A shrill sound from an alarm clock awakened Mary from her sleep.

Or so she thought. While she was recovering from her half-asleep state, it became perfectly clear that the sound was coming from her neighbor's room next door, along with some really questionable sound effects.

And then it stopped.

Mary looked at the alarm clock that should have woken her up.

"4:56 am. Figures," Mary muttered to herself. It didn't matter.

She got up and walked up to her writing desk. A mosaic tile canvas of all the extras up on the wall and a beat-up typewriter combated the darkness as she sat herself down.

She was dreading having to go to school today. It wasn't that she hated going to school though, not at all.

She held off any thoughts of anger, remorse, and denial and turned her forces on her writing. An exposé to be exact, and she was adding the finishing touch.

"Good afternoon everyone. This is Acme Looniversity TV's one and only Mary Melody with her usual routine with a very important school update."

The half-dozen toons on the set that made up the Journalism and Broadcasting class along with Mary eyed her with celebratory looks in their eyes. Bugs Bunny stood proud beside them, amazed that one of his school's students had so eagerly accepted the honor of being present at a very important social event

After a brief break in her concentration, Mary cleared her throat and continued.

"As some of you may or may not know, the Looniverstiy will once again be closing its doors to its students for the all exclusive WB/Disney Banquet next Monday. It is a... very important day for the selected few that have been chosen to represent our dear Acme Loo and the city of Acme Acres. We hope all of them can come. Also, all you 'normal' students, have a great summer."

Mary then went on to report on usual school activities , such as the swim meet being delayed due to the Banquet, a theft from the Film Vault, and a reminder for someone to pick up their expensive jewelry from the Lost and Found.

"...And that's about it," quipped Mary. She then attempted a very subtle humorous jab. "As for two certain major names, I'd like you to know we will not take the matter of party crashers lightly this year ."

Mary waited in the doorway for her classmates to leave. Even doing the things she loved to do did nothing to set her mind at ease on exactly why she did what she did. Buster and Babs were the first choice, obviously, but the requirements where... very strict. And with the Disney Family, being normal (or sane or whatever you want to call it, except she hated that word because it sounded so... depressing) was the only way to fit in. She - no, both she and Bugs, needed to explain the entire thing to them without an explosive confrontation arising. But how?

She was so deep in thought about the entire thing that she did not notice a unsealed envelope with a greeting card inside being slipped into her tote bag. By the time she did notice, the person who put it there was out of sight.

She decided to check on the envelope's contents when she got home. She was way too swamped with after-school activates and her part-time job as a K-Acme Newswoman.

In fact, you could say she was stressed out and over-worked.

She never complained, for the sole reason that it was helping to maintain her image as a former TV star.

Mary applied some lemon-scented lip gloss to her noticeably chapped lips and then finally left the classroom, ready to face her afternoon.

An afternoon of dread.

In her bedroom, Mary looked at the greeting card anxiously on her bottom bunk bed. The card was hand-made, no doubt about it, and the handwriting inside was done in a childish scrawl, which meant only one bear could have sent it.

"So what's the deal, Cuz?" asked the inhabitant of the top bunk. Coming down the ladder was Mary's once long-lost cousin Sally. Despite conversing as pen pals for many years, Mary only really got to know her cousin when she arrived as a transfer student from the ever-so-secretive Yen Sid High. They were best buddies right then and there.

"Winnie The Pooh..." Sally read over Mary shoulder. "You interviewed him for your book, right?"

"Yes." Mary's anxiety did not go away. She wasn't really the one to talk about her unpublished work.

"Pooh Bear's life under the shadow of Disney is unfair," remised Sally. While Mary's hair was done up in a bland ponytail, her cousin had her hair done up in corkscrew curls reaching down to the bottom of her neck. Mary's trademark blue tank top and red-and-green striped pants did not contrast well with Sally's pastel blouse, leggings and miniskirt. "You can only go so far in the industry when you're just a living toy."

Sally was known to drone on about the subjects she cared about the most, so Mary decided, as rude as it was, to change the subject.

"So Sally, about the banquet happening next week...I..."

Sally just gave Mary her famous "You're on your own" stare. She knew. She got up to change into her scooter outfit while the thought lingered. Mary Melody? Out of the entire cast? The cheating one?

Mary roller skated across the beach side boardwalk. Mary had been meaning to talk to Buster and Babs, just to get it over with, but they were nowhere to be found. In fact, it was hard to say where Buster and Babs went after school in general. Many who thought the fame went to their heads believed that they were participating in many misguided attempts to get their fame back, or maybe participating in clubbing and other such activities.

Mary directed herself to one building in particular, She looked up and read the sign on the top of the door.

Acme Acres Employment Services

Make no mistake. If there was anyone who knew Buster and Babs well, it was the rest of the "stars".

And she had one particular "star" in mind.

Hi, Mary!" That "star" swung the door open right in to Mary's face. Unlike most toons, Mary's odd intolerance for pain made the average toon's bag of toon tricks look like an invitation for death. Mary cringed as her body form was turned from a 3d oval type into a 2d paper like square type. She yelped in pain.

Plucky rightfully faced palmed himself.

"Note to self, show's over. Has been for months. No need to impress the masses, only myself...and Mary

of course..."

Plucky's mind thought the things that Plucky's mind usually did as he went to help Mary revert to her

normal self.

And with his and most of his friends graduation on its way, his mind tended to wonder.

"No need to impress a crowd..." Plucky muttered to himself as he walked up to his Comedic Trios class.

Of course, by the way all the nondescript human and animal toons in the hallway where staring him down, he was still the butt of everyone's jokes. Perhaps they were trying to use him with another half-baked Get Rich Quick scheme.

Plucky cringed at the thought. It just reminded him of that fateful day when some of the classes on the class time tables where mixed up(by school computers with minds of their own, no less) and he was misplaced in Mary's Journalism class. By the time the problem was fixed a week later, he didn't want to leave.

The main reason was Mary. She had same opinions on Buster and Babs as he did, but she was a lot more bitter about it. Before a certain experience involving a paint roller joke most certainly caused by Babs in the Comedic Duos class, Plucky personally thought she had been transferred to the Loo by mistake, because it was mostly unheard of for students studying there to take the normal high school courses offered and not take at least one course on toon trickery.

In any case, Mary was the only non-devious person Plucky could talk to. As such, Plucky began to smarten up thanks to Mary. He kept his conversions with Buster, Babs and pretty much everyone else short and sweet, so no one would have any time to even think about trying to crack a joke regarding him.

In fact, he hardly saw the humor in anything any more

Unfortunately, all of that would be put to the test. As soon as Plucky entered the class room, Buster and Babs rushed up to greet him. Despite his best intentions, or perhaps because of them, the two bunnies where still waiting for Plucky fall for one of their new tricks, and probably bonk him on the head with an Acme Mallet afterwards.

"Hey, Plucky," Buster got right to the point. "You know we're all traveling together this summer, right?"

"Oh...really?" Plucky replied with a bit of confusion in his voice.

"Looks like you haven't heard the news," Buster snaked his head, and then pulled a pointer out from his hammerspace. "Let me explain."

Buster ran up to the front of the classroom. Plucky followed. The only other Tiny Toon in the class was Mary, who gave a nice wave that Plucky only barely acknowledged.

Mary was rightfully worried about Plucky. She couldn't imagine how this was the same mallard that was so excited to walk onto the set and start acting all those years ago. It felt wrong, but at the same time, it felt right.

As soon as the ball rang for lunch, everyone in the classroom expect one made a mad dash out into the hallway. Making sure that she was the only one there, Mary rummaged through her hammerspace and took out a pocket calendar.

"Plucky," she said to herself while skimming through some important dates on her calendar. "Have I ever told you how lucky you are to have a friend like me?"

She stopped on one particular date and grinned. With the "Stars" and a few of her bit player friends out of town starting tomorrow, maybe it was time to get going on the stuff she wanted to do instead of the things she was expected to do