Mischievous Function

Ski, Yo!

Back at Yoyle Mountain...

"So how did you like snowboarding?" Tennis Ball asked as the students all filed into the restaurant-style canteen. They stood to the side and waited to be seated as a waitress went around their group, passing out small paper menus for each of them before leaving.

Golf Ball shrugged, but stretched and rubbed her tummy. "Too much core for me. I'm better at using just my fingers than my entire body, anyway."

Tennis Ball opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Golf Ball beamed up at him and rubbed her arm nervously. "But...I liked it," she said in a somewhat quieter voice. "It was...it was fun."

He smiled back down at her and patted her shoulder. "That's nice. I'm glad."

After a moment of contented silence, they both opened their menus at the same time and started looking through them. They idly glazed over the donut selections, leafed through the pages of salads and vegetable dishes, and skimmed over all the different types of milk before the sound of a throat clearing in front of them got their attention.

"E-excuse me?"

Golf Ball and Tennis Ball looked up to find their snowboard instructor standing to the side of the line, clasping her hands tightly in front of her and shuffling her feet nervously. "Um..." she started, in a tone halfway to whispering, "are you...Tennis Ball?"

"Yeah, that's me," Tennis Ball answered as he glanced at Golf Ball, who merely shrugged. "What's up?"

The girl let out a soft gasp and a few panicked stammers before squeaking softly and covering her mouth with her scarf. "I-I'm sorry," she murmured, just loud enough for him to hear.

Tennis Ball arched an eyebrow and folded his menu closed. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "I just...well...I-I'm a—I'm a big...I'm a fan o-of...of your work...that you did for the OSC art contest a couple of months ago. A-and I wanted to meet you and see if I-I could—uh...I mean...I wanted...I thought...I..."

"Whoa, calm down." Tennis Ball gently gripped her shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile. "Take your time, all right? You good?"

"Yeah, I...well, I..."

The girl was far too embarrassed at this point to look at anything other than her boots. Her breathing started to get more rapid and heavy, which was beginning to worry Tennis Ball. "Are you sure you're okay?" he tried one more time. "You don't seem too—"

"PLEASE LET ME BUY YOU DINNER!"

She covered her mouth almost as quickly as she had blurted out the words. The fact that she had said them much louder than expected and the several pairs of concerned eyes that had turned to look at her made her want to bury herself in the snow and die. Her hands flew up to cover her face and she quickly turned away. "Ah, stupid, stupid, stupid..." she whispered to herself. She raised her voice slightly and shook her head as she turned away. "I'm sorry, I'm...ah, sialan, Ski, kau bodoh goblok—I-I'm sorry. Just...forget I ever said anything."

"Wait, hold on!" Tennis Ball reached out and grabbed her shoulder to keep her from walking away. "What's going on? Are you well?"

"I just—I wanted to speak with you about, like, arts or crafts things, because I also like art," she explained in a hurried, humiliated voice. "Or maybe if you wanted to learn more about snowboarding, we could talk about that. Because I—you—I saw—y-you're a...a nice person, and I just...I haven't...it's...oh, just forget it. It's stupid."

"Hey, arts and crafts isn't stupid," Tennis Ball said, refusing to let go of the girl's shoulder even as she tried to walk away.

"No, I know," the girl replied. "That—that's not what I meant. I just...fine." She looked around for a brief moment before leaning closer to Tennis Ball and whispering, "I...okay, look, everyone knows you for woodworking, but I'm personally a huge fan of the drawing that you submitted as well, even though it only got third place. I want to learn from you, okay? Even just a few tips or something."