Grade A friendship

Babs gave a quiet, dismal sigh as she progressed down the forested path towards her burrow. She should have been elated like any other teenage rabbit after school was over. Not only that, but it was Friday and she had Monday off too. In any normal situation, a three day weekend would have put a smile on her face ear to ear, but today that was hardly the case. Never the less, every fiber of her being was immersed in deep apprehension as if her soul was drowned in worry. Every step she took drew her closer and closer to a faster heart beat and a sweat soaked brow. In her right hand was a clutched sheet of paper- her grades for the quarter. Mostly B's with an A here and there, but her grades didn't bother her. Her grades were in fact, the last thing that she held audience to in her mind. No, what was bothering her most was the fact that Buster hadn't come to school at all that day...

"Mom...'m home." The pink bunny called out as she precariously stepped around the dozens of brothers and sisters that littered her path. Her mother, like usual, was sitting in her favorite rocking chair, bottle feeding her baby sister, Charlotte.

"Hey there Babsy hon. Didja get your grades today?" Asked the nursing bunny. Babs absentmindedly held up her grade report and thrust the crumpled paper into her mother's outstretched hand. The elder rabbit paused for a moment in her feeding and let her gaze caress the sheet, before she glanced down at Babs.

"Well these are just super duper Babsy hon! Why the long face kiddo?" The motherly rabbit inquired, handing the grade report back to her eldest daughter. Babs looked up with a forlorn sigh and nibbled at her lower lip, lost in thought. For a brief, troubling moment, she nearly blurted out her feelings, but her mother saved her the trouble. There didn't need to be any extra words...

"...Well hon, there's some carrot cake in the kitchen. I made an extra today, so why doncha take it over to him, I'll see you later." She said, quaintly, and returned to feeding her daughter without another glance at Barbra. Babs felt her lips twist into a weak smile and she nodded her head softly.

"...I love you mom. Thanks." She muttered and bounced into her room, dropping her backpack on the floor before heading hastily into the kitchen.

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It only took minutes before she was leaning over Buster's burrow, a tray of delicious carrot cake delicately balanced in her paws. There was no buzz of activity. No sounds of guitar or videogames or t.v. No music. No life. Babs frowned nervously.

"BUUUUUUUSTER? YOOHOO? I uh, I gotta special delivery here for a mistah Bustah bunnah..."Babs called out and perked a pink ear to the air. There wasn't a reply to be heard. Babs sighed softly, her ears trickling down to either side of her head sheepishly. She descended into theburrow quietly and glanced around. Everything seemed normal...messy piles of clothes, toys video games.... But no sign of her cobalt crush. Quietly, Babs paraded through theburrow and left the cake on the kitchen table, along with the little brown envelope she'd received from Principal Bunny at school. Buster's grades.

Nibbling her lower lip quietly, Babs placed a trembling set of fingertips on the boy bunny's grades and let her fingers quietly slide along the edge of the envelope. She wanted to look. She had to look. It was a secret at her fingertips that was beckoning her to act and she couldn't denounce the desire inside of her. Quickly, before she had a chance to talk herself out of it, the pink rabbit grasped the packet and ripped it open, letting Buster's grades tumble out and ontothe floor. They stared at her quietly. Babs stared back.

Straight A's. Buster Bunny had received straight A's on his report card, with a little note announcing he'd made the honor roll. Babs frowned quietly and bent down, fetching the astounding paper and placed it on the table in confusion. Was this it? The reason Buster hadn't poked his head into school. The reason he'd worried her sick? Straight A's? She snarled quietly, feeling a white hot rage boiling up inside of her. She would have killed for straight A's. Buster always seemed so casual, always seemed to laid back and relaxed. Never one to leap at the chance to study, and never one who seemed to care about homework, and he got Straight A's! She worked her tail off for B's and scraped by but Buster...The NERVE of him! Who did he think he was! That cocky blue bunny had some guts to think he was too good to even show up to school to pick up his grades! If she'd gotten straight A's her parents would have-
Babs paused, eyes widening as it suddenly dawned on her, and everything clicked into place.

He rarely talked about it. She was one of the few friends who even KNEW about it...Whenever Plucky, or Hampton would come over for a visit, Buster's parents were always out, and he was manning the house. But in reality...the sad truth of it all was that Buster Bunny was an orphan. There wasn't a firm clap on the back for him. There wasn't anyone to tuck him in, read him stories or see him in the morning. There just wasn't anyone there. Straight A's and no father to congratulate him, and no mother to give him hugs...He was alone. It was some lost, dark secret she held onto for him- so he wouldn't have to do it alone. Some forgotten, forbidden tale that she didn't talk about, and that no one wanted to hear. She didn't let the thought dwell in her head, and she refused to play back the story of what had happened. The tears and late nights of suffering he endured, cradled in her mother's arms while he sobbed. Babs had listened quietly from her room while he blurted out the incident to the loving rabbit that held him...No, no! None of that. Focus on the now, Babs!

She let her gaze play across the burrow till it reached the door of his room- shut tight and silent. He was in there. She knew it...

"Buster." She called quietly, her fingers twisting the knob softly and she poked her head into the darkened room. He was laying on his side, faced away from her, sniffling sadly. He was to lost in whatever horrific misery possessed him to respond. Babs tried again.

"Hey there pardnah! Didn't see ya'll at the corral ta'day!" Babs quipped cheerfully, ears perked, but there was no reply. He just quivered there, silently...softly, swamped in sensations she couldn't begin to know, or help with. What could she do?

"Mom...made you some carrot cake...if your hungry. It's in the kitchen. " Babs said quietly. The blue bunny didn't stir. Babs nodded her head quietly and glanced around a moment and took a deep breath. What did you do when there was nothing you could do? You do what you can.

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Buster yawned and sat up, reaching a hand to rub at his tear stained, blood shot eyes. Sometimes he just couldn't help it. It didn't help anything to lay in bed all day and mope, but sometimes the feelings won out, logic took a back seat, and emotions just had to have their way. Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone, but a good cry did him wonders sometimes. He glanced around at his darken room and frowned when he noticed something was...odd. Out of place. Certainly it was midnight or sometime close to it, and the shadows that haunted his room were familiar and quiet- except for the large one sitting off to the corner. One that he couldn't recognize or place.

"...Babs?" He asked quietly. The shadow stiffened and shuddered.

"It sure ain't Yakko Warner. "

"What are you doing here...h...have you been here all night?" He asked, quietly, reaching over to fumble for the lamp on his dresser. And there was Babs, sitting in her little purple skirt and yellow shirt, eyes squeezed shut at the sudden light, a look of concern etched across her features.

"And all afternoon. You're a real piece of work, Buster Bunny. "She groaned quietly. There was a silence that weaved its way between them. A silence between best friends that didn't need a word to be spoken. They were sharing a conversation of nothingness. With Babs telling him she'd always be there for him. And Buster squeezing every last hug he could out of her for it. They smiled quietly.
"Hungry?" She asked. Buster nodded his head.
"Carrot Cake?" Babs offered, gesturing towards the kitchen. Buster grinned.
"Please." He chirped. Babs smiled quietly herself, and stood up on sleepy, wobbly legs, while Buster stumbled over to her, nearly falling out of bed himself. They smiled at each other again- another conversation of silence. She was the best friend any bunny could have, and he wouldn't give her up for all the world. She was a grade A friendship.