"Hey babe, how you doin'?"

"Marshall, I don't know how you got my number, but for the last time I'm not interested in dating you!"

"Come on baby, you know once you go black, you'll never go back."

"That's not what I've heard. At least not from who has been with you."

Marshall's smirk dropped at that comment. Before he could retaliate, the call was canceled.

"Ouch. She knows she wants me. She's just playing hard to get!" He thought to himself.

Flame Princess – or what she is known for around the school due to her new obsession with fire breathing – had broken up with her boyfriend and was up for grabs once more. Rumor has it that she finally cracked under her dad's obsession with keeping her trapped in the house and is now an emancipated minor. Marshall – being attracted to power – loved the thought of having a girl that could rough him up and take care of herself. He figured that since her ex was a weirdo– what was his name again? Finn? - that she was up for something better and an easy catch.

Marshall smoothed his hair down and flopped down into a pile of pillows on his king sized bed. Ever so slowly, the last conversation with his mother came to haunt him.

"God dammit Marshall! Your highest grade this week was a C, it was only one paper! How on Earth do you plan on staying in school with these grades?! I am not paying $15,000 a year for you to date everyone in sight and throw spitballs!"

Marshall groaned. "How many times do I have to tell you that I really don't care? I would have just quit ages ago if not for the chicks. I really just want to like…join a band or something and live off the land, you know? No rules or anything, just relaxation and music."

"You need to stop living in this fantasy dream world. You know what? Come here."

Marshall yelped as his mother suddenly yanked his collar and dragged him out of the house. Once out the door, she threw him off of the porch. He groaned as his behind throbbed and looked at her with heavily knit eyebrows. He was surprised to see her come over to him and stand next to him. Was he not being thrown out?

"Marshall, what do you see?"

"A suit that must have cost a thousand fucking bucks."

"Not that, in front of you."

"A lady bug…"

"Marshall."

"Fine, I see the house."

"How big is the house?"

"Really fucking big." His house practically screamed "My mom makes 4 times as much as your mom". Marshall rolled his eyes and looked up at his window. From his spot on the ground, he could see the bat stickers all over the window.

"…Marshall, were you listening?"

"Wha?"

"Oh for Pete's sake…I was saying that you are never going to be able to take over the law firm if you keep these grades as low as they are. Not only will you get kicked out of school, but I don't think I'll be able to enroll you in public school, God forbid. You might have to get a GED, or you might not get anything! That is why I spoke with your principal to have you enrolled in a peer tutoring program to get your grades up. Since you won't pay attention to the regular tut-"

"You what?!"

"I didn't stutter - you will have a peer tutor. This is your last chance because I am at my wit's end. I've tried everything! If you flunk out of school, you will not be allowed back in this house. Do you hear me?"

"Yeah…whatever…"

Marshall jumped slightly when a sudden knock at the door disturbed his thoughts.

"Come in if you dare." He was confused when the door didn't open for several seconds and creaked to an open position ever so sluggishly. When he sat up to peer at his visitor, he was surprised to see his mother with a kid he had never seen before. The intruder's face was round and plump with large cheeks, but his nose was long. His eyes were bright, yet full of fear. Even though he seemed to be carrying several extra pounds, based on his baby face and his age – 15 at the most - it just seemed to be baby fat he had yet to get rid of.

"Marshall, meet Bubba. This is your new tutor. Remember what I said."

"Oh hell n-"

"Butt. Sidewalk. Cold, hard alleyway."

Marshall groaned. "…Hey."

The intruder seemed to be too afraid to speak, but with reassurance from Marshall's mother he got the courage to.

"Hey. We're supposed to get started soon, but I wanted to spend around half the time to get to know each other. I don't want to be just someone who is just throwing numbers in your face." Bubba perked up slightly and gave the tiniest of smiles. Does he whiten his teeth?

"Fine, whatever. Let's do this shit."

Marshall's mom left them alone and the intruder took a seat on the bed.

"Like she said, my name is Bubba and I'm an German excha-"

"Listen." Bubba backed up when Marshall's interjection interrupted him. "You are going to teach, but I am not going to listen. You are going to help me, and I am still gonna fail because I hate all of this shit. You probably want to be friends, but I'll just either hate you or try to go after some booty. Got it?"

Marshall saw the color drain from Bubba's face. "Um…sure…I got it. Can you tell me about yourself?"

"We are not going to be doing any of that. I'm gonna nap. Bye."

"B-But we need to-"

Marshall began to fake snore, and soon after he heard the door shut. "He left already? Wow, he must not be able to deal with my shit. He means business…guess he's not here to babysit. Why was he wearing so much pink though? He is now gonna be known as the pink princess. Maybe princess cream puffs. He looks like he makes those for fun." Marshall smirked as he thought about more nicknames, but they soon faded as he drifted to sleep.

Marshall snapped awake when he heard a harsh knock at the door. "I'm naked!"

Marshall grumbled when his mom came in anyway. "Marshall, what is the meaning of this? I just caught your tutor about to leave! He said he was going to leave and come back later when you were more willing to learn. You weren't willing to learn already, hm? He is not here to babysit your lack of booty! If you don't treat this young man with respect, I hope you like catching a cold on the cold, hard sidewalk."

"'Young man'? He's a fucking kid."

"I'm giving you another chance. Don't make me regret it." Marshall's mom left as Bubba came in again, looking flushed and stressed.

He sat on the bed and spread out his books once more. "I'm sorry if my leaving got you in trouble."

"It's no sweat. She's kidding. Now what were you on about before?" Marshall crossed his arms and laid back on his pillow.

"Well, my name is Bubba and I'm a German exchange student that has just moved here. I just want you to be the best student you can be and hope that we can be a great team. Friendship is desired, but not required."

"Friendship? With you? That's funny. Anyway, and my name is Marshall and I like the pussy." Marshall smirked as the poor student turned slightly red in the face. "I like music and bats and I'll fuck anything. Also, I hate your name."

Bubba became even more uncomfortable. "Well, if you wish, you can just call me Gumball."

"Gumball? That's stupid, but better. Listen, how about you just do my homework and I'll let you leave? That way I do a little better in class, you're technically helping me, and my mom can get off my ass."

"That is against my protocol. Anyway, I'll just finish going on about me."

"Shoot."

Marshall half listened to what he had to say. As he spoke, Marshall began to inspect the student with his eyes. There was a lot of pink, but not overbearingly much. He had strawberry blond hair and a few small freckles on his plump cheeks. His face began to light up as he went on about his hobbies. Marshall hated to admit it, but he was kind of cute.

"…and I make awesome cream puffs! If you do well, I'll make some."

"What? Oh, cool."

"I'm not even going to ask if you were listening."

"I was! And uh…there isn't much about me that I haven't already said besides I sing and kill the guitar."

"Oh, well I guess we can get started then if you're ready."

"Fine, let's see what we got here."

Marshall groaned and kicked a book off of his bed. Stupid homework.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just tired of all this shit. It's aggravating."

"Well, I guess we can just stop for today. I think you've made some progress."

Marshall stopped in his tracks. "…really?"

"Yes! I hope to see your grades improve. Anyway, I'm gone. See you next week. Study hard!"

"If you mean be hard with a book beside me, then I'll do that."

Gumball rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he had a slight smile on his face. When he turned around to leave, Marshall's jaw dropped.

"Damn. Do he got the booty? He do. Hold up, what am I saying?" Marshall blushed slightly and laid back on his bed. "Don't get a crush on the chubby nerd."

He hated to admit it, but without the help he would have failed that assignment. Bubba was surprisingly nice and made doing the work not nearly as bad as it had to be. He rolled over and picked up one of his guitars before strumming a small tune and humming to himself. That guy was probably going to blab everything to his mom so she could see if she should kick him out on his butt or not. "Oh well, at least I got something done."

Marshall suddenly sat straight up in bed. "Light bulb…"