A classroom. White walls, wooden floors, chairs and tables in organized rows; the usual works. I sat right smack in the middle of the room. There were people in the classroom. Classmates, as they’re known. They came in different colours, types, races, species; some even having combinations I’ve never seen before. It wasn’t a big crowd; faces began to grow familiar quickly. I watched them as they conversed with either one another or in groups or pairs. Some preferred to keep to themselves, opting for comfortable solitude. Every once in a while, I’ll catch a foreign gaze pointed my way. I was sure they were glancing at me, but I was also told to have an incurable tumour that was my ego.

I leaned against my chair, throwing one arm over the backrest as I left the other resting on the table. I took in the ambience, hearing the different voices fill the cavity between my head.

“I’ve never seen you before,” a voice that was equal times soft as it was nasal came from behind me, louder than anything else.

I turned to my back, and there she was; the woman.

Though at that point, she was still a girl; the girl, if you will.

Her features were still constant. A subtle, athletic figure with curves in all the right places, short blonde hair, tanned, brown skin and freckles abound. It was a body that still had room to develop; a fruit on the verge of being ripe for the picking.

Admittedly, thinking about her in hindsight under such context seemed like a creepy thing to do, but I too was a boy of her age then, and I couldn’t help but tap into those adolescent sentiments as reference.

“Likewise,” I watched the girl walk around to the empty desk in front of me, pull out its chair and sit backwards on it, facing me.

She was dressed in a regular school uniform; a white shirt and a short skirt. She wore a plain, black hair clip that brushed her hair to the side and a beige sweater-vest to compliment her outfit. With the way she sat, her skirt rode up her thighs where her laps and everything above nearly peeped from the hems.

I was too tall to see anything substantial. It was one of the few times I’ve cursed my otherwise fortunate genetics.

The girl pulled her chair closer to me and planted her elbow on the opposite of my desk, resting her chin on her palm, “What’s your name?”

“Guy Smith,” I answered.

“You’re kidding,” she replied.

“What’s wrong with ‘Guy Smith’?”

“No loving parents would name their kid ‘Guy Smith’ and let him out into the world.”

I shrugged, “Hard to argue with that.”

“Right, so tell me the truth.”

“My parents aren’t the kind people would consider loving.”

The girl sighed, “You’re no fun.”

I turned the tables, “What’s your name?”

“Sin,” she answered.

“Sin?”

She grinned, “Yes.”

“You got a last name?”

“No last name.”

“Why?”

“My parents didn’t love me.”

It was my turn to sigh, “You don’t believe me?”

“Not for a second,” Sin shook her head.

“Fine,” I gave in, “My name isn’t Guy Smith.”

“I knew it,” she snapped her fingers.

“It’s Guy,” I answered, “No Smith. Just Guy.”

Her expression turned into that of a sulk. It was the first time I thought of her as adorable. Her freckles were pushed up against her cheeks where they mushed against her nose. Her lips pouted, tempting me to reach out and brush my hands against its glossy surface.

“So what’s your parents’ name, ‘Guy’?” Sin asked, putting a great accent in my name.

I asked back, “My parents?”

She nodded.

“You sure?”

She nodded again.

“Sergeant and Lieutenant.”

Sin’s expression switched again, this time riding the line between incredulity and frustration. I didn’t need a sneaking suspicion to tell me what her thoughts were at the moment.

She went along with it, “Who’s the mom and who’s the pops?”

“Father’s Sergeant. Mother’s Lieutenant.”

Sin gave me a lingering gaze that lasted for some time. I left her undisturbed and took the time to peruse her face. I was a guy at the peak of his adolescence, and she ticked many boxes of mine. I placed most of my focus on her eyes. I’ve never seen pupils like hers. They were like black halos upon a white canvas, with the details bordering in the minimal. Yet, they were sharp, with a degree of mystique that shrouded the thoughts behind her eyes that infatuated me the longer I stared into it.

After a minute, she asked, “What kind of place did you come from?”

“A bad one.”

“How bad?”

“Bad enough that you didn’t get a last name.”

“I didn’t get a last name either,” Sin pointed to herself.

“At least you knew your parents’ real name.”

She fell quiet after that, switching her gaze from me to the table surface, her eyelids falling halfway down her eyes.

I swallowed a bitter gulp, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” her eyes stayed on the table for a while, “You didn’t know.”

A moment of silence sat in between us two. It was awkward and unpleasant, but anything else would be inappropriate. I let Sin take the reins of the situation, pushing the pace of the conversation to her control.

She recovered soon, turning towards me again with the zeal she brought with her before, “At least you ain’t living in some boring backwater farm town.”

“I quite like boring,” I replied, “I never knew boring would look this cute.”

Her eyes opened with surprise, her eyelashes bouncing with her shock, “Well, ain’t you a flirt?”

“I was told to have a loudmouth.”

“A mouth, you have,” Sin stood up, drawing her face close to mine, “But can you back it up?”

“Cute cheeks, round jaw, deep eyes; what’s not to like?”

Sin kept a straight face throughout, “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“I can watch your freckles all day like stars.”

Jackpot. There was a slight glint in her eyes as I told her that. Truth be told, I wasn’t lying. As I said, they were nothing short of a multiplier, like a spoiler to a sports car, or a scope to a rifle. The freckles were an extra flair to her face that you couldn’t pay me to remove.

Sin retreated to her chair, “You’re either corny, desperate, a weirdo, or all three.”

“You just haven’t seen much,” I shot back.

She raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean by that?”

“As per your words,” I shrugged, “Boring town, boring folks.”

I could tell from her expression that I’ve flipped a switch in Sin. Whether the aforementioned switch should be flipped or not was moot. I’ve played with fire, and there was no going back. The only choice I have now was to stomp the flames out.

But the embers were too beautiful to extinguish.

“Okay then, Mister Worldwide, tell me about that ‘bad place’,” she threw quotation marks with her fingers.

“It’s bad.”

“Can’t be so bad that they make people like you.”

I was caught off guard by that. I could feel the table before me being turned in spirit. I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

“Alright, let’s trade,” I crossed my arms and kicked back my chair, “You tell me about this backwater farm town, and I’ll tell you about the shithole I live in.”

Sin didn’t need much time to mull over that decision, “How do I start?”

“Small,” I pointed towards the classroom’s ceiling, “Tell me about the class.”

“What you see is what you get,” she began, “Everyone knows everyone in here. Hell, there’s only two classes for each year. Sometimes, when it’s flu season, most of us wouldn’t show up, and they’ll just combine the classes for convenience’s sake.

“Every once in a while, we’ll get some lucky bastard who catches a big break and gets to leave. But to have the opposite?”

She paused for a second.

“I’ve seen bluer moons than strangers in this town,” she asked, “Who are you, Guy?”

“I’m not done yet,” I threw a thumb to my back, “Tell me about the people.”

Sin sighed and sat up from her chair, scanning the class for a moment. A few seconds later she pointed towards the side of the class. I followed her finger, meeting a rather large, bald orc with a long face and a heavy underbite. He had a giant stature with long arms and bow legs. Even then, his crown nearly touched the ceiling. His fangs were filed smoother than a bowl and dressed as if he ironed his uniform to his body. He even had the collar buttoned.

“Mank,” she said, “Top scorer, both class and year. Rare case where an orc’s brain’s bigger than the body. He’s got answers for anything. If he doesn’t, he’ll come back tomorrow with one. Good at sports too. His future’s paved like a highway, and all that’s missing is someone in the passenger seat. Too bad the only other girl orc in this town is his cousin, and she only visits every few months. That doesn’t mean he got no fans. He even gets letters from girls from the higher years. Heard they’ve got a fixation for the bigger types if you know what I mean.”

“Aren’t they still kids?”

“Your parents tell you to don’t do something,” she turned towards me, “Would you still listen to them?”

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“I’ll see hell if I don’t.”

Sin was silent for a while before she drew back her finger and directed her attention towards me, “You’ve got to tell me about your place-”

“Moving on,” I cut her off.

Sin shifted her fingers to the right by one degree. She pointed towards an angel, who was speaking to Mank from his desk. Every inch of his body seemed bleached. Even in a white uniform, his skin seemed paler than his shirt. His hair was a colourless tuff that bordered on being translucent. If I squinted just hard enough, I could see his scalp and the wall on the other side. Above it was his halo, shining out a dim, yellow glow. Even his eyes were clean; his pupils shone in glistening sky blue as if his gaze could see through the clouds and pierce right towards space. He was a lanky kid with a skinny frame, making this hilarious contrast where his wings seemed like parasites siphoning his nutrients. They seemed to be healthier than the host himself. They were these big windows of flourishing feathers, enticing to the sight, most probably soft as pillows to the touch.

“Yorke,” Sin introduced him, “Held back for a year. He had a rocky childhood. His parents kicked him out of heaven to be independent. He got off with the wrong crowd. In the end, he did so many drugs that he was sent back up for rehab. When his parents sent him back down again, they chose someplace where Yorke couldn’t touch a single piece of crystal. By chance, they chose this place. Rest is history.”

“Poor kid.”

“He’s doing alright. He’s working part-time at a corner store we have here. Sleeps there too.”

I moved on from the angel. There wasn’t much to see about him, “Who else?”

Sin moved her finger towards the back of the class. My eyes followed.

She pointed towards a beastkin; a standard domestic canine. They’re probably the most ubiquitous species on the planet. It took me a while to discern which beastkin Sin was pointing towards, as she was standing in a pack, conversing with other similar canine beastkins. She caught up with my confusion and nudged her fingers to the side where I finally made the distinction. This one was the tallest amongst the group. She had all the standard features; plain brown fur, a snout, floppy ears, and three joints on their legs instead of two. There was a name for those kinds of legs, “digigrade” or “digitrade” or something; I forgot. She had a shapely figure and was leaning against the wall, howling with her pack about what I assume to be gossip or canine girl talk or whatever.

“Her name’s Lüd.”

I turned towards Sin with confusion, “Lude?”

“No, Lüd. L. Ü. D. There’s two dots on the Ü. Don’t get it wrong; she’s adamant about it.”

“Okay,” I turned back towards the beastkin, “So who’s this… Lüd?”

“Star athlete; not that this school has many of those. She’s part of the swim team, and she’s great at it.”

I was dubious, “Swim team? A dog? Great at it?”

Sin shrugged, “It happened.”

I sucked it up and believed it. I couldn’t think of a reason the girl would lie to me.

“How good is she?”

“We cross-checked her lap times with the internet. She’s broken some district records.”

My gaze lingered on Lüd for a moment. Her arms were built, with unmasked bulges riding down to her forearm. I looked down to her legs where I could see clear, defined muscles, toned and trained.

I looked back up at her face, only to catch her staring right back at me with an expression that left me feeling dirty.

I darted my head back towards Sin, leaving everything behind me behind me, “Carry on.”

Sin pointed at the opposite end of the class, towards a demi-human. This one was short, slim and light-skinned, with her uniform lazily draped across her shoulders. On closer inspection, the buttons were misaligned by at least two spots. She was leaning over the table, fast asleep, her head facing away, her arms thrown across the other side, her hands dangling off the edge from her wrists. As per any demi-human, I checked out her ears and tails. Her ears were brown and circular, popping out from the side of her hair. What truly caught my eye, however, was her tail. It grew from just above her butt, tucked into her skirt without much concern for its fit with the bulk jutting out from beneath. It was long and muscular, almost to the size of her main body.

For some reason, her body had this glossy sheen akin to someone who just stepped out of a shower. Her clothes were dry, even if her skin and ears and hair and tail seemed moist the entire time.

I asked, “Who’s she supposed to be?”

“An otter,” Sin replied.

I turned towards her, “How?”

“How what?”

“Otter and human.”

“You’ll get used to it,” she continued, “Her name’s Wet.”

I turned back towards the demi-human, “I can see why.”

“She hates guys. Doesn’t even talk to them, even if it helps her.”

“Why?”

“Wet’s daddy was a hitchhiker. He met her mother for a one-night fling and he took off, never coming back. It was a one-out-of-a-million chance. I mean, otter seed, human womb, nobody thought it was possible. But it was, and it happened. Left them desolate without child support. Mom barely got by working three jobs, even while pregnant. They’re okay now, but back then, they were in abject poverty. Saving bread crusts for tomorrow’s breakfast type of poverty. She never talks about it. I guess she blamed everything on her dad and by extension, males.”

I stared at Wet for a while. Sin left me to it. It was like looking at a green sky, or blue grass. It wasn’t every day you could see an otter demi-human. Humans are usually the universal recipients of interspecies relationships. It isn’t uncommon to see a human-goblin hybrid or a half-angel walking in the streets. But still, there are biological limits to those circumstances, like breeding with a duck or taking one from an ogre. In this case, an otter. There are beings humans just aren’t compatible with, no matter how far one’s lust goes.

But every so often God tosses an odd bone, and it’s up to the masses to decide if it’s a blessing or a curse.

“What if I need something from her?”

“You talk to a girl and they relay the message,” she added, “Don’t do that with Lüd though.”

I was curious, “Why?”

“They’re dating,” Sin explained, “And Wet gets real jealous when a guy talks to her.”

“Huh.”

“What, never seen lesbians before?”

“Not one this insecure.”

Sin fell onto my table, resting her head on the surface, looking towards Wet, “Can’t blame her, really. Everyone’s surprised that she even opened up and confessed. They’ve been going steady. Half a year now. It’s a casual fling but again, it’s a wonder she even opened up.”

“Can tell.”

“I’ll leave the others for your discovery,” she turned her head back towards me, “Can’t spoil everyone for you. Now it’s your turn. Spill it.”

I crossed my arms, “Spill what?”

“What’s it like back there? That bad place? Where’d you come from anyway?”

I kept my silence, opting to stare at Sin for a few seconds. Her cheeks split into that of a smug expression, like a predator having its prey cornered. A self-congratulatory grin exuding total confidence in receiving its prize in eventual time, no matter how long the period may be.

I glanced away from the girl, taking a brief look at the clock hanging above the blackboard from the front end of the classroom.

“How about this,” I brought up my hand and stuck out my thumb and index finger in parallel, leaving little space in between the tips, “You tell me this much more, and I’ll answer any question you give me.”

I could see Sin’s eyes sparkle in enthusiasm, “Anything?”

“Anything.”

“What’s the limit?”

“No limit,” I grinned, “So long as you tell me what I wanna know.”

The girl sat straight up, “I’m gonna hold you to that.”

“I can do that myself.”

“What do you wanna know?”

“This town,” I brought my hand down, “Tell me everything about it.”

Sin’s squinted with scepticism, “That’s all?”

“Yeah. That’s all. Or is that a no-”

“What do you want to know?” Sin shut me down in an instant.

I was caught up in her pace, which sent me in a temporary daze. My mind lagged for a second.

I asked, “What should I know?”

“Well, you definitely know this place.”

“A school. I can tell.”

“There’s two, actually,” Sin explained, “This one’s on the far end of town. The other’s on the opposite end.”

“I thought this was a small town?”

“In population. It’s a two-hour drive from one end to another. We just live far from one another. Whichever school’s the closest, we go there.”

“What’s in between?”

“Paddy fields, orchards, vegetable farms; things you’d plant on flatlands.”

“Livestock?”

“Some. We don’t have the land to afford a literal industry. We ain’t living on some mountainside or some plains. They’re less for export and more for local business.”

“Anything else?”

“Look,” Sin sighed, “This is more of an industrial town. We don’t have any kind of city entertainment or infrastructure; that’s a three-hour bus ride, by the way. We have a dispensary, a police station, a post office, and that’s it.”

“I thought you said you had a convenience store.”

The girl raised an eyebrow, “You wanna go that deep?”

“I did say everything,” I shrugged.

“Well, yes, we have one. It’s not anything big; it’s literally just a shack. Candies, small household tools, snacks, magazines; sells those kinds of things. It’s popular with the kindergarteners.”

“So there’s a kindergarten here,” I landed my chair back down on its four legs, “Any playgrounds?”

“No, but there’s this cleared construction site around here. There used to be some big shot development company looking to build this office complex. We didn’t do anything; we knew it was gonna fail at the start. No backers, funding went dry, and they hauled ass. Left this clear patch of dirt. Kids love to play there a lot. Hell, the adults even built a sandpit there for them. They rarely use it now, though. Not since they found cat poop in there.”

“It’s still there?”

“Of course not. That was months ago. But kids will be kids. They’ll still go play there, though. If they do, their parents would usually kick them back out of the house when they go home, and they’ll hit the bathhouse.”

“There’s one?”

“Yeah, there’s one.”

“Where?”

“By the bus stop to the city.”

“Ah,” I muttered under my breath, “So that’s what it is.”

Apparently, I didn’t mutter soft enough, because Sin caught my words instantly as if her ears were glue.

“You didn’t know you’ve seen the bathhouse?”

I shook my head, “Not until now, no.”

Sin began rattling off, “Giant pagoda looking structure, steam pouring out from the entrance, a neon sign with a bathtub symbol-”

“Shut up,” I cut her off, “I wasn’t looking straight back then.”

Her mouth began to split into this irritating, smug expression, “Even a drunkard could tell it was a bathhouse.”

“Drop it,” I sneered at her, “It was late at night.”

“What were you doing late at night in the bathhouse?”

“I wasn’t,” I corrected her, “I was at the bus station.”

“What were you doing late at night in the bus station?”

“I was a circus member who lost his cue on the clown car and got left out and wandered my way here.”

“I’ll believe that,” she only grinned harder.

“I stepped off the bus on its way here, dipshit.”

“When was that?”

“Yesterday.”

Sin gave me a look, “Yesterday?”

“That’s what I said.”

She kept a long gaze at me that lasted no less than half a minute.

“Say, Guy, when did you arrive here?”

“I just told you.”

“Time of day, I mean.”

“Night.”

“And you came from the city?”

“No, my bus was airdropped from the sky. I was the only survivor.”

“So you came here by bus from the city at night?”

“No shit,” I threw my arms up, “You see any wings on me?”

“Where’d you sleep?”

I dropped my hands back down, “Where I got off.”

“Where’d you change?”

“I didn’t.”

“But there was a bathhouse right-”

“Drop it,” I spoke between gritted teeth.

“Now that’s weird.”

“What’s weird?”

“Last time we got a stranger in class, Yorke became the sole focus for a month. I had to push through the others to even talk to him. But Yorke’s already been in town for a few weeks before that. He came during school break. Some guys already knew who he was back then,” she pointed towards me, “But then there’s you.”

“What about me?”

“Fresh off the bus just yesterday, no prior relationships or connection, and on the first day of senior year no less,” she explained, “Hell, I shouldn’t even be able to talk to you like this. You would’ve been swarmed elbow to elbow. What’s up with that?”

“Why’re you asking me like I kno-”

Just as I was speaking, I felt a tap next to my shoulders. It felt as if someone tried to nudge their elbow towards my neck and missed with every effort. I turned to my side, and there Mank stood, with one hand covering his giant nostrils and the other hidden behind his back.

“The class welcomes you to our year,” he spoke in a heavy, nasal voice, “I-I’m the monitor. I hope you’re finding our company comforting.”

I pointed towards Sin, “I already feel like fitting in.”

“T-That’s great. The class would like to gift you something,” he showed his other hand towards me, handing me something, “It’s a show of appreciation.”

I lowered my hand towards Mank’s giant hand, whereby the giant orc leaned a few degrees backwards as I approached him.

He was handing me a deodorant spray.

I guess there were worse ways to address the situation.

I grabbed the can from his hands. The orc immediately retracted his hand to his back, along with several steps away from me.

“Thank you,” I then turned from the orc towards the rest of the class as I unscrewed the cap off the can, “Much appreciated.”

The others gave waves and nods of acknowledgement, though there wasn't much fanfare from them. They seemed to recoil from my general direction too as I addressed them.

I turned back towards my table, where Sin watched intently as I unleashed a torrent of hazy, icy mint down my left armpit.

She asked, “When’s the last time you took a shower?”

I moved towards my right armpit, “You wouldn’t want to know.”

“Ohhh,” she finally caught on, “That’s why.”

I unbuttoned the first few buttons on my shirt, spraying the deodorant down my chest, “I was wondering what made you approach me in the first place.”

Sin then pointed towards her nose, “I’m born without my sense of smell.”

“Shame,” I lifted the back of my shirt and sprayed upwards, “I thought it was my good looks.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she flashed out a shit-eating grin, “It’s even hard to imagine you getting laid.”

I returned a jeer of mine towards Sin as I replaced the cap on the deodorant spray.

“Bet.”