After gathering themselves, the pair head out to school for their respective 10am classes but not while trying to figure out how to handle themselves in public.
"Do you feel anything before your urges take over?" Isabelle asks while taking out a notebook and pen from her backpack.
"Well, it's like a warmth kind of swells in my chest when I look in your eyes," Alex confesses, adjusting in his seat on the city bus. "I get all tingly as if I'll explode if I don't touch you."
"What color are my eyes when you look at them?"
"What?"
Isabelle faces Alex and looks straight at him. Scared of something taking over him, Alex immediately shoots his head down.
"I don't think it's safe to do that here," Alex whispers, squeezing his eyes shut. "That feeling might take over me again if I look at you."
"It won't happen," Isabelle assures. "At least not here."
"How do you know that?"
Isabelle slips her hand under Alex's chin and raises his head so that she can see his face. Alex's eyes are still sealed shut as if an animal will come out if he opens them.
"Because I can feel it. My eyes… they get all blurry right before I become… the other me…"
Trusting his best friend, Alex slowly opens his eyes and meets Isabelle's gaze. A sense of relief comes over him as he realizes that he can look at his friend without any primal urge.
"Your black eyes shine like pure obsidian," Alex mutters before realizing what he says. A red flush washes over his face as he blushes. "I.. I'm sorry… I don't know where that came from… I just…"
Isabelle laughs to herself with a joy that she hasn't felt all morning. "You're adorable," she manages to get out. "They do say that obsidian stones bring out the truth in people." With a cute smile with a bit of a subconscious seductive gaze, Isabelle whispers, "I guess your animal instincts make you a bit more honest."
"Stop it," Alex whines as he covers his face. "Aren't we supposed to be figuring out what to do when we get to school?"
Collecting herself, Isabelle goes back to her notebook and jots something down. "My eyes shine purple when my goddess powers activate," she admits when she finishes writing. "I don't know if it reacts to you or the animal inside you or if I'm able to control it myself, so I have to practice on it."
Alex freezes and turns to Isabelle with wide eyes. "Practice on it?... You don't mean…"
"Looks like we'll have to have some more sleep overs," Isabelle teases as she nudges her best friend, knocking him over in his seat and onto the floor. "Alex!"
Unable to move, Alex continues to mutter, "Practice? Me and Isa? More than once? This can't be happening."
"Alex!" Isabelle shouts while struggling to pick up her friend off of the floor.
"What's going on back there?!" the bus driver questions from the front of the bus.
Awkwardly laughing, Isabelle waves her hand. "Nothing! My friend just lost his balance and fell over!"
She vigorously shakes the dazed man on the floor and whacks the back of his head. "Alex, I swear to god, if you don't get up right now, I will kiss you."
As if by pure fear of what might happen if she kisses him, Alex jumps up which surprises Isabelle. He begins to take his seat when the bus makes a sudden stop to let someone on, causing him to have to catch himself between the chairs. This leads him in an awkward position on top of Isabelle.
With her eyes starting to get blurry, she quickly pushes Alex from over and fixes herself in her chair. "Hurry and sit down," she commands while looking out the window.
Obeying her words, Alex quietly sits down. Silently, he reaches for Isabelle's hand that rests on top of her backpack. "Will you praise me, my goddess? I did what you said."
Isabelle tries to fight it while still allowing Alex to hold her hand. "Stay still and quiet, and I'll think about it."
Alex's eyes plead for praise. "If I do that, will you promise to praise me instead of thinking about it?"
With blood dripping from her lip, Isabelle continues to bite her lip in order to keep herself calm and in check. Realizing that the next stop is the one that they have to get off at, she finally looks Alex's way.
"I promise."
With a smile of pure ecstasy, Alex kisses Isabelle's hand. He reaches over her to press the call bell next to her to inform the bus driver to stop at the next stop. A moment later, the bus stops and opens the door. "Shall we?" he asks with an offered hand.
Taking her little piggy's hand, Isabelle walks behind Alex. "Go to Lab 3 in the Science Hall," she commands as soon as they make it onto school grounds.
"Yes, my goddess," is all that comes out of Alex's mouth the rest of the trip.
Once they enter the empty lab, Alex nearly pounces on Isabelle, but she stops him. She gazes up at her best friend who is consumed by his desires. The sweat that formed on his forehead drips onto her neck and slips down her chest.
"Sit on the table," she orders as she points at a nearby lab table.
As ordered, the pig hops up onto the table. The goddess stares at her animal as if examining him. She then smiles before grabbing his shirt collar and pulling his face closer to her. Excited, the pig can't help but reach for his goddess, but she smacks his hand away.
"Did I say to move?"
"No, my goddess."
Lightly, she kisses her pig before swiftly headbutting him.
"Ow! What the fuck?!" Alex screams as he topples over the table.
Rubbing her forehead, Isabelle whimpers from the pain. "Shit, that hurt a lot more than I thought."
"What was that for?!" Alex questions after he manages to stand back up. "I did what you asked."
"I had to get us out of that predicament," the returning student answers. "I was still somewhat in control of myself due to biting the shit out of my lip earlier, but it seems that the goddess powers are still really strong."
"And headbutting was the only way to get us out??"
Isabelle leans over and grabs her bag to get the notebook out. "Were you conscious of what you were doing?" she asks, still rubbing her forehead.
A bit annoyed, Alex walks over to Isabelle, grabs her by her shirt, and kisses her. Stunned, Isabelle doesn't push him off, seeing as this is probably his revenge for what happened earlier.
After getting his fill, his beet red face stares straight down at the understanding friend. "Of course, I was conscious of what I was doing!" he exclaims. "But for some reason, I can't stop myself. Part of me is trying to reason with myself saying that you're my best friend… That I shouldn't be doing this."
He releases Isabelle and paces around. "But the other part… it's like everything in me is screaming 'If I do what she says, I can get praised', and I get all sweaty and hot and excited. It's like I'm some fucking pig." Hearing himself, Alex abruptly stops pacing and darts a look at Isabelle. "Am I… the pig?...."
Quietly, Isabelle nods her head. She sets down the notebook and slowly walks over to the distraught man. "You are the Zodiac Pig. You are compassionate, generous, and diligent, but also naive. You'll do whatever I say not only because you know it'll make me happy but also because you'll get praise which is your deepest desire."
Alex opens his mouth to say something, but a sudden sharp pain stabs at his shoulder. "What the fuck?!" he grumbles through his gritted teeth. "Why does my shoulder hurt?!" The pain, almost too excruciating, knocks him down onto his knees as if to make him grovel at Isabelle's feet.
"Alex! Lift up your sleeve!" Isabelle shouts, reaching for his shirt. "Show me where it hurts!"
The pained friend raises his sleeve, but he screams as if his skin is peeling off with it. With help from Isabelle, Alex manages to roll his sleeve over his shoulder revealing what looks to be a tattoo of a pig. "What… what is this?" he cries through the stinging pain.
"I think that since you figured out which animal you were, it etched itself onto you."
"Well, no shit. I think I can see that." Wide eyed at what he just said, Alex lets out a long sigh and covers his face. "I'm sorry," he immediately says before wiping the sweat off of his face from enduring the pain. "I know you probably don't have the answers to what's happening either, and you're just trying to help. My pain and frustration answered before I could."
Patting the top of his head, Isabelle kisses his forehead. "I appreciate the quick realization. Like you said, I don't have answers; however, we have each other. We'll figure this out together before I meet any of the other animals."
"And how will you know you won't run into any of the animals before then?" Alex laughs as he stands up.
"Well, we'll just have to hope I don't; otherwise, I won't know how to control them," she giggles, gathering her belongings. "In the meantime, I have to go. I still got a few minutes before I'm late to class, so I'll see you later for lunch. Same place?"
"Same place," Alex answers, waving his best friend off.
As he watches her disappear from view, a thought crosses his mind. "Will I have to share her with eleven other guys?... I don't want to…"
Realizing that his animal thoughts are becoming his actual thoughts, Alex quickly splashes his face with some cold water from the lab sink and grabs his bag. "I must be going crazy."
—
Barely making it on time, Isabelle takes her seat in the small auditorium. She sets up her area with a notepad, a pen, and a few highlighters. However, as she is finishing preparing, her eyes become blurry.
Panicked, she quickly looks around trying to find who it might be, but she doesn't see anyone reacting. Now, she becomes incredibly worried, so she searches her bag for her phone.
At the same time, the professor walks into the room. "Alright, everyone! I'm assuming that you read the assignment regarding project management and answered the study guide. We'll be going over the study guide to make sure that you are on the right path to success for the end of the year exam."
"Who is it?" Isabelle whispers to herself while now stealthily scanning the room. "It's normally pretty instant with Alex, so why hasn't anyone reacted yet?"
"Isabelle Meng?" the professor calls out. Not hearing an answer but seeing a distracted student, he loudly clears his throat. "Isabelle Meng? Are you in the room with us?"
The other students hushly giggle as Isabelle is still too distracted to answer. Annoyed, the professor makes his way to the inattentive student. Once right next to her, he squats down and taps her shoulders.
Isabelle finally snaps out of her thoughts and shrieks when she finds the professor next to her. "Professor Atkinsons?!" she shouts while falling out of her seat.
The professor catches Isabelle before she completely falls and pulls her back into her seat. "If you can find some time between your daydreaming, I need to see you in my office. You've been scouted by some companies, so I have to discuss them with you. Do you happen to be free after class?"
Excited at the thought of having a job right after college, all of Isabelle's embarrassment flies right over her head. "Yes! Of course! I definitely have time!" she swiftly acknowledges, staring up at her teacher with eyes of anticipation.
An exasperated sigh leaves the professor's mouth as he shakes his head. "Good. Then I'll be-" Professor Atkinson stops midsentence when he finally looks at Isabelle. The purple hue captures him partly, and he tightly grabs onto Isabelle's shoulder that he was already holding.
Oh no… Isabelle complains to herself as soon as she feels the tightness on her shoulder. I think I might be fucked…