Hoping that they wouldn't be noticed and knowing they were now late, the boys took the hotel elevator down to the lobby. At the ground floor, the elevator doors opened and James and Mikhail saw that almost the entire senior class was already there although their nasty chaperone, Mr. Gaffer, had yet to arrive. All eyes turned to the recent arrivals as the chatter amongst the students came to a shocked halt.“What the heck happened to you two?” blurted out Eric Killfoil, Chattahoochee High’s loutish quarterback. His deep voice carried across the hotel lobby, causing Mac the Lion and Larry the Mouse to look over from the front desk.
“Hahahha, look at nerdboy’s feet! They’re freakin’ enormous!” mocked Amy Easelton, the school’s blonde cheerleading captain and resident queen of the “meangirl squad." She pointed to James’s enormous grey furred stompers barely contained by his leather sandals, his triangular ears dropping down against his ball cap in embarrassment. James couldn't help but curl his big furry toes in nervousness as his classmates' eyes traveled over his oversized fuzzy feet. "Dude, those aren't part of a costume. His feet have actually changed. Ha!" mocked Killfoil, giving a cruel laugh.