“Shoot!"

Max kicked the
ball with full force and beamed in satisfaction when it went in. He was nearly
half the field away and the ball still went in easily. His tail wagged; he
still hadn't lost his touch.

“Andrew, man your
post! You four, left wing!" he barked to his juniors. They went to position
quickly.

The ball was
kicked, and Max moved aside to let his juniors play. He watched in confidence
as Jeremy took control of it and ran towards the goal. Before the other team
could catch it, he passed it to Nick, who quickly caught it and shot.

The ball didn't
go in, but Nick was quick to run towards where it was going.

“Nick, pass the ball! Pass the ball!"

The cat passed
the ball but kept running as a backup. The other team was close to their post,
but Andrew caught the ball before it could go in.

Just before
Andrew could throw it back to the field, the whistle was blown and everyone
stopped.

Max clapped his
hands. “Okay everyone, time's up! Go back to the podiums."

Everyone did so
and walked towards the podiums where the others were sitting next to the
football field. The rest of his juniors were already there as they had played
before. He chuckled a little when he saw Nick with a defeated expression on his
face walking towards the podium. He took a few steps and picked the ball
up, then walked along towards the podium.

The coach was,
well, he didn't smile a lot, but Max already knew him enough to tell that he
was satisfied with the game. And he himself was, too. The new batch seemed to
catch up quite well. Everyone without fur was sweating and the ones who had fur
had their tongues out. Max was tempted to do the same, but he held back.
Instead, he breathed heavily.

“I expected a
good game from you," The coach started. Everyone looked at him as they sat
down. “and a good game I got. Today I see a lot of improvement from our last
meeting. Well done."

All of them
clapped their hands.

Max caught
sight of Nick smiling in satisfaction. He stood next to the coach with Andy.

The coach
continued. “However, we still have work to be done. As you know, the Inter-Uni
is just around the corner, and if you want to make it in, we still need to keep
improving. As with traditions, the first-year batch is responsible for getting us
into the Inter-Uni as we pave our way up to the nationals. We still have around
three months so keep up the good work and keep on improving."

Everyone
clapped their hands again, and this time the coach smiled. “Thank you for
coming today. Have a great weekend."

Max was about
to head to the changing room, but the coach stopped him. “Hey Rob,"

“Yes, sir?" He
took his water bottle and gulped it.

“I don't think
I'll be coming to supervise next week, so I want you to take my place when I'm
gone, alright?"

“Got it. Why,
though?"

“My wife's
delivering any day now, and I wanna be there when she does. Even when she does
before next Friday, I'll take a few days off."

Max walked next
to him. “Sure thing. Is it a boy or a girl?"

His coach
laughed. “No idea. We wanted to keep it a secret until they're coming. I kind
of wish it's a boy."

“I fear the
little one's gonna get your wrath." The dog laughed along.

“My wrath is
legendary, I know." He chuckled as he took his bag from the podium seat. “Anyway, till the week after."

“Till the week
after."

The coach
patted his shoulder and went away. Some of the juniors chirped “thanks, sir" as
he passed by.

Max took the
stairs and went inside the changing room. Some of the juniors had already left or
were in the showers, leaving the changing room deserted. The dog took his jersey off and put it on his bag, then took his towel and headed to the
showers.

He was smelly
today.

“Nice kick, mate." Andy greeted him. In the shower stall next to him, Octo nodded with a
smile.

“Thanks," Max turned an empty shower on and put his towel on the hanger, turning the water on and ignoring the stares he got.

Sometimes he
liked to show off a bit. He was hot and he knew it, thank you.

His tail wagged
a little as the warm water rained down onto his body, his fur softening as the
water flowed. He took his shampoo and applied it to his body, earning a few
glances from the others.

He nearly
chuckled.

“Hey, uh, Max."

Turning his
head to the source of the sound, he saw Nick a few stalls behind him. He nodded
to acknowledge him. Weird, Nick always left early and never had a shower here.

“Um, sorry
about earlier. I should've made it in, I—"

Max put his
finger on his mouth, instantly shutting the cat up. He then smiled, “First time
taking shower here?"

“Er, yeah."

Max rubbed his
back as far as he could reach. “First rule of taking shower here: don't talk to
anyone when it's full."

“Oh," Nick
looked around. There were some people who looked at him in curiosity. “Uh,"

“Only talk when
it's less crowded." The dog continued with a smile. “Talk to me later outside."

“Uh, right.
Sorry."

Max winked his
right eye, then continued scrubbing his body. He caught someone staring at him,
then he posed to let them get a better view, caressing his abs as the shampoo
washed away.

He saw Octo shaking
his head as he passed. He just grinned.

After he was done, he shook off his body to get the water away and took his towel, then walked to the blower room.

“It's nice to
show off, isn't it?"

When he was done, Max saw Andy grinning and Octo smiling amusedly at him. He just laughed. Andy punched him when he opened his locker.

“Yo, that
hurts like hell." He faked a hurt expression and gripped his upper arm where
Andy punched him. “Ow, I think my arm's gonna fall off."

“Ye ought to take this punishment, for you have brought sin upon this land." The lion laughed
and kept punching him.

Max just
laughed along and put his trousers on. Next to them, Octo chuckled.

“You got any
plans, Max?" the panther asked.

Andy stopped
punching Max and put his t-shirt on. “See? Ye've made the big bad panther want
to ask you out already."

“Shut up." Octo
kicked the lion, making Andy laugh again.

“Not really."
The German Shepherd shrugged, then he put his baggy t-shirt on. “I wanna go to
the library to return the books I borrowed. And maybe getting some books I can
use to do my German homework."

Octo raised his
eyebrows. “Aren't you German?"

“Dude, I'm like
a hundred generation down. I can't speak German." Max sighed. “No one in the
family can. Been that way since I was born."

“That's unfortunate of you." Andy closed his locker after pulling his bag. “Anyway, it's Friday, mate. We're gonna hit the bars later tonight. Wanna come along?"

“Didn't the
team wanna hang out at your place?"

“Change of
plan. I didn't have enough booze, so we decided to hit the bars."

“Or, you know,
Andy didn't want anyone to read his porn mags again." Octo
kicked the lion's feet. Andy yelped, “Hey!"

Max chuckled.
“Nah, go have fun. The homework's due next week." He pulled his bag out and
closed his locker, mindful of his wet towel. “Although maybe I'll come if I
finish it before you get home. The one down Harry Street, right?"

They nodded.

“I'll tell you
later whether I go or not."

“Nice."

“Is John coming
along?"

“Yep."

“Uh, Max?"

The dog turned
around and saw Nick and Andrew walking towards him, the former having his ears
almost flat. “Hey, dude. You wanna ask something?"

“No, it's
just…" Nick pulled his bag tighter. “Sorry for not making it in."

“He feels bad,
you know, about that kick," Andrew said.

“That's fine,
mistakes are made." Max chuckled and gestured to them to follow him outside, Andy
and Octo leading the way. “You didn't make the ball go in, sure, but you were
quick to act and chase the ball again. It could've been stolen by the other
team if you hadn't done so." He put his hand around the cat's neck, the cat
only reaching up to his upper chest. “But, what mistake did you make when you
kicked the ball?"

“Um, the ball
went too right."

“So, what can
you do to avoid that?"

“Kick it more
to the left?"

“Yes, because?"

Nick went quiet
and scratched his ear.

Max smiled. “You
need to compensate for the possible air resistance. Did you notice that the
wind was blowing from your left?" He made gestures with his hand. “Not only you
need to shoot straight, but a little bit more to the left. Feel the force of
the wind, then adjust your kick towards
where the wind was blowing. It's fine if you went too left, but if the wind was
strong enough, the ball will turn slightly to the right than the otherwise
straight direction."

“Oh yeah, I
didn't think of that." The cat looked at him. “But how can I feel the wind?"

“You're a cat,
you can do that. Just feel it around you." Max let him go. “The problem, ball
went too right. The cause, wind. The solution, calculate air resistance. Well,
not calculate mathematically, just feel the wind and adjust from there. Keep
exercising and you might make the team, squirt." He ruffled the cat's hair,
then glanced at Andrew. “You too, Andrew."

Nick beamed
brightly at him, his ears now pointed up. “Thanks, Max. See you next exercise!"

Max chuckled.
“Later." Then he caught up with Octo and Andy who were several steps in front
of him.

“What was
that?" Andy asked, not glancing up from his phone.

“Just some junior
asking a question." The dog scratched his neck. “What time is it?"

“Almost 4.50 pm."

“Damn, the library's
gonna close soon."

They arrived at
the parking space. Andy out his car key out and got in. “Dog wants a ride?"

“The library's
just a few minutes' walk from here."

Octo got in
next to Andy and put his bag in the backseat. “It's gonna close soon,
remember?"

“Oh yeah,
right." Max opened the back door and got in. He then took his phone out and checked
his WhatsUp. His team changed plans an hour ago; maybe he was too busy teaching
his juniors. The PR 2016 group was buzzing with new messages, too. He chuckled
and decided to open it.

There were lots
of messages, most of them he didn't even know yet. PR 2016 was divided into
three classes, and he got class A all of them, so he only knew those from class
A.

A pinned
message appeared; Tom had pinned a message. He tapped on it and saw it was a
list of next week's homework.

Tch, German on
Tuesday. Fuck, must it be that soon?

Sometimes he
kind of envied Martin, Tom, Lucy, and many others in his class who could speak
their ancestor's or their native language. But really, he just saw there was no
need to. It had never been high in his priority list.

“Here we go, Max."

Max glanced up
from his phone and saw the big sign of 'Library of the University of Barrowisle'
above the building's entrance outside the window. The building itself was
seemingly ancient yet well-preserved.

With a sigh, he
took his bag and got out of the car. “Thanks, man."

“No probs. See
ya."

“See ya."

Andy drove off,
leaving Max alone in front of the library. It didn't seem to be closing; it
looked like there were still many people inside and more still coming in. His
ears drooped a little.

He gave another
sigh out of tiredness and went inside.

It was still
crowded, well, as crowded as a library could. He noticed some glances directed
his way, followed by some whispers. Ignoring them, he walked towards the
receptionist and noticed something.

Wait, wasn't
that Tom?

He saw him taking
books from someone and put it away, his smile visible. He then turned and
crouched, but then he stood up again and their eyes met. The wolf looked
surprised, but he quickly regained his composure.

Max smiled at
him. “Hey."

“Uh, hey." Tom
smiled back. There was a name tag on his pristine white shirt with his full
name, Thomas L. Purnama. Behind him,
the dog saw his tail wag. “How can I help you?"

“I wanna return
the books I borrowed a week ago. I hope it's not too late." He put his bag on
the table and took the books out.

“You're not too
late. We're still open until 22."

“Wait, really?"
Max looked at him. “Isn't the library open until 5?"

“The renovations
are done, so now we're open from 8 to 22, mister…?"

“Kleinschmidt."
Max chuckled. “Seriously, Tom?"

“Hey, I was
being a good host." He said playfully. “So, you want to return some books?"

“Yeah. I
borrowed some." The dog took his pocket out and picked his library card. “Here."

Tom took it and
the books, then scanned them and put it on the tray behind him. “Thank you, Mr
Kleinschmidt. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

He directed his
glance to his bag.

The wolf kept
on staring at him.

“Tom, the bag."

“Oh, right." He
chuckled sheepishly. “You want to get in?"

“Yeah."

“Wait," he took
out a key card and gave it to the dog. “Here's your key card. Number 138."

“Thank you."
Max took it with mock grace, then chuckled. “So, you work here?"

“Part-time,"
Tom answered. “It's not much, but I like it here."

The dog closed
his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “When's your shift?"

“Actually 12 to
17, Monday to Friday, but I opted for 11 to 16 on Tuesdays because we have
class on 17, and 9 to 14 on Wednesdays. We have full classes on Thursday, so I
moved to Saturday."

“Dude, you work
on Saturday? That's rough."

“Well, I often
come here anyway so it's not that bad." The wolf shrugged. “Now go away, you're
holding the queue."

“Oh, sorry." He
moved to the left. Just when he was about to head to the lockers, he remembered
his homework. Well, might as well do it with the wolf. “Yo, Tom, your shift's
gonna end soon, right? Can you help me with German?"

“Uh, well, sure."
Tom nodded, then he looked flustered and his ears pinned down. Damn, he looked
cute when he was flustered. “I'll go pack up first."

“Cool, meet me
when you're done. I'll be in the corner near the computer section entrance."

Tom gave him a
thumbs-up. Max then headed straight to the lockers, put his bag in, took out
his headset and German textbook, and went inside.