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Although the rest of the morning passed without incident, Taylor felt a nagging sense that he was still the outcast and that he'd never make any friends. Despite his childhood friend Gretchen, the sparkly blue-eyed Siamese cat, being in more than half of his classes-and constantly whispering to him or grinning goofily at him-he felt alone, displaced. This feeling was only assuaged when in the presence of Wyatt, a dazzling mongoose who seemed to light up the room wherever he went with his charisma and innate eccentricity. The red panda's thoughts strayed from his studies often as he was beside himself trying to figure out why he was so entranced by the upperclassman. Wyatt was androgynous like Taylor, but not to the extent that he looked like a thirteen year-old girl like the panda; rather, he was tall, slender, elegant even in the way he moved his body. It was unintentionally erotic even, the way his crimson eyes seemed to penetrate your thoughts ever time they fell upon you.

There was also Jasper, a very attractive wolf who was obviously an old friend of Wyatt. The two were very chipper and playful in each others company. While Wyatt seemed to be the aloof, nonchalant fur, Jasper was the perfect compliment with his sharp memory and acuity of vision and mind. Suddenly Taylor was very desirous of their companionship; he wanted what Jasper had with Wyatt, an inveterate emotional bond. Someone that he could tell virtually everything and everything to. The lack of such a person had caused Taylor's bashfulness to worsen over the previous year. Extreme introversion led to depression. He felt alone. Rejected.

It was difficult to find acceptance, Taylor realized, while his interests were considered heinously polemical by the majority of society's doctrines. Because of his girlish appearance, Taylor had taken to cross-dressing in secrecy, inspired by members of musical bands he admired and revered. This he did quite well, and was able to fool almost everyone until he opened his mouth to speak, at which time the trap was revealed. However much he enjoyed donning girls' clothing, he did this in absolute privacy, hardly ready to share that side of him with anyone for fear of disgust and ridicule.

His taste in music was also different from the grassroots country ballades popular in his hometown. Taylor preferred louder, raunchier music, specifically metal and heavy rock. He listened to a plethora of bands from the eastern seas, specifically Darkchild, his favorite band that sported a virtuoso cross-dressing guitarist named Talis. His taste in music alone was enough to make him an exile from his hometown. Even his parents, who were very liberal-minded pandas, didn't understand his choice of audio pleasure.

Yet, at Scarborough High there was hope. In-between classes in the hallways, he espied all kinds of furs, from the punk and gothic crowd to the preps and the coffee shop java junkies. Representatives from all social cliques were present, and seemed not to mind the presence of the others. He eavesdropped on a few conversations about music, and had finally heard to underclassmen begin a discussion about Darkchild's latest studio album when he felt his arm being tugged away.

"Oh my god, Taylor, like, it's so hard to find you in this crowd, you're so short!" Gretchen babbled on. "It's lunch time, isn't it? Let's go eat together. I want you to meet my best friends."

"B-b-but wait, they're-"

"Come on, silly! A skinny little thing like you must have a _ fuuuuuur ocious_ appetite. We'd better get in line before we have to wait like an hour to buy our lunch."

"Actually, I made my own lunch," Taylor grunted as Gretchen pulled him roughly through the multitude of students.

"Forget that," the cat quipped back. "The first day of school lunches is always gourmet. It's a way to say welcome back to school and it makes you feel warm and good inside despite having to go to classes. It also looks good for the school for the occasional lingering parents who stick around to see their younglings off to a new, big school like this one. But it's also like totally misleading 'cause after the first day, it goes back to being typical cafeteria slop. But you know what's completely mental Taylor? The teachers get served completely different food! Gourmet-everyday! They come, they get these steamy, hot, delicious lunches then just saunter off back to the teachers' lounge. Argh, the injustice of it all!"

"I think I'd just rather eat the lunch I packed," Taylor admitted.

"Not today you're not," Gretchen said. "One of my friends older sisters said that if you make it there early enough you can get hot, fresh, warm milk. No way in Hades I'm gonna miss that, Taylor, and neither are you."

"Ok fine," the panda assented.

Gretchen and Taylor had been friends since the primary grades. Both had been born and raised in the small town of Eaglebrook, a hamlet whose total population was smaller than Scarborough's freshman and sophomore classes. Both of their families had been friends for three generations, and each possessed around twenty acres of land side-by-side. As a child, Gretchen had been a total tomboy. The two had spent their early childhood years stripping down naked, pushing each other on the rope swing out into the middle of Hawk River, splashing about, catching frogs, chasing fireflies, then falling to sleep beside the hay bails in the farm fields. Then things changed.

There was an economic downtown during which the Farmers Union suffered greatly. Many longstanding ranches capsized and went bankrupt or insolvent. Wealthier families moved into Eaglebrook and bought up the land at cheap prices, establishing rural getaway ranches for occasional solace from the bustling city life. Gretchen's family sold their estate and moved into the city seeking greater prosperity and also evolving with the times. Taylor's parents, both artists whose creativity thrived only in the country (or so they said) were not so hasty to sell their property, even as their finances dwindled. By the time Taylor entered junior high school, his family was destitute. He was forced to buy second-hand books and wear the hand-me-downs from his father or distant cousins. This, combined with his physical appearance and soft-spoken demeanor made him an easy target in school, constantly bullied by the children of the new Eaglebrook aristocracy. After an attempt at suicide, his parents finally decided it was best to use the rest of their savings to move into a small apartment in the city and enroll their son in a school where they hoped he would find a greater measure of acceptance.

The cafeteria was almost as large as Taylor's former school. There were two levels: an upstairs level for the upperclassmen (and teachers if they desired to mingle amongst the student body) and the downstairs designated for use by the lowerclassmen. The two levels were connected by a long ramp which rose just above the food dispensary line beneath it. There was a salad bar and a table specifically for deserts as well as several vending machines, two water fountains, and even television screens which routinely played the local news and weather from atop poles strategically placed about the mess hall. Taylor's jaw dropped.

"Not quite Eaglebrook, is it?" Gretchen giggled, noting her friend's surprise.

"It's... it's so... big!"

"Scarborough's full of surprises they say. I've heard so much about this place. I've always wanted to come here ever since my parents moved to Unicorn City. But I never thought I'd actually be here. It's so exciting, isn't it?"

"It's a bit scary, to be honest," Taylor said as they got in line at the food counter.

"Everybody thinks that at first," the feline nodded in agreement. "But I mean, if you can't fit in here, where can you? This place is huge. So many people. Taylor, you'll have a great time here, just you wait and see!"

"But what if I don't, Gretch?" the panda countered. "I mean... like... what if I make a mess of things like at Eaglebrook?"

"You won't. Not with me here to watch over your cute little butt."

Taylor reddened. "Hey, cut that out. You know I'm sensitive about my looks."

"Hey, Tay, you know, some of my friends would spay themselves to have a body like yours."

Taylor grimaced. "That's not really a compliment..."

"Sure it is, in its own way. You're super adorable. I'm sure you'll find a hookup here in no time at all."

An image of Wyatt flashed through the panda's mind again and he reddened, shaking the thoughts from his mind. "Yeah I've seen quite a few hot girls already."

"That's the spirit!" Gretchen laughed. "I'll take some of that warm milk, some tuna fish, and the vegetables. But no carrots. Carrots are evil," she told the cafeteria worker.

The two received their first-day gourmet treats and went to sit at a table where Gretchen's friends had already gathered. They squealed and gawked at Taylor, saying how cute he'd look with clips and bows in his hair and how they imagined what he'd look like in a camisole and heels, causing Taylor to blush deeper and deeper uncharted shades of crimson as he ate, as inconspicuously as possible, in silence.

"So the bulletins are already being posted and it's only the first day," one of Gretchen's friends, a spotted minx named Maxine was saying. "Those upperclassmen sure work fast, don't they?"

"Bulletins?" Gretchen asked.

"Yeah in the main hall there's a list of bulletins that usually goes up in the first three days of school with a listing of clubs, special activities, and advertisements. It went up about an hour before lunch which I'm told is a Scarborough speed record. I guess because this year has had the largest freshman class in the past decade the clubs are eager to grab the new recruits."

Gretchen looked at Taylor. "Hey, after lunch, why don't we go check that bulletin out? Maybe there's something there that'll interest you. Could be a way to make some new friends quickly."

"Sure, I guess," Taylor agreed. It was useless trying to talk Gretchen out of doing something she was intent on doing, even if it was for someone else's sake.

"Then it's settled," the cat continued. "Maxine, did you see some of the hot upperclassmen hall monitors that have been prowling around all day?"

"Meeee-oww," the Manx purred. "I sure did Gretchen. All I've been thinking about all day is how to pounce on one of those lovely boys."

Suddenly, Taylor's interest in the conversation was renewed. "Hall monitors? Oh, I met one earlier today. Two actually. They're both totally awesome! The upperclassmen seem really friendly and helpful. Actually, one of the hall monitors had to give me a ride to school this morning because I missed the bus."

Everyone at the table laughed and Taylor's cheeks burned. "That's typical lil' Taylor," Gretchen laughed. "Always oversleeping, especially on the most important days. I guess I'm going to have to start waking you up in the morning myself. Say, Taylor, where do you and your folks live anyway?"

"Woodrat Heights," the panda said.

Gretchen and Maxine exchanged glances. "That's sort of... well..."

"It's not one of the nicest neighborhoods," Maxine cut in. "Be sure you find out where all the local police boxes are before you settle in. There's a rat gang in that neighborhood that's pretty mean and takes advantage of new residents."

"Oh I will, thanks for the information," Taylor said uneasily.

"I'm sure you'll be fine though," Gretchen said reassuringly. "Just don't do anything stupid." She elbowed Taylor playfully.

"So where do you live, Gretchen?" inquired the red panda.

"Maxine and I both live in the Unicorn Bay area. It's about a half-hour walk from you or fifteen minutes by city bus."

"Nicest area in the city," Maxine bragged. "Lot of rich folk there. My parents own the biggest marina in the city."

"Wow really? That's impressive," Taylor replied.

"Yeah well, when I graduate from Scarborough I'm going to go to business school so I can learn about business and accounting and take over the company someday."

"Maxine here's an ambitious little Manx, if you haven't figured that out already," Gretchen smiled. "She's fun to hang with even though she comes off as being, like, über mature for her age."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Maxine frowned.

"Well, we've still got a few years left to act like kids don't we?" the Siamese cat retorted. "I'm in no hurry to grow up."

The lunch bell rang and Gretchen realized she'd only eaten half of her meal. "Drat! I didn't have time to finish it all! And this is the only day they make gourmet lunch!"

"Well you'd have finished it if you shut your big trap for more than five seconds," Maxine laughed.

"Come on, Taylor," Gretchen said with a frown. "Let's go check that announcements board and see if there are any clubs you'll like to try out. If I get hungry later, I'll just eat whatever you packed in your lunchbox."

"Gee thanks," Taylor muttered. "Some friend you are, yanking me around from place to place and eating my lunch!"

"What else are friends for?" Gretchen giggled.