Nikola and Sarah arrived at the school to find Mrs. Davis, Coach Burns, and two athletic looking young men waiting for them. They all went out to the football field to start the contest. Nikola noticed a couple of figures high up in the stands inappropriately dressed in gray overcoats and dark suits. No one else seemed to notice them, or didn't care if they did, so he just ignored them too. He wasn't planning to vamp in public, so he didn't care if his agents watched.

The first contest was the baseball throw. Someone had used one sideline and a couple of stakes with some string to mark out a 30-yard-wide alley. The coach was dressed in sweats; even though the sun was shining it was still chilly out, and everyone else still wore winter coats. Nikola took off his coat and suit jacket in consideration of the nature of the contests about to begin, but was quite comfortable in his suit slacks and vest, shirt and tie. The two boys with the coach sniggered a bit at him, but he just smiled back. Let them laugh now, wait until the end and see who would be laughing.

Nikola went first. He tried to throw the baseball far enough to be impressive, but not so far as to be unbelievable for a human. He wasn't sure he entirely succeeded in the second part of that from the scowl on Coach Burns' face.

The coach's first throw was twenty yards short. Nikola just gestured for him throw again. The second was closer, perhaps only ten yards behind Nikola's toss. The third try was almost up to Nikola's, but went out of bounds. One of the boys tried to argue that the coach should get a do-over, but Coach Burns shut him up. Apparently the coach was planning to win or lose fairly, and Nikola could respect that if not his attitude towards education. Game to Dr. Macak.

They went inside and changed shoes for basketball. Coach Burns went first, making four of five baskets; then tossed the ball to Nikola. He also made four of five. The coach repeated his performance, making four of his last five for a total of eight out of ten. Nikola missed his first attempt, made three in a row, but had his last shot circle the rim and bounce out. Game to Coach Burns. The boys with the coach fist-pumped the air, cheered loudly, and pointed at Nikola and jeered. Nikola really thought someone should teach them some manners, but that wasn't his job, at least not today. But the coach said "Nice shooting, for a rookie" and Nikola politely thanked him.

They stayed indoors for the push-ups. One of the boys came over and counted for Nikola while Sarah counted for the coach, and Mrs. Davis timed them. When they started, Nikola watched the rate that Burns was doing his push-ups and went just a little faster for the first two minutes. He was ahead by twelve at that time, but saw the coach start slowing down, so he did too. He guessed he was supposed to be getting tired, but his vampire physiology could literally do push-ups all day long without straining. At the end of five minutes he was an even twenty ahead. Game to Dr. Macak. The boys just glared at him; Nikola smiled and nodded back like they were congratulating him instead.

They went outside and changed shoes again. The two young men with the coach whispered to each other while peering at him, but Nikola just ignored them. Out on the football field, Nikola noticed four familiar faces in the stands. His four geology students weren't supposed to be there, but he let it pass. Maybe they would learn a little respect for their tall, thin science teacher. The agents were still there too.

Nikola deferred to Coach Burns to start the placekicking contest. He wanted to watch his technique. The coach made both his attempts at 20 yards, and Nikola really couldn't tell much about proper methodology from what he did. He just backed up a certain number of steps, over two steps, and then ran up and kicked the ball.

Nikola ignored what he had just seen and followed his own method from his practices. He was pleasantly surprised to put both his kicks between the goalposts as well. From 30 yards, Coach Burns made both kicks, but Nikola only made one, the second going wide to the left. From 40 yards the coach made one field goal, and Nikola made one as well to his surprise. He considered the kick he had made pure serendipity, and was pleased with his performance so far, even though he was behind.

At 50 yards the coach missed both tries, one off to the side and the other short. Both Nikola's kicks were long enough, but both missed, one off to either side. Game to Coach Burns. So now he and the coach had both won two games, and it was down to the mile race. That suited Nikola just fine, and was in line with his expectations. He was pleased with the way the contest was going, he had at least made a decent showing even when he lost, and he certainly had a chance in the mile run.

Sarah and Mrs. Davis were still smiling too. They had applauded when Nikola performed well, and said supportive things like "You'll get it next time" when he missed at something. It didn't make a bit of difference in the outcomes, but Nikola found it pleasant to have someone cheering for him. The coach's two witnesses were loudly doing the same, and the four boys in the bleachers were echoing them.

Sarah sat with him while he changed into track shoes. She asked "Niko, do you have a strategy? Have you ever actually run a mile?"

"No, not really. I guess I'll just try to stay with the coach and overtake him at the finish. Or do you think I should start out faster and let him try to catch me?"

"I don't know very much about foot racing, but I suppose it would be best to be able to keep an eye on where he is so he doesn't surprise you at the end. Do you have a kick?"

"Do I have a what?"

"A kick. You know, a burst of speed at the end of the race."

Nikola thought about that. As a vampire he could augment his speed for a short time to move faster than any human. But only in vampire form and he couldn't really vamp out on the track in front of everyone. Well, maybe he could just a little bit. His eyes would change, and his teeth would get a bit pointy, but as long as he didn't let his claws out . . .

"I think I might have a little kick. I've never run a mile, so I'm not really sure."

Sarah chuckled a little, to Nikola's surprise. "Niko, you are one of a kind. Any other man would have at least practiced everything once, but not you. You have more confidence in yourself than anyone I've ever known."

Nikola bent toward her and said quietly so only she could hear him "That's because I'm just so very good at everything, haven't you noticed?"

Sarah shook her head, still smiling. "No I haven't, actually. Now just go and win the race that's an order."

"Yes Ma'am."

He and the coach lined up at the starting line, and when they both said they were ready Mrs. Davis said "Go!"

Nikola was in the second lane, so he dropped in behind Coach Burns and just tried to stay close. The coach moved out quickly, and Nikola was soon breathing hard. He couldn't use his vampire speed augmentation for very long, so he needed to keep up on his own. If he couldn't, he would lose.

He was strong enough, but he needed to move oxygen more efficiently from his lungs into his bloodstream and to his muscles. He could make that adjustment without vamping, so he concentrated on that for a little while and fell a few steps behind. But once he had the higher level of oxygen in his blood, he was able to catch up.

When they passed the starting line for the last time, Mrs. Davis called out "Bell lap!" Nikola assumed that meant the last lap, and moved up next to the coach on the backstretch. He was on the outside but still started to pull ahead on the final turn. Unfortunately, it seemed the coach had a kick himself and pulled even. Nikola saw the two agents had come down from the stands and were standing just a few yards back from the finish line; he wasn't going to be able to vamp at all. He and Coach Burns passed the finish line nearly side by side.

Both of them were winded and stood panting while the boys claimed Coach Burns had won, and Mrs. Davis said no, Dr. Macak had edged him out at the wire. Nikola thought he might have at that, but he wasn't sure.

Sarah came over to see if he was all right. "Just breathe" she said. "Sit down if you have to and rest a minute." Nikola shook his head and straightened up. "I'm okay." If he could get out of sight and vamp he would be more than okay immediately.

He went over to the coach who was also mostly recovered. Nikola asked "So who won?" He was interested in what the coach would say; would he try to be fair or just bluster and claim victory?

Coach Burns shook his head. "I'm not sure. It was really close. You ran a good race, Doc. I think I might have beat you on the last step, but without a photo finish, there's no way to be sure. So we did all this, and didn't settle anything."

Nikola stepped in close and said quietly "We could just go into the locker room and settle it ourselves, just the two of us."

The coach gave him a quizzical look. "Really? You wouldn't have a chance against me, I boxed Golden Gloves as a kid, came in third."

"I'll risk it" Nikola said to him quietly. Then he turned to the others and said more loudly "The coach and I are going to go discuss the outcome of the race by ourselves in the locker room."

Once inside, Nikola put a hockey stick through the door handles so they wouldn't be disturbed. He turned to the coach and fully vamped.

Coach Burns' eyes widened in shock and he paled "What the Hell? What are you?"

"The winner" Nikola said in his deep vampire voice, stalking closer.

The coach gathered himself. "The Hell you say. Just because your eyes are all weird . . ."

Nikola opened his mouth and held up his hands so the coach could get a good look at his fangs and claws as he continued to move closer in a threatening manner.

But the coach stood his ground, assuming a boxing stance and bringing up his fists; his hand were shaking. Nikola didn't want to draw it out any more, so he moved in at vampire speed, grabbed the coach by the front of his sweats and neck, and lifted him up in the air one-handed.

"I won, didn't I" Nikola stated. Coach Burns gurgled something that sounded more like "yes" than "no", so Nikola put him down. "And you've never noticed anything unusual or strange about me, right?"

The coach took a step back and his eyes went left and right, but there was no way out. Holding his throat with one hand, he reluctantly nodded. Nikola de-vamped. Terrifying the man had worked well in getting his agreement, but Nikola didn't want to leave him in that state. That's how one acquired long-term enemies, and he did respect the coach's courage; not many people would have tried to fight him in his vampire form.

"Look, I'm the result of an experiment during the war that went a little wrong." Nikola didn't specify which war, so that much was true since there was always a war going on somewhere in the world. "I was used during the war effort to defeat the Nazis." Also true, but it was his intelligence that had mattered, not his vampire form.

But the coach was listening intently, believing him. Nikola continued "I'm Top Secret. Did you notice the two guys in suits that showed up to watch? They're government agents; if they find out you know about me, well . . ." Nikola made a motion across his throat with his finger.

Coach Burns nodded slowly. "But you're a monster, how come they let you loose?"

"I'm not a monster. I'm just a little different, have some extra abilities, but inside I'm just as human as you are" or as you would be if you had already lived ninety years or so.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You're a Top Secret war hero, and the government is hiding you out here. But that girl, Miss Peters? I hear you two are getting chummy. Does she know? 'Cause it ain't right, you going around with her if she doesn't."

Nikola was surprised. The coach was going to stand up to him again, after Nikola's demonstration? "That's none of your business."

"Hey, I'm a red-blooded American male, and there's no way I ain't going to protect a sweet innocent American girl, no matter what."

The vampire nodded a little to himself and replied "We haven't even gone on a date yet. But if things progress as I hope they will, then I'll tell her myself. Believe me, I mean no harm to Sarah Peters."

"You give me your word on that?"

"Yes, absolutely."

The coach put out his hand, Nikola took it and they shook. This time Nikola matched his grip, and squeezed just a little bit harder. Coach Burns grimaced a little and when they finished, wiggled his fingers.

"Okay, I'll tell my guys to hit the books. I know I'm going to lose a couple of them, but most of them ain't stupid, they're just not used to working that hard. And you play nice with Miss Peters."

"Agreed, but one thing more. Please learn your native language and stop saying 'ain't'. It grates on my nerves. You don't want me to be annoyed with you, right?"

"I guess. But I am what I am, Doc, you just gotta accept that, like I gotta accept what you are."

Nikola unbarred the doors. "Let's go explain to everyone that I just edged you out at the finish line."

"Right, you just edged me out, got it."

They went back out to the football field together.

Nikola went over to Sarah and she handed him his jacket, scanning him carefully for blood or bruising, and seemingly confused when she didn't find any. "How did you . . .?"

"He just saw the error of his ways." Nikola took an envelope out of his inner jacket pocket and took it over to the two agents who were still watching him.

He handed it to the older one and said "Give this to General Whosis; whoever is in charge these days. Tell him not to get excited it's all for the school and I'll pay for it if he wants. There's no way I could make a weapon out of it, if he's not sure tell him to ask Einstein or one of the Oppenheimer brothers, any decent scientist can explain it to him."

Nikola walked back and joined Sarah. "So what time do you want to go bowling?"