"Alright, so listen up, nerds," Pronounced Biff Meadows. "Here's how it's going to go." As one of the more prominent and aggressive of the football team, Biff was also one of the school's worst bullies. "There's no way I would have passed that test, so I'm not missing this chance now. If you losers don't give me everything I need to know to pass the test by the end of class, that means I flunk the test. I flunk another test, and coach suspends me."
"Which would serve you right," grumbled Jon Madison. Seemingly by chance, the two other members Kyla had chosen for the group were on Ronald's list of potential matches.
Biff turned on Jon, glowering the smaller boy down. "What was that, worm?" he demanded.
Jon's eyes widened a moment, before looking down. "Nothing."
"That's right, nothing. Because if coach suspends me, there won't be anything on my schedule to distract me from pounding you into the ground 24/7, got it."
At the other end of the small circle of throats, Kyla cleared her throat. "As much as I hate to agree with Biff, he's right," she said. "This is a good chance to make sure we know everything we have to for the test. So would you guys stop bickering and open your books?"
As the group commenced their review, Ronald watched on, amused by the scene unfolding. Normally he would hate sharing a group with a jerk like Biff, but the bully was distracted by more tantalizing targets like Jon and Jay, the fifth member of the group. And if anything, Biff's browbeating seems to be helping my aims, he thought. While Kyla, still well in her area of expertise, remained more or less in charge of the discussion, Biff's occasional outbursts were met by less and less resistance from the other two boys. Jon and Jay seemed to be quite literally shrinking in Biff's presence, their bodies growing slight and soft to contrast the jock.
An odd catalyst, Ronald mused. Maybe making them feel unmanly helps the originally male candidates shift towards womanhood?
Ronald was jarred from such thoughts when he realized that Kyla was saying something to him. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" he asked.
"I said, think you can review the section on the development of agriculture in the region?" Kyla said, tapping the corresponding section in her textbook. Kyla was beginning to change visibly too: her glasses, once a constant fixture on her nose, sat on the desk, revealing a pair of compelling green eyes beneath. Her clothes also seemed to be have shifted, the shirt tightening to a more flattering blouse and her jeans shifting to a more feminine cut. She was still a ways off, certainly, but it was good to see that she, too, was shifting.
"Of course," said Ronald, flipping to the appropriate page.
Kyla nodded. "Now, for the next section..."
"I'll get that one, seems simple enough," interjected Biff, flipping to the next page as well.
Kyla blinked, clearly surprised that Biff was being willingly helpful to the group. "Sure, that would be nice."
Biff smiled, and something about the grin set Ronald on edge. "Don't worry about it, babe," he said.
Ronald expected Kyla to groan or object or at least roll her eyes to such a crass address, but to his surprise she did not. In fact, she even seemed to blush a bit before she replied. "Alright then, I won't."
Ronald frowned, this development catching him entirely off guard. Alright, what the hell?
