Disclaimer: I don't own the story, the characters, or your limbs. If you want a better story, check out XxSanitariumxX and his stories. Read Exchange Student if you don't know what's going on.
I still don't recall much about the rest of that day. In third period, the class was once again just introducing ourselves all around the room, so I blocked it out and talked with Krystal pretty much the whole time. And even if the teacher tried to get mad at us for talking during others' conversations, we kept talking using her telepathy.
Fourth period went by pretty quickly, too. I was never excellent at P.E., but I wasn't anywhere near the worst. True, I could do about five pull-ups, and even less push-ups, but I could generally keep up with the others when they ran. My only problem was that the only person who I knew in that class apparently hated me. I watched Michael enter the class and waved, but he ignored me. I was almost disappointed when I didn't see Eli, whose schedule I'd forgotten to ask about. But at least we didn't all have to introduce ourselves in that class, too.
And then came fifth period. Before it was over, I knew that it'd end up being my favorite class. Krystal was in it, of course, but so was Eli. And it was a computer class. Now, I'm not exactly a tech wizard, but I could easily do more-or-less what I wanted without getting caught. I mean, the teacher wasn't going to be nominated for "teacher of the year" anytime soon; after the class went through the first-day-of-school introductions, he pretty much just fell asleep. Even so, Krystal and I had done much of our talking silently, using her unique abilities. The only downside to the class was how far away it was from sixth period. I was almost on the opposite side of the school, so I'd have to jog at least part of the way or risk being late.
"Hey, man, wait!" Eli shouted when I dashed out of the class much faster than necessary.
"Sorry, I've got to get going," I called back. I knew sixth period wouldn't exactly be introductions, so I just made sure I wouldn't show up late.
"Why?" he asked, pulling up his schedule. "What's so special about next period?"
I was too far away by then to tell him without shouting as loud as I could, so I decided to just turn around and keep running. Hopefully Krystal would tell him, because I didn't really want to hear that he'd showed up late.
"Did you hear what happened?" someone asked a friend.
"No, what now?"
"I hear Wolf attacked that human."
"What?"
"Yeah. Someone told me the human beat Wolf bad, too."
"Wait, but aren't there more than one?"
I got out of earshot before the response, so I could only catch a part of it. But it was good to know that everything was still going smoothly. And if that was the case, then Relics would be arriving late to this class. Along with Lana.
After a bit of jogging, during which I reminded myself of my stamina (or, the lack thereof), I came to the class, breathing heavily. The one-minute bell hadn't rung yet, so I took a little time to catch my breath. Besides, I didn't want to be one of the first five in the room; I figured alone time with the drill instructor of a teacher would be even worse than time with Ms. Kensington. But I still entered before the minute bell when I saw Katherine enter the room.
"Hey, Katherine," I said, following her. I still hadn't had any time to learn anything about her, even though I was now sharing a house with her.
"Huh?" she asked, turning toward me. "Oh. It's you."
"Well, yeah," I replied. "What's up?"
"Nothing," she said slowly, like I was already getting on her nerves. I decided to just leave her be. Instead, I took in the enormous room. In front of the door, and right now right next to me, was a shooting range, with the works. To my left, if I was facing downrange, was a very large simulated war zone. Apart from the piles of rubble, foxholes, ruined buildings, and anything else that could be expected in a war-torn neighborhood, there were things like burn scores and (hopefully) fake blood, just to give the whole area an air of decimation. To the far left sat the beginning of a massive obstacle course, which I hoped to never have to run.
Thankfully, I couldn't see the leopard teacher anywhere yet, so when a few familiar faces showed up, I did take the chance to talk with them.
"Hey, Slippy," I said. I wondered how he'd made it before Falco or Bill.
"Hi, Ditto."
"Fox shown up yet?" I asked. I already knew the answer.
"Nope," he replied. Technically, he was showing up right then, but once again, my knowledge of that was technically impossible. "Why are you so worried about Fox?" he asked.
"I don't know. I've just wanted to meet him for a while."
"It's not like him to miss school," Slippy said.
I barely heard him, though. I was staring at the black feline who'd just entered the classroom. I thought I'd recognized her, but I couldn't be sure, so I pointed at her and asked, "Who's that?"
"Huh? Oh, her. I think I heard Falco mention her once. Her name is...Katt, I'm pretty sure."
"She wasn't here the first time," I said under my breath. Slippy turned to Falco, who had just entered the room. And I heard the minute bell ring.
"Hey, Falco," Slippy said. Falco nodded toward him, and then me.
"You know her?" I asked, tilting my head toward Katt.
"No," he said with a smile. "But I'd like to. Why, do you know her?"
"No."
"Don't you already have a girlfriend?" he asked.
"She's not –" I began, but I stopped. Krystal had already hinted to him that we'd been...preoccupied, before lunch, so I didn't want to confuse him or make him suspicious. "Why don't you go talk to her?"
"And what, try to get her number?" he asked.
"No, smart one. Just talk to her."
"What do you mean? Why talk if you don't want something?"
"If that were true, why would you talk to me? Or Slippy?"
"Hey, guys, Relics here yet?" Bill asked as he entered. There had to be twenty kids in the room at the moment. I also noticed that the goal of my day, Fox McCloud, had somehow entered without my noticing. I didn't approach him, though, because he was standing next to Miyu, and she seemed to be getting excited. And then the bell rang.
"No, he isn't," Falco said once it quieted down.
"Where is he?" he asked, looking back toward the door. "Damn it, why'd I go and lose my phone?"
"Because you're an idiot," Falco said, shaking his head. "But he'd better hurry up and get here before –"
"Toe line!" the leopard shouted. I hadn't even noticed him, so I nearly leapt out of my skin. "Get there!"
I hurried into the line alongside the other students. My sarcasm would normally have made me slow or sloppy, but I knew what this Mr. Fritz was capable of. Once everyone stopped moving, he walked slowly down the line, inspecting everyone. I tried to keep a straight face, but I think I'd have been surprised if he'd been less impressed with Slippy.
"Daniel!" the instructor shouted once he reached the end of the line. "Have you seen our other human friend?"
"No, sir!" the German Sheppard shouted. He was acting like someone was threatening his life.
"Has anyone seen him?" the leopard shouted.
"No, sir!" everyone shouted, more-or-less at the same time.
"Great. So he's skipping," the instructor said, walking down the line once again for a head count. "Twenty-five, not including the –" he began, when the door opened. A very embarrassed-looking Lana Tress entered the room.
"Twenty-six, not including the humans...Ms. Tress, why are we so late?" he asked.
"Sorry, Captain Fritz. I was...uh...held up," she explained. Oh, so he's a captain? I wondered. I'll still call him 'Mister' for now.
"'Held up' by what, I wonder?" he asked just as Relics stumbled through the door. "Is he the reason you're late?" he growled.
"No, sir! It's not like that!" she said. I almost wish Krystal had acted the same way, I thought.
"Mmm-hmm..."the leopard nodded slowly. She barely got a word out before he interrupted her. "Stand by."
I watched Relics take in the room, and the shooting range, before he became distracted by the war zone. Mr. Fritz somehow managed to get right next to him before Relics noticed the leopard. And the leopard took the opportunity to make sure it was clear who was in charge. It was the basic "I'm big, you're nothing" speech, followed by a command to end every sentence with "sir". I decided to keep my sarcasm to a zero so I didn't upset the teacher who was twice as big as me.
"Yes, sir," Relics said once the speech was over. He looked much like Daniel had, only Relics seemed a little less scared.
"Good," the leopard said, apparently reveling in his superiority. "My name's Captain Fritz, and welcome to Auxiliary class. Play by the rules, behave yourself, and I might just let you live...Snowflake." Auxiliary class? I thought. I thought it was something about combat evaluation. "Wait here," he told Relics, before approaching everyone who, like me, had arrived on time. He stopped and looked up and down the line a couple of times before suddenly shouting "Shut the hell up!" despite the fact that nobody had said a word.
"Since today's the first day, I'll take it easy on you," he said, pacing the line a little more calmly. "Today, we'll watch the tardy pair in the Fun Zone. And if we have time, we'll play a little paintball."
I heard Bill mutter a single word under his breath, but I didn't quite catch it. After a few seconds, the leopard walked toward the obstacle course.
"Snowflake! Get over here!" he shouted. Apparently the nickname drew more of a reaction from the rest of the class the second time. Now, that's just messed up, I thought. Although, "messed up" describes most drill instructors, as far as I know. Bill was nearly shouting about Relics' new nickname, and I decided to give him a swat upside the back of his head. Apparently, that made Relics at least a little bit less frustrated as he walked toward the leopard. The teacher gestured toward Lana, and she approached too, acting much more terrified.
"Alright, which one of you will be first?" he asked. Relics looked to Lana, seeing if she wanted to go first and apparently misjudging the so-called Fun Zone by its name. But she looked on the verge of a mental breakdown, so he looked back to the teacher.
"I'll do it, sir."
The leopard smiled and turned toward the Fun Zone, saying, "Follow me, everybody." Once everyone, including Relics and Lana, were standing in front of the obstacle course, Mr. Fritz turned to Relics. "This," he said, gesturing toward it, "is the Fun Zone. It's probably one of the most painful and difficult experiences you'll ever go through. It's got rope swings, monkey bars, mud pits..."
He took a deep breath, but I didn't think he was out of breath. Dramatic effect? I wondered.
"...along with lasers, trap doors, murder pits, and the Wall of Bruising. Oh, and there's a nice little surprise near the end for you," he said, before flashing a sadistic smile. "Any questions?"
Yeah, I thought, when the hell did I sign the waiver for this class?
"No?" Mr. Fritz asked. "Good. Only students who are late have to run through the Fun Zone, but any students who want extra credit can do it, too. Since this is your first time, I guess I can turn off the traps."
Relics was apparently fuming, but before he could take three steps toward the gauntlet, the teacher stopped him.
"Oh, and give us a good show," he said, pointing up to a big television. "We'll all be watching you." Relics could already be seen on the screen, so I looked around unsuccessfully for the camera.
"How far do you think he'll get?" someone nearby asked as Relics hesitated.
"He probably won't get past the rope swings. Doesn't look like he's got the upper body strength," Bill said. I gave him another swat to the back of the head.
"What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his head.
"What do you think?" I asked as Relics approached the start line.
"Go when you're ready," Mr. Fritz said, ready to enjoy the show. Relics dropped his backpack, cracked his neck, and took his first steps into the Fun Zone.
Alright, I figured it's time to stop complaining about the lack of replies and favorites. I mean, I'm supposed to be writing for the fun of it, but I kinda threw that out the window. And since I'm probably going to edit this whole story before I'm done, I guess I'll just leave it be for now. I'm just getting a wake-up call that no matter how good I think I am, I'm still a beginner.
Although, it can't be that bad, right? I mean, I haven't received much criticism, so I'd guess that I'm doing alright. I just have to focus less on tons of words, and more on the right words. And maybe less italics for emphasis.
Also, realizing just now new I am to writing, I'm going to be looking for Beta Readers. (It was such a terrible idea to start without any.) So the next update could take a while, but with any luck, I'll be a decent writer by the time I return.
EDIT: The story's not about me anymore. Self-insertion is apparently unimaginative and boring (not to mention arrogant), so the character referred to as the first-person is no longer bound by what I would do. He is still a denizen of our world, though, and would have approximately average knowledge of our society.