College life continues... until it doesn't?

Over the following months, you and Ashley fall into a comfortable routine at college and things are going well for both of you. You aren't straight-A students, but a B or two is nothing to complain about. And aside from an occasional rude remarks directed at Ash, which always end with her fellow students telling the jerk off (if she doesn't do the telling off herself, having grown in confidence since the first time she was heckled), nobody is making a fuss about her attending college either.

So you don't understand why as time goes on, Ashley grows increasingly nervous, as if she's waiting for the other shoe to drop.

You don't understand until it happens. Several professors who can't get over their prejudices have moved to bar the bunny from any further exams. Luckily they don't have the authority to kick her out by themselves, but they can't be ignored either. They've set processes in motion, and the only way to stop them is with an official appeal.

Ashley is understandably distressed, but you stand firm as a rock for her to lean on and there's no end to the tricks Tibby has up her sleeve to lighten the mood, always up for a surprise snuggle or silly game. Ashley's mother is there to support her as well.

It starts with Ashley writing a letter to the district's Board of Education. In her letter she details who she is, what motivates her, and why she has the same right to pursue higher education as anyone. After waiting for a response all week, Ashley almost tears the Board's reply in half when it arrives in your mailbox. Impatiently, she rips the letter out of its envelope and unfolds it. Her eyes scan over the page, lips moving silently as she reads. Only then does she let you see what it says.

There's going to be a hearing, and Ashley's presence has been requested so she can make her case in person before her future is decided. It can only go one of two ways: either her professors are **** to accept her presence, or her college life is over. Naturally, most of your time until the hearing is spent preparing. Speeches are written and discarded, outfits are ironed, statements of support are collected from anyone willing to give them. It's a hectic time, but you always make sure Ashley is de-stressed before going to bed... or maybe you do that after taking her to bed. Either way, you make sure she doesn't work herself to the point of collapse.

And then the big day is upon you. Waking up far too early in the morning, you go through a simplified version of your breakfast routine before putting on your formal wear. When you leave the apartment you're feeling uncomfortable in a two-piece suit and your good pair of shoes. Ashley is wearing a tall pair of rabbit ears that point straight up, a plain leather collar, a cream-colored blouse under a dark blazer, a matching knee-length skirt with black tights and her poofy tail clipped to the waistline, finishing off the ensemble with a pair of two-inch heels. Tibby is the most casually dressed, wearing flats and a black pair of jeans. She's even wearing a graphic shirt with the word MEOW on it, but nobody's going to know that because of the pullover covering it. Like Ashley, she's wearing a clip-on tail.

Mrs Hoaka's car is idling by the main entrance, having insisted on driving her daughter. Your parents' car is right behind it. Some pleasantries and encouragement are exchanged before you get in the Hoaka vehicle, but other than that not much is said, with Ashley concentrating on her notes and Tibby practically vibrating with sympathetic nerves. She doesn't show it though, instead squeezing her fellow pet's hand and giving her a good luck kiss when the car stops.

You stand in front of an imposing structure styled after an old-fashioned court house. But you're not standing there alone. In addition to Mrs Hoaka and the Langwells, several of Ashley's supporters are waiting outside so they can enter the building with their friend. Everyone is directed to a waiting area, where excited as well as irritated voices fill the room until the attendant returns to usher them into the hearing room itself. It's a large audience room, larger than it needs to be. Row upon row of chairs fill the room, separated into a left and right section. At the front of each section is a wide table, followed by a clear area. On the other side of that clearing, another table seats the board members.

One of the tables is already occupied by a number of crusty old men. Even if you didn't know these are the guys giving Ashley a hard time, you'd dislike them based on their stern, judgy exteriors alone. The rows of chairs behind them are empty.

The people on your side fill up three rows of chairs, which still leaves the majority unused. As for the table at the front, Ashley's mother is the only one allowed to join Ash there. The rest of you sit right behind them, in the first row with Ashley's closest friends.

After a while of shuffling around everyone is seated, but still murmuring to themselves. That stops when the doors close with a dull thud. The Board's chairman lifts a gavel and uses it to knock loudly on the table before him.