Most times, he would simply sleep on the beam when it wasn't in use, and the teacher let him. She found it was easier to just let the boy rest. Michael tended to get testy between first period and gym, and she didn't like to push him. There were times when he would stop off and start pulling candy or crackers from his pockets, and she would have to scold him, have him sit down in the little office just off the girl's locker room, but he went easy enough.
She wasn't sure about the boy. He was sweet, soft spoken, typically kept to himself, but she felt there was a deep anger in him. Some kind of conflict. He would often seem to have two opinions about a thing. A plain and simple thought, straight forward, and then a more diverse thought. As if he were trying to think past sudden urges. Teenage boys. The thought made her grin. She didn't have to deal with teenage boys that often, being with the girls, but she supposed it was probably what was wrong. That alone made her give into him more than she should, but she got away with it, saying to herself that it was just the best for him.
Michael rolled onto his side on the beam, a few of the girls watching him. He moved as if he were on a bed, the small surface somehow large enough for his slumber. He was small, skinny as a stick, and looked like he would tumble off any minute. And yet he managed to stay on the beam, arms extended above his head.
Ezzy had finished with her exercises, came over and thumped him on the head, effectively making him jump and wail as he soared through the air off the beam. As if he corrected himself in mid air, michael kicked his back legs out, landing crouched on feet and fingertips, staring wide eyed and flushed in fear at the now laughing spanish girl. Her arms went around her middle, doubling over in laughter as he pushed himself up, whipping his head around to look at the other occupants of the room, who were now staring.
"E-e-e-ezzyyyyy!! D-d-don't d-do that!!" he wailed, moving over to her as she held her arms out, taking him in around the shoulders, patting him on the head. He felt jittery and shakey inside, eyes flicking around to the other kids in the room as Mrs. Mathers came over, running a hand through her short greying red hair with an exasperated look on her face. Ezzy stopped, as if sensing the sudden tension in the boy, chocolate brown orbs lifting to watch the teacher come over.
"Can I see you two in my office please?" she motioned for them, turning to the rest of the class. "Heather, you are in charge for the next five minutes, until the bell rings. You know the drill. Wounds and fights come to me, otherwise, free time girls." the girls cheered, and nearly immediately a stereo in the corner flared to life, and the group of three trudged out, into the main room with confused looks from the boys following them.
Mrs. Mathers lead the two through the girl's locker room and into the windowed office, which seemed to always be overflowing with papers and pictures, trophies and misc. permission slips. She motioned to the two chairs near her small metal desk, and took her seat in the old, brown leather chair which groaned miserably under her weight. She wasn't a fairly large woman, but the chair was simply old, and looked like it belonged in a nineteen forties office building.
She allowed the two to settle slightly, going around her desk picking up random pieces of paper as if she were busy, until both eyes settled on her. Ezzy held herself in a slouch, one arm slung over the back of her chair, giving the woman bored yet curious eyes. She knew perfectly well why they were there, and a glance at Michael showed he had no idea.
The black haired asian boy was sitting straight, hands clasped tight between his knees, but there was a tension in his limbs that said he wanted to squirm, fidget, eyes a little wide. What had he done? Why did she call him in here? He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? His little show of catching himself had gone entirely unnoticed by him, seeming as thought it were the most natural thing in the world for him to have done. His mind raced, trying to pick something out, trying to find something, anything. He bit down at the corner of his lip and suddenly blurted out,
"I'm s-s-sorry! D-d-didn't mean t-t-ta b-be late, d-d-didn't.." and the fact that he thought THAT was what was wrong made the woman suddenly want to laugh. He just didn't know. Was it possible he didn't realize? It could be so. A child could translate any number of odd occurrences into normal day to day things. She motioned for him to calm down, so just sit quietly, and he did, licking out over his bottom lip in a motion she recognized as severe nervousness.
"It's alright michael. I just need to ask you something very important, alright?" she used a calm tone, piecing things together in her head as she leaned elbows on her desk, looking him in the eyes. He couldn't stand that stare, but he felt he had to keep looking, keep his eyes on her's. Ezzy shifted, and he flinched, as if expecting a blow, and both the females looked at him, twin expressions of confused and soft sadness. "It's alright, michael. You're not in trouble." the graying woman soothed, a soft smile on his face.
Ezzy sat, simply listening. she wanted to pounce, defend the boy, but she wasn't entirely sure what she was defending, and found that when things weren't being turned on her, that it was simply easier to just listen. It didn't mean she had to like it however, as a thick scowl spread over her face, a look of irritated disgust.
"Michael, I have to ask you, because it concerns me and I wouldn't be a fit teacher if I didn't ask, but..are you a lycanthrope?" she asked in as calm a tone as she could, folding her hands in her lap as she sat back. Michael's eyes went wide as he licked out over his lip again, shaking his head. "N-n-no ma'am." he stuttered out, voice a soft squeak. Ezzy rolled her eyes, and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees with her hands hanging down between her legs.
"Mrs. Mathers, have you ever seen a lycantrope?" she asked, voice a cool calm irritated tone. The woman nodded, shifting in her chair to regard the girl. She was the teacher, and she would not squirm like a child just because she was being questioned. "Of course I have. And I asked, because it is my responsibility to the children I am in care of to know just how hurt they could be. If michael ever got out of hand, what would he-" and she was cut off by a low whimper, michael's hands going to his ears. Shouting. He knew they would start shouting soon.
The two females looked at him, and he looked up, hands still clapped over his ears. "Don't fight, please, d-d-don't fight." he felt tears sting his eyes, and he sat up, a small shakiness in his limbs as he moved his hands away from his ears. Shouting in so small a space would give him such a bad headache, he would have had to go to the nurse for something, and she would give him that suspicious look again. "N-n-not a lycanthrope, b-but...Magic." he flinched, as if he expected a blow, when really he didn't want to see the angry look on her face. His mother had always told him normal people would hate him, hate what he was. He liked Mrs. Mathers, and didn't want to see a look of disgust on her face. She was just too nice to him, and he didn't think he could handle it.
There was a creak, rustle of clothing, and foot steps. Each step made him hunch his shoulders further, but they went around him. Was she circling him? Like a shark? Light dimmed against his eyelids, then a click and he looked up, light stinging his eyes again. She had pulled the shades down, and then went back to her chair. He knew why she had done it, and he was suddenly even more nervous. Was that even possible? He shook his head, confused more now than he had been before. Ezzy reached out and petted him like he were a nervous dog, fingers going through his hair. He relaxed under that touch, leaning back in his chair with a little slouch, folding his hands in his lip as Mrs. Mathers cast eyes between the two of them.
"Michael?" She spoke soft, as if he were an animal and she was afraid of spooking him. He rolled lazy eyes to her, a small grin touching the corners of his mouth. He rolled his head, giving Ezzy a better spot to pet, and she ran fingernails over his scalp, scratching at him as if he were a cat. This was a little weird for the woman, but she could push past that.
"I would like you to show me, if you could? I realize it may be embarrassing.." but michael jumped up, a look of sudden excitement and glee in his face that she never saw. Ezzy laughed, pulling her feet up into her chair to cross her legs, giving the woman a happy smile. "Magic words, Mrs. M. Mikey's got a big lust for letting his inner kitty out." She laughed at the sudden blush on michael's face at the word 'lust' and Mrs. Mather's surprised reaction to his sudden willingness and happiness.
"Go on, go on mikey. Show her. She's seen lycanthropes before, and I assume she knows what it's like when they change.." she looked at the woman with a question in her tone, and Mrs. Mathers nodded. This was what she needed. He said he was magic, and lycanthropes shifted messily. Clear fluid rushing out of their bodies as bones snapped and shifted, rearranging, growing, shrinking, knitting back together, fur pulling from the skin like water over a dry river bed, it was all very disturbing and painful looking if you weren't used to it. But afterwards, they were changed, and dry as baby powder. An amazing thin in it's own right.
Michael wriggled his fingers, obviously excited, itching for it, looking between the two other people until a nod from each made him squeal quietly under his breath, bitting at the corner of his lip with a look that made him all the more cuter, a grin touching the opposite corner of his mouth. He rolled his shoulders, popping his back and Mrs. Mather's was suddenly still, a look of resolve in her face. So he was just a lycanthrope, a child confused, and leaning on what he believed. She was about to sigh, when an odd ripple came over the boy, a liquid look as if he were behind a waterfall, and his body moved, silent and rippling, shifting, changing. He moved from human to panther as if he were going through a very intense video transition, skin moving and changing, black fur pulling itself over his skin as if the color of him were simply changing.
Husky blue eyes shifted to yellowed amber, bright as jewels as his face moved from human to feline, mouth opening in a lazy yawn to show top and bottom fangs as they grew. He moved down to all fours as the change grew thicker, clothes seemingly disappearing and blending and changing into that black furred coat. Finally he stretched, his chest going to touch down on the ground with his pawed legs stretching out in front of him, end up in the air, his thick black tail flicking with obvious pleasure back and forth. He was as big as a full adult panther, but he had the sleek and young build of a much younger male. He didn't have that heavy set of an adult, not yet.
A low purr sounded as Ezzy moved over, wrapping arms around his neck and scratching along his shoulder blades. He laid down on the floor, pressing his chin to the backs of his paws with a look of contentment in those nearly glowing eyes. Mrs. Mathers leaned over, peeking around the side of her desk to look. He was magic. He wasn't a lycanthrope. It made her smile. It made much more sense to her now, all the odd little quirks, his unusual way of moving, even the fact that he got touchy between breakfast and lunch. She knew lycanthropes needed to feed regularly, and they had a higher body temperature than normal people, especially closer to the full moon. His unwillingness to have his temperature taken probably meant that he was always hotter than normal.
"Can he...well, I mean does he understand us?" she knew lycanthropes did when in animal form, but this was something new to her. Michael sat up, moving to nod his head in a smooth motion, eyes fixed on the woman. There was animal in those eyes, but there was also deep intelligence. That shine of human understanding. It made her smile, sitting back in her chair. "You can...err...get up now." she said, as if she wasn't quite sure how to word it. She wondered if he would refuse. She knew that lycanthropes at least couldn't change back for the first eight hours after shifting, because they would end up passing out to sleep, and then couldn't be woken up.
Michael started that liquid looking transition back into human, clothes and things coming back into view, as if the colors had simply changed and blended, then came back. He pushed paws up off the floor, shifting much faster than before, not concerned with letting her see how it worked. He ended, keeping his eyes that amber color, hands going to his hips. He looked proud, and pleased, a smirk on his face at the awed expression from his teacher. Ezzy laughed, a loud pleased sound as she stood, arms going around Michael in a fashion that seemed only fitting for people dating, a clear adoration about her person.
"That's just...well, I think I have had my questions answered. There will be...aahh...Some changes in the way we conduct your class time." she said, steepling her fingers as if in deep thought, eyes a little unfocused as she looked at the boy.
Michael's face fell. He hadn't thought about what it would mean, showing her. He didn't want to be kicked out of school. Suddenly he was fidgeting, running hands down along the hem of his shirt, tugging at it as he licked out over his bottom lip. Ezzy squeezed him tight, grabbing his hands. "Don't do that, Mikey. Just listen to her." she whispered, making him strain to hear her over the rushing thoughts in his head. Neither he nor Ezzy felt romantically inclined toward each other, but the way they acted together...it was almost like two animals. Close touching, no real respect for personal space. They could probably have been completely comfortable cuddling up in a naked pile like kittens, just sleeping.
Mrs. Mathers gave michael an indulging smile, motioning for the two to sit down again. "It's alright, Michael. We aren't going to do anything drastic. I just think there are some things that may help you. For instance, you will get to bring your little bag of snacks to class. Though, I feel I will need to speak to your mother again." Michael had been smiling for a while, but the thought of anyone speaking to his mother about him made him feel sick and squirmy. The woman didn't really like what he was, and tried to keep as distant from it as possible.
"C-c-couldn't...couldn't ya j-just t-talk ta m-my P-p-pops..?" he asked in a high and obviously uncomfortable tone. His grandfather was training him in trying to conquer and learn his different shifts, and he would be better suited for the task. Michael wasn't a typical shifter, as he could gain more and more forms. But each came as a set. A sort of universal balance thing that he hadn't been bothered trying to understand. He had first earned his animal traits when he was eight, his emotions and thoughts suddenly pouring over with alien notions, urges, odd ways of thinking. He couldn't remember it, but he had been pushed into a corner, hissing and spitting at everyone who came by, his mother threatening to simply throw him outside and let him see how well he lived out there.
His grandfather had come through, rushing into the room smelling of something that made michael's head spin, made him dizzy and gave him a headache, waving a stick of old incense at him. The man was excited, frightened, and happy all rolled into one, and it had confused Michael even more. Then there was that low speaking, an odd rolling tone that made him just...calm. He sat, leaning into the corner and his grandfather had scooped him up into his arms, kissed him on the head then stolen away with him for the summer, taken him up to a house in the woods, and helped him control himself. Helped him learn to change. He hadn't had so many animal urges once he could change.
Michael always felt more free when he was in animal form, whether it was panther or wolf. He had felt several times while learning that he would simply turn himself inside out. Which was one thing that could have happened, he was told. But it was like pulling a blanket around yourself, sitting in front of a fire in the middle of the night. Comfortable, content.
Of course, until something happened to make him nervous, frightened, or angry. Then those animal urges stole over him, and he acted like what he was; An animal. Michael wasn't bothered by it though. He wasn't human. He was an animal that sometimes got to walk and talk. It simply was. What did bother him though was when he was called a monster. A freak. He was no such thing, and he hated it. Especially since these so tender endearments came mostly from his mother and father. They weren't very receptive, as far as such things went. They would have probably asked a vet if he could be put down, if he had been a lycanthrope instead.
Mrs. Mathers cleared her throat, shaking her head a bit. "I suppose we can talk to them both, but your grandfather doesn't have custody over you, and it has to be your mother's choice." she picked up on his heavy nervousness on the matter, and gathered that she probably didn't like the fact that her son had such a gift. She had never heard of anything quite like him, but he was a truly special child. She would still have to treat him just like the other students, apart from the allowance of occasional food. But that was a necessity, if it would keep him from acting out.
Michael still looked like he wanted to squirm and protest, but he kept it to himself as it would be lunch time now, and he was so terribly hungry he didn't think he could stand it. "C-c-can...I mean, can w-we go now..?" he shifted from foot to foot, and with a nod from Mrs. Mathers he pulled Ezzy toward the door like a happy dog on a leash, wanting to hurry through the locker rooms and off to the cafeteria.
"You know, you're like...Schizophrenic or something. Bipolar." Ezzy grinned, knowing it would irritate him. Michael pushed her, moving out of the doorway to the girl's locker room to head off to the boy's. He didn't really hate the idea. He supposed since he was always thinking two sets of thoughts; which was always growing more and more toward just one set; that he did seem bipolar, or schizophrenic. He had to admit, it always confused him too.
A quick peek into the boy's locker room showed that everyone had already filtered through there. He went in, only to find a large red 'Fag' written on his locker, and rolled his eyes. He could be as calm and normal as he wanted by himself. "Gods...can't think of a better word?" he murmured to himself, poking at the letters. "Mmm..lipstick. How original." he wiped his hand across his shorts, flinging his locker open and taking his clothes out.
A quick shower and change into his long sleeved red shirt, and black t-shirt over that, his three belts; Red, green, and black, only one of them actually holding his pants on his skinny hips. Baggy dark green pants and his red sneakers with the green laces, and he was ready for lunch. He could already smell the lovely mounds of mystery meat cooking. Oh mystery meat, how I adore you. He snickered to himself, pushing out the door in the back of the locker room, to the outside world. The actual sunlight stung his eyes, going from that dim false light. Ezzy pushed away from the wall beside the girl's door, and followed him, hands in her pockets.
"You know, you're a complete and utter ball of useless mess when you let people get to you. Hell, even Mrs. Mathers bothered you." she rolled her eyes at the sudden blush on his cheeks, his wet hair refusing to push itself forward and hide his face. She reached over and pushed him in the shoulder, and he immediately turned and pushed her back. A small tussle ensued, and left both breathless and laughing.
"I might blush easy, but you're like the sex fiend I never wanted ta have. Seriously. Polar opposites." this comment earned him a swift punch in the side, and he staggered, holding himself. "Ooohh...how you wound me.." he murmured, groaning. There was that feeling again, and he wondered at it. How in hell could pain feel good? It had never occurred to him before, but he supposed it was just as well. If people were going to beat on him, he might as well enjoy it, right?
"You are such a little shit, Mikey." Ezzy laughed, putting hands on hips as she waited for him to stand up and start walking again. The cafeteria was right there, right next to the gym with just a small separation of ground between the buildings. They were always hitting each other, pushing. People called Ezzy a tomboy, but she was just so damned pretty it didn't really matter. Black ankle boots, tight black jeans, grey baggy t-shirt, and usually a jacket, but it was too hot for a full jacket. Not sweat hot, but it did tend to stay pretty hot in Saint Luis. Her hair was pulled back in a high pony tail, and she didn't wear a stitch of makeup. There were a great grouping of spiked and studded wrist bands on both wrists, varying colors.
"Yeah yeah, little shit. And you're a biiiiiig slut." he said, with a teasing tone, grinning. She moved forward, grabbed the front of his shirt and drug him forward. "Yeah, and don't it just make you want to go hetero?" she smiled at the urping noises michael made, shoving a finger down his throat.
Michael didn't think there as a force in this world or the next that would ever bring him to enjoy girls. Girls were just...icky. He started walking on his own, pushing her hand off his shirt to move on his own toward the front doors of the cafeteria. "Nope. And no amount of excellent petting is going to change that." he put hands on his hips, sticking his tongue out at her at the pouty look on her face.
Ezzy was great, but he just didn't like her that way.