"This is boring... boring and hard," as he sat at Buford and Aleta's kitchen table working on a bunch of school work.
The work wasn't too hard, but like many other places, his school district in Florida had gone to distance learning schedules to make up for the spread of the present pandemic. With all that in place, his parents had kept him enrolled there to finish out the year and any transfer to WSA would occur for the next academic year in the fall, if things cleared up enough to allow people to return to school. Like most teenagers, Max would have preferred something other than doing school work, but at present he couldn't get out of that, largely as a result of some punishment that he'd gotten for taking his father's high priced sports car and going on a bit of a joy ride, before wrecking it in wet cement because of trying to adjust his tail against the seats that were made for Humans. That had left him grounded while what was supposed to be the new family home in Animalia was built and while his parents moved to out their own work plans.
It meant that Max didn't get to meet many of the other Animalians that were there, and he was even more depressed by the fact that WSA had gone to distance learning, and thus even if he'd been transferred into the school for this academic year, he wouldn't be meeting others his age. It also limited what he could watch on television, as his parents often watched the news at the hotel they were staying at, which Max took as a sign of his punishment, and he was placed in a sort of baby-sitting service with another pair of Bull Shark Animalians who already lived in Animalia. Buford and Aleta weren't bad, but they were tasked to keep Max on task with his school work and not let him slack off with some other activity. Thus, while he was allowed to use a laptop for school work, it often came with his babysitters making sure he wasn't looking at things he wasn't supposed to.
"School will always be important," Buford commented, "even if you don't think it is now."
Max sat quietly and looked over to the adult male Bull Shark Animalian. Buford was well built and well muscled, and from what Max had seen in some articles, a testament to how Animalia gave him a second chance. Some of that was actually attractive to Max as a career idea. After all, Animalians seemed quite energetic and naturally put on more muscle than Humans would without exercise, and there had been some measure of excitement that went around with it. After all, things like the Body Building contests that had gone along with some of Animalia's equivalent to the Olympics were always popular, and were among the things that got a lot of good ratings on television when it came what was covered with Animalia. Max sort of fantasized about being double dosed and participating, which would then win him swooning women that might be willing to convert just to be with him. But his parents wouldn't let him double dose and with him being grounded, he couldn't really go anywhere.
"School doesn't make anyone look awesome," Max countered, "and I'd bet that guys that make it big in things like sports aren't really into education..."
"It'll help you understand the world... the way it works and why people do things," Aleta said as she came into the room, "before I was uplifted... I didn't know, nor care, on what people thought of sharks. My primary concern was survival and about the most that I would have thought about Humans was that they weren't fish and that I wouldn't see them often. After becoming an Animalian... I began to understand that the fear that many people have about sharks."
"But sharks are awesome!" Max answered, "they were around before the Dinosaurs and are STILL around. That shows how awesome they are."
"I wouldn't disagree on that," Aleta answered, "but there is still a matter of perspective that an education provides."
Buford nodded as Max gave a disgruntled groan and looked over at the laptop that he had to do his school work on. His parents had met him and Aleta while in one of the periods where they were able to get into the gym and follow all the social distancing measures that the Claw Coliseum mandated just to stay open. The other two Bull Shark Animalians were friendly enough and Buford was happy to see others that had converted, like him, though there were plenty of things that he saw that could be a bit different. Namely that Max's mother seemed a bit more flirty with her husband than what Buford or Aleta would have expected, but it wasn't their place to judge. That was where they'd then learned about Max's grounding after his adventure wrecking the car in cement and the issues with Max's school. From there, they volunteered to help Max with regard to his schooling, and could monitor any sort of "workout" sessions when he was caught up on his school work. It would let Max have access to the scanner that Buford had.
"There'd also be the point that not everyone succeeds going into sports as a career... be it football, baseball, basketball, or body building," Buford spoke, "people go into it and don't get far... for various reasons. Some have great high school careers but not good enough to progress through a top end program and thus never get attention from the pros... Or in my case... I felt inadequate against some of the people I competed against, and juiced to try and catch up... I got caught and was banned for it."
"You took steroids?!" Max gasped, with his eyes going wide.
"That was well before Animalia came along," Buford answered, "but yes... and I paid the price for it. And I had to start over, which wasn't easy. That's why it's good to have an education. The more you know, the more options you'll have if something doesn't work out."
"Okay," Max gave a sigh and looked over the worksheet he was tasked to fill out through the online program. It wasn't a bad worksheet, but it was also a style he didn't like. He generally preferred working in groups and talking things out to learn through reasoning, and while Buford had some good stories on his days as a professional body builder and had the discipline to keep him working... Max had also found that Buford wasn't as good these sorts of things.
"And besides... you're still pretty young," Aleta commented, "suppose something else catches your eye with regard to a career. Like say all these games people play on their computers... you might need more than just a high school education for that."
"I suppose," Max admitted, though while he liked playing video games, he wasn't necessarily into designing them. He worked the answers a bit more and then mumbled under his breath, "I never should have gone for that joyride."
Of course, both Buford and Aleta managed to hear that and gave a bit of a toothy grin that Max didn't notice at first as he tried to resume his work.
"And that I think was the lesson your dad wanted you to learn," Buford smiled, "and it looks like you're doing good. So... keep plugging away and if we have time, we'll go down to the Claw Coliseum and see if they have room in one of the weight rooms."
"Really?" Max looked up, a bit more hopeful.
"Of course," Buford answered, "think of it more as physical training. For if you DO want to get into the sport of body building... and do it cleanly... there will be a lot of work to do. It isn't a party to just have fun at."
"Not to mention that right now we all have to be extra responsible for the machines and equipment," Aleta added, "make sure surfaces are disinfected and so on."
"And if they're are too many there?" Max sighed, "Dad will be busy with his work and talking with the guy that's designing our home here... and mom... Mom, I think has gotten into your Meat Market..."
Buford and Aleta didn't say anything about that. Max's mother had struck them as an okay person, but since becoming an Animalian the new female had showed a great deal more interest in things that Buford and Aleta would have figured that people from Max's family's social class wouldn't have interest in. After all, while Animalians had higher libido's than average people, that didn't mean that was all they thought about or all they wished to work in. Many tolerated things that went on at the Meat Market, but that wasn't quite same as liking or supporting it. Neither of them also had any words on what to say to someone who knew his mother was getting into "adult entertainment."
"If there are too many... we can always return here... and workout in a different way," Buford commented after a few moments of thought on what to say, "it may not be the same as a barbell... but our furniture can have some weight to it. So moving it back and forth can help with form and endurance. Which would also be a part of the training."