It was a crisp evening in early October. The boxers were vibing in the lounge, listening to Aran talk about his invitation to speak at a high school gym class.
"I'm still quite appalled that they chose you of all people," quipped Narcis.
"Aw, stuff it, dolly boy," snarled Aran. "Anyway, it's tomorrow at Kadupul High School."
"Kadupul High School, ca c'est l'école de Katrina," said Joe, (Kadupul High School, that's Katrina's school.)
"Aye?" Aran sat up. "I can pick her up if ye want me to." The two of them arranged a time, and agreed that Aran would come by at 8:10 the next morning to get Katrina.
The next morning, Aran came by to pick up Katrina. "'Ere," he said, handing her a chocolate chip muffin, "Mum ran these by this mornin'."
"Thank you," said Katrina, taking a bite.
When they got there, they split up; Aran went to the gym and Katrina went to her homeroom.
"Morning, Trina," said Ms. Jewel when she came into the classroom.
"Hey, how come you weren't at the bus stop?" Annie cocked her head.
"I got a ride," said Katrina, sitting in her chair.
A few hours later, Katrina came to the gym for her Phys. Ed. class.
"Harry Bauer."
"Here."
"Katrina Beaufort."
"Here."
"She better be here, I drove her." Aran butted in.
Coach Reinders looked at him. "...Right." She shook her head. "Annie Carmichael."
Once attendance was taken, they began their class. "Alright, class," said Coach Reinders, "today we're each gonna come up with a way to keep ourselves motivated during our workouts. I've brought in our guest today to help us. Aran, how do you keep yourself motivated in the ring?"
"Okay," said Aran, "what I do is think to meself, 'I'm gonna win this thing'. An' I go in jus' thinkin' that. An' if I don't, it don't bother me none. I hit, I got hit, I'm satisfied."
"Alright," said Coach Reinders, "let's hear some other ideas. Masako?"
"Usually, when I get sore or tired, I take a minute to rest up before I continue," said Masako. "I find it helps keep me from pulling something."
"Great," said Coach Reinders. "How about you, Kira?"
"I usually say to myself, 'it's okay, it's okay, it's okay'. And I usually am." Kira sat up a bit straighter.
After a bit, the class all split up for Free Workout to test out their motivation plans. Katrina picked up a basketball to shoot some hoops. Her motivational motto was "if you don't get this one, you can get the next".
She landed the first few baskets, but then she missed one when something slammed into her back, letting the basketball hit her in the head. She turned and saw a volleyball bounce behind her. Looking up, she could see Veronica giving her an evil grin. "Oops."
"Oi."
Katrina jumped a bit when she heard Aran's voice. She didn't realize that he was standing so close to her. He gave Veronica an "I'm watching you" gesture before handing the basketball back to Katrina. "Alright, junior, go on with yer hoops."
When school ended, Aran and Katrina drove back to the WVBA arena, where Joe was coming out of a match. "Salut, Katie," he said when he saw his daughter. "Comment était l'école?" (Hi, Katie. How was school?)
"Good," said Katrina. "People think I'm cool now."
"Vraiment?" Joe cocked his head. "Pourquoi?" (Really? Why?)
"Cause I have a bodyguard," said Katrina, beaming.
"Yeah, I had to growl at a kid fer pickin' on her," said Aran nonchalantly.
Joe looked at him, but sighed and shook his head. He didn't really feel like arguing with him about it.
