Ceci sat in her bed, her bandaged foot extended in front of her. She stared at it with remorse and sighed. "I'm so sorry, Esther-chan. Liv-chan wouldn't be in this situation if I wasn't so careless."

Esther was in her own bunk, messing around on her phone. "Accidents happen. Besides, I think those shelves were just unstable. They almost crushed Jo-chan once."

The cheetah still looked uncertain. She looked over at Lin. "Oh. Could you call Fen-senpai for me? I need to thank him and I don't have his number."

The panther nodded and handed the phone off to Ceci. "Hey, Fen-senpai. It's me. I just wanted to thank you for carrying me to the nurse's office."

Hikari looked over at Esther. "Would it be possible for a non-club member to join and take her place at the last second?"

The tiger shook her head. "There's not enough time left to memorize the lines. The only reason Olivia is an option is because she was around to hear some of the lines from Ceci-chan. So they're hoping she remembers some of them that way."

Mila grimaced. "Yikes. Thatdesperate, huh?"

Ceci smiled as she hung up the phone. "Your brother is a sweet guy, Lin-chan."

Lin chuckled and took back the phone. "Yeah. I guesshe's cool."

Esther looked at old text messages between herself and Lee. "Hey, has anyone here ever had an encounter with Meredith?"

Lin's fur bristled as she started reflexively hissing upon hearing her name. "Oh, yeah. I know who that is realwell."

Mila looked sad. "I've met her before too. She's really scary and mean."

Lin scoffed. "She goes beyond just being 'mean.' She's superhomophobic. She absolutely hatesgay people. She disowned her son."

Ceci gasped. "Th-that's horrible."

Esther looked over towards Lin. "Well, apparently she's super transphobic too. Lee says she's been out to get Jo-chan fired for being trans."

Ceci looked surprised. "Wait. Jo-chan is trans?"

Esther nodded. "She's a male to female trans woman. I didn't know about it until Lee-kun told me. Apparently, it's not a secret. It's on her social media, she just doesn't talk about it."

Ceci looked at Esther curiously. "Sorry if this is too personal, and I mean no offense. But have you ever wondered if you're actually a trans man? You don't really act like a girl at all."

The white tiger shrugged. "Nah. I don't have to be a guy to act like one. It's just how my folks raised me. I don't really care about my gender. Just 'cause I got a pair of tits and a vagina doesn't mean I can't beat the living shit out of people and crush beer cans with my forehead."

Mila winced. "I don't think crushing beer cans with your forehead is a good idea either way."

Hikari raised an eyebrow. "Beating people up isn't a good idea either."

Esther looked contemplative. "I wonder if there's anything 'girly' that I'd like doing."

Hikari tapped her chin. "What about trying on makeup?"

Esther cringed. "Nah, I'd look like a clown. Besides, I don't know how the hell you guys can put up with having to put new makeup on every friggin' day. Mom takes forever."

Ceci snapped her fingers. "Do you like romance movies?"

The white tiger gagged. "Nah."

Mila looked curious. "You listen to pop music?"

Esther recoiled in disgust. "Oh, godno! I hate that shit!"

Ceci crossed her arms and had a contemplative look. "You have a boy's uniform so I'm guessing you don't like dresses either."

Hikari tilted her head. "What about nail polish?"

The tiger grimaced. "I don't like the idea of having to wait for them to dry off."

Ceci scrolled through a list of "girly things" on her phone's browser. "Do you like jewelry?"

Esther snorted. "You think I got money to waste on that shit?"

Mila scratched her neck. "Do you have a purse?"

The tiger sighed. "I don't carry around more shit than I can fit in my pockets."

Hikari had a look on her face that indicated something came to her. "What about just lipstick? That doesn't take very long to put on. And if you pick a more subtle color you won't have to worry about 'looking like a clown.'"

Esther tilted her head for a second before looking at Hikari. "I guess I could try that."

The gold furred lion stood up and walked over to the closet, rummaged through a bag, and came to Esther with a tube of lipstick.

The tiger took it, twisted the bottom, and slowly dragged the stick along her lips.

She handed it back to Hikari, who grabbed her hand mirror and showed the white tiger her own reflection.

Esther stared silently at her reflection for a while as the girls looked at her expectantly.

Mila cleared her throat. "So what do you think?"

The tiger shrugged. "Meh."

Hikari raised an eyebrow. "Meh?"

Esther shrugged again. "I'm kinda neutral to it, I guess? Although, I do have a really strong urge to just lick it off."

Hikari sighed. "I give up."

Lin chuckled. "Esther doesn't need to be girly to be a girl. We don't need some femininity purity test here."

Mila tapped her foot. "How do you feel about bugs and spiders?"

The white tiger's grimaced. "Guh! I hate 'em! They freak me out!"

Ceci shrugged. "I guessthat's kinda girly."

Lin scoffed. "Fen is scared of bugs too. That's not really a girl thing."

Esther stretched and yawned. "Whatever. Goin' to sleep now."

The girls all bid the tiger good night.

An hour or so later, Esther's subconscious caused her to lick the lipstick off of her lips while she was still sleeping.

The night of the play was upon them. Lee got into costume, along with everyone else.

Olivia was dressed in stereotypical witch's clothing and wearing an ugly, green mask. She was taking deep breaths while Esther patted her on the back.

She mumbled to herself. "I can do it. I can do it."

The play began and it was Olivia's cue to go on stage. She started walking, but suddenly froze behind the curtain. She trembled, unable to move her body. "I… I can do this."

She took a deep breath and took a step forward. Just one little step at a time. Esther and Lee watched with great concern.

Olivia gulped as she slowly shuffled along the ground. "I-I…" She fell to her knees. "I can't do it. I-I can't… I'm so sorry."

Lee and Esther looked at her with sympathy.

Jolene sighed. "Don't worry about it, Olivia-chan. We can cancel it. We'll figure something out."

"I don't think you need to worry about that."

The three turned around when they heard a strange voice and gasped.

There was an adult Dall sheep dressed in similar witch's clothing that seemed to have been purchased from a Halloween store. Everyone immediately recognized him.

"P-P-Pina?!"

The Dall sheep smirked. "Sebastian and Viola called me. They asked me to clear my schedule in-case your canine friend couldn't handle the job. I flew right here by jet and read the script along the way."

Jolene looked uncertain. "But you're not a Drama Club member anymore. Or a student for that matter."

Pina scoffed. "As if the school would even tryto object. You should be happy I'm not charging you. I'm only doing this for my perfect little angels." He smiled and sighed as he looked at the stage. "Now thisis making me feel nostalgic."

The Dall sheep held his hand out to Olivia. She sighed, defeated, and removed her mask, handing it off to him.

Pina put the mask on. "Showtime." The sheep walked on stage, leaving the canine kneeling there, looking deeply ashamed.

After the play, the doors out of the auditorium burst open and Olivia stormed out.

Esther followed her. "Liv! Wait!"

The lab sobbed. "I-I-I'm a selfish scumbag! I was ready to let that play fall apart and let everyone's hard work mean nothing, just because I was too scared!"

The tiger looked very concerned. "It's not your fault, Liv! You can't help it!"

Olivia shook her head vigorously. "A famous actor had to clear his entire schedule just because I was a coward! I can't believe I even tried! I let people put their trust in me and I blew it!"

Esther ran up and grabbed her girlfriend from behind, hugging her tightly. "This isn't your fault! You and I both knew you weren't ready! Just stick around the club and you'll get over it!"

The lab sniffled. "But… but…"

The tiger looked at her sympathetically. "There are things about us that take time to change. Stop blaming yourself just because you couldn't immediately handle somethin' you're not great at."

Olivia sighed. "At least the play didn't have to be canceled."

The tiger released her girlfriend and smiled. "There ya go! Just look at the glass half full!"

The lab chuckled as she wiped her tears away. "Esther, I-"

There was a loud cracking noise coming from the woods.

Olivia turned towards the trees with a curious expression.

Esther pulled the lab into another hug, kissed her on the lips, and picked her up, resting her own head on her girl's right shoulder. She whispered in the dog's ear. "I think somebody has been watching me from the woods for a while."

Olivia gulped nervously before whispering back. "What should we do?"

"We need to catch them. Do notlet them know we know. They might not come back."

The lab nodded and Esther put her down.

The tiger patted Olivia on the head. "Let's get you back to the canine dorms."

The next day of the play, Pina was in the cafeteria, giving out autographs. His children sat at the same table as him, talking to other students that came to meet the celebrity.

It was the end of Trevor's suspension. So Lee decided to look for the bear before club started.

After class, Lee made his way to Tem's memorial. Trevor was praying and looking more melancholy than usual.

The chimera approached. "Hey, Trevor-senpai."

The bear nodded sadly. "Hi, Lee-kun."

Lee gave him a concerned look. "How's your mom?"

Trevor sighed. "The bullet hit her spine. The doctors don't know if she's going to make it."

The chimera flinched. "I-I'm sorry to hear that… Do you know who shot her?"

The bear shook his head and slowly stood up. "The police think it was a robber. That's all they know."

"Well… I hope your mom gets better."

Trevor sniffled. "I don't know if-" The bear stopped when he turned to face Lee with a shocked look on his face.

The chimera was confused. Why was he looking at him like that?

Then, Trevor started to growl loudly and adopt a hateful expression, baring his fangs. "You…"

A deep voice came from behind Lee. "Been a long time, Trevor."

The chimera turned around. There was a brown bear in a black jacket and a white T-shirt standing not too far from them. He was tall and lean. His eyes were beady and black to the point where they almost looked reflective. He appeared to be about the same age as the chimera's father.

Lee squinted at the bear. His face looked familiar. In fact, he looked a lot like an older version of Trevor.

A realization hit Lee like a hammer. His eyes widened, his fur stood on end, and a chill went up his spine. "Wait… you're…"

Trevor snarled. "Papa."