Welcome back! I'm so excited to share another chapter with you all - The reception to my first chapter honestly blew me away. I'm beyond thrilled that so many of you enjoyed my silly little story, and it's made me even more excited to keep writing. I hope you enjoy!
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At the front of the classroom, the chemistry professor was droning on about the different steps of today's lab, and Amara was having difficulty paying attention. Every few minutes she found herself scanning the classroom, trying to catch if any of the other students were looking at her. Thankfully, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but that would change in a heartbeat if anyone saw her tail.
In the past, Amara had taken pride in looking her best every day, always picking cute outfits that showed off her style. These last couple of days, however, she had decided against her more form-flattering options, opting instead for large baggy sweaters. If nothing else, she was thankful autumn was here, and temperatures were already dropping.
Inside the pouch of her sweater, she was holding the end of her tail tight. After a few failed attempts to push it into her sweatpants, she had taken to wrapping it around her waist. Every so often she would give it a squeeze, hoping to discover it had disappeared, but every time it remained frustratingly present.
Her mind wandered back to Sunday, to the moment she had first learned about her body's new addition. At first she had been frozen in disbelief, but soon after she had succumbed to a full-blown panic attack. Nick, used to keeping her grounded during these times, had done his best to keep her calm.
When the initial panic had passed, they had run through some rudimentary tests. They confirmed her tail could register touch just like the rest of her, and she was able to move it at will. Moving it around felt awkward, as if trying to run on a leg that had recently fallen asleep, but the amount of control she had over it was surprising.
In the end, she had fallen asleep incredibly early. The combination of physical exertion and emotional outburst working together to bring her to utter exhaustion.
She hadn't seen Nick since then, though they had been texting constantly. Today, Amara's plan was to meet him at the library after her lab. He was the more studious of the two, and she hoped he had a plan to figure out what was happening to her.
Why is this happening now? Shouldn't this happen during puberty?
A hand grabbed her arm, interrupting her thoughts, and she jumped in surprise.
"Hey, Amara, you ready?"
Suddenly shaken back to reality, Amara realized the professor was done talking. Her lab partner, Vee, was halfway through setting up their experiment for the day.
"Sorry, I must have spaced for a second there," Amara muttered, "are we ready to start?"
"Not quite, could you grab the solutions we need?" Vee asked, caught up in lighting the Bunsen burner.
A few minutes later, after pretending she didn't need to skim the instructions to remember what they were doing, Amara returned with everything they needed.
"You've been a million miles away all class, Amara, it's not like you. Something on your mind?" Vee looked at her with mild concern, her bright blue eyes eager for answers.
"I just... haven't been sleeping well. I think all the stress of school is finally getting to me." Amara sighed.
"Well, that's why we went out Saturday, right? Wait, is this about that? Did something happen?" Vee shifted closer, her voice lowering in suspicion.
"I'm fine, and I promise nothing weird happened. I ended up getting tired earlier than expected, and Nick walked me home, nothing special."
"Hm, that does explain why he went missing too... Shame, he and I were really hitting it off." Vee smirked as she turned away from Amara.
"Wait, that was you?" It was Amara's turn to lean in, eager to get more details and thankful for the distraction. The two continued gossiping, and the rest of the hour passed without issue. Soon enough, it was time to clean up and get ready to meet Nick at the library.
Amara took over the cleaning, washing out all the beakers and tools while Vee finalized the notes and turned their papers in. When she returned, Amara had just finished washing her hands, and left the water running for her. Grabbing the soap, Vee moved her hands under the water, before immediately jumping back.
"Ah, fuck!" Vee yelped, "Amara, this water is scalding hot!
Amara ran over, her hands grasping the handles, but she paused briefly. Everyone nearby was looking at Vee, so she quickly ran her hand under the water. Surprisingly, it felt fine; She would have guessed it was slightly warmer than room temperature had it not just burned her friend.
"Here, this should be better, come run some cold water over it." Amara finished adjusting the water as she called Vee over. "It was fine when I was cleaning up, I think I just left it running too long."
"That... feels nice, thanks. I don't think there's any real damage, it just caught me by surprise." Vee finished washing her hands, hopefully none the wiser. Amara sighed in relief, happy her friend was okay, but made a mental note to tell Nick about this.
Once they cleaned up, they said their goodbyes and Amara started the long trek to the library. The incident at the lab had her thinking about Vee, the concern for her friend outweighing the confusion over what had happened.
The two of them had become fast friends after meeting last year in freshman biology. They both held themselves with an air of confidence, which combined with their natural looks to attract a fair number of suitors. Despite this, they both were more interested in studying, keeping a strong eye on their future and securing a path there.
Amara giggled to herself as she thought back on their meeting. She had been jealous of Vee, the taller of the two, with long blond hair and a toned figure, but that feeling had faded fast; Amara had decided she preferred her curvier features and more prominent bust. Now, she lingered on that feeling of jealousy as it flared again, this time wishing she could have a normal, tailless body.
Wait, does she have a tail? I guess I haven't checked... I'll take a look next time, just to be safe.
After another, heartier laugh, she pulled up some music on her phone and continued walking.
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After wandering around the library for longer than expected, Amara finally found Nick huddled in a secluded corner. He already had quite a few stacks of books on the table, with a laptop open in the middle. His brows were furrowed in concentration, and he likely didn't see Amara quite yet.
His light brown hair was fairly curly, but he typically kept it short; He claimed it was too difficult to manage when it got long. The one time he tried, their junior year, Amara had thought the long hair flattered his sharp features nicely. His deep green eyes darted back and forth across the pages, and his arm was propping up his face as he read. He was hunching slightly, no doubt the library chairs weren't very comfortable for someone close to six feet tall.
Nick had wrestled in high school, and while he didn't play sports anymore, his body was still quite athletic. His muscular frame was sometimes hard to notice, due to his uninspired wardrobe, but today he was wearing a button-down flannel that was quite flattering.