Chapter Text
After a few more minutes of eating snacks, we left the other two in anticipation and headed to the gym for P.E. class, which—to my surprise—Mal had taken as an elective. "Yeah, I don't actually need to take another year of it to graduate, but it's a class with absolutely no homework, so it really helps me keep my GPA up," she explained. "And anyway, it's good exercise. I don't mind it."
"But don't you get all sweaty and gross and then have to go to class afterwards?" I asked.
"No, because I can fix that with Prestidigitation, remember?"
"Oh. Right." Her logic was unassailable.
Unfortunately, it did mean going into the locker room to change into gym clothes, and that's not the most fun place to be when you have an enhanced sense of smell. I closed my eyes and held my breath as best I could. Mal sensed my discomfort and changed as quickly as possible. "Sorry," she said. "I don't think anyone likes it in there."
The class itself consisted of about 10 minutes of stretches and then another 40 minutes of basketball. I watched from the bleachers. Mal was not very good at basketball. She scored no baskets. She gave it a good-faith effort, though, and none of her teammates seemed to be angry or annoyed with her for being unskilled, since there were no real stakes and half of the other players were probably just as bad at it as she was.
It probably helped that she was pretty, too, even in her baggy gym clothes. I caught a few of the boys stealing glances at her as she played. In my experience, when your body conforms to our society's narrow standards for feminine beauty, there are some upsides and some downsides to it, and one of the upsides is that fewer people are interested in being mean to you. It's pretty bullshit that things work that way, but that's how it always was for me.
Anyway, after basketball, she changed back to her regular clothes and freshened up with a soft, subtle burst of magic that left her hair absolutely perfect. Just flawless. I really needed to learn that spell.
English class was next on the schedule.
The classroom was on the second floor of the main building, and the teacher was an older woman with curly gray hair, glasses, old-fashioned clothing, a little extra weight, and a facial expression that said "I can't believe I haven't retired yet."
As Mallory showed her the doctor's note, I noticed a familiar smell in the room. "Oh hey, it's Grace!" I said, recognizing the dark-haired girl sitting near the window. "Hi Grace! I remember you from math!"
She must have noticed us too; she turned in our direction and gave a little wave. Mal blushed.
I turned to look at Mal. "Today is the day. You're going to sit together, and when the moment is right, you're going to ask her to get together later and study with you for Friday's math test. And then sparks will fly."
She couldn't respond to me in front of everyone, but she steeled her nerves and sat down in the seat next to Grace, with me in her lap again. Step one complete!
The teacher called for everyone's attention. "Good morning, students. Let's jump right into it. Please take out your essays and your red pens."
Rustling noises ensued as everyone retrieved their homework. "Now pair up and swap essays with the person next to you for proofreading," she continued.
Grace scooched her desk closer to us and winked. "Looks like we're partners again!" she whispered cheerfully.
"Anyone without a partner, raise your hand!" said the teacher. One student in the back raised his hand, and she directed him to join another group of two as a third member. Then Grace and Mal swapped papers, and while Mal worked on Grace's essay, I turned my attention to Grace.
She hadn't started on Mal's essay yet. Instead, she was writing something on a piece of scratch paper. Then she looked at me and gave me a little nod of acknowledgement.
Huh?
She slid the paper over to Mal. It said, Hey, do you want to get together later to study for Friday's math test?
Um. What?
Mal saw the note and blushed. She scribbled a response and slid it back, but I just stared at Grace. "You didn't actually understand what I said earlier, did you?" I said, tilting my head in confusion.
Grace made direct eye contact with me and winked.