The days go by… It was a process for Olivia to get attuned to her new home, but Edward and Joan were patient and understanding. Slowly but surely, Olivia began to shed the shell of sorrow that the death of her parents had created, little cracks began to show, such as eating at the table, showing Mom and Dad glimpses of what she was drawing, and even conversing with them. She even began joining for movie night, sitting by the side of the couch to use the desk to draw. By the time the movie’s finished, Olivia would have an entire page filled with drawings related to the film we had just watched. Now the best part of movie night is watching Olivia’s gold-grey eyes light up and her snout curve into a smile when Mom, Dad, and I try and pick out what drawing of hers was supposed to reference what. As for kindergarten… That was where I helped… or if anything, it was more like Olivia helped me deal with the endless boredom I had felt before. Where other kids of this time were loud and kind of obnoxious, Oliva was quiet and calm, usually using her free time to draw. So we pretty much kept each other company throughout the rest of the year. Although my drawing wasn’t improving by much, I was getting a lot less disgusting snorts from her and a lot more happy giggles. It was a win in my book. But the real test came… First Grade. My own first-grade experience was miserable, being the only human in class made me target ridicule and bullying in mostly dino schools that my parents sent me to. Hopefully, things will be different this time around. I look to Olivia as we sit in the car, briefly scanning her face, her snout closed in thought as we park by the school gate, already filled with a technicolored crowd of young dinos. We came to a full stop before Mom let us out, Olivia and I exited from separate sides of the car. “Do you both have your backpacks?” Mom asks, Olivia and I nodding. “And your lunchboxes?” I show off the metal box held in my claw, Olivia slowly following my example and doing the same. “First day of first grade! Are you both excited?!” Joan asks. I open my snout to speak… Only for Olivia to answer. “No.” “Aw.” My mom doesn’t let that answer dissuade her, “It’ll be fun!” Well… I was going to give a more neutral answer before, but I decided to play along with it. Mom escorts us briefly to the gate, where a bunch of other dinos are getting dropped off by their parents. Joan smiles as she stoops down to give me a hug before pausing at Olivia, offering one as well. After a second or so, Olivia accepts, opening her arms out as Mom hugs her for a few seconds before separating, gently clutching the baryonyx’s shoulders before separating. “Have a good day at school you two!” “Will do.” I answer this time, Mom giving one last encouraging nod before returning to the car, waving from the driver's seat. We wave back before watching her leave, turning back around to face the gate. Although this was the same school Olivia had been going to for kindergarten, Mezosoic Private, now we may as well have been on a different campus entirely. The main ‘body’ of the school was a large ornate building with fields and basketball courts at the back of it. Elementary, middle, and high school were on separate wings, with elementary school belonging on the leftmost. I peer at Olivia, the baryonyx peering back at me. It was hard to tell what she was thinking, but I could kind of tell what she needed. Some reassurance. “Don’t worry.” My snout curves into a grin, “First grade is just kindergarten… but with extra steps.” I slug my bag over my shoulder, “And if anything goes wrong, we’ll be together.” Olivia pauses before slowly nodding, a small smile growing on her snout. “Okay.” With that, we both walked through the gate. Unfortunately, I was pretty accurate in my assessment. Grade one still had all the immaturity of children arriving from kindergarten, but now with the beginning rigors of school life injected within. Olivia and I arrive at an already chaotic class, more than half of the desks already filled as we briefly look around to find two chairs, side by side at the edge of the room. I guide Olivia as we sit beside each other, ducking beneath a paper airplane and peering around, both of us taken aback by the disorder and disarray, which only grew with every student arriving. The classroom door opens again… yet this time it’s an adult and clearly the teacher of our class, a few of the students notice and grow silent as she enters with a mug in her claw. She was a beautiful lemon-scaled coelophysis with black and orange stripes, as well as black flicked hair that curved to the front. Her clothing was an old-timey pink Chanel suit, her blue eyes scanning the classroom as she approached, placing a mug on the desk. Suddenly, the silence spread to the rest of the class, a few dumb stares from the dino boys indicating a lot of kiddy crushes were being developed… Until she spoke. “Alright class, welcome to ya first grade.” Possibly the most masculine voice came out of her snout, and not a single kid in the room had expected that voice to come from that body. My eyes stared with disbelief, Olivia beside me raising an eyebrow with a straight face. “And before ya ask, yes, this is my voice thanks to a smoking addiction I had back in ‘89.” She explained as her eyes scanned the class, taking note of our now traumatized faces. “So let this be a lesson to you kids to not ever smoke, it’s bad for ya.” She then turned to the whiteboard, writing her name with chalk. “The name’s Mrs. Prodryas, but ya can call me Mrs. P. “ She then turned back around, “Are there any questions before we get started?” A student raises his claw. “Is it about my voice?” He nods. “I ain’t taking that then.” The claw then lowers, Mrs. Prodryas looking to the rest of the class. “Alright, we’ll be doing a fun little activity to introduce each other. Get into groups of 4.” My eyes roll right to Olivia, hers to mine, our selection is pretty much routine whenever group activities break out in kindergarten. With two members out of four already decided, I noticed that the kids around us had already formed, leaving no potential members to be found. “Let’s go look for two more for the group.” I say as I clamber off my seat, Olivia nodding as she follows. We moved across the classroom together, heads scanning for any ungrouped students before Olivia tapped my shoulders. “Over there.” She told me, subtly pointing at a lone student, my eyes blinking to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. “She looks… lonely.” It was a human, a human girl with black hair and dark eyes, her skin on the paler side as she scanned the classroom with a hint of saddened anxiety. With just a look, I could tell she felt alone, and from my experience, I knew it was going to remain that way when it came to attending dino-filled schools. Not unless Olivia and I had something to say about it. I turn my head, a smile curving my snout. “Let’s go change that.” Olivia nods, returning her own smile as we both approach. She takes notice of us, perking up as we arrive. “Hey.” I ask, “You wanna join our group?” Pausing for a moment, the girl then nods vigorously, the offer already working wonders on her attitude. “Y-Yeah!” She climbs off the chair as I cup a claw beneath the end of my snout in thought. “Now… all we need is one more and we’re-” “Hello?” The three of us turn to see a light-scaled allosaurus with regular blonde hair, two ridges over his snout and forehead while his tail rested atop the floor. A nervous look could be seen on his snout, as if unsure of what we were going to say. “Can I join?” “Sure!” I welcome, Olivia and the human nodding as we take in our newest member, just in time for Mrs. Prodryas to call out. “Any kids without groups can come to the front, I’ll put you together.” She then looked at the class. “The rest of ya start talking with each other! Tell each other your names, your hobbies, anything! Just so long as the time ya get up here, ya can tell the rest of the class about your fellow groupmate!” With that sudden task in mind, the four of us look at each other, using the moment to speak up first. “Hey, I’m Anon Agos. I like… uh…-” I pause for a moment, “-watching movies.” I decided, as after all, move night is a time I enjoy a lot. “What about you?” I ask, referring to the human girl. “Oh? Me?” She then straightened herself, “M-My name’s Doe. Doe Marette. I like… fashion.” Doe said the word as if having just learned it recently, turning her head to the allosaurus. “My name is Worden Jack, I like…-” He then paused, snout closed as he seemed to gulp, his tail grinding against the floor. “Dino nuggies?” I offered in case he was having trouble coming up with a clear idea, Worden flicking his head to me as he smiled with relief, sharp teeth poking the sides of his snout as if suddenly hungry. “Yea! Dino nuggies!” The allosaurus excitedly agreed. “Dino nuggieis?!” Doe asked, as if suddenly activated by those two words. “The t-rex ones taste the best-!” “No. It’s the raptor-shaped ones that do.” I turned, surprised to see that it was Olivia who had said that. Not only had the young baryonyx actually entered a conversation for once, but she had done it to openly disagree. Yet soon I noticed that Olivia suddenly looked taken aback by the sudden attention upon her, gold-grey eyes briefly catching mine as if asking for a go-ahead. I simply gave her a warm smile, knowing I didn’t have to make that decision for her… Olivia would make the right choice on her own. The baryonyx paused before looking forward, opening her snout. “Olivia.” She simply said. “Drawing.” She then looked away, finding the wall a lot more interesting all of a sudden. Well… at least Olivia had made the right choice to engage in conversation… just not a lot of effort on her behalf was put into it. For now at least… With all of us now knowing something of each other, we move to the front, ready to present. Classes come and go, really just introductions and messing around, seeing as it was the very first day of first grade. Already, I knew recess was going to be pandemonium, seeing as a bunch of hyped-up 6-year-olds who had been kept in class all day were finally going to be released out into the yard. So after a brief look at where the older elementary school students sat, Olivia and I decided to follow along, going from the middle of the broad cafeteria to the edge, far away and pulling out our lunchboxes as dinosaurs crowded and milled about a few tables down. “Good place.” Olivia commented happily before digging through her bag, having already put her lunch box on the table right beside mine. “Yep, it sure is. Nice and quiet.” I turn my head to her, “Are you gonna dra-” I already see Olivia with her newly given notebook, busily doodling as she held half a sandwich in her claw, nibbling on it every so often. Shrugging, I decided to do the same, just minus the drawing before noticing two familiar figures walk by. Doe and Worden. They take notice of Olivia and I, looking at one another before approaching, Doe with her own lunch box and Worden with a tray of food bought from the lunch ladies. “Hey, can we…?” Doe gestured to the seat across from us. “Yeah, go ahead.” I nod, Olivia briefly looking up from her notebook before looking back down as the other two students sit. Doe opened her lunchbox to silently eat what looked to be pasta, while Worden ate a simple steak off his tray. I decided maybe it would be good to have some conversation… but surprisingly, I was beaten to it by Doe, the human girl asking Olivia. “Hey, what’re you drawing?” Olivia looked up from her notebook, a hint of surprise on her features before she peered at me, looking for guidance. To that I simply shrugged, giving her the same reassuring smile as usual. She makes her choice, holding the notebook closer to her and away from prying eyes. “It’s… not ready yet…” Olivia explained it off. Doe seems disappointed, but nods in understanding, Worden now speaking up. “Anon, did you hear Mrs. P’s voice?!” To that, I scrunch my face up, snout tightening. “Uh, Worden, we share the same homeroom. Of course I heard her.” “Oh…” He then perked up again, “But what about my dad, I’ve seen him smoke… will his voice get deeper?” The allosaurus worried. I open my snout only for Doe to beat me to the punch. “Don’t worry, it’s only girls who get it if they smoke.” Doe declares her clearly fact-checked declaration. “Which is why I’ll never smoke!” “Me too!” Worden agrees anyway. I smile. There was just something endearing, about watching 6-year-olds try to understand stuff, putting it into their own developing perspective which would probably be shattered with the simple explanation of a parent. But now, it was just them… here… trying to figure stuff out… and life. Damn, since when did I get so philosophical? … And when had my bully sense gone off? My eyes cautiously peer at the group of dinosaurs a table away, possibly in grade 5 or 4, their gazes flittering between us as they whispered eagerly amongst each other, able to just pick up words such as ‘Skinny’ and ‘Compy’. As soon as I saw them all collectively stand up and approach, I resisted the urge to sigh, headed by a smirking giganotosaurus. “Hey,-” Worden and Doe turn from their conversation, Olivia raising an eye from her drawing as I cross my claws. “-you kids are in our seats.” … Weren’t they like, 10? Regardless of the irony of that statement, Doe nervously peers away as Worden awkwardly murmurs a sorry, the two of them getting ready to rise up. Only I wasn’t gonna accept this shit lying down a second time around. I was going to fight. Because there was nothing this group of dumbass kids could do to scare me… not anymore. “Don’t listen to them, sit where you want.” Doe and Worden paused as the attention of the bully group turned to me. The giganotosaurus’s eyes lock onto mine… and I don’t shy away, the bigger dinosaur’s snout widening with a grin. “Woah, is this for real?!” He then moved to the other side, Olivia briefly peering at me and keeping her notebook out of sight, her eyes narrowed as I noticed her claw holding a sharpened colored pencil… Oh shit. A single look I sent was able to convey to her to not get herself into trouble, Olivia softening her grip on the makeshift weapon as the giganotosaurus arrived, attention thankfully put away from my foster sibling… but nonetheless, she seemed ready to defend me. “The faggy little compy is telling us to back off!” It takes me a moment to remember that 201M2007 was a very different time, no touchphones getting whipped out to catch potential drama, and I couldn’t rely on this dude’s power level to lead to his social suicide… in other words, he was under no risk of getting canceled. Fuck it. Fight fire with fire. “No, I’m telling the dumbass gignog to go away.” Raptor Jesus, saying that felt cringy for some reason. It had sounded a lot better in my head, or if posted on a certain Turkmenistan freedom fighter forum… but real life was a different and disappointing story. But at least it seemed to work. The giganotosaurus was caught a bit off guard by my sudden use of vocabulary that was definitely not fit for a first grader, his own group silently watching the exchange as I looked to them away from their ‘leader’, ignoring the surprised gazes of my own Olivia and my own group. “I’m not even asking you guys to do much, just go back to your table.” I shrug, hopefully finding a more persuasive solution in exchange for a few insults flung my way. “You were doing fine where you were before, why did you come here and bother us?” That… seemed to strike a chord with them, murmuring amongst each other as if to try and come up with an explanation. The giganotosaurus’s snout tightens, clearly pissed off now that I had made his posse act without his consent. “Doesn’t matter! Get off!” He’s growling now, showing off his sharp teeth and narrowed gaze… But what was he really going to do to me? Now that a few other students were watching, there was no way he could just outright manhandle me off my chair without getting in trouble. To that, I smile like a little shit. “No.” For a moment… I actually did grow a bit worried, the giganotosaurus looking ready to eviscerate me, only for him to turn away with a sneer, calling to the group. “Hey, Fatass!” A pudgy carnotaurus who looked far more distant from his fellow ‘friends’ stepped away from the group, nervously peering forward as his tiny arms seemed to fiddle with each other. “Y-Yeah?” “Get this faggy compy off my seat.” The giganotosaurus grumbles as he walks off, my eyes blinking. Holy shit. What a giant fucking pussy this giganotosaurus was! I would have respected him more if he actually had gone ahead and roughed me up. But I’m not given much time to react to the sudden shift to proxy bullying as the carnotaurus arrives and shoves me right off with his big head, my diminutive form pushed off the seat as I quickly stand up, spotting a safe area. Doe and Worden look horrified… Olivia looked ready to kill someone. And somehow I’m still talking. “Really? You’re gonna get that one expendable ‘friend’ to do your dirty work?” I then begin to cautiously move to the destination, looking to the carnotaurus to plead out of earshot. “He literally called you ‘fatass’, c’mon man, friends don’t do that.” I could kinda guess what the deal was, the carnotaurus that sort of kid who was complicit because of his lack of real social life, probably withstanding the verbal abuse because it was the only group he knew… My words seemed to briefly resonate with the bigger dinosaur, hanging his head down to shake it as if ashamed before another command rang out, laughter threatening to break out of the giganotosaurus’s voice. “Hey, grab him and put him in the trash can!” The carnotaurus turns to me, murmuring a ‘Sorry’ as he steps forward. Well, so was I. Because I had arrived where I was aiming for. The corner. I stand there as the carnotaurus’s giant snout bumps against the edges, his stumps for arms stretching out to try to grab me. Yet I am entirely out of reach due to the angle, standing there with a blank expression on my face as I peer past the carnotaurus’s struggling form, Worden having disappeared while Doe looked on with worry. Olivia on the other hand, looked ready to burst out into laughter at the sight, and admittedly, I was close to as well. Who would win? A deadly 200-pound carnotaurus. Or- The fucking corner. “What the hell are you doing, Fatass?!” The angered yell of the giganotosaurus broke me away from my thoughts, the carnotaurus and my eyes blinking at one another as we both looked to the source. “I-I can’t reach him.” “Then use your teeth!” That seemed to be the final straw, the carnotaurus turning away from the corner as scowl grew on his snout. “What?!” I step away from the corner, looking between the two students. “My parents told me it's super dangerous to bite someone!” Had to say, I had a lot more respect for the carnotaurus now, the pudgy carnivore standing up for himself. “So I’m not doing that, Jeremy!” The bully giganotosaurus, now revealed to be Jeremy, looks taken aback before his snout curves into a snarl. “Raptor Jesus, how much of a big fucking baby are you? Listening to your mama and pa-” “So he has to listen to you?” I finally speak out, ditching the corner to stand beside the carnotaurus. “Better he has them to listen to than your fatherless tail.” A second later… Silence. And at that moment… I knew I had fucked up, absolutely fucked up. Because the look Jeremy gave me wasn’t that of anger or annoyance… but just pure primal fury, like he had regressed back to a feral state and was now ready to snack on a little compsognathus that had wandered way too close to his maw. He charged, right over the table, knocking a few chairs over as his snout opened, poised to strike, Doe screaming as Olivia’s eyes widened, her snout opening to call out my name. I remembered saying how I wouldn’t be scared… how this was nothing. So that was a fucking lie. But who could blame me? A charging and enraged male giganotosaurus was a pants-browning experience to the extreme, and all I could do was raise my scrawny claws and balling them into fists, preparing myself to fight for my life. Except… The pudgy carnotaurus had gotten in the way and caught Jeremy by the chest between his horns, the air getting knocked from the bully’s lungs before he was knocked back, falling to the floor. I blink before seeing Olivia stand in front of me, two colored pencils held in her claws reverse gripped style as if ready to acrobatically dissect my attacker. Who the fuck taught her that? Jeremy slowly stands back up, looking at me and my two sudden bodyguards. I could already see the post. >tfw together we’re big. But even so, Jeremy looked ready to charge again, this time focused on the defending carnotaurus before a very manly voice called out in anger. “What the hell’s going on here!?” We all look to see Mrs. Prodryas returning with Worden, claws on her hips as she scowled. “Tell me who’s defending themselves and who started it! I ain’t doing this ‘you all get punished’ bullcrap.” Immediately, almost all claws point toward Jeremy, Mrs. Prodryas approaching to haul him up by the elbow. “Alright, Mister! To the principal’s office with ya!” Jeremy looked shocked for a moment… before it turned to horror… And for some reason, even if I barely knew anything about Jeremy except that he was a piece of shit bully… I could sort of imagine why. After all, someone didn’t just rise out of bed and decide to be an asshole. There was always a reason. … And I recalled the words of someone… someone who would have wanted me to step in and at least say something. “Hey-” I step forward before Mrs. Prodryas took him away, “-Jeremy.” Jeremy turned his head to me, his snout tightening with an angered glare as if expecting the next insult now that he was thoroughly caught and unable to physically retaliate. But that never came. “I’m sorry.” His eyes blink, Mrs. Prodryas’s too. “Although you were being a total dick…” I grumbled, “And that you tried to bite my ass-” I shook my head, “You didn’t deserve what I said to you. I don’t think anyone does…” There was a pause for a moment as if Jeremy was trying to analyze the sincerity before looking torn. He then turned away, eyes peering down as if in contemplation, not really accepting my apology… but not rejecting it either. I’m suddenly conscious of Mrs. Prodryas peering at me. “Not bad kid.” She smiles, “Not even a lot of adults can do what you just did and admit any wrongdoing, especially to a bully.” The teacher then frowned, “But we’re gonna have a talk tomorrow after class about your use of language.” Ah, crap. Oh well. Jeremy and Mrs. Prodryas leave as I turn to everyone else. And everyone clapped. Or would’ve If this was some movie or a cringy Reddit post. But no, the dinos watching simply went back to their business, Olivia only now lowering her guard as Worden and Doe approached. “That was so scary!” Cried Doe, her eyes wet with tears. “Yeah…” I actually agree, “That was.” I then look to Worden, “Good thing you got Mrs. P here in time.” Worden shakily nodded as I noticed the carnotaurus from before, finding the nearby vending machines a lot more interesting all of a sudden, clearly embarrassed for his conduct before. But really, it was what he had done after that had mattered. “Hey.” I call to get his attention, “Thanks a lot. You saved my tail.” He slowly nodded before tilting his big head ever so slightly. “Are you seriously a first grader?” To that, I simply nod, noticing the rest of the carnotaurus’s friend approach. “Hey, Billy… you wanna play some soccer out on the field?” Billy, the carnotaurus, scowled. “With you guys, seriously?! You guys have literally been calling me Fatass for the entire year just because Jeremy started doing it!” “...” They peer down, “S-Sorry…” He seems to consider their apology for a moment before crossing his arms, or really touching his claws together with how tiny and far apart they were. “... Fine, I’ll consider it… if you buy me one diet soda for a month.” “Deal.” They move off, a smile growing on my snout. I felt I had resolved that situation perfectly… but there was still one last dino who had wanted to ask me something, noticing Olivia’s inquisitive gaze upon me. “... Why?” I tilt my head. “Why what?” Olivia’s snout tightens as if looking for the right words before speaking up again. “Jeremy was the mean one… but you were nice to him in the end…” Her eyes blink, peering into mine, “Why?” I pause for a moment, considering how in a normal situation, how easy it would have been to just label someone as a lost cause, to never try to understand them or put yourself in their shoes for a single moment. Because that was difficult, more than difficult… After all, no one can live two lives when one is already hard enough. “It’s not even about being nice… just being understanding.” I murmur. I then repeat the words spoken to me long ago… by a certain principal Neanderthal that had now truly resonated with me. “Because I am not the only dino in this world.” Olivia blinked, as did Doe and Worden. “Everyone’s fighting their own battles.” It feels like I dropped a bombshell of emotional growth upon everyone, their young perception expanded to a new and incredible idea. Well, that’s what I liked to think. In truth, my moment didn’t even last 5 seconds before the school bell suddenly rang, indicating the end of lunchtime. And our food was still mostly uneaten, our eyes widening at that fact. “Oh crap.” Worden cussed before the three of us rushed to the table, spending the next 15 milliseconds stuffing our snouts with our lunches. But even so, I had a good feeling as I struggled to swallow down a half-chewed sandwich… A feeling that the rest of the elementary school was going to be different for me this time around, and a lot better. I peer to see Olivia actually scribbling despite our rush to leave, sandwich nestled in the edges of her snout as her cheeks remain full. I managed to catch the bare glimpse of her drawing alongside many other doodles, the one she currently working on revealed to be of Billy, squaring off against the corner of the wall, the inanimate location somehow having grown arms and legs to assume a boxing stance. And beneath it, was the statement… ‘Fighting their own battles’. Eh, close enough. [NOTES] The next chapter will be a time skip, a lot of snippets of Anon and the group growing... with a big surprise at the end. Can't wait to write it!