“That was pretty awesome,” A teenager said with a smile and offered a hand to help Steven up.
The court was a mix of exhalation and astonishment at the last point… and Steven’s dive through the net.
“Uh-“ the squirrel girl was shocked that someone was talking to her… let alone was helping her up. Paranoid, she wondered if this was some kind of trick… but she accepted the hand with some dignity though was almost lifted off the ground. “We still lost,” She shook her head glancing at the ball, as it rolled to the corner of the indoor arena.
“Yeah, well we were playing against Dennis, Jason, heck even Sam is a wall… but you flew right over him!”
The two were interrupted by captain of the other team. “That was a foul!” Jason growled angrily. “It didn’t count!” He was very… very annoyed, sneering down at Steven.
“Cool off Jason, he dribbled…” The other guy said with a shrug.
It didn’t look like Jason was willing to accept it. “He ‘bounced’ on the ball while on it! It doesn’t count! That’s still physical contact!”
“Well, he’s too short to do it the normal way…” The other boy said scratching the back of his blonde hair slightly, looking down at Steven.
The argument raged but it looked like Jason was being humiliated… and Steven felt a wry smile creeping on her... muzzle. ‘They are really throwing it to him… that I beat him personally…’ That was news… that was… going to spread through the school. ‘I beat him… I actually beat him…’ They lost the game… but she outwitted the star player in a game of basketball for the last second. Steven had never felt such delight at that and had to keep herself from laughing right there and then.
“Pft. Whatever. Don’t think you can pull that crap again!” Jason warned as he returned back to his team…
‘You were beaten by a squirrel…’ his team-mate whispered.
‘Maybe you’re weaker then him…’
Steven finally laughed. It was so good to get out… she laughed genuinely, not even disguising her voice.
The blonde teen glanced down at her… curious and blushed looking away.
“…what.” Steven said suddenly self-conscious.
“You uh- laugh a bit weird,” he said quickly. “I’m Timothy. You’re… Steven right? From Xanadu?”
“Yeah… well… I’m from here. I just went to Xanadu… am I famous?” Steven regarded the boy- er- teenager. He had ‘such’ a youthful face. It was… objectively beautiful. He was somewhat overweight though. His short blonde hair had interesting curls which made Steven wonder how it would look if it were a bit longer. Blue eyes and light skin with an easy going demeanour.
Timothy also studied Steven somewhat intently. It made the squirrel girl feel guarded. “Well, you’re the only squirrel I know that can walk and talk,” Tim laughed. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
They started to walk towards the showers, as they could still hear Jason protests about how Steven showed him up.
‘Pride…’ Steven thought to herself. Should she feel sorry for him? Maybe… but no. Whatever honour he lost, he would get it back tomorrow. People like Jason always survived… they were good at everything. Steven had one day though… one glorious day to enjoy this feeling. Oh wait- she was being lead to the boy’s shower room! She stopped suddenly. “I uh- I rather shower at home… fur has some special demands and I don’t really sweat that much.”
Tim nodded. Some guys did that without any excuse at all. “I suppose most animal folk don’t sweat… um… how do you stay cool though?”
“Magic?” Steven shrugged. “There’s a lot of weird things the changed can do… and none of it makes sense when you apply scientific scrutiny. A fairy’s head shouldn’t be big enough to be as smart as a human… and magic isn’t even real- er- at least it wasn’t until the day… if it doesn’t make sense, just consider it magic to make things work as they are expected, not as they should.”
Timothy nodded looking curious. His eyes were probing her… very deeply. He seemed to be watching her. “....You sure you’re not an A-class?” the teen asked suddenly.
Steven laughed. “Ha- No… I can show you my report card. I’m really just D class. Why?”
Timothy glanced around his voice a whisper. “…That shot you did was physically impossible.”
Those words made Steven blink. What? What made him say such a stupid thing as that? “What are you talking about? I just bounced with the ball-“
“I do know basic common sense and science, even in this crappy school.” He explained. “You imparted more Kinetic Energy then you had stored in your body, more then you could physically store. I know, I watched. The ball bounced absurdly high with you still on it. You were… flying.” He studied her again. “As I understand the grading system, anyone who is capable of creating energy and imparting it to an object meets the criteria for possessing magic... which means you are at least B-class…”
Steven felt indignant. “Hmph. I can’t do magic…” She wished she could. “Wait- if that’s the minimum… then what makes you think I’m an A-class?”
Timothy looked silent for a moment. He gave a suspicious look. “…for one thing, that shot was perfect… and two…” He chuckled a bit. “Well, you’re cute.”
…Steven felt her heart suddenly stop. Well- not literally, but certainly close to it. “C-Cute?” Damn it! She was sounding like one of those weird anime characters.
“Yes. That puts you up another class at least,” Timothy chuckled and patted his… her head. “I do think it’s worth studying… I want to learn as much about the Xanadu incident as possible and- well- I think it would be great if it was you and me… I’d like to do some tests with you and record the results. Just you know- confidentially. As a project!”
“A project…” Steven frowned. There were a lot of projects like that… could they really do any discovery. It would be at least a small way of getting some extra credit… and why not on the most important incident that happened in history so far? With herself as a victim… well… whatever word she could think of that wasn’t so- urgh. “I… suppose.” She nodded. “Sure… let’s do it. I guess this is like a club assignment and extra credit?”
Not many students did such things here though… there wasn’t considered to be any point. As far as Steven heard most clubs rarely met up or actually ‘did’ anything with the exception of the Drama students… so it was a bit of a joke to suggest they could make a club.
Timothy smiled again. “Yes, a magic club!”