It was the first day at school, and everyone was gathered outside waiting for the bell to ring, when, Sabrina, a mutant Usul walked onto the grounds of her new school. She staightned the cute black bows around her ears, and put her best smile on her face as she walked among her new classmates. She wanted to make a good impression, and meet a lot of new friends. She was very friendly, smart and out-going.

She noticed a lot of pets turned their heads away as she walked past, but up on the stairs that led into the school, she noticed a Peophin, Uni, and another Usul were looking right at her. Maybe they would like to be friends, she though pleasantly, and went up to introduce herself.

"Ech! WHY is SHE walking towards US?" the Peophin sneered.

"Gross! What if she has like, diseases and stuff?" the Uni said, abhorred.

Sabrina stepped forward to Laura, and held out her hand. "Hi! My name is Sabrina. What's yours?"

Laura looked at Sabrina's hand as if she was holding a rotting fish. "Eww! Get away from us you filthy FREAK!" she yelled at the mutant Usul. "Come on girls, it's not so pleasant out here anymore, let's go inside." They all turned their noses up at Sabrina and walked into the school building.

Sabrina stood there, utterly shocked, and felt tears welling up in all three of her eyes. The school bell rang, and the other pets rushed past her to get to class. Sabrina sadly noticed though, that they gave her a wide berth on the stairs, as if she would infect them if they accidentally brushed against her.

The mutant Usul sadly hung her head as she entered the school and headed for her first class.

As Sabrina stepped into the classroom heads turned her direction and then quickly snapped a way again. Sabrina noticed the Peophin, Uni, and Usul that had picked on her earlier were there.

"Ewww! Look who's here! Maybe Miss Denton ordered her so we could do a study on mutants or something," Laura sneered. Everyone in the classroom laughed, except a small Lupe sitting in the very back row. She was a vivid blue with white paws. She looked sympathetic to Sabrina.

"Well, hello!" Miss Denton had arrived. She was a very young yellow Eyrie. "You must be Sabrina! Why don't you go and sit in the back next to Sheena?" She indicated to the blue Lupe in the back. Sabrina noticed that the teacher was careful to keep her distance.

With her head hung low, Sabrina walked to the back. As she walked by Cassie whispered, "Like, I think you've got the wrong place! The Freak Show is two streets over!" Laura and Tisha sniggered loudly.

Tears filling all three eyes, Sabrina sat down beside Shena and opened her science book.

"Don't pay attention to those three, they're just stuck up snobs!" Sheena had leaned over to tell Sabrina. "I wouldn't take it personally, in fact, in my opinion, they pick on others just to make themselves feel better."

"How come you don't act afraid of me?" Sabrina asked. "Why aren't you squealing and scooting away from me as if I was diseased or something?"

"Because I don't judge people for their looks! It's not your fault you are the way you are!" the Lupe replied.

"Your name is Sheena right?" Sabrina asked, smiling.

"Yes, that's right!"

"Well, thanks Sheena," Sabrina said...

Sabrina wiped a paw across her eyes and sniffed. "Really?" she managed to croak. "I'd think someone like you would be accepted immediately! You're so... so... normal."

Sheena scoffed. "Right. Tell that to 'Miss Priss' and company over there!" she motioned to Laura and her friends who were sniggering, and not-very-discreetly shooting nasty glances at the pair. "Whatever, just don't act mad around them, that's what they want. If you steer clear of them for the rest of the year, you'll have a pretty decent time here..."

"Yeah..." Sabrina trailed off with a phony smile. She doubted she'd fit in, since everyone in the classroom was making fun of her. She watched sadly as a fire Meerca cut out three circles and stuck them to his glasses, imitating her.

"Don't worry about them," Sheena pressed again. "Really. They aren't worth it."

Sabrina wished she could believe her.

At lunchtime, Sabrina followed her new friend into the cafeteria, trailing back a bit again when she noticed that the room had gone silent, and all eyes were locked on her. After she got her lunch, Sheena led her to an empty table.

"No one sits here except for me," Sheena responded to Sabrina's gaze. "We won't be bothered," she said, taking an enormous bite out of her sandwich and leaning back against her chair.

Sabrina did the same, all the while glancing around her furiously, trying to fight off all the unwanted stares. Suddenly, her glare landed on a group of popular guys. She noticed, with surprise, that the main one was a mutant Lupe. He was sneering and laughing along with his pals.

"How did he become so popular?" she asked Sheena. "He doesn't look so dandy himself!"

"That's Kyle FourClaws, the most popular pet at this school," Sheena replied. "Personally, I think he put a spell on everyone to make him seem cool. Don't let him distract you."

But Sabrina couldn't tear her eyes away. Why was she such an outcast, when she wasn't the only mutant pet...

Sabrina quickly looked down at her plate. Oh no. He had noticed.

Kyle swaggered over to the table with his friends behind, glaring at the mutant Usul. He stopped a distance away, as if not wanting to come too near. The snobbish trio from class before had walked up to join the "fun" too, the smirks on their oh-so-pretty faces reflecting their far-from-pretty hearts.

"That omelette of yours looks nice," Sheena commented.

Sabrina looked up. Sheena gave her a reassuring smile. Sabrina gave a little smile back, a warm feeling inside. It was a good thing that Sheena was around.

"Oh.. so the runt is here too?" Kyle sneered, jerking his thumb at Sheena. "How are you doing down there?"

Laughter erupted from the group, as if a hilarious joke had just been cracked.

Sheena made no acknowledgement of his presence, taking another bite from her sandwich.

"Oh you're so funny, Kyle," Laura giggled as she slid to his side and nudged him flirtingly.

Kyle gave her a rough push away as he turned his attention towards Sabrina. "And you..."

Sabrina stared at her plate, trying to act normal like Sheena had successfully been doing.

"... my pretty, were you admiring me just now?"

Mouths dropped open in shock as Kyle's friends stared at him. Even Sheena looked up from her sandwich to stare at Kyle. "I don't believe this..." Laura muttered, looking faint.

Sabrina blinked in disbelief. It was far from anything she had expected...

Kyle lowered his face so that he could whisper in her ear. "Meet me tonight, behind the school," he said.

Sabrina's draw dropped, but she couldn't find the right words. She knew she should giggle like Laura, but instead she just gaped, managing half a crooked smile. "Sure?"

Kyle winked and flicked his tail. His entourage looked horrified, but they followed hastily after him, glad to be away from the ugly mutant and her castaway friend.

When everyone was safely out of earshot, Sabrina turned to watch Sheena, who was placidly eating her food as if nothing had happened.

"I wouldn't go if I were you," she said, taking a swig of her milk. "That guy's a real jerk."

Sabrina felt her anger welling up inside of her. Absently she yanked on her black bows, a war of conflicting emotions chasing their way across her features. "But, he likes me. He doesn't care what I look like. How can he be a jerk?"

Sheena smiled sadly. "Honey, most people don't care what you look like. These guys," she said waving her paw dismissively, "they're losers. And you shouldn't hang out with them, or any of their friends."

Sabrina snarled. "You're just jealous."

Sheena looked as if she had been slapped in the face. "Jealous? Why would I want some slobbering idiot like Kyle?"

Sabrina stood up, spilling her omelette all over the floor. "You know what, Sheena? You're just like them!" she cried and then stalked away down the cafeteria.

She'll see, Sabrina thought savagely. Once Kyle and I become great friends, she'll see that she's all wrong, and come crawling back!...

The mutant Usul turned to look at Sheena and as she did, all three eyes turned to slits.

"You're not my friend!" she hissed. "You're lying to me! Trying to keep me from being popular, just so you'll have someone to hang out with! Leave me alone!"

Sheena looked back at Sabrina, eyes widened. They began to fill up with tears, as her lips quivered. She jumped out of her seat, and wiping her teary eyes, ran from the room. Sabrina scanned the room. Every single pupil in the cafeteria were whispering and sniggering.

Sabrina remained aloof. "She's jealous! I knew it! That scheming girl. I'll show her!"

As the school day was drawing to a close, Sabrina could feel her stomach turning upside down. She had never met a boy before. Especially not in secret. As she walked home to get ready for her meeting with Kyle, Sabrina bumped into Sheena.

"Hmph! Get away from me!" snapped Sabrina before continuing on her journey home.

"Wait!" shouted the little blue Lupe. "Wait, please... it's a trap! Believe me, they've done it before! It's a trap!"

Still, the mutant Usul wouldn't listen. She finally reached the front door of her house. Now all she had to do was get changed.

It was a dark and somewhat chilly night, and as she walked to her destination, Sabrina could see her warm breath rising as steam in front of her. Before she knew it she had reached the backyard of the school.

"Where could he be?" Sabrina whispered to herself. "He could be anywhere here."

Just then Sabrina could hear footsteps; but they weren't from a lone person. This was a group. Suddenly, her heart leapt as she heard a familiar voice. It was Laura, and she could hear every word.

"Do you think she's coming Kyle?" she asked.

"Of course she is! Just give it a couple of minutes," the mutant Lupe responded.

"Have you set the trap?" Laura giggled.

"Yes it's all set. All we have to do now is wait for that ugly mutant to arrive," he laughed.

Sabrina couldn't believe her ears. Was this just a nightmare? She pinched herself on the arm, only to find it real. Suddenly her heart lurched. Sheena was right. How could she possibly make it up to her now? Her eyes watered as she thought and thought.

"I've just been tricked by possibly the most evil kids in the school, and now I've just lost my one true friend! What am I going to do?" she sobbed...

"Hey ugly! Is that a mask or did you get run over by a Tonu?" laughed Laura.

"C'mon girls! She's not so bad, now is she? I kinda like her!" Kyle said sarcastically as the three fell over with laughter.

"I guess we should get this over with!" said the Mutant Lupe as he tried to keep a straight face.

"Let's get her!" yelled Cassie as the four made a jump for her.

Sabrina managed to get out of their grasp as she ran for the gate. Kyle was up on his feet before the girls and raced at the poor Usul. Before Sabrina knew what was happening, the Lupe was upon her like lightning. He pinned her down and waited for Laura and her friends to get up. They strutted over to the helpless Usul smiling like they had won the lottery.

"Kyle, why are you doing this to me? You're a mutant, too! I just don't get it..." Sabrina gasped.

The Lupe looked like he had gotten hit with a ton of bricks, and he backed off like a puppy. Laura and her friends looked at Sabrina weirdly.

"What are you talking about? Kyle's the most handsome Blue Lupe I've ever seen!" said Laura, looking at Kyle.

"Yeah! Are you blind? I thought an Usul with three eyes could see better than that!" added Tisha.

Sabrina was as confused as they were. From what she could see, Kyle FourClaws was a mutant, but how come the others couldn't see it?

Suddenly, there was a flash of blue and Sheena was there in front Sabrina. She bared her teeth and growled. "That's your Mutant Lupe!" screamed Laura as he friends high-tailed it out of the school yard. Only Kyle was left on the ground, shivering.

Sabrina looked from the mutant on the ground to the blue Lupe right next to her. She tapped her foot, waiting for an explanation.

"Umm...Sabrina? Did I ever tell you that my last name is FourClaws also?"

"Kyle is you brother? How come the girls said that you were a mutant? How come they can't see that Kyle is a mutant? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" questioned Sabrina, who was extremly confused.

Sheena took a breath. "Well, you see, Kyle always suffered socially because he was a mutant, and I always thought it was unfair, so before we started at this school, I agreed to help him," she explained.

"We asked Edna to create a spell that would make others see us with our sibling's color," added Kyle as he slowly got up to sit next to his sister. "I guess... becoming popular all of the sudden... it just went to my head."

"How come I see you how you really are then?"

"I'm not sure, maybe because you're a mutant, and can't be fooled by the spell?" concluded Sheena. She then turned and glared at her brother. "Now WHAT are we going to do with you?"...

"Sabrina," Sheena sighed, "Have you learned nothing from my brother? Vanity is ugly; do you want to be like Laura and the others?"

"Well, no, but we could work up a temporary spell that would let people see them for how they really are. I bet they wouldn't be so popular after that. And we have to go see Edna to reverse your spell anyway," Sabrina reminded her friend.

"Hey, we don't have to reverse the spell," protested Kyle.

"Oh yes we do Kyle!" Sheena screeched. "After the way you treated your own sister, and my friend? I am not going to be doing you any favors any time soon!"

"Sheena, come on, please?" whined Kyle.

"NO!" Sheena replied firmly and the trio set off to the Haunted Woods.

Walking through the Haunted Woods was kind of scary, but Sabrina and Sheena really believed in their mission, and that powered their courage.

Once they got to Edna's place, she demanded three items from them, prior to granting their request. She wanted a pair of Quiggle scissors, a Kyrii cracker and an almost gummy rat (grape flavored). It was very lucky that, between the three of them, all items were accounted for, and they walked away with a potion that looked icky but was going to do lovely things for them. Well, at least two of them. Poor Kyle was still protesting getting his own looks back...

They hurried back to school, where Sheena and Sabrina carefully spread the goop on the doorknobs of the school, as well as the combination dials for the lockers. Tomorrow morning, everyone in the school would transform into what their inner selves reflected for a period of 24 hours.

"Let's see who's really the 'beautiful' ones at this school!" the two girls giggled. Kyle just sighed sadly.

The next morning...

As she arrived on the playground, Sheena bounded up to her, flourishing her shining deep blue fur. Her brother, Kyle, was the only one sulking alone in a corner, his mutant appearance returned.

Sheena giggled and said, "Take a look at Laura and company."

Laura's three yellow eyes blinked massively, a tear welling up in each one. A Quiggle stared at her.

"What do you want?" she snapped through her sobs, and then turned pitifully to face her friends, who were, oddly enough, normal colors of blue and yellow.

"Sorry, Laura, but... we don't hang out with losers." began the Uni.

"And we thought what you did to Sabrina was pretty loser-ly. It really had no class," finished Tisha.

"We only went along with it because, uh... why was that again?" asked Cassie.

"Because without you, we thought we weren't anybody. But we are, and we don't need you anymore. We're going to get real friends- whatever they may look like on the outside. Later..." the Peophin said, and they both ran up to Sabrina and Sheena.

"Did you hear that speech?" asked Cassie.

"Yeah," said Sabrina.

"We really are sorry. I mean, things went way to far..."

"The first snigger was way to far," Sheena pointed out. The other two hung their heads.

"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, don't we have science together? Like, do you want to sit at the same lab table?"

"Love to," Sheena and Sabrina said in unison. Sabrina's silvery laugh rang out over the playground as she and her new friends raced to class, leaving Laura to drag herself inside late, her face burning with shame.

The End