Flaky stared long and hard at her wardrobe, which was full of clothes scattered everywhere. She eyed her green hoodie, then her pair of sky blue ripped jeans, then her purple, worn out sneakers. All of them seemed the same to her.

"What should I wear on my first day in High School?" she asked herself. "I can't wear just anything. I have to make a good first impression! But what should be? A girly girl? A tomboy? Something in between?" She sighed. She had to decide soon. She only had 25 minutes to dress, eat, pack and GO!

There was a knock at her door. "Come in..." Flaky said sluggishly as she lay down on her bed in exasperation. Her older sister, Flower, comes in. "What's the matter?" she asks.

Flaky sits up and looks at her. "I need a decent outfit for today!" she complained.

"That's it?" Flower asked. "Just wear something that shows who you are; the comfortable, casual porcupine I know!" With that, she gets and goes over to Flaky's wardrobe and pulls out a pink hoodie, a purple T-shirt with white sleeves, a pair of Justice jeans and pink sneakers. "Wear this." she said.

Flaky smiled. "You always know best." she said, then took the clothes and went into the bathroom to change.

5 minutes later, at breakfast, Flaky sits down to a bowl of Cornflakes. Her little brother, Felix, was ready for school too, and her other baby brother, Fillip, was covered in oatmeal and was happily kicking around in his high chair.

"I told you you would look nice!" Flower laughed, her long, crimson hair tied back in a ponytail. One thing Flaky envied about her older sister was that her hair was dander less and easy to control. Her hair? Forget about combing it.

"I think you look as awful as always." Felix teased.

"Mum!"

"Felix, watch your mouth!" Flaky's mum said. "Or I may stuff it with Broccoli Ice Cream again!" She knew how much Felix hated all things vegetable.

"What?!" Felix whined. "I'm just giving her advice in case Cuddles sees her!" he grinned mischievously at a blushing Flaky. She hated to admit it but she had had a bit of a crush on Cuddles since they were kids.

"Shut up, already, Felix!" she cried. Just at that moment, a horn sounded outside.

"The Bus!" Flaky and Flower cried in unison. They grabbed their bags and made their way out the door. "Bye Mum, see ya later!" Flaky yelled hastily.

The sisters ran as fast as their feet could carry them, and once they got to the bus stop, they leaped right into the bus seconds before it could drive away!

Flaky, tired from all the running, just flopped down on the seat next to Cuddles.

"Hey, your'e here!" he said excitedly. "It's finally the first day of High School! Think of all the changes! The food, the teachers, our status on the Popularity Poll..."

Flaky shot him a Death Stare. "Don't... say... Popular!"

Cuddles put his hands in the air and pretended to be shocked. "What?! It's not my fault Kelly and her Krew seem to have it in for us!"

Flaky glared at him again. Sometimes she hated his honesty. But to be honest, Kelly was the most popular, snobbiest girl in Happy Tree Town. And having a whole gang of people like her following her around and insulting people with her made it worse times ten.

Cuddles saw her distressed face and squeezed her hand. "Don't worry! You and I are gonna stick together and make High School the greatest years of our lives! Well, one of the greatest..."

Flaky prayed her face wasn't turning brighter than it already was as they pulled up in front of the school. The kids on the bus excitedly jumped out, with Cuddles and Flaky behind. Flaky stopped and stared at the huge building, wondering what it was gonna be like.

"C'mon, Flakes!" Cuddles shouted, having already gotten to the front door. Flaky sighed as she ran up to meet him.

This is gonna be long year...


Sorry if the story is kinda scrappy. I'll try and do better! And don't worry if you don't ship Cuddles and Flaky. Just wait for the next chapter... ;)