The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Steffie wasn't quite sure how to react to the five girls who had stumbled into her classroom. Her mother had mentioned that some new friends would be coming, and Steffie... well, she wasn't sure whether she was looking forward to it or not.

Strangers can be scary. But her mother told her that learning to make new friends is important, and it's one of the most important things a person learns in school.

Stella isn't able to attend a regular school yet; it's not possible for now. Her mother says maybe she can go to high school later, and if she feels better then, she might go to middle school.

But then she would have to face all sorts of questions from people about her wheelchair.

She turned her wheelchair to face the girls. "Hi? Who are you?"

Mom said one or two girls would come, but... there are five!

Steffie had been bracing herself for a much smaller number of people.

The girls dispersed, and two of them—the two who looked exactly alike—went to the blackboard and stared up at it, while the other three lined up roughly in a row by the door.

“The question isn’t who we are, it’s who you are!” asked the shortest but most robust girl. She was wearing shorts and a T-shirt with the word “bear” printed on the front.

“That,” said the tallest girl, “was the worst English I’ve ever heard. Did you learn to speak from your little red book?”

“Hey! I’ve said enough,” the burly girl defended herself.

“Hi! I’m Trinity,” said the other girl, who hadn’t spoken yet. “Can I have your wheelchair?”

“No, that won’t work,” Steffie said.

That's a rather impolite question.

The tall girl snorted. Her leather jacket creaked as she crossed her arms. She steadied herself and looked down at Steffie. "I'm Athena. This idiot is Teddy."

“I’m not stupid,” Teddy said. “You are.”

"Hey, let's not start arguing again," said a girl standing in front of the blackboard. She was holding a piece of chalk...

“Hey!” Steffie said, “You shouldn’t be scribbling on the blackboard.”

“Why not?” the girl asked. She had almost finished drawing a raccoon, and it was quite cute. Steffie blinked. Did this girl have a tail?!

Where did Mom find these girls? They're so strange.

"So, what kind of stuff are you all learning here?" Teddy asked.

“That’s swearing.” Steffie gasped. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”

Teddy grinned, tossing his head back as if he were quite pleased with himself. "I can only say one, want to hear me say another one?"

“Teddy, don’t scare her. She’ll tell her mom, and her mom will tell the eldest, and then we’ll all be in trouble.” Athena said, walking over to the desk next to Steffi.

Mom had brought over a few desks and set them up, but even so, there were still two desks short. "So, you're Mr. Hydeson's daughter, right?"

Steffie felt herself shrink further into her wheelchair. Talking to these girls was much more difficult if she wasn't angry with them. "Yes, that's right. I'm her daughter. You're here for class too, right? We're learning geography today." She pointed to a world map on the wall.

“That doesn’t sound interesting,” Teddy said. “Shouldn’t schools be organizing some running and physical activities?”

Trinity patted Teddy on the back of the head, then pointed at Steffie. "She can't run around. She uses a wheelchair instead of legs."

"I didn't know that before!" Teddy said, rubbing the back of his head.

Stacy tried so hard to hold it in, really tried, but she couldn't help it and burst out laughing. Seeing Trinity's smug look and Teddy's pouting lips, she laughed even harder.

Athena smiled at her, even though Stacy was trying hard to stop laughing. "So, what's your name?"

Steffie looked away. Her cheeks were burning red. "Ah, my name is Steffie," she said.

"So, this is where you study?" Teddy asked.

"Yes. My mom used to be a teacher, and I think she still is. She mainly works as a substitute teacher now because, well, I need help with a lot of things."

"What happened?" Teddy asked.

Stacy turned to her and glared at her, a little annoyed. Her mother had told her that it wasn't nice to look at people like that, but Teddy probably deserved it. "I need help with so many things."

“That’s terrible,” Teddy said. “Will you get better?”

“Teddy, you’re even dumber than usual,” Athena said.

"What?" Teddy complained.

"Don't do anything reckless, or I'll tell the boss," Athena said.

Teddy crossed his arms, glaring angrily, but finally gave in, looking down at Stephy. "Well, I think I was pretty rude just now. Sorry. You look alright, at least better than my silly sister."

Athena snorted, but she clearly didn't take the insulting words too seriously.

Stella wondered if all girls were like this. "I accept your apology." She glanced at the clock above the blackboard and realized it was getting late. "Mom usually starts class around this time."

Before class starts, would you like to study on your own? I—I can help you catch up. That would be great! Steffie wants to be a teacher someday.

“That sounds so boring,” Trinity said. It could also be one of the girls who looked like Trinity; Steffie couldn’t be sure, and they hadn’t even told her their names yet.

However, she didn't want to ask anymore; it would be too embarrassing if she pointed to one of them and called out the wrong name.

The lower half of the blackboard now features a panoramic drawing of a massive explosion. Several small animals are running away from the blast site, and in the background, there appear to be heroes engulfed in flames. It's actually quite well drawn.

Stéphane mustered her courage and said, "You draw really well."

The three identical girls puffed out their chests, even the one who hadn't drawn anything. "Of course, I'm really good at it. I want to do graffiti art in the future."

"What?" Stephy asked. "You mean, the kind with spray paint cans?"

"Yes! I already have two cans."

"Two cans of what?" Athena asked.

“A spray paint can,” said one of the girls who looked identical. “I found it.” The three girls gasped in unison. “We should sneak out and spray-paint the boss's mark on some buildings.”

“We don’t have gang markings yet,” Teddy said.

"We can create our own!"

Steffie shook her head. "No, you can't do that. Graffiti is wrong."

“Yes, but that’s cool,” Athena said. “You can’t have something that’s both wrong and cool, can you?”

Steffie shook her head again. "No, it's possible. I mean, no, crime is wrong."

"Hey sisters, let's go commit a crime!" Teddy cheered.

Steffie pouted and straightened up in her wheelchair. She knew they were just joking, but she still felt it wasn't right. "I know some graffiti is really nice. There's a huge mural next to Miss Kohler's ice cream shop with a big unicorn and lots of heroes on it, it's so beautiful."

"Is there an ice cream shop nearby?" Teddy asked.

"Are there ugly hero graffiti on it?" one of the girls, possibly Trinity, asked.

Stella nodded. Sometimes, if she did well on a test, she would go there with her mother, chatting while eating sundaes. "It's really nice there. The owner is also very kind; he always gives me extra."

“That’s it. We need to go out and try it at that store,” Teddy said.

“The boss and the deputy boss are still chatting,” Athena said, peeking out of the room. “I bet we can sneak out without them noticing.”

Steffie laughed. The idea was absurd. "Well, there's an exit down the hallway from Mom's room. She has a few French doors that lead to the backyard terrace; I think you can open them from the inside."

“Alright, cool, let’s go.” Teddy said, walking behind Stephy and pulling her wheelchair out from under the desk.

“Hey—wait, where are we going?” Steffie asked.

“Let’s go get some ice cream,” one of the girls who looked identical explained.

“We don’t have any money,” Steffie said.

Suddenly, two wallets were thrown onto her lap. "I found them," one of the girls said. "I took them from several people's pockets."

Steffie opened one of the wallets with trembling hands and looked inside. There was a badge, a badge of a Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), a man's driver's license, bank cards, everything, and even a few crumpled bills.

"You must be joking."

“We’re not joking about ice cream,” Teddy said. “And we’re not joking about committing crimes. Hurry up, this is going to be fun.”

Steffie quickly turned to the last person who seemed to have some sense and common sense. Athena seemed friendly and quite intelligent. "Do you think this is a good idea?"

Athena grinned. "Don't worry. The boss will probably forgive us! Besides, this is a learning opportunity!"

“What can we learn from getting into trouble?” Steffie asked.

“Learn how to avoid trouble!” Athena said. And just like that, Stevie was pushed out of the classroom and dragged into something she knew would be a lot of trouble.