A/N: Second fanfic. (Yay!) Just so we're clear, I intended them to be a year or two younger than they are in the series here.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Mr. Warburton owns pretty much everything.
Coloring
"Okay, class, for this unit of social studies we will need to color in maps of the United States," the teacher told her students, handing out blank maps to them
Wallabee Beetles sighed, wishing he could be just about anywhere else. He looked desperately at the clock, dismayed to see there was still a good amount of time left before recess. Lucky for him, the assignment was simple; they just had to color in the States so that no two states of the same color were touching.
Wally grinned and pulled out his box of crayons. His mom had bought him one of the really big boxes, the kind that had about one hundred different colors in it. Since there are only sixty-seven states, Wally reasoned, I can color each one a different color and still have crayons left over! And so he got to work, creating a rainbow of a country.
He finished quickly and proudly admired his work before looking around to see who else was done. To his surprise, the rest of the class was still working.
With nothing to do, Numbuh 4 slumped down in his desk and randomly tapped a green crayon on his notebook while he searched for something to occupy his time.
His eyes came to rest on the pretty Japanese girl sitting by the window. Numbuh 3. Kuki Sanban. His friend and secret crush. Wally sighed quietly to himself.
Sensing someone watching her, Numbuh 3 turned and looked his way, smiling when their eyes met. She waved at him, and he grinned back in response before she turned back to her map.
Wally sighed again and looked down at his desk, his eyes settling on the green crayon he held. Then inspiration struck him. Numbuh 4 tore out a blank piece of paper and, with one additional quick glance at Kuki, he began to draw.
Numbuh 4 was not an artist, but anyone watching him just then would have thought otherwise. He stared at the paper intently, placing each line down with care. Green, black, yellow, red. Soon a picture began to take form.
"Wallabee!"
Numbuh 4's concentration was broken. He looked up, startled to hear the teacher call out his name.
"What?"
"Will you please share you answer to question seven on last night's math homework?"
Crud! He had been so focused on his drawing that he hadn't heard the teacher announce that they were moving on to math. Not wanting the teacher to discover that he wasn't paying attention, or the reason why he wasn't, he quickly looked down at his picture before hazarding a guess.
"Uh, three?" he answered meekly.
The teacher looked at him sharply, then nodded.
"Very good, Wallabee. Twenty-seven divided by nine is three. Now who can tell me the answer to question eight . . . ?"
Numbuh 5 looked up from her homework and turned to look at Numbuh 4. Math was his worst subject, and she was somewhat shocked to hear he had the correct answer.
Her eyes widened when she caught a glimpse of what was on his paper. She smirked at him, while he stared back at her in panic. Wally quickly covered the picture with a textbook in attempt to conceal it from his teammate, although he knew Abby had already seen it. She chuckled under her breath.
Man, I can't wait to tell Numbuh 2 about this! Numbuh 4 drew a picture of Numbuh 3!
Numbuh 4 groaned, wondering how he managed to get himself into these messes. Abby and Hoagie would tease him for weeks now.
When he was sure no one was watching him, Wally removed the book, setting it aside to study the picture he drew. Frowning, he grabbed the green crayon and colored Numbuh 3's sweater in a little more.
Once he finished, he paused to study the picture again. This time he smiled. Never before had he put so much effort into coloring. The final product was the best picture he'd ever drawn.
Just then the bell rang, signaling the start of recess. As his classmates began rushing to the door, Numbuh 4 quickly slipped his drawing of Kuki into one of his books. When he looked up again, he was startled to find Numbuh 3 standing right there beside him.
"Hi, Wally!"
"H-hey, Kuki," he answered back, fearing she may have seen the drawing. How long had she been standing there, anyway? Fortunately, Numbuh 3 was completely oblivious.
"I hope we never have to make another map like that," she told him. "I can never decided what color to make Nebraska . . ."
Relieved that the picture was still a secret, from her at least, Numbuh 4 allowed himself to smile. It was finally recess!
"C'mon, Numbuh 3, we need to catch up with the others," he said, eagerly making his way out of the classroom and onto the playground. Numbuh 3 bounded after him.
Now outside, Numbuh 4 looked over at their other friends, standing in a group near the slide. Numbuh 5 spotted them, and grinned almost evilly in Wally's direction. It was then that he remembered that she knew about the drawing.
"Ooh, Wally! Can we go on the swings first? Please?" Numbuh 3 begged him, hoping he would push her.
He turned his head to see her pleading expression, and in that moment he realized two things. The first was that his drawing did not do her justice. The second was that he in no way regretted drawing it.
"Alright," he agreed to Kuki's request. And almost before he finished saying the word she grabbed him by the wrist and took off running, dragging him behind.