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Present Day

A figure sat in his room at the desk. With books, papers, and pencils piled up on one side and the only other thing on it being a picture frame, it was obvious that the figure was in the process of doing homework. The figure had on a pair of blue jeans, a red and blue striped long-sleeved polo shirt, and a pair of brown shoes. His signature round brown glasses sat on his face as he scribbled down the answer to the third problem of his summer math homework.

The figure turned around and started to speak with a wistful smile upon noticing your presence, "Oh, hi! I'm Arthur Timothy Read, but you can call me Arthur. I'm sixteen years old, I live in Elwood City, and I'm going to be a junior at Lakewood High." The aardvark turned around for a moment, and upon noticing his cluttered desk, quickly organized things a bit before turning back to you and resuming his talking, "Sorry about my messy room, summer's almost over, and I still have to finish my summer homework. Anyway, you're probably wondering what happened in the past several years. I mean, you haven't heard from me since 3rd grade, right? Sorry about not keeping in contact, things have been pretty busy and a bit dramatic, too. In fact-" Arthur was cut off upon hearing his 12-year old sister.

A girl with brown hair wearing a pink sweater and blue jeans marched into the room and shouted, "Arthur, what are you doing? You said you'd help dad bring in the groceries five minutes ago! I had to help since you're too busy talking to yourself!" Dora Winifred Read was rather mad and annoyed that she had to take away time from her special television program to help bring in groceries.

Arthur sighed in exasperation and said, "D.W., I'm not speaking to myself. An old friend is here to visit." The little sister furrowed her brows in confusion before spotting you and asking of your identity, but her older brother wouldn't have it. "Anyway, I'm kind of busy here, so could you just keep watching your TV show?" Arthur said as he led his sister out of his room and shut the door despite the younger girl's protests.

The aardvark took his seat at his desk chair again before he faced you and said, "You're probably wondering what's been going on with the others" Arthur turned so he was facing the work on his desk, "Well, I can tell you that it hasn't been quite what you expected." Arthur wistfully glanced at the picture frame. The scene zoomed into the picture until you were taken into its story.

Flashback; 3rd grade

School was winding down. It was the spring time, and although there was only a little over a month until school ended, the students could practically taste the joyful heat of the summer time eager to come rushing in. The date was April 20th, and Mr. Nigel Charles Ratburn III's 3rd grade class was learning about Earth Day, the international day in which people from all over the world celebrate the Earth. The special day was to take place two days later, but Mr. Ratburn took the initiative to learn about the day a little earlier.

The reason as to why they were learning about the day in advance revealed itself as a white rabbit by the name of Buster Baxter raised his hand and asked, "Mr. Ratburn, if Earth Day is in two days, then why are we learning about everything today?"

The teacher simply gave a smile and said, "I'm glad you asked that question, Buster. I'm sure Muffy would be glad to answer" Mr. Ratburn gestured towards Mary Alice Crosswire (better known as Muffy) who was sitting at her seat, waiting for the moment that the teacher would call on her.

The monkey eagerly stood up, faced the class and said, "Well, in case you didn't know, Earth Day is a big thing here in Elwood City. In fact, there is going to be a whole celebration in two days with a big parade and the most fabulous party. And of course a cleanup project at the local park and in the area near the woods" The class cheered upon hearing the news of the celebration, and Muffy continued to speak, "They're going to let us off school on that day. And the day before, our school is invited to help set up with the celebration and get some Earth Day treats earlier than anyone else! All of this is courtesy of your Miss Muffy Crosswire."

Completely ignoring the boasting, the class erupted into cheers. Some such as Buster Baxter and resident tough guy Shelley Barnes (better known as Binky) celebrated at the concept of no school, while others such as Alan Powers (better known as The Brain) praised the event for its educational and environmental value.

Late morning the next day, the entire school was outside pitching in to help set up. The Crosswires had enough refreshments to feed the school for what felt like a whole year, and the refreshments weren't the typical refreshments either, even Sue Ellen Armstrong and Buster haven't seen some of the food before.

The younger kids were doing the decorations, while teachers helped lead the groups of kids as well as plan the actual event. The second graders were helping with the Earth Day parade floats, and the older kids were doing the heavy lifting and fencing off areas for the big event.

The third graders, courtesy of Miss Muffy Crosswire and her father, were running the more important errands. Fern Walters, The Brain, and George Lundgren were running food-related errands (no one in the right mind would ever allow Buster to be running those errands). Buster, Jenna Morgan, and Maria were picking up clothes for the parade, while Arthur, Binky, Sue Ellen, and Alex tagged along for various special deliveries. Francine Frensky and the third graders from Mrs. Sweetwater's class ran other important errands within the event's grounds.

Nonetheless preparation for the event was fun, and Muffy even brought along her digital camera and spent the majority of her time using it, taking pictures of setting up for the special parade. After all, the Crosswire wanted to make sure that the event got as much publicity as possible so the future billionaire could get a start while she was still young and fresh. Her butler Bailey was also taking pictures for parts of the event that Muffy couldn't get to.

The event itself was a blast, one of the most memorable, if not the most memorable, moments of Arthur and his friends' life. The whole community participated and enjoyed the whole event together, and Muffy was sure to take pictures of that as well.

The best picture of the entire event was taken near the end of setting up for the Earth Day event. The grown-ups were talking to both the students and the teachers about their splendid efforts in setting up, and thanked the Crosswires for their contributions when it happened. As soon as the principal stopped talking and the group was applauding, Arthur and Alex came rushing in with a large cake and some party hats, and Binky and Sue Ellen soon followed with paper plates and plastic forks as well as candles and a lighter for the grown-ups to use.

Binky shoved the plates and forks into Sue Ellen's arms while he helped Mr. Ratburn set up a small table. Arthur and Alex set the cake down on the mini-table while Sue Ellen placed her things onto the mini-table as well. Alex then walked over to Maria, a rabbit in his class, and handed a special party hat to her. Upon noticing his friend's confusion, and the entire student body's confusion at that, he said, "Hey, it's your birthday, right? Come on let's celebrate!" Mr. Ratburn lit the candles on the cake while the student body sang a birthday, and Earth Day, song for the birthday girl and blew out the candles. Before the cake was served, Bailey had snuck a picture in while they were singing the song. Eventually, when Muffy's article was about to be published, the editor found the photo and convinced Muffy to use it instead of the one she initially picked. When the paper came to Lakewood elementary, everyone involved asked for a copy.

Present Day

Arthur put his finished summer math homework aside as he picked up the book he was to read for the English summer homework. While opening the book, he said upon noticing you, "You're probably wondering 'how was that surprising?' or 'what kind of bad connotations regarding your friends was that supposed to have?'" Arthur didn't look up from his book and only adjusted his glasses while turning the page as he continued to speak, "Well believe me, you haven't even heard the bad part yet." The aardvark finally looked up from the book with a sad look on his face, "And I'm only talking about the preliminary drama."

Prologue

Present Day

Sue Ellen Armstrong scowled as she looked out of the window of the airplane. She was currently on a flight to Elwood City. Her parents decided to send her back after accidentally accepting an offer for an expedition in Africa without knowing it was for adults only. Being only sixteen, her parents were forced to leave Sue Ellen behind, the offer was just too good to pass up, and they had to send her back to Elwood City to live with her grandmother until the junior could get her own apartment.

The cat was furious, but also extremely frustrated that she had to return to that messed up school, Lakewood. Sue Ellen kicked the seat in front of her once again, ignoring the poor passenger's shouts of complaint. The cat couldn't care less. She could throw down that idiot in two seconds flat thanks to her martial arts skills, so it didn't matter anyway.

Why was Sue Ellen mad? Had Arthur Read and his friends not been good friends? Had they not welcomed her happily after Buster Baxter figured out she wasn't an alien in 3rd grade? Had they not helped her out as friends?

Yes. They did indeed help Sue Ellen out in her time of need, and they were amazing friends…up until the seventh grade. Yes, things got very interesting in middle school. Proper terms for the seventh grade specifically would be disastrous, dramatic, chaotic, completely and utterly ridiculous. Then again, when is middle school ever not these things? Before she knew it, Sue Ellen was thinking about that again.

Sue Ellen recalled it perfectly.

The Past; 6th grade & September 7th grade

Middle School itself had started off strangely when they transitioned into the sixth grade. Getting used to the bigger amount of kids in their grade as well as the schedules and moving from classroom to classroom wasn't the problem. They had already gotten used to all of that rather quickly. No, their problems regarded the social pyramid, or, as Sue Ellen called it, the evil-pyramidal-tomb-stone-of-the-stupid-(censored)-social-status-of-students.

The first subtle change was what started the entire chain reaction. In the "natural" process of life, "naturally" there would be that filthy rich girl that acted snobby, tried to look pretty, and flaunted it in front of everyone for attention. Mary Alice Crosswire (or as Sue Ellen liked to call her, Hairy (censored) Crosswire) may have been a decent girl and was at least innocent enough as to be kind in the 3rd grade, but as soon as middle school rolled around and the monkey was given "the talk", Muffy Crosswire had turned into that stupid popular girl.

And yet, that was before the drama began changing everything. By the time Mr. Nigel Charles Ratburn III's former students had reached seventh grade, The Tough Customers and the other then eighth graders had become the kings of Lakewood Middle. Eighth graders were the spot everyone wanted to be at. Even if it meant braving through sixth and seventh grade, it was worth it. That was exactly how the new eighth graders felt when they rose to the eighth grade. Not only were they now the top of the school, soon they would be in High School, an even bigger level in life that "innocent" middle school students wanted to achieve. That year's particular eighth grade wasn't afraid of showing it either, especially The Tough Customers (the school bullies) and Prunella Deegan (a girl who loved to show off her seniority to the rest of the school). After the first week, the eighth graders hardly talked to underclassmen unless it was to show off their superiority, during gym class (that the poor seventh graders shared with them on Fridays), or towards a person who they deemed worthy enough to be friends with them. Within the first week, the only one capable of this task was Jenna Morgan, and that was only because she was friends with Prunella.

The seventh graders were then succumbing to the pressure and the drama one by one. Buster was the first of which, and was lucky. The rabbit had come home after a tough day at school one day in the month of September and found that his mother got a new job. With better payment and a better work area, Bitzi Baxter couldn't refuse. The news was fantastic, until Buster was continuously left home alone and it got to the point where he didn't even see his mother during the day at all. The exceptions being when she pulled out of the driveway to get to work after leaving breakfast on the table, and at night right when Buster would fall asleep when she arrived back home. Buster, being hardly a good of a cook as his mother, often ended up ordering take out for dinner, going out for dinner (which only happened if he was going with his friends or other family), or going over to Arthur's in order to eat.

The pattern continued for an entire month. His mother was loving and apologetic, but just didn't have enough time. It didn't end until Jenna was paired with Buster for a science project and went over to his house to work on it. After learning the issue, Jenna convinced Buster to speak with both of his parents about the issue, and the issue ended when Buster and his parents decided that he would live with his dad. Buster would get to go on adventures around the world once again, but would have to be homeschooled. Although Buster was glad to have time with family again after a month (or years in the case of his father), leaving his friends behind left a huge impact. Arthur alone was upset over Buster's departure for nearly two weeks, and his bunny friend felt the same.

Present Day

Sue Ellen was brought back to reality upon hearing a flight attendant's voice. The cat didn't bother to wipe the hostile look on her face as she turned to face the woman and asked with the annoyance clearly leaking from her like a giant flashing billboard sign, "What do you want?"

The flight attendant simply flashed a large smile and said, "Sweetie, here's your dinner. Another attendant will come by with an assortment of drinks you can choose from. Enjoy!" The woman made Sue Ellen sick. The plastic smile and fake body made Sue Ellen think of Muffy. It wasn't a pleasant image, and Sue Ellen quickly shooed the woman away after muttering a quick thanks. As the cat opened her nasty airplane food, another attendant came around with drinks and Sue Ellen grabbed a bottle of water.

While eating the food, Sue Ellen thought of who the drama targeted next. In chronological order, Sue Ellen remembered just who it was. And a smirk formed on her face upon remembering one of the two legendary battles of the year.

The Past; October & November 7th Grade

After Buster's departure, it was around Halloween. Muffy had no interest in participating in such a ridiculous holiday, but took the opportunity to show off a glamorous costume. Her friends agreed with her.

At this time, Muffy's friends were consisted of two types of people: other people who are popular, pretty, and loved to flaunt it, or people manipulated into joining them. Jenna was an example of the former, and Francine Frensky had been the latter for an entire year thus far. This is how the first greatest fight of the year started, a twisted friendship between Muffy and Francine.

Francine had stopped being Muffy's friend when the Crosswire became the typical rude popular girl, and was peeved when Muffy had found a way to force her back into the group. The Frensky was still peeved in the seventh grade when she still hadn't found a way to ditch Muffy and her cronies. Being the only one in the group not "in style" for the majority of the time, Francine was the person the girls counted on to do their dirty work, and be the one to make themselves feel better if they feel that what they're wearing might not be good enough.

But, Francine was busy. She was a part-time jock, a part-time musician, and a part-time friend of nerds such as George Lundgren and Arthur. Thus, she didn't have any time to be in Muffy's group. So, when Muffy went for a whole 36 hours straight of commanding Francine to do various things (homework, chores, open doors, allow Muffy to skip ahead in lines, etc.), Francine exploded. During lunch that day, Alan Powers (The Brain) had calculated that Muffy had forced Francine to do things for her at least 127 times in the last 36 hours: at least 75 being petty, about 21 being things Bailey could've handled, 1 being almost illegal, and over 30 being completely ridiculous. Not too long after he mentioned that to Sue Ellen and everyone else at his table, Francine's voice boomed through the entire cafeteria. Number 128 had been the last straw. It wasn't the most ridiculous, but it was enough to throw the Frensky over the edge. Right then and there, Francine didn't care if Muffy spilled the beans on what she had been holding against her. As long as Muffy got out of her life permanently, it would be worth it. By the time the lunch hour ended, Muffy was on the ground complaining and throwing threats at Francine as the entire cafeteria cheered. That would be the end of their friendship, and Muffy's last straw as well.

By that time, drama had caught Buster, Francine, and Muffy as well as Jenna. One might have thought that the main character, Arthur, might've escaped the drama upon Buster's departure, but that was hardly the case. It happened early in November. Muffy wanted revenge on Francine, and wanted something else, too: a relationship. Their grade hadn't had a couple that lasted longer than 19 hours, and Muffy was determined to be the first couple in the grade as well as the longest lasting. It was a feat surely accomplishable by the richest and most popular girl in the school.

To make things simple, she decided it would be a boy in their school. To make things more dramatic and complicated, she decided it would be our resident aardvark, Arthur. Arthur was not only a good friend of Francine (thus a good weapon for revenge), but also someone normal and easily manipulated. After a mere week, Muffy had Arthur under her control and the two proceeded to be the power couple of their grade for the whole quarter. Muffy's plan worked in all ways she wanted it to. Being the first people to kiss would've been an added bonus, but since that Francine had taken the spot (with Buster), it wasn't possible.

With the addition of this to the Francine and Muffy feud, the entire grade was split. Both girls were furious and thirsty for a decent revenge. Being in that state of mind, it was almost impossible to not choose a side, even people in the middle were leaning towards one side more than the other. This was the case when the biggest fight of the decade sprung up in the cafeteria, when Francine had led an almost-revolution to overthrow Muffy's group and get Arthur back. The poor aardvark was stuck between Muffy and Francine, being forced to choose between having his secret kept and his morals. When Arthur stood up to Muffy in his own way, she spilled the beans on Arthur's secret and harassed him for it until Francine interfered and started the food fight of the century. What, with Francine leading an almost revolution and Arthur's dilemma, the food fight was as predictable as Christmas. The cafeteria workers and the teachers found out about the food fight, and both Muffy and Francine were suspended for a week.

Although Arthur was free of Muffy's control when she and Francine were suspended, the unity of the grade wasn't the same as the tension grew and grew.

Present Day

Sue Ellen was brought back to Earth as she recalled her own involvement in the big mess. As she threw her trash into a passing-by trash cart, Sue Ellen thought back to what she had been doing at the time. She scowled as she remembered just what she had been doing.

The Past

Alex and Maria had been best friends during elementary school and especially during 3rd grade in Mr. Ratburn's class. But upon entering middle school, the boy-girl friendship had started to be looked at in a different way, and people were constantly asking if they were a couple by the time 7th grade rolled around. Somehow, the student body couldn't wrap their minds around the concept that boys and girls could be best friends and not be a couple at the same time. The tension grew upon Alex being paired with Shelly Barnes (Binky) on a project.

Speaking of Binky, the bulldog had become more of a bully than ever upon entering middle school (similar to the concept of always having a popular girl, there's always a bully), and his target was primarily George and other such nerds. This ended up being worse than it was back in elementary school, when little squabbles (in comparison to Muffy and Francine's fight) continued to pop up around school. Sue Ellen had ended up being a constant mediator, and the person George relied on to save his skin.

Anyway, upon Alex being paired with Binky on a project, the rabbit had to face being teased constantly whenever there was a break in doing their work. Eventually, Alex couldn't take it anymore and he gave in. Just like that, he started to avoid Maria and made other friends, primarily with Binky's crew. When Maria confronted him, that's when Sue Ellen came in. Sue Ellen ended up being a mediator and a main player in the various arguments that Maria and Alex would have. It eventually got to a point where the two were no longer friends and could barely talk to each other without fighting, even with George and Sue Ellen's help. The unfortunate squabbles between previously good friends only happened here and there compared to the big drama going on that everyone actually knew about.

Present Day

Sue Ellen yawned and checked the time on her watch. According to the time in Tibet, it was about time to sleep. Her frown was replaced with a look depicting sleepiness, and Sue Ellen was soon asleep, all the while recalling the second biggest fight of the year though a dream.

The Past; December & January 7th Grade

The Brain had been on an over-achieving/getting-good-grades-at-everything-even-gym streak. Not only was he one of the only kids in their grade with a good score in gym (all other scores were courtesy of the 8th graders), but he never got a grade below 100% for all of his classes that quarter. The kids in his class found themselves hardly being able to comprehend the majority of the material The Brain presented during class, and the teacher often found him/herself spending an enormous amount of time looking over the amount of material in a homework assignment that should have been simple. Despite the length and quality of his homework, The Brian had discussed at lunch a late-November-afternoon to his companions that working on homework never exceeded a half hour for him, on all of his classes combined. Most were extremely impressed and amazed at The Brain's smarts, some wondered why he wasn't in the 8th grade, a few found it a bit excessive and a tad annoying (but would never say it aloud), and one completely resented it.

By the time the second biggest fight of the year started, it was approaching December. Thanksgiving and Black Friday excitement had long died out, and the holidays were everyone's next priority. The first semester was winding down, and with it a series of academic events began springing up to conclude the semester before winter break started. The first of these was the annual Science Fair, a normal occurrence and mandatory for all students. The previous year, The Brain had received an award and the highest recognition possible, even exceeding the upperclassmen. This hadn't bothered anyone at the time.

When the Science Fair started in late October/early November, the teacher and The Brain indirectly challenged everyone in the class to see if they could beat The Brain at the Science Fair. The only people who accepted the challenge were two other science-geeks, since everyone else had enough common sense to not accept. As a little friendly competition and for self-motivation, Fern Walters had accepted as well, to everyone's surprise. Fern was a well known literature-lover, not a science-geek or anything of the sort. When Thanksgiving break approached, the two other science-geeks had dropped out of the challenge. They had decided to do the science fair for fun, and knew that it was pointless to oppose The Brain after receiving first few grades on the first few sections. Although this was the same case for Fern, the literature-lover refused to drop out. Continuously losing to The Brain at everything (particularly all parts of the Science Fair that had been done thus far) had become annoying, and she was determined to beat him this time even if science wasn't her forte.

The competition was intense, and underclassmen that had the honor of watching were scarred for the rest of their Science Fair career. It was hard not to notice the growing competition that had turned from friendly to a one-sided vicious competition. As stated, it was a losing competition for Fern, and The Brain had triumphed once more, even beating his record for the previous year. This only made Fern all the more frustrated, so that she eventually decided to purposely challenge The Brain at every academic opportunity possible and try to win at least once.

The result was chaotic. The conflict lasted long after winter break, and throughout January. Soccer tryouts, quiz bowl club, Model UN club, the debates in English class, exams, every homework assignment, every project, every paper, the history fair, the middle school geography bee, the time they dissected frogs in science class, the school-wide spelling bee, and possibly others. Of the ones listed, Fern only surpassed The Brain in the English debate, and an essay or two. The Brain was definitely a genius, and it was recognized by many, if not all. Everyone played a part, and they were somehow dragged into the mess if they so much as interacted with one of the two during classes. Even Muffy's academically-challenged crew was dragged into the mess during large group events.

The turning point was at the most hectic point in the whole mess. It was late January, and the school-wide spelling bee was where the chaos took place. As soon as the event was announced, the tension began. They studied the words that they weren't good at spelling, and both declared that they were smarter than the other by the time the event started. In their classes, Fern and The Brain proved to be the top. The two were tied, with The Brain leading by half a point, which only increased the tension.

By the time the finals for the middle school were happening, The Brain, Fern, Prunella, Sue Ellen, and three others were the ones left. Dropping like flies at difficult words, it was down to the first four mentioned rather quickly. Sue Ellen soon found herself smack dab in the middle of a fierce competition between the two competitors (and Prunella). As expected, Sue Ellen only lasted another round before she lost to the intense competition. Sue Ellen was almost glad to be out of it, the intensity of the competition was thick enough to mold into a clay tower. It lasted for another hour until Fern got "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," Fern subsequently lost to The Brain. The dog has since held a grudge against The Brain for losing "unfairly," especially since the bear ended up topping Prunella in the end.

The competition was forced to a stop when The Brain was offered to be bumped back up to the eighth grade. It was no secret that The Brain had been held back in kindergarten because of not being emotionally ready, but it was evident that The Brain was more than just emotionally ready for eighth grade. The Brain was not only in advanced classes, but passing each assignment with ease and maintained a rather passive front throughout the year thus far, even with the constant competition with Fern. With this in mind, the principal bumped The Brain to eighth grade, and a solid brick wall was put between Fern and The Brain. However, the poet's grudge against the bear only increased with every achievement he made that she couldn't match.

By this point, the seventh grade in shambles. With the entire grade divided into "rich" and "poor" for Muffy and Francine's feud, brainiacs versus poet feuds, and the typical bullies versus nerds fight, the grade was a wreck. The "poor" were trying (and failing) to successfully play Robin Hood against Muffy's club and Binky's bully goons, the smart guys were like Japan and China during World War II, and Sue Ellen had enough. When her parents were given an opportunity in Tibet, Sue Ellen begged them to accept and take her along. After all, finally meeting her little brother-like friend in Tibet and reuniting with family was far better than being caught in the war zone that was Lakewood Middle.

Present Day

Sue Ellen's peaceful nap was interrupted by the voice on the intercom, "All passengers buckle up and prepare for landing. We are approaching Elwood City." Great, time had passed more quickly during that period of sleep and now they were at Elwood City. Sue Ellen buckled up and checked the time on her watch. She had long since synced it to Elwood City time upon entering the plane. Checking the time, the cat saw that it was around 6:00 AM, joy.

Sue Ellen sighed, she could never be mad at her parents for making her go back to the city, but the horrors of the student body at the Lakewood Schools were chaotic and she couldn't handle it. Sure, she could have enrolled at Glenbrook Academy, Mighty Mountain, or Elwood City High School, but her grandmother hadn't known and didn't live anywhere near those schools. Besides, attending any of those schools except maybe the latter would have also been a nightmare.

Before long, the plane had landed and Sue Ellen was walking out of the baggage claim area with her luggage. As she walked through the airport lobby towards the front entrance, she passed by the food court. Just as she was about to step onto the escalator, she spotted a familiar figure walking away from a stand eating a foot-long sub and carrying a soda in his hand. A white rabbit wearing a brown and grey jacket and blue jeans stopped for a second to find a place to put his soda before continuing on, eating his sub while dragging his bags (with the soda in it) to the nearest escalator. Sue Ellen whirled around and looked at the white rabbit with a look of utter surprise. Going to the same school with the majority of her former elementary school classmates was highly unlikely itself, but adding this white rabbit to the list made it seem as if this whole thing was a dream!

Yet, Sue Ellen found herself faced with one of her former elementary school classmates like fate decided that absolutely everyone needed to be together for junior year like it was normal, when it clearly wasn't. Sue Ellen approached the white rabbit as he stopped to throw his trash away and took out his soda. The surprise on Sue Ellen's face throughout the whole ordeal was now mirrored on the white rabbit's face when he came face to face with Sue Ellen as she asked, "Buster, is that really you?"