky forever. What would Cheez-It do? What would happen to him?

"Jealous, pest?" Jess heard a familiar demon behind you. The girl. She turned around and smiled, focusing on trying not to make enemies.

"I guess I find it more interesting than jealousy, but yeah, a little," Jess laughed at herself. The girl smirked.

"As you should be. Humans aren't anything more than large apes."

"I mean, yeah?" Jess shrugged. "Although I have thought about trying with magic, I think I would float off and never return." She laughed again, but the demon's eyes widened ever so slightly.

"You're a witch?" She glared at Jess, studying her.

"Well, yeah, that's why I'm here." Jess ran a hand through her hair. "Can I get your name?"

"No." The demon looked away.

"Are you sure? I think we'll have class together-"

"What?" Her eyes snapped to Jess, staring her down, but looking confused.

"Yeah, per Principal Willow. It's not like they have a witch class here." Jess joked through her half-lie. I probably shouldn't tell her about my abilities just yet. I don't need to be anymore of a target.

"Of course they wouldn't. Witches haven't existed for thousands of years, and if they did, they would be a threat to this place." She really emphasized the "th" sound in threat.

"Do I look like a threat to you?" Jess laughed, feeling weary of the demon's answer. She still felt like a monster.

"No. You look like a weakling and a waste of space at this school." Jess felt offended.

"Clearly I'm supposed to be here if Principal Will-"

"No, you're a waste of magic."

"That hurt, y'know? I've worked a long time to get to where-"

"I don't care! If anything, you're probably a waste of a witch to even humans, a waste of a human, really." Jess was having a hard time not snapping back or even crying. She knew this one girl had nothing to say about her value, but hearing those words again hurt... really hurt. She had to go. Jess started walking off with Cheez-It, but the girl had more to say. "You're obviously not very special seeing as you can't even talk to me." Jess spun around.

"I was trying to have a decent conversation with you! You're the one not trying to be a good being!"

"Why would I be nice to someone beneath me?" Jess had enough.

"You would know a lot about being beneath someone, seeing as your wings are useless." The girl stopped, wide-eyed and pink rising to her cheeks. "Yeah, I noticed. Get off my back. I don't need your or any of your other whatever trying to make me feel inferior as a human. Buzz off." Jess turned around to start walking off, but then, Jess heard Cheez-It hiss and a curse from the girl.

She spun around to find a scratch mark on the girl's hand, Jess' eyes involuntarily wide-eyed.

"Yeah, I noticed that little defect of yours. I overheard you and the stupid office lady. If you think you can outsmart me, you're wrong." The girl stood up to leave, turning around. "Oh?" She looked back at the wide-eyed, glaring Jess. "The name's Ana. You'll be hearing it a lot this year."

With a smirk, she left. Jess knew better than to start a fight, but she couldn't help it. Ana just managed to push some buttons that Jess forgot were there. Alright you bitch, you want to be that way? I'll be your worst nightmare. Fuck you. Jess smirked as she thought of the surprise on her face during Demon Skills tomorrow when Jess got to show off.

"Come on, Cheez, let's go cool off for a bit at the lake," Jess spoke to her terrified cat. She gently picked him up and rested her face on his stomach, calming him down.

Together, they walked off towards the lake.