Sure enough, that stubborn little know-it-all Sheldon didn't listen to Mike's advice.
His homemade rocket went haywire in the garage and smashed right through one of the apartment building's windows.
By the time Mike and Meemaw Connie rushed out after hearing the crash, two suited-up FBI agents were escorting Sheldon and Dan out of the garage.
The whole Cooper family had shown up too, looking worried sick about Sheldon.
Meemaw spotted the serious-looking agents and hurried over. "What in the world is going on here?"
She tried to pull Sheldon behind her protectively, but one of the agents blocked her.
"Step back, ma'am," the lead agent said firmly, keeping her at arm's length. Then he turned to nine-year-old Sheldon with a stern look. "Did you ever try to purchase uranium from a mine in Canada?"
Sheldon might be a genius, but he's still just a kid. Stared down like that, he froze up, couldn't get a word out, and looked desperately at his parents for help.
George and Mary had never dealt with anything like this. FBI knocking on their door? They were totally out of their depth.
Over on the side, Mike quietly snagged a few glowing orbs that popped off Sheldon.
[Intelligence +1]
[Rocket Building Experience +66]...
After absorbing them, Mike spoke up calmly. "Sheldon, you don't have to be scared. Just tell them the truth. We've got your back—you're safe."
The two agents shot Mike a warning glare but didn't say anything.
With Mike's support, Sheldon calmed down a bit and stammered, "I-I did try to buy some uranium, but the guy at the mine wouldn't sell it to me because I didn't have the right paperwork...
If I'd had uranium for fuel, my rocket wouldn't have gone out of control."
Gotta hand it to the kid—he's a legit prodigy. Without any real fuel, he rigged it to run on electricity and still got the thing to "launch."
The agents exchanged a look—part impressed, part exasperated with this pint-sized brainiac.
For one, he was way too young for any real interrogation tactics. For another, he clearly had no clue how dangerous his stunt was.
They'd already searched the garage and found zero hazardous stuff.
This whole questioning was mostly just going through the motions.
Trying to buy uranium isn't a crime in itself.
In the end, the lead agent gave Sheldon a verbal warning for "endangering public safety."
Before leaving, he pulled George and Mary aside privately and stressed—multiple times—that they needed to keep a closer eye on their kid.
The whole rocket fiasco wrapped up with George, Mary, and Meemaw tag-teaming a long lecture for Sheldon.
...
The next morning in class, Mike was still jumping in to answer questions before Sheldon could.
But after getting shown up the day before, Sheldon came prepared this time. All morning, he only dropped one intelligence point.
That made Mike realize farming attributes off Sheldon was gonna be trickier from here on out—he'd need better opportunities.
This was shaping up to be a long game.
At lunch, Mike ran into Katie again in the cafeteria. Today she was rocking a red fitted tee and tight jeans that showed off her figure perfectly.
Seeing how much more confident she looked than yesterday, Mike gave her some genuine compliments.
Georgie, spotting a cute girl heading their way, couldn't resist jumping in with a couple flirty lines.
Big mistake. Katie was all smiles and laughs with Mike, but with Georgie? Ice cold.
Georgie glanced at Mike's stupidly handsome face and figured out the problem real quick.
Feeling shot down, he wisely shut up and just sat there eating his lunch (and a side of "dog food" vibes).
Meanwhile, Katie happily chatted away with Mike about funny stories from when she was little.
Through the conversation, she never once brought up school stuff—clear sign she still wasn't settling in.
Mike picked up on that and gently steered the talk toward campus life, helping her ease into things.
By the end of lunch, they'd learned a ton more about each other.
As they were wrapping up, Katie finally worked up the nerve to invite Mike over to her house.
The sudden invite caught Mike off guard.
But hey, he had nothing going on this weekend, so he said yes without hesitation.
After the three of them split up, Mike headed to the library alone, looking for some books on football rules.
No luck—he couldn't find what he wanted.
So during afternoon study hall, he slid to the back row and had Georgie break down the rules for him.
With a dad who's the football coach, Georgie knew this stuff inside out.
Finally getting to play teacher, he patiently explained everything.
Football looks like pure chaos and hitting, but the rules are crazy detailed—pretty much a whole playbook for every position.
Good thing Mike's smarts had boosted his memory big time. In just one hour, he had the basics down pat.
When study hall ended, Mike geared up in his pads and headed to the field with Georgie.
It was August—the absolute hottest time of year.
Yesterday the pads didn't bother him much, but today? After the newness wore off, they felt hot, heavy, and suffocating.
Already a little grumpy from the heat, Mike had barely stepped onto the field when three girls stopped him.
This time, it was Regina and her crew.
With their gorgeous faces and killer bodies, the "hot girl squad" turned heads wherever they went.
Regina held her head high, not even glancing at Georgie. She locked eyes with Mike and said, "Congrats on making the football team!"
She flashed this super fake smile—like if you didn't know better, you'd think they were old pals.
As the school's queen bee, Regina was used to guys chasing her.
Mike's looks had already landed him on her radar as a potential.
Normally, after yesterday's lunch thing, she'd have played hard-to-get for a while.
But when she spotted him cozying up with the new girl Katie in the cafeteria? Crisis mode.
To lock in his attention, she decided to make the first move.
"Thanks," Mike said, clueless about all her scheming.
He nodded politely at Karen (who was totally winking at him), then headed onto the field with Georgie.
"Dude, that was Regina—the it girl of the whole school," Georgie said, reluctantly dragging his eyes away. "Your luck with women is seriously making me jealous."
Even though none of the three hotties had given him the time of day, just being that close to them had Georgie buzzing.