Elle's P.O.V.

       BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The annoying sound of my watch crept into my ears as I slowly woke up. "Ugh..." I rubbed my eyes and yawned. "What time is it?" I asked aloud to no one. Squinting down at my wrist, I checked the time. 9:26 am. I groaned as I got up and walked into my bathroom. Looking back at me was a poofy-haired violet Werehog with sleepy, hazel-colored eyes with dark bags underneath them, wearing an oversized black T-shirt as a nightgown. "Welp...morning, sunshine," I muttered as I grabbed my hairbrush and gently ran it through my wavy, tangled quills to tame the wild mess they had become overnight.

           I needed to get ready since today was meant to be exciting. It was Sarah's day off! Also, Ari was coming over to visit, which I was looking forward to since I could meet my internet friend in person and also learn about what planet she lived on. Afterward, I slipped on dark worn-out jeans ripped at the scruffs of the pant legs, my black fingerless gloves, a light grey "Spagonia University" shirt, simplistic studs, a necklace with my biological parents' rings on it, and a moonstone pendant, and my red jean jacket. I looked at myself in the mirror and tried to smile. It was something new I was trying to raise my self-esteem. So far, the progress was...slow, to say the least. 'Eh, could use some work. Definitely need to stop writing essays in the middle of the night. Also, need to brush my teeth, jeez.'

        I shook my head. 'No, no, I'm supposed to be thinking positive things...Oh, what if I styled my quills this way?' I moved them over to the left to show off my "icy lavender" colored birthmark. Once I was done, I saw myself genuinely smiling. 'Kinda cool how I have white hair like Anna from Frozen. I'm the OG Anna.' Suddenly, I heard a *DING*.

        That caused me to panic once I found out I didn't have my phone on me. 'ACK! What if it's Sarah? Or Ari?! I quickly searched my bedroom to find it. When I finally found it, I checked to see the notification. I felt my cheeks grow warm as I read Gold's text message at the top of my screen. "R u up?" I rolled my eyes and typed, "Depends. Who's asking?" The rest of our conversation went as normal as it could get for us. Honestly, I thought he was flirting with me a bit.

Gold: A hedgehog desperate for attention ;)

Elle: L.o.l okay, goober. How are ya doing? ^^

Gold: Doing okay. Been a little busy.

Elle: I wonder why...( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Anyhoo, I gtg! Other people require my attention for today.

Gold: Daw, okay. See you when you're free. Buh bye!

Elle: Cya!

        I felt guilty about abruptly ending the conversation like that... But I needed to get ready. I brushed my teeth and took another look in the mirror before I decided I dressed well enough to where I didn't look like I slapped some clothes on and called it a day. When I left my dorm room, I checked the time on my watch. "Ah, cheese whiz, I'm gonna be late!" I started sprinting out of the university when someone yelled, "Run, Forest, run!" after me. I got comments like that often, so I shrugged it off like I usually did.

        As I ran through the streets, I could feel people staring at me. It was most likely because it wasn't every day you saw a short, purple, fluffy, panicky Werehog running through the streets muttering, "I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late, crap, crap, crap-" over and over again. It must have been a sight to see for the tourists.

         Luckily, I knew my way around due to living in Spagonia since I was about four and a half to five years old. I remembered what happened before I arrived at Spagonia University, where Professor Pickle found me, but I didn't like talking about it. Adults often asked if I was an orphan. Technically, yeah: I was. Both my biological parents passed away in a car accident. That's all I knew about them besides the wedding rings retrieved from the wreck.

        Everything else...was none of their business. Not like they asked anyway. No one really did, and no one seemed to care unless they were, I dunno, making small talk? I wouldn't count it as that. "Hey, how did you reach Spagonia anyway?", "Whatever happened to your parents?" or "Why do you always cover your arms?" were questions my classmates would ask but then...whenever I told them the answer, they just ignored me. Like my answer didn't matter. Like they didn't want to know. Sometimes they would sneer at me. "No one cares." But...someone did. Someone did care what I had to say. "No one likes you." Well...I could see why someone didn't, but at the same time, why? What did I do to cause that person to not like me? Did I say something wrong? These were all questions I would ask myself. Was it because I was neurodivergent and autistic? Not 'normal'?

        I felt I stood out like a sore thumb and was bullied for it. It felt like people constantly stared at me. "Teacher's pet...Why are you such a suck-up?" "Why aren't you normal?" Whenever I would have meltdowns or react a certain way, "What is the matter with her?" would be their go-to question. Never a "Are you okay? What's wrong?" or "Hey, do you need help?"

       I felt my eyes tear up as I thought about what others had said negatively about me. It hurt. 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.' Well, I found that hard to believe. I had been trying to think more positively, yet my mind wandered back to the past. I struggled to get out of that negative mindset and slowly started to get out of that habit of being pessimistic.

        Whenever I met others for the first time, I always hid behind a mask. Not a literal one, of course, but...It might as well have been one. I wanted to show that I cared and wouldn't bully you for being different...Someone...who I both wanted to be and who I wanted to be friends with, but making friends with people my age was so difficult...I lived in a university for the entirety of my life, and wouldn't you know, many people I met were not in my age group, but at least they were kind enough to help me with something.

        People sixteen or somewhere close to my age were a lot of the time jerks. The majority of the time, they were the ones who harassed me for being me or for a reason I didn't know why. I didn't understand why that was. Eventually, I grew tired of listening to insults and snide comments, so...I went on the Internet. I searched around and managed to meet Ari, who I was meeting up with later, and Gold, who was one of my best friends despite being online. Ari could be sarcastic and caring in her own way, and I adored her for that. Gold, on the other hand...It felt surreal having someone be as kind to me as he was. He always stayed by my side and comforted me on my rough days. Sure, the Professor would do the same, but...having Gold nearby helped me exponentially. 'Maybe it's a superpower of his.' I chuckled at this as I slowed down. I had been so deep in thought I hadn't realized I had reached the airport.

        I rubbed my eyes and blinked, trying to rid my weariness as I squinted at the entrance. A light turquoise female hedgehog was casually playing on her phone. She wore a purple crop top, blue shorts, off-white gloves, and red Sonic shoes. I waited a few moments to catch my breath and to see if she would notice that I was staring at her. Due to being a 'Werehog' as Da- I mean Professor Pickle put it, it probably looked a bit creepy... When she finally took notice of me, her face lit up. I was pretty sure mine did as well when I ran over to where she was.

        "Hey, Sarah!" I chirped, smiling at her. "Elle, what took you so long? Were you up to something with Gold again?" Sarah looked at me with suspicion with a hint of mischievousness. "Uh...no?" I crossed my arms and stuck my tongue out at her, successfully resisting the urge to tell her. I knew very well that she would tease me relentlessly if I told her. She was like my big sis since I didn't have siblings. However, before she could say anything else, a foreign mobian walked past us, holding a stuffed suitcase and two boxes. 'Thanks for saving me from that!' I thought. For a moment, I believed the Mobian heard my thoughts. She looked directly at me before she turned around, walked over, and greeted us.

        "Hey, guys. How're ya doing? I brought a gift for you two. But since I don't know what you like, I just bought some stuff my friend recommended to me," The strange Mobian spoke as if she recognized us. Sarah and I were frozen at first. Seeing us like that, she quickly introduced herself. "Ah, right," she sighed dejectedly. "It's me, Ari. I look different here because I have to stay in this form so I don't scare other people. Not every day you see a 10-foot creature looking like it's gonna kill you."

          "Ari?! Hey!" I smiled and waved. "No wonder I didn't recognize ya! Your disguise is...Eh, could use some work." I admitted sheepishly, gesturing to her tail. Ari shrugged and tossed the boxes at us. The one I got had a ridiculously fluffy slime plushy; Sarah's had a tiny cube that opened up a portal to wherever she was thinking, which in this case, was the airport. It opened and showed us from behind. That was pretty awesome. I'll admit that I was slightly jealous, but a cuddly plushy was just as awesome. 

                                                                           Sarah's P.O.V.

             I was glad that Elle's online friend wasn't some 60-year-old pedophile. She was actually neat, considering the cool cube she gave me... But something about her seemed off. I figured I'd talk with Elle about it later. As my younger adoptive sister stared at Ari jealously, my phone got a notification. It was the reservation at the new cafe downtown. It was for Sonic, but, unfortunately, he was busy doing what he always does: fighting Eggman. I decided to spend my time there with Elle instead. 'Can't let a reservation go to waste, right?'

          "Hey, Elle. Let's go to the new cafe that just opened up last week. Ari can come along as well," I invited the two teenagers. "Oh, uh, sure, let's go! Ari, you coming?" Elle asked her. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Elle's tail wag when she asked. "Nah, I wanna go into an alleyway and get mugged. But, sure, I got time," Ari replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. I chuckled and called for a cab.

                                                                        Elle's P.O.V.

          We got a cab to take us to the new cafe located next to Restaurant Swa's, where I worked at. It looked cutesy. It had small windows and non-Mobian cats lying around, some near the entrance, others in their designated beds. We sat at one of the tables outside. I ushered a kitty out of where I wanted to sit though I wound up having it nuzzle my hand...Not what I had planned. Once we got situated, the waiter came by and gave us our menus. Sarah and I ordered some drinks while Ari just kinda sat there.

         "Ari, you're not ordering anything?" I asked her, assuming that maybe she didn't do this back on her planet. "No, I just had a boba." She answered, her eyes glued to her phone. "Wait, what? When?" I narrowed my eyes at her; she turned to look at me. "Just now." Suddenly, a boba popped into existence right in her hand. "Well then..." I murmured. Obviously, she was more interested in her phone rather than the new planet she was currently on. I snuck a peek over her shoulder at what she was watching. It turned out that Dr. Eggman had escaped from Sonic like usual. Typical Eggman. That explained why Ari was more focused on her phone.

        Sarah excused herself and left the table to go to the restroom. Ari finally put down her phone. She then asked if Sarah hated her. "Uh...No? Sarah would never hate my friends unless they had done something to deserve it. She wasn't the type of person to "hate" per se," I explained. "Oh." After a while, we started watching videos and sharing memes. While we were doing so, I got a text from Gold. I texted him while Ari was distracted watching more meme skits. The texts he sent made me smirk. I tried to be inconspicuous by covering my face with my hands. I figured I wasn't sneaky enough because I heard these words whispered in my ear: "Hey, Elle, who are ya texting?"