They were all in Caleb's grade, so they weren't being separated, but Caleb was a top student because he knew how to balance his academic life with his athletic life.
This could be because of his above-average IQ that put him above his peers intellectually, but this was one of those things Caleb didn't give too much thought to.
A lot of his fellow teammates goofed off in class because they were certain of a scholarship to a higher institution using their athletic talents, but this wasn't the case for Caleb.
Caleb was a boy who made winning in every aspect of life a goal—it came to him naturally, and this was why he was one of the best students.
"Okay, class… We have a new student, a foreign exchange student," the teacher announced.
Caleb instantly knew who it was because the girl he had spoken to on the bus had a tinge of an English accent.
He wasn't sure if it was English or Irish—these two sounded similar—but either way, the girl walked in and, just as expected, she turned heads.
She was a pretty girl, but it was her figure that caught the eyes of the opposite gender.
She wasn't as busty as Kathy, but her slim waist and wide hips gave her sex appeal well beyond her age.
Caleb locked eyes with her, and she couldn't help but smile at him. He was the only person she had interacted with in this school.
She was relieved he was here because it would make her transition into the school a lot easier.
The teacher was done with his introduction after a couple of minutes, with Leila giving a brief speech to the class.
It was time for her to find a seat, and luckily, there was one available right behind Caleb.
No one sat behind him because of his height—it made it difficult to see what was being taught by the teacher.
Leila found a solution right away as she moved her desk slightly to the left, but this broke the symmetry in the arrangement of the furniture.
Not that anyone cared. Caleb looked back awkwardly and had to apologize.
"I'm sorry," Caleb whispered. Anyone else would have been on alert, but Kathy didn't flinch.
"It is fine. I cannot be mad at your great genetics," Leila responded, and that was the end of their brief interaction as the class carried on.
Recess came soon enough, and Noah was the first to meet Caleb, but his eyes constantly peeked at Leila, who was getting ready to leave.
However, she was approached by a couple of girls, blocking Noah's view as they showed her around school.
Evelyn and Kathy were nowhere to be seen as well—they allowed each other to have a life outside their relationship, which made for a healthy one.
"Damn it! Why didn't Evelyn befriend her!" Noah cussed under his breath, but Caleb chuckled at his frustration.
"Girls will be your downfall," Caleb teased his friend. Caleb was a lot taller than him, with Noah standing at a height of 5'8".
Caleb didn't know what it was for the shorter man, because women flocked to him instinctively, but Caleb had demonstrated excellent self-control in dealing with them.
Noah, on the other hand, lacked that self-control, but his looks helped him close the gap the taller boys had on him.
Noah had the kind of face some girls would find extremely attractive or extremely ugly—there was no in-between.
He was like Pete Davidson in that regard, but Leila was a girl he found attractive nonetheless.
"Better it be girls than height. One of these days, a plane will crash into that big forehead of yours!" Noah fired back, prompting Caleb to giggle lightly.
"Wow! Careful now, I almost thought I was in a Mike Birbiglia show," Caleb was just as fast in terms of his response.
"I don't even know who that is," Noah rolled his eyes, but Caleb expected this. Noah rarely watched comedy shows.
"I'm not surprised, buddy," Caleb responded as both boys exited the classroom.
They were headed to the arena because Caleb needed to partake in team training.
Noah was his biggest fan and loved to watch his friend dominate the court.
The fact that Kathy and Evelyn were cheerleaders helped bring all of them under one space.
Caleb walked in, and his teammates gestured for him to join them.
"Let's go," Caleb called to Noah, but Noah was hesitant. Caleb grabbed him by the arm and led him there.
Noah knew Caleb's teammates didn't like him, but Caleb wanted Noah to join their practice despite his height.
Noah could feel the hateful glares, but they couldn't say a word because no one wanted to be on Caleb's bad side—not that he had shown any.
The play began, and Caleb made sure they were on the same team because Noah was one of the best passers he had seen, even though he wasn't much help elsewhere.
"Why do you always pick me? Scared I'm your kryptonite?" Noah teased, standing beside his taller friend.
"No… You're my shadow, you're my Kuroko," Caleb responded with a cheeky smile.
"You're so cringe," Noah couldn't contain his disgust, as it showed all over his face.
Noah could have been a basketballer, but the universe was cruel—it robbed him of the one thing that would make this possible: height.
They played, and Caleb's reference was far off the mark—Noah was nothing like Kuroko because he did take shots when he was open.
The truth was, Noah was a dreadful shooter, and each shot he took had a 95% chance of missing.
But this didn't stop him, and Caleb never once complained because this was meant to be fun.
His superior skills allowed his friends to have fun, and they always won despite how badly Noah played.