Feather-Cheeks

"Good morning, Feather-Cheeks!"
Xochiki flinched as her paws immediately went up to her face. Wasn't it way too early for Micah to get here? Xochiki had been specifically waking up early in order to slip into the school unnoticed, but today's torment had started before she could even enter the building.
She awkwardly arranged her arms around her head in what she hoped looked like a normal, relaxed pose.
"I was just heading to class early…" She muttered quietly.
"Yeah, I haven't been seeing these in the morning lately," said Micah as she touched the feathers on Xochiki's elbow. Covering the feathers on her face was useless after all.
"Well, I was just going," Xochiki squeaked out in desperation.
She turned tail and ran to school.
Micah stood in the dust, with a crooked grin on her face.
"Funny girl."

Xochiki slinked into the classroom with a miserable look on her face. All she wanted was to be normal but her bright orange feathers, which nobody else in the school had, made this impossible. Not to mention that her name was obviously exotic, and even her teachers messed it up sometimes. It hadn’t even been a month in her new school in a completely new country, and she had already been singled out as an oddity. She hated it.
She began resting her head on the table, carefully placing her pencil bag next to her face, when the door opened wide and a familiar voice rang out.
"Good morning, friends!" Micah announced as she pranced into the room.
She was fairly popular, so many of her classmates returned the greeting. The rest either tried to ignore her or rolled their eyes at the annoyingly loud Viscet.
Xochiki also tried to ignore her, but to her dismay her shoulder jostled as a firm paw gripped it
"Hey, Cheeks! Let's make today a good one too!"
"Y-yeaaah….."

Thankfully Micah didn’t sit near her today. Xochiki tried to listen to her teacher's lecture, but she was distracted from the days earlier events. The teacher's voice droned on as she slyly peered in Micah's direction without moving her head. The popular viscet was writing notes in her spiral. Every once in a while she tore a piece out and passed it to one of the viscets around her. She suddenly turned her head in Xochiki's direction. Xochiki froze in place as her tormentor looked her directly in the eyes, opened her mouth wide and shouted!
"FEATHER-CHEEKS!"
Xochiki's eyes flew open in a panic.
Micah was hovering over her. Most of her classmates were gone, with only a few stragglers messing around near the back. The teacher was nowhere to be seen.
"Wha-" Xochiki stuttered in surprise.
"It's cool, Cheeks! I distracted Teach so he wouldn't notice you fell asleep to his boring voice. Been waking up too early lately?" Micah sniggered.
"I have to get to my next class!" Xochiki was still disoriented and confused. She felt she just had to get out of here.
Micah opened her mouth to say something else, but Xochiki left her in the dust again.

Xochiki didn't know what she'd do if Micah shared more classes with her. Thankfully she only had to see her in the morning class, though occasionally they'd run into each other in the halls. The rest of the day passed without any more horrifying incidents, though as usual other viscets would stare at her just a little too much.
"Hey!"
Xochiki flinched out of habit, but the voice was a familiar one.
"Xochipi!" she gave a tired smile.
"Hey, something wrong sis? You look tired. How are those early morning tutorials working out for you?" Xochipi turned a concerned eye to the bags under his sister's eyes.
"It's okay now, I won't be going any more," Zochiki shook her head, "Let's get out of here."
She followed her older brother on their way home. Xochiki looked enviously at his featherless arms and cheeks and couldn't help but think about how lucky he was.

"Mom?"
Xochiki was washing vegetables while her mom was busy peeling and cutting them.
"Yes, my dear?"
"Do you ever have problems with your feathers?"
Her mother chuckled
"Well, I have to keep them preened or they may begin itching. Are you starting to experience that? I can help-"
"No, not those kinds of problems!" Xochiki retorted louder than she intended.
Her mother tilted her head and waited for her daughter to clarify.
Xochiki sighed and said, "Like, a problem with other viscets thinking they're weird."
Her mother frowned.
"In my clan, feathers were considered very beautiful. They were uncommon, but not as rare as they are in this country. Your father loved my feathers."
Now it was Xochiki's turn to frown.
"It's not that way at school, mom. They're weird! Nobody else has them, and I always get funny looks. Xochipi is lucky to not have feathers like me!"
Xochiki quivered in place. She didn't mean to burst out like that, but she had been holding that in for almost a month.
Her mom looked sadly at her daughter. She knew that moving to a new place was hard, but she hadn't anticipated such a severe issue that would cause
Xochiki to have such an outburst. Suddenly, she had an idea.
"I'm so sorry, Xochiki. Would you come with me?"
Xochiki followed her mother to her room.
Her mother went into the closet and pulled out a beautiful scarf. She held it out and smiled.
"Just like your brother Xochipi, my sister didn’t have feathers. She admitted to me that she couldn't help but feel jealous. I felt terrible about it, I love my sister and wanted her to be as blessed as I was. I saved up my money and got her this for her birthday."
She placed it around Xochipi's head.
"She wore it just like this, until she found a mate. She returned the scarf to me the day they married. I wanted her to keep it, but she told me that wearing the scarf had given her confidence and now that her dreams had come true, she wanted me to have it so I could be reminded of how I helped her."
Xochiki looked at herself in the mirror. The scarf covered her feathers in a fashionable way.
"Maybe it can help you too, in a different way," her mother offered, "do other viscets wear accessories in school?"
Xochiki pulled the scarf close to her face to hide her watery eyes.
"Thank you mom. I love it."
She watched her daughter dash into her room. She smiled sadly as she walked back to finish dinner. She wished her daughter did not feel like she had to hide her beautiful feathers.

Xochiki had not heard her hated nickname all day. The scarf draped over her head and shoulders. She hoped she looked like a different viscet. Xochiki was so pleased to have made it to her last class without any torment. The class ended and she began to get up.
She felt a tap on her shoulder. Even though Micah wasn't in this class, her heart dropped.
"I like your scarf," came a careful whisper.
Xochiki glanced at the viscet speaking. She remembered seeing her around in class before, but didn't know anything about her.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
The other viscet's eyes lit up in recognition.
"Ah, you're, um, the one with the- Ch… Ch…" she struggled with the name.
"Xochiki," she cut her off, not liking that it sounded like the other viscet was about to say the nickname Micah gave her.
"Okay, Zo-cheeky… got it! I'm Emma!"
Xochiki shook the other girl's paw. It was nice that she hadn't been recognized at first. Had her wishes come true after all?
Xochiki left the room with Emma and was met with an unpleasant sight.
"Hey, I know those feathery legs! Whatcha wearing, Cheeks?"
Micah reached out for Xochiki's beloved scarf.
"PLEASE STOP!" yelled Xochiki, surprised by her own volume.
Everyone in the area turned their head in the direction of the shout and Xochiki dashed out of the building.

Xochiki sat on a bench in a park near her home, hugging her legs. She didn't feel like going home yet. Her mom had given her a wonderful gift, and just when she thought that it was going to solve all her problems, it turns out it wasn't enough.
As she was wiping her eyes with the scarf, she felt a careful tap on her shoulder for the second time that day.
"Um, Zo-cheeky…" It was Emma.
"Y-yeah?" Xochiki tried to keep her voice and face composed.
"I just wanted to say, I also think your feathers are as nice as your scarf…" Emma said cautiously.
Xochiki just stared at her, not giving a response.
Emma continued quickly, "They're cool, I swear! I'm a bit plain, you see, so I was thinking it must be nice to stand out and y'know, be an individual?"
Xochiki's brow furrowed, but before she could respond Emma continued again.
"But, I don't think you feel that way about it. I'm sorry that all the attention brings you stress… I'm sorry if I stressed you out," Emma hung her head in sympathy.
Xochiki shook her head and finally responded, "I'm sorry that I left you behind like that. You were nice to me today and I abandoned you with that mean viscet."
Emma looked nervous, "Um, about that…"
Micah stepped out from behind the tree with an unusual look on her face.
Xochiki stiffened.
Micah quickly began, "Hey, um, I'm… sorry for being mean. I didn't mean to go so far, but I got carried away."
Xochiki had so many things she wanted say, but it all crowded in her mouth and she couldn't get any of it out.
"I actually, well, liked your feathers too… and I like giving nicknames, so…"
"Stop," Xochiki finally got a single word out.
Micah froze.
"That's not okay!" Xochiki's voice shook, "couldn't you see that I was uncomfortable!?"
Micah nervously fiddled her digits together, "I really got carried away, I shouldn't have teased you. I was wrong."
Xochiki couldn't believe this was happening. She didn't know how she was supposed to feel.
Micah said solemnly, "You don't have to forgive me, I get it if you don't. But, do you mind if I call you Xo, instead of- I mean, as a nickname?"
Xochiki muttered, "No, I share that part of my name with my brother, Xochipi."
Emma offered, "Is it okay to call you Ki?"
Xochiki nodded at Emma.
"Can we be friends, Ki?" Emma asked.
Xochiki nodded again and got up from the bench.
Micah stood awkwardly to the side.
Xochiki said, "I think I need some time before I can forgive you. But in the meantime, you can call me Ki."

~~~

From that day on, Xochiki usually opted to wear her scarf around her neck, now knowing that most viscets were only curious and intrigued by her feathers rather than meaning any malice. There were some days where she felt shy and still wore it around her face, but her school life improved from that day. She felt better about herself, and became great friends with Emma.
"Mom…" she began while washing vegetables for dinner.
"Yes, dear?"
"Thank you for the scarf. And thank you for the feathers."