Ranto Academy

Chapter 6: The Reason for the Seasons

"And Penny is setting up for her last-ditch shot. The score is a narrow 3-2 with Jessie getting ahead early and holding her lead with authority. If Penny misses this shot, her opponent could take a two-point lead giving her a distinct advantage in this first to five-set."

"Avast ye fleet-footed landlubber. I'm focusing." Penny sat her face down close to the table. Her right index finger balancing the paper football on its tip. Ahead she saw her goal, the fingers of Jessie positioned up like a goalpost.

"Come on Penny. Wait any longer and I'm calling delay of game." Jessie sat with a smug grin as Max snickered alongside her. The girls had woken up extra early today. Partially from excitement but mostly because of the explosion that rocked Jessie's room and the neighbors beside her. The two girls grabbing breakfast and joining Max on her morning jog but in their case a campus-wide sprint.

Currently, Penny had on her usual clothing, but she swapped out the blue and white stripes for a bright pink tee shirt with a black bunny caricature across her front. The bunny had a disgruntled look on its face with bright red eyes and a dingy brown bandage around its right ear.

Jessie's hair was still pinned up in her long red pigtails. But instead of her usual junker attire, she wore a bright red and yellow crew jacket. Her hat a matching red and yellow with a small lightning bolt in the middle of her head. Her color scheme made Max proud.

Speaking of the speedster, she had ditched her usual superhero-inspired attire for more street-appropriate clothing. Her usual red and yellow onesie discarded for a sporty red jacket with a yellow hood. Her usual helmet with its blue visors now switched out for a red hat with a matching lightning bolt, much like Jessie's. She was tossing a pair of sharp glasses in the air while she swayed her body back and forth to the music playing from the TV. Her spandex purple shorts attracting the eyes of boys and girls alike as they passed by the window.

"Seriously just take the shot already," Jessie was getting tired of waiting.

Penny mumbled something under her breath as she lined up her left finger. Max decided to start commentating again, her voice lower as she held her excitement. "This is the make or break moment folks. The battle of the brains here today... And Penny's lining up the shot... And~"

Just before she could flick her finger the common's door bursts open, "What's up BITCHES!" Penny flinched from Jacky's sudden entrance, her finger plucking the paper football off its path. Jessie burst into laughter as Penny flew into a rage.

"Bilge-sucking! Lily-livered! Ye scallywag! You ruined me shot!" Penny raised a vengeful fist at Jacky as she walked in. Her face full of confusion as Max explained the situation between staggered laughter, Jacky joining in as she apologized for the distraction.

Jessie picked up the paper football, smiling towards Penny as she aimed. "Come on Penny let's finish this." As the girls finished up their game Emz slowly made her way into the common's room. She took some time to inspect the random students watching TV and playing games on the tables against the wall. Her eyes fell on Penny, her bright pink hair blending with the bright shirt she was wearing. Beside her was their friend and her secret rival, Jessie.

Emz watched as Jessie and Max cheered after she successfully flicked the paper football between Penny's fingers. The girls laughing at Penny's frustrated grimace before they all started laughing together. She couldn't fully process the image, not after the things she saw yesterday.

She remembered laying up last night while Penny was sawing logs in her sleep. The undead beauty wrapped in her midnight black sheets as she tried to analyze her situation. How was she supposed to tell Penny what she saw? Most people would have run to her and screeched out everything they witnessed. Emz knew this situation was a bit more delicate. The group of girls were best friends, ever since grade school when they first ran across each other they had gelled together like siblings. They knew everything about each other; favorite foods, biggest fears, darkest desires. Now the secret feelings of one could destroy the entire group.