After spending a few minutes of watching Laine waltz out of the classroom-- she had such a lovely body --Ronald remembered that, his newly developing pool of potential lovers aside, he was still in school. And, if that was the period bell ringing now, he was late.
He hurriedly gathered his things, rushing out into the hall for his next class. By now the halls were nearly empty, with only a few stragglers like him hurrying to their next class.
Rounding a corner, Ronald crashed directly into one such student, sending him tumbling to the ground.
"Oh, sorry!" apologized a voice above Ronald.
After taking a moment to recover-- the collision had dazed him more than truly hurt-- Ronald checked his pockets for the stone (still there, good) and looked up to see Jon Madison, looking down at him with some concern on his face. The boy looked as of yet unchanged by Ronald's wish, but the way Jon glanced over Ronald and flushed made him think that would soon be changing. "Oh, Ronald, I didn't see you there!" said Jon.
Ronald stood and brushed himself off, his hurry forgotten for the moment. Why rush when there was this spectacle to see? Instead he cocked his head and asked, "Late to history class too, huh?"
Jon blushed a little deeper at Ronald's jab. "Uh, yeah," he said. "I was just looking for... well, nevermind." Jon offered an awkward smile at that, clearly censuring himself.
Ronald ignored the slip. "Come on, we can globe late together," he said. Together the two made their way to the History classroom. Thankfully the teacher was still settling in, allowing Ronald and Jon to slip into two adjacent chairs in the back with hardly anyone noticing.
"Lucky us, huh?" Offered Jon. Already his voice sounded a little softer than how it had before-- good, the fun's already starting.
Glancing about, Ronald spied the familiar figures of Kyla Leeson and Jay Duncan, just one row ahead of them. Two more from the list. Ronald remembered Laine's mention of Kyla earlier, and wondered if the geeky young woman would shape up to fulfill the reference. "Yeah," he said. "Lucky us."
