Public high schools in the afternoon keep things pretty chill: one hour of study hall, followed by two hours of PE or sports.
Since their homeroom teacher, Ms. Victoria, doesn't stick around to supervise, that "study hall" hour basically turns into free time.
Most kids bunch up in little groups, shooting the breeze and killing time.
Mike, as usual, grabbed a seat in the front row. With nobody bugging him, he borrowed a science book from Sheldon and dove in.
Word about Mike and Regina at lunch had already spread among the girls—in like five different versions.
But nobody dared mess with Regina, the undisputed queen bee, so the entire study hall period, not a single girl came over to flirt with Mike.
Learning's its own kind of fun, and that hour flew by.
Mike handed the book back to Sheldon and asked curiously, "Hey, Sheldon—what sport are you signing up for?"
In America, being athletic is a huge plus. Even top colleges set aside about 10% of their spots every year just for recruited athletes.
Sheldon tucked the book away, looked up, and said, "Me and my friend Dan made plans—we're heading over to try out for basketball."
For kids who aren't exactly sports naturals, joining a team sport is a solid way to rack up PE credits without too much sweat (literally—just blend in).
But Mike knew there was one "sport" that was all brains. "Why not give chess a shot?" he suggested.
"Hmm?" Sheldon paused, thought it over, then lit up. "That's actually a great idea. I'm gonna go find Dan and check it out."
And just like that, he bolted out of the classroom.
Meanwhile, Mike tracked down Georgie, who was heading to the football field.
"Joining the football team is easy," Georgie said once he figured out what Mike wanted. "You just need your own gear. If you're serious about trying out, I can go with you after school to pick some up."
Football's a brutal contact sport—even practice means full pads.
The two of them got to the field pretty quick. A bunch of guys in full gear were already out there warming up.
Over on the far side, Mike spotted Regina and the cheer squad. They were rocking their matching short skirts, full of that high-energy teenage vibe.
Cheerleading counts as a team sport for PE credit too.
Right then, Regina was in the middle of the group, dishing out the latest gossip, totally oblivious to Mike.
Karen, though, noticed him right away since he wasn't in uniform yet. While Regina wasn't looking, she gave him a sneaky little wave.
The girl was already smoking hot, but in that cheer outfit? Total knockout.
...
Over on the football side, Coach George lit up the second he saw Mike.
Medford High being a public school, the kids' overall athleticism trended lower than at fancy private schools.
And football? It's a game where raw physical gifts matter a ton.
If your guys aren't as strong or fast as the other team, you're probably losing.
So a kid like Mike—who looked like a natural athlete just standing there—was exactly what could turn the team's season around.
Once Mike said he was interested, Coach George eagerly took him straight to do some testing.
The physical eval covered the basics: balance, flexibility, speed, strength, endurance, and agility.
Speed and strength were the big ones.
Faster sprint speed means better offense and defense on the field.
Raw power gives you the edge in every collision.
Speed test: the 40-yard dash (about 36.5 meters).
Mike shrugged off his jacket, did a few stretches, and lined up at the start.
At the whistle, he exploded forward like a cheetah.
Coach George stared at the stopwatch—4.9 seconds—and almost let out a whoop.
Most high schoolers are thrilled to break 5.5 or even 5.2. Mike blew past the 5-second mark on his first try.
That sealed it for Coach—Mike was the real deal.
"Let's run two more," he told Mike as he jogged back.
Mike nailed the next ones even better, dropping his best time to 4.5 seconds.
That was straight-up elite. Even loaded down with 20 pounds of pads, he'd probably still hit sub-5.
Feeling like he'd won the lottery, Coach left his assistant in charge of regular practice and took Mike to the weight room for strength testing.
Strength test: bench press reps at 125% of body weight.
First, they weighed him. Mike stepped on the scale—6'0" (182 cm), 169 pounds (about 77 kg).
He'd actually grown another inch and packed on a few pounds lately.
Then came the bench: 211 pounds. Mike cranked out 11 clean reps.
Five reps is considered solid on the team. Eleven was impressive.
Football's full of big power guys who can hit 20-30 reps easy, though.
Overall, Mike profiled as a speed back—the running back behind the quarterback.
He crushed the rest too: vertical jump touch of 1.05 meters, standing long jump 3.12 meters...
After more than an hour of testing, Coach George stared at Mike's stat sheet like it was gold.
"Mike, trust me—you're gonna be our ace," he said, pumped. "One day you'll be a star on the field..."
Coach had been a player himself back in the day, and now it felt like he was living his old NFL dreams through Mike.
As he spoke, a big glowing orb dropped off him.
[Football Experience +100]
With that boost, Mike instantly hit beginner-level football skills.
Coach brought him back to the field, clapped his hands to gather the team, and announced, "This is Mike. Kid's got crazy athletic gifts. He's one of us now—give him a welcome!"
It was the most formal intro Coach had ever given a newbie. The whole team turned curious eyes on Mike.
Led by team captain Aaron and Georgie, everybody started clapping.
A good-looking, clearly athletic newcomer? Easy to get the guys' respect right off the bat.
Of course, not everyone was thrilled.
In the crowd, one stocky kid—pushing 5'11" and a little chubby—glared as Coach fawned over Mike.
His name was Sam, the second-strongest guy on the team after Aaron, and the current starting running back.
Mike showing up? Sam could already feel his spot slipping away.
...
Over on the field, Coach wrapped up the intro, gave the team a quick pep talk since time was running out, and called it a day.