Not much to say this time, except I hope you enjoy this next chapter :)
Disclaimer: I only own Errol and Ashley (so far). All other Rugrats/AGU characters belong to KlaskyCsupo.
4th period gym proved to be rather dull for Errol. It mostly consisted of the vice principal having them run laps around the gym for most of the time. Only when dodgeball became a factor in the class did Errol's interest go up a bit. For some reason, he could naturally avoid anything being thrown in his direction. Too bad he couldn't throw as well. It pretty much consisted of him throwing the ball to try and hit them, but they would catch it instead. Even after being warned by his teammates to stick with catching and dodging rather than throwing, he would keep trying. It cost them the game, which one particular team member felt like ragging on him for in the locker room.
"Way to go, butterfingers," said the scruffy guy, "Couldn't even win a dodgeball game?"
"Eh, gimme a break," replied Errol, "It's only a game."
"Only a game?" asked the scruffy guy, getting in Errol's face, "Out there, there are no games! You gotta be in it to win it."
"Get your damn face out of mine," replied Errol, "I don't like the sight of you."
"I'll put my face wherever I damn well please!" the scruffy guy replied.
"Back off," said Errol, getting angrier by the minute.
"See, I'll put it in your face as I please," said the scruffy guy, "And down here, too! I'll just put myself underneath you, or above you, or wherever I please."
"I said BACK OFF!"
When Errol snapped, something caused the scruffy guy to go flying backwards into the lockers. It was almost as if he had been hit by a car and abruptly stopped by the lockers. Others came to see what happened. The scruffy guy that had always been down everyone's necks about the game had just been thrown back by Errol.
"Damn," said Sean, "I don't think anyone's ever been able to do that, let alone had the balls to."
"You're something else, you know that?" said Daryl with a genuine grin.
"What can I say?" asked Errol, "He was way too near me."
As Errol walked off with everyone else to hit the showers, the scruffy guy stood back up and cracked his back, eyeing Errol and wondering how he had just done what he had just done. There was only one explanation in his mind.
"He's the one," he said to himself.
Errol moved over to a table by himself when it came time for lunch. For one thing, since it was his very first day, he had brought his own lunch in the typical brown bag school children use (meaning he got a good seat since most others were in line for cafeteria food). Secondly, his personality was that of a loner...even if people wanted to be his friend, he had a habit of shutting others out. He didn't know why he lived like that, it was just something he had lived with since…
I want to say since I was a young boy, Errol thought to himself, but even if that wasn't too long ago…for some reason, those years are a blur for me…
His personal reflections were interrupted when he heard laughter on the other half of the table. Two of them he recognized as the purple-haired boy and messy guy from the Vice Principal's office, but there were other faces…a girl who greatly resembled the messy guy, almost as if they were twins, as well as a Japanese girl with pigtails, a red-haired boy with glasses and braces, and another redhead wearing a Sherpa hat (and for the most unusual reason, staring at his mashed potatoes as if he were looking for something inside it).
"You have a big mouth, you know that, Phil?" Tommy asked.
"I knew you were dumb, but damn, that was dumb," said Lil, poking fun at her twin brother.
"Oh, like you wouldn't crack under pressure," said Phil.
"Coming from the guy who panicked about sneaking out of school to get a soccer player's autograph?" asked Kimi, "Yeah, sure."
"Quiet in the peanut gallery!" exclaimed Phil, throwing a tater tot at Kimi's head.
For some reason, Errol was disgusted by this sort of behavior; their happiness, their worry-free demeanors, their "hakuna matata", so to speak. He looked back down at his lunch when he noticed the Japanese girl was looking over at him.
"You know you don't have to sit by yourself," Kimi said to him.
"That's fine," Errol replied, turning in her direction but not looking her in the eye, "I'm rather busy."
"Chillax, dude," said Tommy, "Scoot over here!"
Errol felt complied to do so, which he did, but still did not make direct eye contact. He would really have preferred not to talk to them, but again, felt complied to do so when Tommy started asking him questions.
"So where are you from?" Tommy asked.
"I'm a native," Errol replied.
"Really?" asked Tommy, "We're natives too, but we've never seen you around even outside of school."
"Well how 'bout that," muttered Errol.
"You live in the woods or something?" asked Phil.
"Philip!" Lil exclaimed.
"What? I'm just curious why we've never seen him around, Lillian!" Phil retorted.
"In answer to your question," said Errol, this time looking towards the twins, "I actually live above the Biochemistry lab just outside of town."
"All the way out there?" asked Tommy, "I thought that was only for people who worked there."
"My old man worked there," replied Errol.
"What do they even do over there?" asked Lil.
"Duh," said Dil, "They try to contact our alien brethren!"
This time, Errol could not hold back a smirk, though was not even close to a chuckle.
"You're thinking of something else entirely, Mr. Sherpa-Hat," said Errol, "Biochemistry involves genetic engineering."
Before Errol could explain further, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned around to see the large, muscular vice principal who had told him how to get to his first class.
"This may be a bit inconvenient," said Mr. Pangborn, "but may I see you in my office for a moment?"
"Come on, girl, spill it," said Susie, "Who's the guy?"
Susie, Savannah, and Brianna had been walking down the halls trying to pry out as much information about Angelica's new guy crush as possible. Now that Brianna was officially dating Daryl, it seemed Angelica learned to leave him alone. Now they were curious about the poor soul that captured Angelica's affection this time.
"It has to be someone rich," said Savannah, "Angelica only goes for guys for their money."
"That's so not true," Angelica retorted, "And it's not like you girls don't do that either."
"Hey, don't look at me when you say that," said Susie, "I'm not even looking at the moment!"
"And Daryl isn't rich," said Brianna, "Well-off, yes, but not rich."
Errol and Mr. Pangborn passed by the four girls, both of whom were ignoring their presence with stern expressions on their faces.
"It's Errol, isn't it?" asked Savannah, "You're crushing on the new guy!"
"Puh-leeze," said Brianna, "Angelica was crushing before Errol turned up."
"Trust me," said Angelica, "You'd all just die of shock if I told you."
"Chuckie?" Susie asked again.
"I said die of shock, not of disgust," replied Angelica.
Following Mr. Pangborn to his office, Errol sat down in the chair in front of Mr. Pangborn's desk.
"Errol," said Pangborn, "Your math teacher, Mr. Marsh, informed me of your unusually brilliant work. Now, I have to ask…"
"Why someone as young as myself is far more advanced and, to put it frankly, more cultured than the average bear?" Errol finished the question for Mr. Pangborn.
"Well, yeah, in a nutshell," Mr. Pangborn said.
"I suppose that's just another benefit of living in a laboratory," said Errol.
"Yeah, that's something else I wanted to ask about," said Mr. Pangborn, pulling out a few papers with Errol's information on it, "Under your local residence, it says 'Gemini Biochemistry Laboratories'. Is that honestly where you live?"
"There are rooms above the main laboratory for comfort and relaxation," replied Errol, "There are a few others who live there as well."
"And under 'legal guardian(s)', it has 'Gemini Biochemistry Laboratories Staff and Personnel'," Mr. Pangborn continued to say, "Isn't there any one person in particular who has custody of you?"
"They all do," replied Errol, "Since they work with the U.S Government, they are all considered my legal guardians."
"But whatever happened to your parents? Or any family members nearby?" asked Pangborn.
"Hard to say," replied Errol, looking away from the vice principal, "I never knew my parents, and they had no living relatives."
The room was silent for a few brief seconds before Pangborn placed the papers down.
"Sorry," he said, "That was unprofessional of me. It's just those of us in the public education system have had some bad blood with the Biochemist types. Especially Gemini Labs. We've heard some…controversial news about them in the past."
"Such as?"
"Well, stem cell research, genetic cloning…a lot of things most families here can only imagine seeing on television," replied Mr. Pangborn.
"Seems like the press has been busy over the years," said Errol, "There's a lot they have yet to cover."
"Such as?"
"I'll let my 'legal guardians' decide how much the public is allowed to know," replied Errol, standing up, "Like I said, they occasionally work with the government, so they have certain limits on what they can release in public statements."
"I understand," said Pangborn, "I guess that's all I wanted to get off my chest for now."
For the oddest of reasons, Errol was nervous. He had never quite been used to going out in public. Being caved up in a lab had its benefits, but social interaction with other people his age was not one of them. And those questions Mr. Pangborn was asking him got him wondering…why is everyone so damn curious about me? Brushing it aside for now, he stepped on the bus to make his way home.