CHAPTER TWO

Anais and Darwin stood at the bus stop, looking back at their house a few lots down the road.

"I wonder what it's gonna be like without Gumball here today," Anais said with concern for her older brother. "He never misses school without us. I hope he'll be alright."

"So do I," said Darwin. "Dad really needs some cooking lessons."

"Darwin," said Anais sternly. "Don't be rude." Darwin pouted.

"You know I'm not wrong," he muttered, but she heard him and glared. He glared back. As they had their staring contest, Anais thought about it, and her features softened.

"Ah, who am I kidding? He does."

Darwin smiled, nodding in agreement. He soon noticed the bulge in Anais' backpack. It was probably some project in her EG (exceptionally gifted) class. If it was, though, she could have held it in her hands. It wasn't like it was a toy, like when she brought her Daisy the Donkey doll on the bus and Tobias Wilson swiped it from her.

Soon, the bus pulled up in front of them, and they climbed aboard. In Anais' case, it was quite literal. She was so short, she had to climb the steps like they were a mountain. Darwin carried her up the last step, though.

"Good morning, little dudes," said Rocky, the bus driver. Darwin and Anais waved smiling as they passed him. When they sat in one of the seats in the middle four rows on the right side (from a rider's perspective), Darwin sat on the inside and stared out the window, anxious about the day.

Anais was more able to hide her emotions. She didn't see Gumball on a regular school day as much as Darwin did, but knowing the fact that he wouldn't be there troubled her some. She decided to put it out of her mind.

Anais unzipped her bag and pulled out what was causing such a bulge. Darwin turned his head to see. It was a metallic blue box with golden stars embedded in its faces. The top side of it was red, and on the right side was a bent reflective arm with a red knob. All his thoughts about what the day could bring escaped him.

"Anais, is that your Jack-in-the-box?" asked Darwin.

"Yep," she said. "I'm bringing it for show-and-tell."

"What's show-and-tell?"

"Ah, Darwin. If only you'd been with us when Gumball was my age. Show-and-tell is an activity where you bring some object in for class, and you tell stuff about it to the class."

"Why don't I have show-and-tell?"

"By your grade, it's become obsolete. You should be smart enough not to need it."

"Oh." Another thought occurred to him. "Wait. You're smarter than me. Why are you doing it?"

"Because my classmates and I are young. It gives us the chance to act our ages."

"So you get to act like Gumball?"

"Yep." The two shared a laugh, thinking nothing about it being behind Gumball's back. They would do the same if he was with them.

"You should probably put that away, though," said Darwin, abruptly cutting off laughter from the two of them. "You know what happens when you bring a toy out on the bus."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that," responded Anais, sure of herself. "Remember, I'm a doll."

"Huh?" Darwin asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"You'll see. He'd better not do something stupid. Plus, it makes by bookbag a little heavy." She lifted it to show how it had lightened without the extra item.

"Oh."

Anais and Darwin continued their bus ride in silence. Anais looked down and placed her hand on the arm, but she didn't wind it. Darwin noticed this and sensed her desire. She wanted to use it, to get in touch with her childish side.

She hardly ever played with the Jack-in-the-box she had gotten for her third birthday since she spent most of her time working on seventh grade level work. Since her class was that level, everyone received that workload. To call the work hard would make Anais laugh. There was just a lot of it. It took time to do.

Her hand started to move, and music began to play slowly for three seconds before she stopped, her lips curling upward with fondness.

"Play it," said Darwin, smiling at her. "You know you want to."

Anais smiled back and began winding the arm more rapidly. The music played again in time with the arm, and it reached its climax when the Jack popped out. Darwin patted her head affectionately as the bus stopped.

"I'll take that Jack off your hands," sneered Tobias from the seat behind them as he stood up, grabbed the toy by the Jack, yanked, and snatched the box from Anais' grip. With his other hand, he grabbed the bouncing box.

"Hey! Give that back!" shouted Anais. She jumped at it, but Tobias lifted it out of her reach, still holding it by the Jack. He smiled maliciously at her.

"I don't know how you got in advanced classes. You're too stupid to remember what happens when you bring a toy out on the bus," he taunted. Anais' brows thickened, and lines formed on her forehead. Her front tooth stuck out of her mouth. She clenched her fists. Darwin looked and instantly remembered. He picked her up and held her in front of Tobias.

"Aw. Is the wittle baby mad?" asked Tobias in baby talk. "Does baby wanna wattle to fwaiw?"

"You asked for it, Tobias," Darwin said plainly. Anais' hand became rigid, her arm perfectly aligned with her palm. She swept it up in the air and brought it down on Tobias's face. She did it over and over.

"Aah! Hey! Stop it!" Tobias shouted, trying to shield his face, but it was no use. He had awoken Anais' inner demon. Until she was appeased, 'stop' was unfamiliar to that blur of an arm.

"Give her back the Jack-in-the-box," ordered Darwin. "She can do this all day."

"No! Aah!" he refused while still under fire. Anais was small, but she was tough, an inherited trait from her mother. Tobias's lack of physical strength didn't hurt, either. It did, but not her. Her chops were bruising his face and the hand he used to feebly attempt to shield his face.

"Darwin, Anais, Tobias," called Rocky. They all turned to him. Anais's hand stopped in midair. Glancing at Tobias, she saw the opportunity, leaned over, and grabbed the Jack-in-the-box from him. She then gloatingly grinned.

"I'm gonna have to ask you guys to sit down. You know the rule about standing on the bus when its moving."

They sat down. Tobias tenderly rubbed his sore skin as the bus started moving again.

"Hey, Tobias," said Darwin, smiling smugly as he stood in his seat and faced behind himself, propping a similarly smiling Anais up with his fin. Tobias glared up at them.

"That's what happens when you mess with…The Anai-hilator!"

Anais crossed her arms, stuck out her tongue, and blew at him. Tobias closed his eyes as her spit, which he wiped off, landed on his face. As Darwin and Anais sat back down, Anais put her Jack-in-the-box back into her bookbag. They all got to the school without speaking again.

As they got off, Tobias shot them a scowl as he followed. A lone student was in the front seat, and he watched as the two Wattersons exited. He put most of his attention, though, on Tobias, staring at him as he left the bus and walked up the steps to the school. His eyelid lowered some, showing a little disapproval.

Once Tobias was inside, the student flew out the window and entered himself.