Raven's reception at school the next day is a mixed bag.

On one hand, which she'd much like to ignore, there are those who see her and are instantly stricken by the ghost of her mother that haunts over her similar features. She is, after all, Eva Queen's unknown daughter, the frightening young girl who spent her entire childhood being brainwashed by that dark influence, or so they say.

But on the other hand, everyone is so distracted by her mysterious past that they completely overlook any other secrets she might be hiding— which means that, for once, she's a normal teenage girl. Well, as "normal" as the daughter of a horrifically corrupt former mayor can be. It would be nice if, say, people would talk to her, but she doesn't really mind, especially given that she has so much school work to catch up on.

It is this order of business which brings her to the library during her lunch period, so that she can study in silence and try to cram two months of learning into an afternoon. She settles herself at a table in the corner which is obscured from wandering eyes by monumental bookshelves. Four thick textbooks drop heavily from her tired arms onto the old, blemished wood of the small table, and she takes a seat.

Unfortunately, Raven isn't used to picking up on things quickly. This proves to be a disadvantage when she's reading over the same paragraph for the third or fourth time, not sure how the last passage connects to the next one in any way. Under her breath, she laments: perhaps she should just go to her teacher during tutoring hours and ask for a lesson.

Then she thinks of going to Mr. Rumpelstiltskin's classroom during tutoring hours— those horrific, beady eyes and snaggly teeth, brimming with such vile sadism that it's a wonder he's still allowed to teach— and winces. She knows his reputation for exploiting manual labor from his students whenever they show imperfection. She'd rather keep reading.

So that's what she does. She reads and reads. Her fingers robotically turn each page as she tries to retain every phrase and formula, though it doesn't stop her from having to backtrack. After several minutes, she finally feels like she's hit a groove, and she smiles to herself, determined to get this done. She could spend the rest of the lunch period like this, and then come back to the library during study period to finish the other chapters, as long as she keeps reading at this rate. Minutes pass in perfect, blissful silence, her concentration unbroken as the barrier of bookshelves seems to keep her isolated from the rest of the library.

A small cough from across the table makes Raven jump in her seat.

When she looks up, the first thing to catch her eyes is a bright red pair of lips that demands attention in contrast to snow-white skin. Raven then takes in the rest of what's before her, and in all of her awkwardness, she hangs her head, gluing her eyes down to the textbook.

Apple clears her throat again, less sheepishly than before. "May I sit here?"

"Uh. Oh, yeah," Raven mumbles, keeping her eyes down. She looks up when she feels Apple's eyes on her, realizing that this is going to be a conversation. There's a look on Apple's face, all furrowed brows and regret.

Nervousness lies thick in her throat until Apple speaks again: "I'm sorry for running off yesterday."

Raven blinks. "You—" You are? She's about to ask, but even in her surprise, she knows better. "...It's okay, Apple. Really."

Then Apple's face transforms into a brilliant smile, showing off bright white teeth that Raven remembers being crooked, but are now sorted into perfect rows. Apple must have had braces at some point during all of those years apart. Raven can't imagine Apple with braces. "I'm so glad," the blonde breathes. "With that out of the way, we can catch up, right?"

"Of course. Yes. I'd like that." And it's true. Raven feels at ease for a moment, letting her shoulders unwind from their square position.

"How have you been?" asks Apple, who is clearly brimming with curiosity. "More than that, where have you been?"

"Oh, all over," Raven replies. "Philadelphia. New York City. Austin. Las Vegas. Seattle. All in a van. All with...well, with mom."

"You poor thing."

"I mean, don't worry about that. She and I were really close, sure, but...she was also kind of evil. It's complicated."

"Not that," Apple corrects, much to Raven's surprise. "My apologies for the confusion. I was talking about your life on the road. It must have been hectic, travelling so much to get away from Everest. Not only that, but you've been so misplaced from our culture. From any culture, really. You never got time to form long-lasting relationships with peers. It must have been a very confusing time for you, my friend."

Raven shrugs, a little wary. "I liked going to all of those new cities. Every day was an eye-opening experience. Sure, there were some parts that made me feel confused, or lonely, but every kid goes through that when they're growing up. I'm more confident in myself right now than I ever have been."

Apple nods politely. It's a little robotic. In fact, everything about her seems a little robotic, and Raven hates herself for noticing it. "I am glad to hear that," Apple determines. "I do hope you're adjusting well to your return to Everest, then. We're all glad to have you back."

Raven realizes that when Apple says "we're all glad," what she really means is that she's glad. It can't be any other way, because given how the other students have treated her thus far, it's clear they don't even recognize her as a former Everest resident to begin with, and their reactions have been far from a warm welcome. Still, she manages a smile, because Apple truly seems happy that Raven has returned to her after all of these years. That's what matters. "Thanks, Apple. The return has been a little weird, but it's nice to settle down somewhere after so much constant travel, I guess. Dad's so excited to have me back, as soon as I walked in the door he had an ice cream cake waiting for me!" She chuckles. "He...forgot that I'm lactose intolerant. I can't blame him. It's been so long, and I know he has trouble with his memory sometimes. But it was just...so nice. So sweet."

Then Raven thinks of something, an anchor in her own memory. "Hey, do you remember the time we all happened to be at the lake? You were there for your summer swim lessons, and my dad had wanted to take me fishing."

"But he forgot the worms," Apple chimes in. Something in her smile loosens, becoming more organic.

"He did. And I told you about it, and you thought it was a real shame. You said you'd help us out by—"

"By digging for worms," Apple groans, burying her reddened face in her hands.

"So we stuck our hands in the mud and started digging. We got ourselves all dirty, but we just kept digging. And I thought it would be funny to pour some mud down the back of your swimsuit, so I did, and then you decided to give me a 'mud facial' in retaliation..."

She squirms. "Ugh, that was terrible! We didn't even find any worms. And my parents got so mad about having to clean me up afterward."

Raven watches Apple carefully, and as much as the blonde is trying to hide herself in mortification, it's clear that she's stifling laughter. It's very human. For a moment, Raven is simultaneously elated to see this undignified side of her friend and bothered that she's trying to conceal it.

Raven, on the other hand, doesn't restrain her laughter. It earns her a "ssshhh" from one of the librarians that's loud enough to reverberate deafeningly through the maze of shelves. Raven quiets down and sighs fondly. "That was a trip."

Apple finally takes her hands out of her head. She's shaking her head, but the smile remains. "That was just one of those silly little ideas that kids get. I don't know what I was thinking."

"My dad thought it was very sweet of you to try to help us out. He even thanked you."

"Yes— through his laughter. He was always so easy-going."

"Now you know where I get it from."

"Sure," Apple giggles. They look at each other for a moment, just grinning at the old memory.

Apple's eyes are the first ones to cast themselves away, down to the table. By the time she has returned to looking at Raven, her smile has become robotic once more. The blue in her eyes turns from flowing water to crisp, delicate ice. Raven nearly winces at the sudden change.

"Speaking of which," the blonde says carefully, "what does your father think of this?"

Raven raises an eyebrow. "Of...my return? Well, like I said, he's super excited about it."

Apple clears her throat. "No, no. Again, my apologies if I've confused you. What does your father think of your...transformation?"

"Oh," Raven murmurs. "He's fine with it. I mean, he always wanted a daughter. So did my mom, actually. He was a little confused at first, but there's nothing wrong with that. He's open-minded. That's what counts."

The nod that Apple gives in return is a little too careful. "Your parents wanted a daughter."

"Well, I mean...they were fine with a son, too."

"Ryland, do you think, possibly, that your parents' wishes for you as a child may have—"

"Don't call me that," Raven cuts in defensively. "Gah, sorry, it's just— you can't call me that when people might be around to hear. Okay?"

"Oh, no, I'm sorry. I understand completely," Apple replies, in a way that shows she doesn't understand at all. To her credit, she lowers her voice. "Ashlynn pointed something like this out to me recently. If other people know, then you might get harassed. I don't want that for you. You don't deserve harassment. You deserve to be treated discreetly and quietly so that you can easily integrate back into a complete and healthy lifestyle."

"Was this why you came to talk to me?" Raven backs her chair up, inwardly scolding herself for ever letting her guard down. "Because you want me to be 'treated'? Because you think I'll just turn back into a guy if I get enough 'treatment'?"

Apple sighs gently. "Please try to understand. I know you've been affected by the rigidity of gender roles, which is quite the problem, but I want you to know that it's okay to be feminine. You don't have to be masculine to be straight. I've been reading up on how gender roles affect a person's sense of culture, and I've learned that it can be difficult for feminine men to understand that they don't need to turn to homosexuality and become a part of that community—"

"Oh, my God," Raven half-whispers, completely shocked.

"I want to help you."

"I had no idea," Raven breathes, standing up, "that you were this...indoctrinated."

"Indoctrinated? You're mistaken; I'm not the one who has been indoctrinated. You've been warped by the faults of modern society." It's Apple's turn to stand up now, and she leans slightly over the table, reaching to touch Raven's hand. The violet-haired girl jerks it back as if burned. "It's okay. It isn't your fault. You can be helped."

Apple gazes into Raven's eyes, and she looks so earnest that it makes Raven sick to her stomach. It's too much. And it becomes Raven's turn to run away. She shuffles back at first, and as soon as her back hits one of the bookshelves, she turns around and darts out of the library, not sparing a single thought for her abandoned textbooks.

She doesn't realize how heavily she's panting until she's halfway down an empty hallway, and she slumps against the soothingly cold metal of a locker, shutting her eyes. Perhaps she shouldn't have been shocked, but she was. Her once-best-friend may not have changed much on the outside, but her mind had taken such a drastic trajectory. Or— and it hurt Raven more to think of this— maybe Apple has always had these opinions, and it simply didn't come up when they were young.

Something bumps into Raven. Her eyes snap open as she reclaims her balance, looking around wildly until she sees what ran into her: the back of a small girl, dressed all in mismatched pastels, with a head of untamed blue-and-purple hair.

The girl whips around, her blue eyes wide in what must be surprise. Her phone rests in her hands. "Oh, gambit! I'm superly sorry, there. I really must pay extravagant attention to where my feet clop off to."

Raven's brows furrow at the girl's strange vernacular. "I— uh— um— it's okay?"

The girl clears her throat. "Oh, my bad. You must be new around here; it takes a while to get used to the Wondersville slang. Though, you do look bittily familiar…" She squints her eyes, leaning forward to get a better look at Raven's face. Raven, in turn, nervously leans away. "Hmm. Anyway, I was only trying to get closer to Driporeon."

Raven looks lost. The girl clears her throat once more, holding out her phone to show Raven what's on the screen. It's a small view of the local street map, with a tiny, digital creature superimposed over a nearby road.

"Is that...Polymon Go?" Raven asks. "I didn't know people still played that."

"Well, sometimes I don't know if I'm a people," the girl admits with a shrug. This is when Raven realizes that this girl's wide eyes aren't a sign of surprise; she simply has the largest, roundest eyes that Raven has ever seen. The girl beams. "Hi, I'm Madeline Hatter. Ring me up as Maddie. And this here is Leafasaur, the Seed Polymon. Say hi, Leafasaur." She gestures to a spot beside her, where there is nothing but empty hallway space. After a moment, she bends down, patting the air about a foot above the plain white tiles. She chuckles. "Don't worry, I know he isn't real. Or is he?"

Raven's lips curl up in spite of herself. "Hi, Maddie. Uh...hi, 'Leafasaur'. I'm Raven. Raven Queen."

"Queen," Maddie echoes, popping back up. "Oh. Like Eva Queen."

Raven bites her lip. "Yeah. You, uh...said you were from Wondersville? Look, I'm really sorry to hear about what happened there. I'm not supportive of what my mother did to you guys."

Maddie waves it off with little, fluttering hand gestures. "I know, I know, I know. I could tell just by looking at you. You have a generous face."

"Thank you. I think."

"But I thought that Eva only had a son."

"About that," Raven says slowly. "I'm the twin sister no one knew about. Mom liked to keep me hidden. Whoops."

"Fascinating," Maddie notes. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be the evil twin, would you? For every pair of twins, there is an evil one. Just ask Dexter and Darling; they will back me up on this. It is scientific fact. I'm going to base my senior project on it."

Raven pauses for a long moment, processing, then shakes her head. "I assure you, I'm not the evil twin."

"I knew it," Maddie replies, snapping her fingers together. "It's never the one you suspect, and I suspected you from the second I saw you. So of course it couldn't be you; I knew that the second I saw you."

"That seems like sound logic to me." That's a lie, but Raven is interested enough by this strange student to play along.

Maddie nods proudly. She looks down at her phone, and a little frown blooms onto her face. "Aw, the Driporeon disappeared."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you for the condolences. I shall carry on. I already have one, anyway. I caught it back in Wondersville— the Polymon there were always so much stronger."

"I'm guessing Wondersville is still quarantined, then," Raven murmurs.

Maddie nods, which sends her colored curls flying. "Oh, yes. The virus is still quite prevalent. Even those who aren't infected can't leave town."

"Geez, that's awful."

"Yes. I'm one of the fortunate ones," says Maddie. "I happened to get out of dodge just before the quarantine. As did my father, and my closest friends." She tucks her phone away. "We came here right away, because it's so close. Everest is a strange place. Its ethics confound me. But it has plenty of good people, even if they don't know that sometimes they aren't acting good. Even if they don't know that their food is no good." A smile returns to her face. "That's why my father opened up his tea shop here. We serve the best teas, cakes, and biscuits within a hundred miles."

"Wait, your dad runs the Hatter Tea Shop? I passed by it yesterday," Raven muses. "There was a girl outside, sleeping on the roof. I tried to tell someone about it, but they said she'd be fine."

"Oh, that's Kitty. She'll be fine," Maddie assures her with a little gesture. "But she was supposed to be holding up a sandwich board. You didn't see a sandwich board?"

"No."

"I'll have to let my father know. Kitty is always perching around instead of working. She needs some more elbow grease, and that's a fact. Ooh, maybe I can buy some for her at the hardware store."

Raven is about to correct her when a despicable ring echoes across the hallway, signaling the end of lunch period.

"I should be clopping off," Maddie excuses herself. Just before she goes, she puts her face close to Raven's, whispering, "don't worry. I won't tell anyone that you used to be Ryland."

Raven's face turns even more stark-white than it usually is. "You— You can tell? H-How?" Her heart has stopped in her chest. If one person can tell, that means it's possible that other people might be able to tell, too.

"Be calm, new student," Maddie appeals. "You may fool others with your 'I'm just the good twin' charade, but Madeline Hatter knows better. Madeline Hatter has a different way of putting together information to create conclusions. Don't you worry your generous head; no one else needs to know. Just know that I'm keeping an eye on you…'good twin'."

Maddie gives Raven a final wink before bouncing away, presumably in the direction of her next class. Raven leans against the locker once more, taking a slow, deep breath. No one else needs to know. Apple, as brainwashed as she is, will keep her secret, and so will Maddie. No one else needs to know. No one else will know.

"I'll see you at your dad's shop," she finally calls after Maddie, but the Wondersville transfer is long gone.

Raven heads toward her next class.

Wow, how long has it been? Sorry for the wait. Life happens.

The next chapter, if I recall correctly, will center around Ashlynn and Huntelle (fem!Hunter). I know a lot of you guys are anxious to see stories about various characters, but unfortunately, this fic can only be published one chapter at a time. These end-notes here will probably be where I address some of the reviews and comments on previous chapters.

First, I'd like to say that the genderbending is absolutely necessary in order to tell this story the way I want to tell it as an LGBT-centric story. Even if it wasn't, genderbending's just fun, you know? I'd also like to say that Raven/Dexter isn't the main ship, nor will Dexter exist solely as a piece of arm-candy for Raven or as a source of love triangle drama (although the love triangle subplot will still be involved to reflect canon). I'm glad that so many of you have enjoyed the story so far!

I also don't want anyone to be under the impression that any of these characters are "perfect" or completely 100% right in every possible way. That isn't a good mindset to have approaching this fic. We're only two chapters in; all characters, Apple and Raven included, will need to develop as people and learn a thing or two about how things work before any sort of understanding can be reached. But isn't that just how life goes?

R&R if your heart desires! See you at the next chapter.