Mona had adjusted very well in her school and had made friends as well. She was closest with her best friend Felicity and as Terry McGinnis was a friend of Fel's already, she had been on good terms with him too.

With time, the three had become very close friends and were practically inseparable.

Unlike Mona and Fel, Terry was very silent and introverted. He was an avid book reader, preferred the indoors way more, hated PE lessons and would often make excuses to ditch it. But deep down, he was a kind soul who valued his friends and cared for them a lot.

Since he didn't interact much with people other than his friends, despite studying in that school from the beginning, his class fellows hadn't really gotten to know him well.

That shade of his personality was what only Fel had managed to discover and with time Mona had started to pick up on it too.

"Hi Fel, hi Terry," Mona had been slightly late to classes that day.

"Hi," both of them spoke in unison.

"What happened, you got late?" Felicity asked, passing her copy to her so that she could see what she had missed in class.

Mona had missed the first lesson so there was quite some work she would have to copy from her later on, "Baba had to drop me off today but the car broke down halfway to school. Turned out, Uncle Jay is back in town and thought it would be fun to prank us. That took a little time to fix, then we were already running a bit late this morning..."

"No worries, you just missed a boring lecture, nothing new," Terry mumbled.

"Look at you, that boring lecture was definitely what you had paid utmost attention to during class," Fel remarked, watching a very faint smile tug up on his face.

"Just because I pay attention didn't mean I was interested."

Mona shook her head, "you guys are incorrigible..."

"Says the one who would gladly miss a theory class but never ditch PE."

"Hey," she shoved Terry lightly, "just because you hate PE doesn't mean you will pinpoint me out like that."

"And that reminds me we do have PE today," Fel spoke up, earning a high five from Mona and a disappointed groan from Terry, "in fact right after this class."

"Can you guys help me with a new excuse? Coach isn't going to believe me if I use an old one."

"Oh come, Terry, you have been ditching PE since the start of our term," Fel remarked, "that's not a good thing."

He mumbled, hazel green eyes dimming slightly, "I don't like it..."

"What don't you like about it?" Mona added, "it's seriously not that bad."

His eyes flickered towards her briefly, "I seriously can't imagine how you're so good at everything Coach makes us do."

She shrugged, smile widening, "runs in the family; my uncle's an acrobat and my father taught me all he had learnt from him. I could do a backflip of a moving car."

"Wait, what?" Fel looked at her in surprise, "no..."

"Don't underestimate me," her blue eyes sparkled, "or if not a moving car since those aren't allowed in school but definitely off something else. Let me think..."

Felicity shook her head, making her pause, "when I said no, I did not mean it in the sense that you couldn't do it. I said no as in you shouldn't or else we'll get in big big trouble."

"Why?"

"I can't let you get hurt nor be put in detention."

Mona's smile brightened as she hugged her, "awww, I love you, Fel."

"Me too, Mona."

Terry spoke up, "now if you guys are done with expressing your undying love for one another, would you please help in sorting out my predicament?"

"Predicament?"

"I do not want to attend PE. And I can't think of any excuse at such short notice," he remarked.

"The only thing that can get you out of PE is detention," Mona replied after a bit of thinking.

However, she was contradicted by Fel immediately, "but I would rather you not do it."

He sighed wearily, "Fel, if I have to pick detention and PE, I might pick the former."

Mona laughed, "just so you know, they will make you scrub off the canteen after lunch if you do get into a detention."

Terry groaned, pushing his head into his hands, "no..."

And when the bell rang, announcing the time for the PE Class, Mona and Fel had to drag him out of the seat.

"Oh come on, Terry, it won't be that bad," Fel spoke up, "if you miss this class too, Coach will notice you have been missing since the whole week and then you will end up in detention nevertheless."

He had given up by then, knowing that him being dragged to the gymnasium would be a terrible sight so he unwillingly straightened, following them to the dreaded corridor.

"You both are my best friends and I could do anything for you but PE is too much... Too much..."

Mona laughed while Felicity reached out to pinch his cheek, "aw, don't you look adorable right now?"

His cheeks shaded a bright pink and he had the urge to hide his face in his hands again, "Fel, don't do that. I probably look like a boiled lobster at the moment."

"Boiled lobster?" Mona leaned against Fel, laughing way too hard, "you have no idea how right you are. Oh my goodness, what a spot on resemblance!"

Felicity too couldn't hold in her laugh upon seeing him so flustered but patted his back reassuringly, "hey, don't get so red just now. Save it for when the Coach will make you do double laps of the running track."

"No..." That once he hid his face in his hands, "this is a nightmare."

"Oh come on, Terry, stop being so dramatic. And don't hide away your boiled lobster look," Mona pried his hands away from his face, seeing that he had turned even redder, "it's adorable."

"Awww, yes it is."

"I wish I could ditch school forever," he mumbled.

"Then you would not be able to attend the rest of the classes too and your grades would go way lower than the Mariana Trench."

He shook his head, giving Fel a slightly disapproving look, "you know what, forget it. I will go to PE today and maybe the Coach will see how bad I am at everything and just let me leave."

Mona shrugged, "or he could make you work harder to improve?"

"Nope, nope," he held his head up high, the red from his cheeks lessening, "I am hoping for the best. Do not deflate my hopes just yet, Mona."

"In that case, we wish you all the best," Fel remarked with a sweet smile, "after all, you will be needing it."

***