This is my first attempt at ever writing anything KND related, so I'm really hoping that it will be a success. It should be interesting, at least for me! Anyway, if you haven't already guessed, this is a 3/4 story with a sprinkle of action. Yum!

(and a disclaimer, of course: KND doesn't belong to me. If it did, I'd be living in an awesome mansion somewhere tropical or something.)

Anyway, this chapter is pretty short, but that's because I just needed to introduce the plot a bit. Read and review, if you can? :D

Sadie, over and out!

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Taptaptaptaptaptaptap.

A pair of green eyes was anxiously fixated on the second-hand of the clock, which was very slowly making its way around the face of the stupid dusty clock. Each second was taking far too long to pass, as far as the owner of the eyes was concerned. Maybe the teacher had rigged it to go slower.

But no, she couldn't be that smart. Mrs. Riggs was a grumpy old lady with thinning hair and enough denial in her to ignore it. She was cross, easily angered, and she played favorites among her students. And he definitely was not one of her favorites.

Why? Well, he didn't know! In Wallabee Beetles' eyes, Wallabee Beetles was a great guy, and likeable enough to be anyone's favorite. He wasn't one of the ones who loudly interrupted with the answers, or who cluttered her desk every day with homework to turn in. So in his mind, there was something to like. Cruddy English teacher.

Besides, he had better things to do. Like flick paper footballs at Hoagie or doodle on his papers while he replayed in his mind the night before, when he'd trashed the poor guy at video games. Or, when he was positive that no one was looking at him, sneak a glance across the room at Kuki.

She was almost intriguing to observe. For one thing, it was a mystery to him how anyone could be excited about school, so her smile and the way she eagerly threw her hand into the air to answer questions was absolutely captivating. Not to mention her strange school supplies – a colorful notebook, a pink pen, and a box of crayons that seemed to hold every color known to man inside. Why did she always have to be so colorful? It was so . . . girly.

Every once in a while, she would catch him staring. But, since Wally was convinced that he was a genius, he would have an excuse for it. The easiest one was to tell her that there'd been a fly around her head. He also told her that her shoes were untied, he wasn't looking at her but at someone else, or that he was cracking his neck. She seemed to believe him, anyway. She would smile wide and chirp, "Okay, Numbuh Four!"

And one other time, Hoagie caught him staring at her. That was harder to get out of. "There was a huge ant right by her shoes," Wally had insisted.

"You were definitely looking at her face." Even as his eyes were hidden behind his aviator goggles, Wally pictured them sparkling with mischief.

"Because . . . it crawled up on the wall. Crud, quit interrogating me."

He knew what Hoagie was thinking. That he liked Kuki. That he had girly feelings for Kuki. What a ridiculous idea. If he could laugh in Hoagie's face, he would. Ha! No way!

No, it was just interesting to watch her. Like watching a hyena at a zoo or something. Like maybe you think it's funny and you might feed it, but you wouldn't like a hyena. That's just weird.

"Wallabee Beetles!"

The boy jumped as the ruler slapped against his desk. Her oversized nose was bending over him, and he fleetingly had the vision of a vulture leaning over its next expected meal. He would have laughed, but for fear that she would devour him quickly and cleanly, with no evidence left behind.

It seemed as though she was expecting an answer, so he wracked his brains. Since it was an English class, he felt as thought it was perfectly acceptable to answer, "Prepositional phrase!"

She sighed, as she often did when interacting with Wally. It was the kind of sigh that made you wonder what she had given up to be a measly teacher at a second-rate school. It was also the kind of sigh that meant-

"Detention, Mr. Beetles. Your antics are not amusing."

In his head, he wished that she was some kind of villain, so that he could have an excuse to defeat her. Look, now she had the whole class snickering at him. The boy burrowed deeper into his hoodie, with a grumpy, "Yes, ma'am."

He didn't dare glance at Kuki for the rest of the class, but it felt as though her eyes were burrowing into him. Even Hoagie took the chance to roll his eyes at Wally's obvious impudence. The second that class was over, Kuki was at his side, wringing her sleeve-covered hands in all directions in her indignation. "Numbuh Four, you said we could play video games this afternoon! Now we can't!"

She might as well have been dumping dirt on him, with all the guilt pressing down on him at her words. Cruddy girl. "Can't we play later tonight?"

"Okay!" she replied, instantly happy again. How did she do that? "See you at the treehouse!" He watched her leave, wondering why she couldn't just walk like all the other kids. Was it really necessary to skip?

Mrs. Riggs demanded his attention immediately. "Sit, Mr. Beetles. We need to talk." Oh, how he hated that line. The need to talk always led to bad news. Wally sat in front of her, not bothering to flip his hair out of his eyes. It gave him an excuse to not look at her.

"Now, Wallabee, you're not doing so well in my class. In fact, your grades are slowly getting worse. And your math teacher reports the same." Guiltily, Wally slumped a bit. Could he help it that school didn't capture his attention like other things?

"Sor-"

"No," she cut him off, "I don't want you to apologize. Just improve. I don't want to have this discussion again." She started shuffling papers on her desk, a clear dismissal. He shuffled back to his desk and plopped in it, moodily glaring at nothing in particular.

Right then, he imagined, Numbuh One was probably doing something dull, like checking the defense system for the twelfth time to make sure that it worked properly. His paranoia drove Wally up the wall. So he instead turned to thoughts of Numbuh Two. He would be playing video games and eating chips, or something to that effect. Good old Hoagie.

The girls weren't as easy to guess. They might be reading their girly magazines or talking about girly stuff. Gross. Or maybe Numbuh Five was chilling with a comic book. Numbuh Three, he decided, was probably playing with her stupid Rainbow Monkeys.

Continuing this thought pattern and daydreaming finally helped to pass the time. He was eager to get to the treehouse and find out what their plans were. If he was lucky, maybe someone would attack. Then he could give them a real licking.

It wasn't long before Mrs. Riggs finally announced, "You may go now, Wallabee." About time! Leaping out of the desk, he bolted for the door. His hand was gripping the knob when she added nonchalantly, "I've already called your parents."

Oh crud.

-

"I don't believe this!"

Everyone was sure that Mrs. Beetles was going to walk a hole in the floor, with the way she was pacing. If Wally was afraid of anyone in the room, it was her. So he kept his head low, with a silent prayer for mercy.

"Now, honey, calm down," her husband intoned in Wally's defense. But even he couldn't stand up to her fiery anger, so he quieted, leaving Wally to the wolves.

Thanks, Dad.

"You promised you'd keep your grades up! Wally, this is not acceptable!" Her eyes blazed at him, scarier than any villain he could recall. Vainly, Wally tried to defend himself.

"Ah, Mum, but she's so boring! Anyone could fall asleep in her class." He grasped for some sort of saving statement. "Look, I promise I'll try harder! I swear it!"

"Oh, yes you will. Because until those grades come up, you're not leaving this house."

Silence.

". . . What?" Wally spat out, shock clear on his face. "But you can't, I-" The unfinished sentence hung in the air. But I have to help in the Kids Next Door.

"I don't care." His mother's face was stern and unreachable. "You'll do as I say. No leaving the house except for school. Then you'll come straight home."

Defeated, Wally stomped up to his room to show how much this upset him. How was he going to tell them? Nigel, Abby, Hoagie. . . Kuki. Nigel was going to be furious. And Kuki. . . oh crud, he hoped she wouldn't cry.

Dejectedly, he curled up into his bed and tried to get some sleep, not looking forward to the next day at all.