Litten walked out the door to the bus stop.

Some others were already at the stop.

"Hey, are you new?" Cyndaquil asked him.

"Yeah, I'm Litten, the new fire starter," he said.

"Wow, are you a rapper?" Tepig said. "Because then you can say you're lit, and your mixtape is a fire starter. Get it?"

"Um, no," Litten said. "I don't rap."

"You must have been pretty smart to get in," Bulbasaur said. "The new ones are always the smartest or most talented."

"Not always," Cyndaquil said. "Chespin was dumb as a rock."

"Yeah, but he was super nice. Admit it," Bulbasaur said. "There's always a reason why they get in."

"Whatever," Cyndaquil said.

"So, what are you good at?" Tepig asked Litten.

"Well, I had a 4.6 GPA in middle school, I took only advanced placement classes, I play badminton and lacrosse and I've won several mathematics and science competitions," Litten said.

"Wow," Cyndaquil said. "I got a 3.2 last year. I couldn't even dream of winning a science competition. I have enough trouble turning in my homework."

"Well, yeah," Litten said.

"What do you like to do?" asked Bulbasaur.

"Um, mostly schoolwork," Litten said. "Sports as a mental break. A study shows that physical activity after mental activity increases productivity by almost as much as 60%."

"I mean, like do you play video games, or go to the beach, or things like that," Bulbasaur said.

"I don't do much besides that," Litten said.

"Oh," Cyndaquil said.

The bus pulled up. Litten sat in the front row by himself.

Maybe this school isn't as driven as I thought, he thought to himself. No. It's all going to work out. It will.