9th Grade Nice?
Chapter 1: The Bet
"Ready for the first day of high school, Cream?" Tails asks as they walk across the street that is still packed with older students trying to find a parking place.
"I dunno about this Tails. I still can't believe I let you talk me into taking Advanced World Geography, Accelerated English, and Geometry." Cream jokes somewhat. She runs her hands over the burnt orange thigh length dress she has on and feels for the one sky blue ribbon tied loosely above her left ear.
"You'll do great Cream. High school is gonna be so great! I can't believe Venture is the only class out of all eight blocks that we have together though."
Three loud horn honks startle the fox and the rabbit.
"Hey freshmen!" A familiar voice calls out from a passing red Mitsubishi Spyder.
"Knuckles!" Tails calls out as he and Cream wave to him as he zooms by after getting their attention. They both pile into the hallway and slowly move along toward their first classes.
"Text me if you get bored, okay?" Tails tells her as he turns off toward the math building. Cream smiles at him warmly as she steps into English class.
"Hey Cream!" A familiar raccoon waves her over toward a seat in the second row from the front.
"What's up Marine?"
"Saw you walkin' with Tails earlier. What was that all about?" Marine pokes her with the eraser end of her pencil on the arm a few times.
"Nothing!" Cream puts her hands over Marine's mouth.
"Oh really?"
"Yes really! We're just friends!"
"Uh-huh." Marine narrows her eyes at Cream.
"So anyway, wha' do you think this class is gonna be like?" Cream asks her as she dutifully opens up her dark purple binder and selects a purple mechanical pencil to write with.
"It'll be a breeze mate! C'mon! Now if we were takin' Advanced Australian, now that would be a challenge."
Cream rolls her eyes.
"G'morning class!"
Cream and Marine both turn toward the door in shock to see a lime green colored crocodile, without his sunglasses or a gold necklace. Instead, he is wearing a white lab coat and some thick, black rimmed bottle cap glasses.
"Mrs. Hawkins is out sick today, but you can call me Mr. Vector kids. And I'll be teaching you about English!"
Cream hurriedly slides her cell phone out and feverishly Swype types away to let Tails know about this development.
"English is an important language kids! It has lots and lots and lots of words!" Vector begins to ramble as he writes on the board. "And I happen to know a few hundred of those words, so today we're going to start with spelling."
Cream slaps her hand over her face and sighs in disgust.
"The first word of the day is munee. Say it with me class: MUN-EEE!"
"MUN-EE!" Everyone repeats in unison.
Vector scribbles out two big dollar signs on the board and hastily writes out the letters M U N E E
"Our next word is Kash. This is the preferred form of payment if gold isn't available." The crocodile explains. "Kash: K-A-S-H." He comes closer to spelling this one correctly and scrawls it on the board K A S H "Our next wor—"
"Uhh..excuse me Mr. Vector?" Cream manages to cut him off as she raises her hand. "This isn't an economics class. It's supposed to be Accelerated English, like you said."
"No no no Creamy! That's just the thing! You have to be able to speak in English to make money or cash!" He taps the chalkboard where his handywork is displayed.
The entire class sweatdrops at the same time.
"Speaking of that though, if you are interested in learning about Economics, I've got a book I wrote on just such a topic for the low low price of $30! I've got a bunch of copies out in my car. Let me get them! I'll be right back."
Cream groans and puts her head down on her desk in defeat as Vector dashes out of the room.
"And that is the secret to telekinesis." Silver explains to the Advanced Physics class.
Tails' tails whip back and forth swiftly in his seat as he is captivated by Silver's explanation. Tails suddenly felt his cell phone vibrate. He flips it open to read the incoming text:
Vector is the sub in Acc Eng!
Tails has to cover his mouth from laughing out loud. He'll have to wait until fourth block to see this.
"Now class, let's practice our new telekinesis skills!" Silver says as he turns from the board.
As Cream steps into her fourth block geometry class, she can't believe who is sitting in the next to the last row. She approaches quietly and slips into the seat behind him. "I thought you were a senior, Sonic?" She says quietly as she taps him on his right shoulder.
He turns around slowly and smiles at her slyly. "I am Cream, and we have to take Geometry to graduate." He explains.
"Then why'd you wait until your last year to take it?" Cream questions him as she turns to her side to pull a graphing calculator and a separate binder from her bag.
"Math isn't exactly my strong suit." Sonic confesses while smiling. "But the question is, why is a pretty little girl like you in Geometry with a bunch of seniors?"
Cream blushes a little at Sonic's words. "Wha' do you mean?"
"Look around Cream. It's all upperclassmen in here. They usually put all the juniors and seniors in the 1:30 class because it's the easiest section. They always stick us with some teacher that will pass us as long as we show up."
Cream gulps. As much as she resisted admitting it Tails, she is still really nervous about bullying and fitting in at school. "They won't mess with me, will they?" Cream asks, lowering her voice even more.
Sonic turns around to face her fully. "You never know Cream. I saw some bad stuff when I was in 9th grade."
"Like what?" Cream gasps.
"Oh you know, yanking freshmen down by their backpacks or closing a door in their face, calling the girls fat. Stuff like that."
"That's horrible Sonic!" Cream crosses her arms in disgust.
"It's the way the world works Cream." He tells her off-handedly. "Even if you try to keep a low profile, you'll stick out in here like an un-dyed egg on Easter. Especially a freshman as cute as you are."
Sonic looks at her directly.
"Sonic!" Cream blushes deeper, shoving him slightly.
"I'm serious Cream." Sonic continues, his glance unwavering. "In fact, how about we go out on a date? I can be your bodyguard all week and then your date on Friday."
Cream is shocked beyond belief! It never crossed her mind that Sonic would ask her out. She'd never thought Sonic would be interested in a girl like her what with him being three years older and all. She had to admit that she always thought Sonic was cute, but never thought of him…like that. "What about Amy?" Cream asks instantly, not wanting to think how her friend might feel.
"She may be a junior Cream, but you're much more mature." Sonic says simply. "She's a good friend, but you're sweet and smart, and did I mention beautiful?"
"Sonic! Shut up!" Cream looks away as she feels her face heat up again.
"If you're sure Amy won't be mad…I'd love to go out with you." Cream whispers to him softly, her face still slightly red.
"Can't wait." He gives her a thumbs up as they both turn around as the teacher walks into the class.
"So'd you make it through English okay with the sub?" Cream teases Tails as they walk toward the subway.
"Yeah, it was very…educational." Tails chirps. "Not!" They both laugh hysterically.
"How'd your day go besides that?" He asks her. "Geometry wasn't as bad as you thought, was it?"
"Ugh! I'm in a class full of seniors though! It was really awkward." Cream explains to him as the next set of cabin cars silently sweep to a stop in the tunnel. The doors open with a quick whoosh.
"Sonic was in there though thankfully." Cream continues as they quickly shuffle inside so they can get one of the few seats still available.
"It figures he'd wait until senior year to take it. He's such a procrastinator sometimes." Tails shakes his head a little as he talks.
"Good news is though, he volunteered to be my bodyguard against any crazy upper class bullies." Cream smiles sneakily. "I can probably get him to protect you too, for a price!"
"And what would that price be?" Tails nudges her.
"Hmm…you'll have to do my biology AND geometry homework and tutor me as needed!" Cream says plainly.
"Whoa! That's a steep price!" Tails feigns outrage at her. They continue to talk about their day until the subway comes to their stop on the outskirts of Station Square.
"I meant to text you during lunch, but I forgot about it. Are you doing anything Friday night? I was talking with Knuckles and he wants us to go rollerblading with him and Tikal at that new place downtow—" Tails begins.
"Actually…" Cream cuts him off quickly but suddenly feels unsure about the rest of what she has to say. "Sonic and I…are going out on Friday."
Tails nearly drops his cell phone and is practically juggling it in his hands for a second before he manages to grasp it again. "R-really?"
"Yeah. I think it'll be fun. Don't know where Sonic would go on a date though." Cream lets out a short, nervous laugh. "He even said I was pretty."
I think you're pretty too. Tails thinks timidly. "D-does Amy know about this?" He manages to ask.
"Uhh…not exactly." Cream hesitantly chuckles.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Tails! Have a good night! We can talk at lunch tomorrow since we've got Venture together third block!" Cream waves brightly as she adjusts her black backpack straps before walking through the wooden gate that leads inside her yard.
"Bye…" Tails can barely whisper as he stands outside the gate in the late afternoon sunlight that suddenly feels painful as it burns against his fur.
"How'd your first day go, huh Faker?" Shadow asks as he starts to fire up his dark black motorcycle in the parking lot next to Sonic's blue convertible. "Still think you're going to win the bet?"
"I don't think it Shadow. I know it. You wouldn't believe the luck." Sonic brags he tosses his book bag over the back seat. "You might as well give me your $300 right now."
"What are you talkin' about?" Shadow scowls at the smirking blue hedgehog.
"Just to be clear on the scoring system, it's 1 point for Seniors, 2 points for juniors, 4 points of sophomores, and 12 points for freshmen, right?" Sonic asks as he reaches for a pair of orange outlined black sunglasses from his glove compartment.
"Yeah. That's how many points we get for scoring with them. Are you a moron or did you forget already?"
"Ha! No!" Sonic scoffs at Shadow as he pushes the ignition button to start his car. "I just want to make sure you knew, because I've got a date with Cream and she's going to be my ticket to 12 points on Friday night."
"Whoa whoa whoa! It's only the first day and you already got a date with a freshman? How the hell did you manage that?"
"No sweat Shadow. Just told her she was beautiful and mature. You know, all that garbage. She'll be mine on Friday. I might have to tell her I love her or somethin', but then I'll dump her on Monday and get another 12-pointer next week. Most points at the end of the month wins, right…Faker?"
Shadow narrows his eyes at Sonic before the blue hedgehog quickly jerks his car into gear and speeds out of the parking lot.
To Be Continued
Will Sonic take advantage of Cream so easily? What will Amy do when she finds out about the date? How will Tails cope? Will Knuckles end up having to rollerblade by himself? Will anyone spill the beans on Sonic's and Shadow's sinister plan? Find out next time!
Author's Note: Sorry if the ages don't come close to what they actually are. I just made Tails, Marine, and Cream freshmen in this story, Amy a junior, and Shadow, Knuckles, and Sonic seniors.
I hope you guys enjoy it. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome and always appreciated! Thanks very much!