A/N: Ehehe, just a fic I've been working on for a while. I dunno, I've always wanted to do a school life fic about them. It's mostly going to be from Gumball and Darwin's point of view, but it may go to other character's from time to time. I'm sort of hoping to make it episodic, like the show, but eh.

Also, I wasn't sure whether or not to split this into two chapters...It's about 6000 words. I may end up doing that later.

"See ya, kids! Have a great first day!" Richard called out as he drove off. Gumball, Darwin, and Anais walked up the stairs to their school.

"Siiigh…" Gumball exhaled. "Another year…"

"Aw, c'mon! School isn't so bad! Think of all our friends! And Penny…" Darwin said, smiling.

Just then, the peanut girl walked by. "Hey, Darwin! Hey Gumball…" she said flirtatiously.

"Hi Penny…" Gumball's eyes turned into hearts; drool could be seen seeping out his mouth.

Penny noticed and giggled. "See you in class!" she said, walking off.

"Ahhh…this year's gonna be great…" Gumball said dreamily.

"Guys, hurry up! We gotta go get our schedules!" Anais called out, already at the doors. Due to her intelligence, she had been placed in eighth grade this year, skipping grades kindergarten through seven.

"Guise, huwwy up we gotta go get ouw scheduwwes." Gumball said, mocking her sister. Darwin snickered. Suddenly, a book flew right over Gumball's head, leaving scorch marks. "Erm…coming sis!" he called out nervously.

And so began another school year…


"Let's see here…Watterson…ah, here you are, Anais!" Mr. Small said, handing her a schedule. "Have a great year!"

"Thanks!" Anais checked her schedule to make sure everything was correct.

Period 1: Discrete Structures; Instructor: Doctor Professor
Period 2: Logic Design; Instructor: Doctor Professor
Period 3: Ordinary Differential Equations: Lucy Simian
Period 4: Intro to Philosophy; Instructor: Francine Walters
Period 5: Quantum Mechanics and Philosophy; Instructor: Doctor Professor
Period 6: Intro to Fine Arts; Instructor: Steve Small
Period 7: Theology/World Religions; Instructor: Lucy Simian
Homeroom: 8
th Grade; Instructor: Francine Walters

Anais nodded. These were indeed the courses she signed up for. Gumball and Darwin were next in line.

"Hey, Mr. Small!" they said together.

"Hey, boys. Your schedules were right next to hers. Here you goooo-wait…" Mr. Small took a closer look at the papers in his hand.

Period 1: Discrete Structures; Instructor: Doctor Professor
Period 2: Logic Design; Instructor: Doctor Professor
Period 3: Ordinary Differential Equations: Lucy Simian
Period 4: Intro to Philosophy; Instructor: Francine Walters
Period 5: Quantum Mechanics and Philosophy; Instructor: Doctor Professor
Period 6: Intro to Fine Arts; Instructor: Steve Small
Period 7: Theology/World Religions; Instructor: Lucy Simian
Homeroom: 8
th Grade; Instructor: Francine Walters

These were very advanced classes. He looked at the boys in front of him. Gumball was picking at his nose; Darwin had a glazed look in his eyes as a fly landed on his cheek. Without thinking, he slapped his hand as hard as he could at it, missing and slapping himself in the process.

"OW!" Darwin cried.

"Um…are you boys sure you want to take these classes?"

"Mmhmm!" Gumball nodded, reaching for the schedules. He handed Darwin his copy and they walked out the door.

"Um…dude?" Darwin asked.

"Yeah?"

"Our classes look a little…difficult…" he said slowly.

Gumball laughed. "Don't worry about it, dude. I've got everything figured out for this year," he said, puffing out his chest. They walked to their first class, Homeroom.


Gumball and Darwin strode into their new homeroom, glad to finally be rid of Miss Simian. Carrie and Penny were chatting in one corner of the room; Anais was in the other.

"Sooo…I heard you've got a thing for Darwin?" Penny asked gingerly.

"He kissed me once. That's all." Carrie said, feigning apathy. Penny noticed.

"A-hah! You like him, don't you?"

"Shhh! Not so loud! That brat over there is his sister. Okay, so I sort of like him. So what?"

"So…I was thinking we could do a double date! Me and Gumball, you and Darwin!"

"…" Carrie was silent. Finally, she spoke. "Why do you need me to go with you?"

Penny sighed. "Because if I ask Gumball out, he's definitely going to bring Darwin along. Not that I don't like the fish – it's just…me and Gumball won't have time alone…"

Carrie looked like she was deep in thought.

"Shhh! Here they come now! Act natural!"

Gumball and Darwin walked over to Anais, completely oblivious to the conversation that just happened.

"Hey, sis, how's it going?"

Anais, on the other hand, heard the entire thing with her floppy bunny ears. She debated whether or not to tell the boys of Penny's and Carrie's conversation. She eventually decided against it.

"Hey, bro. I'm a little nervous…Everyone here's gonna be older than me!"

She was right. Who ever heard of a four year old in eighth grade?

"Ahhh don't worry, sis. I'm sure you'll make a ton of friends. Just be yourself!" Just then, Bobert walked in. "Take Bobert, for instance. He's some kind of super genius, like you! Hey Bobert!" he motioned for Bobert to come over. "This is my little sister, Anais."

Bobert looked at her. "The kindergarten is down that way." he said, walking off. Gumball grabbed his arm.

"No, dude. She's in our class! She's just really smart!"

"Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha that's funny, a baby in eighth grade? Or better yet, a genius in your family? Ha-Ha-Ha-Haaaaa…" Bobert shorted out from laughing too hard. Anais looked like she was going to cry.

"Uhhh…" Suddenly, Alan floated into the room. "Alan! He's a balloon! You love balloons, don't you?" Gumball grabbed Alan.

"Um, Gumball? No, don't!" he cried as he realized what he was doing. It was too late – Gumball tied him to Anais's wrist. Carmen walked in to see Alan tied to another girl.

"ALAN! How could you?" she cried out.

"Carmen! My love, it's not what it looks like!"

"Alan…I-I thought we had something special together…" She ran off crying.

"Carmen! Wait!" Alan tried to fly over to her, but he was still tied to Anais. "Ugh, dude, untie me!"

"I can't! It's too tight!" Gumball said, fumbling with the knot.

"Don't worry, I've got this!" Darwin brandished a pair of scissors.

"Darwin! DARWIN, NO!"

A snipping was heard, followed by a loud, painful scream.


Gumball and Darwin hung their heads in shame. Alan and Bobert had to go to the school nurse for treatment, and their little sister was traumatized by the ordeal. They turned to look at her – she was still in the corner, only instead of just looking shy, she buried her face in the desk. Her ears were drooping heavily, a clear sign of sadness.

They were about to go over to her, but their homeroom teacher showed up. Everyone fell silent – she was a new teacher, so no one knew anything about her.

"Hello, class," she said with a silky voice and a slight British accent. "My name is Francine Walters. You may call me Mrs. Walters, Francine, or even Franny, I don't mind. I will be your homeroom teacher."

And what a teacher she was. She was a white rabbit with a tight fitting blue polka-dotted hood; it covered the back of her head and her ears. From afar, someone could mistake it for her actual ears. Her blonde bangs stuck out from under the hood and covered her forehead. She wore a sky-blue checkered vest with a matching skirt over a white top.

"A little about myself:" she continued. "I graduated from the University of London five years ago with a Master's in Education. I decided to go into teaching because I love interacting with children and watching them blossom into adults. Nothing makes me happier than witnessing a child exceed my expectations, as well as his or her own."

The class listened intently. This style of speaking was absolutely shocking for them, having had to put up with teachers like Miss Simian and Mr. Small.

As she finished her introduction, the class remained dead silent. She cleared her throat.

"Ahem. Well, now that I've told you about myself, I'd like for you to tell me about yourselves." she said. "Let's start with you, in the corner." She pointed to Penny. "Please tell me your name, and something interesting about yourself."

"Me? Oh, um…" Penny stood up and faced the class. "Hi, guys. My name's Penny. And I love cheerleading! Thank you!" she took a curtsy and sat down.

Mrs. Walters clapped. "I'm so jealous of you – I was always such a klutz, so I never even attempted cheerleading. I was always fascinated by the maneuvers they did, though. Okay, next."

Carrie turned and faced the class. "My name's Carrie. I'm a ghost." she said, quickly sitting back down.

Mrs. Walters waited for a bit, as if waiting for her to go on. When she didn't, she just nodded her head. "Interesting. I do hope you'll open up more to me as the year goes on. I can't help you unless you let me." she said. Carrie remained silent.

Tobias was next. "I'm Tobias, and I love sports, and working out, and…and…sports…" he started. "Oh, and I can do this!" He started changing colors.

The rest of the class introduced themselves, with Mrs. Walters inserting an occasional comment here and there. Then came Gumball's turn.

"I'm Gumball Watterson, and I'm getting straight A's this year!" he said confidently. The class laughed.

"Well, it's always nice to aim high. Good luck, Gumball!" the teacher responded encouragingly.

"Luck? I don't need luck!"

Mrs. Walters looked confused. Gumball just sat down and let Darwin take his turn.

"My name's Darwin, and I'm his pet fish!" he said, motioning towards Gumball.

Mrs. Walters gave him a look.

"It's a bit of a mystery. He just sprouted legs one day." Gumball explained. Mrs. Walters just nodded.

"I wish one of my pets would evolve like that. Most of my goldfish just dieeeee…ne! Dine! My goldfish dine at the dinner table with me, but they never talk…" she said hastily.

A few more students introduced themselves to her.

"My name's Leslie, and I'm a carnivore!"

"I'm Anton, and I've been eaten like, five times already…"

Anais was last, as she sat in the back corner.

"Why, hello there little one. Are you in the wrong class?"

Anais just went on with her introduction. "My name is Anais. I'm a four year old genius that skipped all the way to eighth grade." she said, putting her head back down.

Mrs. Walters showed a mixture of surprise and embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! It's just…it's not often you see a four year old in eighth grade..."

Silence.

"Well, I'm sure you'll fit in just fine. Come see me if you need help!"

And with that, the bell rang, and introductions were officially over.

"Have a great first day, class! I'll see some of you around – I teach philosophy and eighth grade English!"

The students filed out of the room. Gumball and Darwin followed Anais; she was too tired and depressed to notice.


Anais shuffled into the room, with Gumball and Darwin trailing closely behind. She looked around – Bobert, the robot who laughed at her, was sitting in the front desk, right in front of the board. There were also two egg-shaped twin brothers (or maybe just really close friends?), a floating brain, and Gumball and Darwin.

Wait… she thought.

"Gumball? Darwin? What're you guys doing here?!" she asked, checking to make sure this was the right room.

"Just here to learn about some dessert structures, like everyone else," he said with an air of dignity.

"It's discrete structures." Anais corrected him.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"Do you even know what it's about?"

"Sure! It's, ah…um…"

"…How do you plan on passing this class?"

"Easy! You tutor me! We have the same blood, so by drinking yours, I'm sure I'll-"

He didn't get farther in the sentence – Anais slapped him with her textbook. "That's not happening."

"Well, you'll just have to tutor me, then."

"That's not happening, either."

"Fine. I'll just cheat off of your homework." Gumball said defiantly.

"And how well did that work out for you last time?"

Gumball thought back for a moment, remembering the time he wrote all the answers to the math test on Darwin's skin. Memories of the detention room…of the bomb guy…and especially of the pink bear popping that cupcake's cherry…all these scenes appeared in front of his eyes. Now, the pink bear has focused his attention on him. He thudded closer…and closer…and…

"NOOOO! Not my cherry!" Gumball screamed. Darwin looked similarly traumatized.

"DUDE! I'm not goin' to detention again! I'm outta here!" he yelled, white as a ghost.

"Wait! I'm sure this class won't be that hard! Just wait!" Gumball calmed him. Anais rolled her eyes and took a seat next to them.

Just then, the bell rang and the professor walked in.

"Good day, class. My name is Doctor Professor. You may call me doctor, professor, or, if you're really crazy, Mr. Doctor Professor." he introduced himself. The class laughed.

This guy doesn't seem so bad… Gumball thought.

"Now…welcome to Discrete Structures! Today's lesson will be on something simple – counting. How many of you know how to count?"

Everyone raised their hand.

"Really? Are you sure?"

They nodded.

"Positive? You definitely know how to count?"

More nodding.

"See? This class is going to be cake!" Gumball whispered to Darwin. The teacher noticed this.

"You there! What's your name?" he called.

"Gumball Watterson."

"Okay, Mr. Watterson. Let's do a simple counting problem. Come up to the board, please."

Gumball swaggered up, feeling confident. After all, how hard could counting be?

He took his place in front of the chalkboard, chalk in hand, ready to answer whatever the teacher had in mind.

"Okay. Consider the following word: CAT. How many distinct ways are there to arrange its letters? Ready, set, go!"

Easy! Gumball thought.

He wrote all the arrangements on the chalkboard.

CAT
CTA
ACT
ATC
TAC
TCA

"Six. There are six ways to arrange those letters." Gumball stated proudly. "Can I have my A now?"

The rest of the class laughed. Darwin, too, but only because everyone else was doing it.

"That was just a warm up. Are you ready for the next one?" the teacher asked.

"Bring it!"

"Okay. Now, consider the word MISSISSIPPI. How many distinct ways can you arrange its 11 letters?"

Gumball froze. He saw a lot of writing in his future.

"Oh, sorry. Ready, set, go! You can start writing now!"

"Er…um…let's see…"

He wrote down a few arrangements.

MISSISSIPPI
MSSISISPPII
PPSISISISMI
SPPSMISSIII

He went on for about two minutes when the teacher stopped him.

"Okay, okay, you can stop now," the doctor said mercifully.

Gumball sighed. "So, how did I do?"

The teacher counted up how many arrangements he wrote down: 24.

"Pretty good, pretty good. Wanna know what the answer was? Did anyone here solve it?"

Bobert raised his hand.

"Yes? What's your name?"

"Bobert."

"So how many ways can the letters in the word MISSISSIPPI be arranged, Bobert?"

"39,916,800 ways." he stated matter-of-factly.

"Mmm. And how did you get that answer?"

"It's the permutation equation. It was just n!, with n being the number of objects to be arranged. In this case, it was the 11 letters."

Doctor Professor whistled. "So, nearly 40 million ways. Does everyone agree with this?"

Everyone raised their hand, except for Anais.

"You there. What's your name?"

"Anais." she responded dully.

"You look a little young to be in middle school."

"I skipped a few grades."

"Fair enough. So do you disagree with Bobert's answer?"

She nodded.

"Well, what do you think the answer is?"

"34,650."

Doctor Professor whistled again. "So 40 million, or 35 thousand. Those are two wildly different answers. One of them is right."

Bobert looked confident in his answer; Anais looked like she didn't care.

"Well, little girl, it seems they were right to advance you."

Whispers of Bobert being wrong spread throughout the class.

"Would you like to explain how you got your answer?"

"Well, Bobert," she said his name contemptuously. "Bobert was right in saying 11! was the total number of ways to arrange those letters. But you said distinct arrangements. Among those 11! ways, there were repetitions of the same arrangement. An example: MISSISSIPPI and MISSISSIPPI are both counted separately in his way. So to deal with this, I divided by the groups of repeated letters. Since there were four S's, four I's, and two P's, I divided 11! by 4!, 4!, and 2!, to get rid of the duplicate cases." Anais explained without blinking an eye. The rest of the smart kids just nodded. Bobert looked vengeful, but Anais ignored it.

Gumball and Darwin, on the other hand, had their mouths wide open.

As Gumball returned to his seat, Darwin whispered in his ear.

"Dude. We have to drop this class."

"I know." Gumball whispered back.

"AHHHHHHH!" the two of them ran screaming out the door, straight to the principal's office.

"Principal Brown! We made a huge mistake! We need to re-pick our classes!" Gumball shouted at his face.

"Boys! You should be in class right now! Come back at lunch or after school!" he said, ushering them out."

"But Principal Brown!"

"No buts! Back to class. Now."

He slammed the door in their faces.

"Dude, what did you get us into?!" Darwin screamed.

"It's not my fault, I thought Anais could pull us through!"

"What're we gonna do?! What're we gonna do?!"

"Calm down, man. We just have to survive three more classes, then at lunch, we can switch out."

Darwin was hyperventilating. Gumball whacked him on the head.

"OW! What was that for?!"

"I don't know, isn't that how you calm people down?!"

"How would that calm me down?!"

"I-I don't know! It works in movies!"

"AHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHH!"

They took turns screaming. Suddenly, the bell rang, and their screams combined into one.

"AHHHHHH!"


Unfortunately, that bell didn't signify the end of first period. The schedule was a bit different for the first day. Thankfully, Doctor Professor didn't plan anything else for the day, so the rest of class was spent chatting.

"Okay, so let's take this class…and this class…oh, and definitely this class…" Gumball said, circling things on the registration form.

"Oooh! A swimming class!"

"Uh, dude, I can't swim, remember?"

Darwin looked sad.

Speaking of looking sad…

Gumball turned around. Anais was still depressed. Her head was down, ears still drooping…

"Hey, sis…y'all right?"

No answer.

"Come on, speak to your big bro…"

Still no answer.

"I know what'll cheer her up!" Darwin chimed in, brandishing a container of cookies. "Treats!"

Anais looked up. They did look delicious…

"C'mon, let's eat!" Darwin said, handing one to her.

"Mmm! These are great!" Anais said, her mouth full.

"Listen, Anais. Don't worry about fitting in. You're a great girl – cute, smart, funny. I'm sure eventually you'll find friends. Plus, I'll always be here for you!" Gumball said encouragingly.

"Me, too!" Darwin joined.

"So if you ever need anything, just call, and we'll come running!"

Anais's eyes glittered. She was so happy she had two great brothers, that she wanted to cry. "Thanks, guys…" They joined together in a group hug.


Logic Design was their next class, and it was even more confusing for Gumball and Darwin.

"01001001 01101110 01110100 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 01110011 01100101 01101100 01110110 01100101 01110011 00100001 (Introduce yourselves!)" the teacher said.

"01000001 01101110 01100001 01101001 01110011 00101110 (Anais.)"

"01000010 01101111 01100010 01100101 01110010 01110100 (Bobert.)"

Gumball and Darwin had no idea what was going on. So when the professor pointed at him, he had no idea what to say.

"Umm… 01011001 01101111 01110101 00100111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110101 01100111 01101100 01111001? (You're ugly.)"

"01000001 01101101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01101100 01101100 01111001 00111111 (Am I really?)"

"01011001 01100101 01110011 00101110? (Yes.)"

"…01000100 01100101 01110100 01100101 01101110 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00101110 (Detention.)"

Gumball actually understood what that meant, from the detention slip in his hand. One hour of after school detention.

He just sighed. "01010011 01110100 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110101 01100111 01101100 01111001 00101110… (Still ugly.)"

Three hours. Three hours of after school detention…


Their next class was Differential Equations. They already hated the sound of it.

"Well, well, well. That's one well for each of you Wattersons." Miss Simian said contemptuously, addressing the three Watterson kids. "I certainly hope you enjoy this class…"

Gumball and Darwin gulped. Anais looked undaunted. She didn't appreciate getting double crossed by her when she came to their house, so she was hoping for a chance to show her up.

"All right. This first question is for you, Gumball." She wrote an equation on the board.

y' = (y^2)sin(t)

"Find the general solution to this equation," she said sinisterly, then laughed. "Good luck…"

Gumball gulped again.

He went up to the board and started writing up a storm. Anais raised her eyebrow.

Does he really know what he's doing? she thought.

He wrote for about thirty seconds when Miss Simian stopped him.

"Watterson, what the heck are you doing?"

Gumball looked at what he was writing.

It was a clown face.

"Sit down."

He did.

"Okay, fish kid. Your turn."

Darwin remained seated, paralyzed by fear, his scales a ghostly white.

Miss Simian just laughed again. "Oh, I love my job. Okay, widdle girl. Your turn."

Anais jumped out of her chair and confidently walked up to the board.

"Aww, wittle baby gonna do math?"

She ignored her, cracked her knuckles, and got to work.

dy/dt = (y^2)sin(t)
dy = ((y^2)
sin(t))dt
∫dy/(y^
2) = ∫sin(t)dt
∫(1/(y^2)
)dy = ∫sin(t)dt
(-1/y)+c = -cos(t)+c
1/y = cos(t)+c
y = 1/(cos(t)+c)

"Done." she said confidently.

Miss Simian was utterly shocked. "That's…that's correct!"

"Whoo! Right on, sis!" Gumball high fived her. Anais happily returned it.

"Way to go, Anais!" one of the eggheads said.

"I say, you're quite remarkable!" the other one chimed in.

"A genius in the Watterson family? I…I need to sit down…"

It took Miss Simian a full ten minutes to recover from that beating. As soon as she did, she tried her best to trip Anais up. She battered her with questions, but Anais answered each of them easily. Finally, the bell rang.

"So six is the unstable solution, and three is the stable solution." Anais answered Miss Simian's last question as she headed out the door. Miss Simian just slumped in her chair defeated.

"You were great in there, sis!"

"Thanks, Gumball…"

"I almost wouldn't mind staying in that class, just to see you beat Miss Simian at her own game!"

Anais smiled. It wasn't often she was praised for her intelligence. No baby talk, no diapers, no looking down on her (figuratively, of course – she was still short). People were finally starting to take her seriously…


"Hello, and welcome to Intro to Philosophy. I recognize some of you from homeroom. For the rest of you, I am Francine Walters, and I will be your instructor. You may call me Francine, Mrs. Walters, or even Frannie, if you please. Now, I'd like each of you to introduce yourselves. Let's start with you, in the corner."

"My name's Brain," he started in a monotone voice. He was a literal brain, pink tissue and everything. He had no legs; he just hovered above the ground. "My friends call me the Brain, because do you see any other floating brains around here? Anyway, I transferred over from Elwood junior high."

"Nice to meet you, Brain."

Next was Bobert.

"Ah, I recognize you from my homeroom. Bobert, right?"

"Correct. I am Bobert. I am the smartest eighth grader at the school."

"Nuh uh!" Gumball said. "Anais here showed you up in dessert structures!"

"Discrete structures," Anais whispered to him.

"I meant, discrete structures!" Gumball corrected himself.

Bobert narrowed his eyes at Anais, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Well, a little competition is healthy. Just…don't overdo it…"

The eggheads were next.

"I'm Frank."

"And I'm Beans!"

"Together we're…"

"Frank and Beans!"

"We love school…"

"Math is our favorite subject!"

"Tied with English, Social Studies, and Science!"

Mrs. Walters chuckled. "Very creative, you two."

"Thanks!" they said in unison.

Gumball was next.

"Ah, it's you. How's the quest for straight A's going?"

"Ehehe…well, it's going…"

"Well, come see me if you ever need any help. I'm off for the next two periods."

And finally, Anais.

"Well, well! You're looking happier."

Anais giggled. "Yeah, I'm starting to get used to it."

"Glad to hear it! Would you like to redo that dull introduction you gave me in homeroom?"

She nodded.

"My name's Anais. I'm a genius four year old that likes Daisy the Donkey! These are my two brothers; they're always there to help me, and they always will be there! At least, until they…switch…" A thought suddenly occurred to her. Mrs. Walters noticed.

"Well, please feel free to see me if you need any help, as well."

The rest of the class went pretty well. Mrs. Walters split the class into two discussion groups: one with Bobert, the Eggheads, and Brain, and the other with Gumball, Darwin, Anais, and herself.

It was hilarious watching Gumball humiliate himself; comforting to hear him praise her; and sweet when he reaffirmed his promise to look out for her.

She actually enjoyed having classes with Gumball and Darwin. Enjoyed it a lot, in fact. A plan started forming in her head…


The bell for lunch period rang.

"Well, that's all for today, class! Have a great rest of the first day!" Mrs. Walters excused them.

"Sooo you guys are going to Principal Brown to switch classes?" Anais asked. They nodded.

"We're probably not gonna have time to eat lunch, so you go on without us. And don't be shy! Talk to people!" Gumball continued encouraging her to make friends.

"Yup, okay! See you next period!"

"We're switching out, remember?"

"Oh-oh yeah. See ya at home, then!" She ran out the door in a hurry.

"C'mon, let's go!" Darwin called out. He took a step, but…

"OW!" he faceplanted hard. "Hey! Someone tied my shoelaces together!"

"So? Untie them."

"But if I do that, then I won't know how to tie them again!"

"…Wait, you don't know how to tie your shoes?"

He shook his head.

"Then…how do you put them on every day?"

"Anais ties them for me!"

Gumball looked at the clock. They had thirty more minutes of lunch. He sighed. "We don't have time for this. Just…take your shoes off!"

"But they're the only clothes I wear! If I take them off, I'll be naked!"

"So how're we supposed to get to Principal Brown's office?"

Darwin looked at him expectantly. He wanted a piggy back ride.

"No." Gumball stated flatly.


"Ow…Ow…Ow…Ow…" Darwin decided to just walk with his shoes tied together. Well, more of a shuffle, really. Every three steps, he tripped over himself, faceplanting again and again. It took an entire twenty minutes to get to the principal's office. When they finally got there, though…

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me…"

Leading to the principal's office was a massive line. Gumball approached one of the people waiting.

"Why's everyone lined up here?"

"Some girl's giving out free ice cream to everyone who goes to see Principal Brown."

"…Why?"

"I dunno. But free ice cream is free ice cream!" she walked in to get her scoop.

"Ugh!" Gumball and Darwin stood at the back of the line. When it was finally their turn, the bell rang.

"Sorry, boys, but we are now closed." Principal Brown said, shooing them away.

"But-we've been waiting forever!"

"No buts! Go to class!"

"Please!"

He slammed the door on them. "Aw, man…" Gumball said, kicking the ground.

Suddenly, Anais walked out of the office.

"Anais? What were you doing in there? And where'd you get the ice cream?"

"Oh, um…I just had to…um…oh! There was a girl giving out free ice cream! Would you like some?" she offered Gumball a cup.

Gumball sighed. "I guess. I'm gonna need it…now I gotta wait until after school to switch classes." he said glumly. "Unless…" an idea formed in his head.

"Why don't you just forget about switching?"

"Are you kidding? Those classes weren't meant for dorks like us. They were made for geniuses, like you!"

"You guys aren't dorks…" Anais said sadly.

"Well, maybe not dorks, but definitely idiots." Gumball corrected himself.

Darwin nodded in agreement.

"But…but…"

But I need you… she said silently.

"What was that?"

"N-nothing. I should probably head to class…"

"All rightie! See ya! We're gonna pay Mrs. Walters a visit."

A look of determination flashed across Anais's eyes. She ran off.

"Uh…isn't her class the other way?" Darwin asked.

"It is…"

They still didn't think much of it. They began walking to Mrs. Walters's room.

"Ow…ow…ow…" Darwin's shoes were still tied together.

Gumball and Darwin barged into their homeroom teacher's room.

"Mrs. Walters! Mrs. Walters! We need your help!" Gumball screamed.

"Hello, boys, I've been expecting you. Come, have a seat."

They sat down in front of her.

"Now, what seems to be the problem?"

"We signed up for incredibly difficult classes…and now we want to switch out."

Mrs. Walters was silent for a while.

"Well…? How do we get out of those classes?" Darwin asked.

"Boys…I'm afraid you won't be able to." she said sadly.

"WHAT?! Why not?" A wave of dread washed over Gumball.

"Today's the only day to switch…and you boys have three hours of detention after school, so you won't be able to see the principal."

Oh yeah. Gumball had forgotten about that.

"So…we're trapped in those classes forever?"

"I'm afraid so…"

Gumball sighed. "Well, okay. Thanks for all your help…" He got up to leave.

"Hang on a second…how did you know we got detention?" Darwin asked suspiciously.

Gumball just noticed that, too.

"Oh, um…you know…word gets around pretty fast amongst us faculty members…ehehehe…" she smiled unconvincingly.

Gumball and Darwin stared at her; she stared back.

Gumball shrugged. "Well, okay then. See ya!" They left.

Moments later, the real Mrs. Walters walked in and saw her duplicate.

"Oh, dear. What is going on here?" she asked.

"Umm…uh, she paid me to do it!" Her duplicate shifted into a ball of clay – Clayton. He scurried out the door.

"I see. Anais? Anais, I know you're in here somewhere…"

She peeked out over the teacher's desk.

"Anais, would you like to tell me what this is all about?"

She sighed. "It's a long story…"

"I have time."

"All right…"

Anais told her everything, from her brothers copying her schedule, to their lame attempts to cheer her up, and finally, her realization that she needed them to be close to her.

"I need my brother close to me…so that's why he can't change classes." Anais finished.

Mrs. Walters nodded. "That's all very touching, Anais, but have you ever considered Gumball's feelings in this matter? The way you felt in homeroom…that's how he's going to feel every day in those classes. Because he doesn't belong there; he's going to struggle every day in there."

"But…I can help him! I'll tutor him every day!"

"Anais…can you really? That would be at least five hours every day, teaching him the material and helping him with the homework." Mrs. Walters started. "And even if you could, would he want to? Would he be willing to spend that much time every single day, working?"

Anais didn't have an answer to that.

"Do you really want to put him through this?"

"…no."

"Anais, part of going to school is growing up. And part of growing up is letting go of things. I know it's going to be hard, making friends in eighth grade when you're only four years old, but I know you can pull through. And Gumball, Darwin, and I will still be here to help if you need it."

Anais nodded.

"Now…go get the boys. I'll get the paperwork."

They both stepped out of the classroom. Anais went to the physics classroom. Mrs. Walters headed to the principal's office.


"Blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah." Doctor Professor lectured.

Gumball and Darwin had no idea what the was saying. So many big words…Quantum superposition, quarks, theoretical physics…Darwin's head was vibrating – it was gonna explode!

"Gumball? Darwin?" It was Anais, at the door, a slip of paper in her hands.

"Mrs. Walters needs to see you."

Gumball and Darwin sluggishly got out of their seats, drool coming out of their mouths, a glazed look in their eyes. They shuffled over to the door like zombies.

When they got out, they shook their faces vigorously, returning to normal.

"Ahh, much better. So, what's going on, sis?"

"Well, she found a way to switch your classes…"

"Really! Great, then what're we waiting for! Let's go!"


Mrs. Walters already had the paperwork set for them when they burst through the door.

"Hi! We're here to change classes?" Gumball asked.

"Why, certainly. Just fill out these forms."

Gumball and Darwin sat at a desk and picked their new classes.

"Okay, now all you have to do is sign here, and it'll be official!"

Gumball moved his pen to the X, but hesitated.

"Are you gonna be okay without us, sis?"

Anais was silent.

"Uh, sis?"

"Y-yeah. Yeah, I'll be all right. Don't worry about me!"

"You sure? If you want, I can tough it out so I can be with you."

Anais was about to tell him yes, that she wanted him to stay. Her heart was filled with happiness; the words were right at her lips. But then…images of her brother slaving away at homework, studying every night and being miserable all day…those images flowed into her head, one after another.

"…I'm sure. I'll be fine. Go! Switch!" she said, forcing a smile, holding back tears.

"Well, all right!" he signed his name.

"Gumball Tristopher Watterson? What kind of name is Tristopher?" Mrs. Walters asked, amused.

"My dad misheard my mom. She said 'Christopher', but he heard 'Tristopher'…" Gumball explained.

"I see…"

"So…we don't have to go back to class, right?" Darwin asked. He shuddered at the thought of learning more "theoretical physics".

"Well, I suppose not, since you're not going to be in that class anymore."

"So we can hang out where with you?"

"Ahhh…sure, why not. I don't have any more classes today, anyway."

"Yay!" the three of them cried out in unison.

"You, however," she pointed at Anais. "You should probably get back to class."

"Oh, c'mon, can't I hang out here, with you guys?" Anais pleaded. She put on the cutest face she could muster.

"…Oh, all right. Just don't make a habit of this, okay?"

Anais smiled and nodded.

And so they sat in Mrs. Walters's office and talked, about life, about school, about personal stuff.

"No way! You used to be an actress?" Anais asked her teacher.

"Sure did. They were probably movies you've never heard of, though."

"Gimme some titles! Give us some titles!" Darwin begged.

She laughed. "Okay. Let's see…I'll only give you the G-rated ones. There was 'GoodBye Bu', 'Ponies University', 'Love thy Neighbor', and…yeah, those are all the kid-friendly ones."

"Did you do a lot of adult movies?" Gumball asked.

"That's a secret," she said mysteriously.

The final bell rung – it was time for the final class, second homeroom.

"Okay, take a seat, guys."

They sat together, in the front of the room. Soon, the other kids began shuffling in.

"Hey, Gumball, Darwin! Where were you guys? I didn't see you in any of my classes." Tobias greeted them.

"Ehehe…funny story…"

While Gumball and Darwin chatted away with their friends, Anais sat awkwardly on the side. Feeling insecure, she put her head down.

"Hey!" some called out behind her. She ignored it, thinking it was for someone else.

"Hey!" now the voice was poking her. She looked back – some kind of ice cream cone girl was talking to her.

"Hi! My name's Sarah. I'm new to this school, too. I hope we can be friends!" she said shyly.

Anais looked at her funny.

"…Is something wrong?"

"N-no no, it's just…you know I'm four years old, right?"

She nodded.

"And you still want to be my friend?"

"Sure! I figured, you might have the same interests as me. I still play with dolls and stuff…I'm scared the others will laugh at me…"

Anais glowed. "Sure! I'll be your friend! Maybe you can come over and play sometime!"

"Sounds great!"

Meanwhile, another conversation was taking place.

"So? Are you gonna come with me to ask them out?" Penny asked Carrie.

"…I need more time to think about it, okay?"

"What else is there to think about? You like Darwin, that much is clear…"

"By 'think', I meant 'build up the courage to do it'…" she clarified.

"Don't worry – you're an awesome girl! Cute, funny (in a dark sort of way…), and smart!"

"…"

"Well?"

"…Tomorrow. We'll do it tomorrow…"

Penny sighed. She had wanted to do it today, but she needed Carrie. "Okay, I guess…"

Mrs. Walters walked to the front of the room and cleared her throat to get their attention. The conversations slowly died down. When it was silent, she began.

"Well, class…how was your first day?"

Fifteen mouths went off on her. She raised her hands to quiet them.

"All right, all right, one at a time. Let's start with you. Banana Joe, was it?"

"Yep! Today was hilarious. I nearly 'split' myself laughing, get it? Split? Ahahahaha!"

Mrs. Walters chuckled. "Clever," she said.

Jamie was next.

"Me and Tina went around hazing the sixth graders. We stuffed em in trash cans, lockers, and even toilets! It was hilarious!" Jamie said, laughing.

"Now, Jamie. You know bullying is wrong, right? I expect you to write each of those sixth graders an apology. I'll be collecting it on Wednesday."

Jamie sighed. "Fine…" she said, fully intending to not do it.

"Okay, mister Straight A's. How was your day?"

"Oh, y'know…same stuff, different day…" was all he said to describe the crazy day he had.

Mrs. Walters laughed. "And how about you, Darwin?"

He just shrugged. "Nothing I can't handle."

"And you, Anais?"

"Well…today, I learned a lot," she started. "Not just academics, but life lessons, like growing up, and letting go of things. Before today, my big bro has always been looking out for me, taking care of me. I tried to trick him into holding my hand for the entire year, but after chatting with a certain someone, I learned that to force him to be miserable just so I can be happy would be unfair to him. I realize that there are some things in life I have to do without his help…but I also realize that his hand will still be there for me to grab when I most need it. So thank you, Mrs. Walters, for a great day." She took a curtsy as she finished.

"Awwwh, that's so sweet…" Penny said.

"You go, little girl!" Molly cheered.

Other students clapped for her, causing her to blush.

"I'm proud of you, Anais." Mrs. Walters gushed.

The bell rang. Everyone filed out the door.

"See you tomorrow!" Mrs. Walters called out.

The three kids walked over to their father's car.

"Hey, kids! How was school?"

"Good."

"Okay, I guess."

"Great!"

"Glad to hear it!" Richard said, starting the car.

"Oh, by the way, sis…what was all that about tricking me into holding your hand the entire year?" Gumball asked, confused.

"Oh, nothing." Anais replied with a shy smile.

"Well…okay then."


Elsewhere…

Bobert's eye was red from anger. How dare that little girl show him up in class! And it wasn't the first time, either. He remembered how she had overpowered him in the library, when he was with the reject club…

"You have humiliated me for the last time, Anais…" he said, installing updates for his weapons and targeting systems.

"Tomorrow…I get my revenge…"