"DARWIN, WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING?! WHY DID YOU SAY TINA WAS FAT?!"

"I DIDN'T SAY SHE WAS FAT! I TOLD HER TO MOVE OVER BECAUSE SHE WAS CRUSHING ME AGAINST THE WALL! SHE JUST UNDERSTOOD THAT AS BEING CALLED 'FAT'!"

"STILL, YOU COULD HAVE SAID THAT IN A BETTER WAY! AND YOU COULD'VE LET ME OUT OF IT!"

The cat and the fish ran for their lives as the T-Rex chased them throughout the hallways of Elmore Junior High, panting furiously and growling loudly. They saw their salvation coming up in front of them as they were reaching the building's main entrance.

"Oh, finally!" Gumball was running out of strength to run. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

"We can't leave school! We still have our afternoon classes!" Darwin reminded is feline friend.

"WOULD YOU RATHER STAY AND FACE THAT?!" Gumball pointed at Tina, who let out another vicious growl.

The two boys picked up the pace and ran out the door, the dinosaur still on their tail. They were considerably ahead of her, but she wouldn't quit, so as they reached the end of the street they tried to ditch her by making a right into another street. They started laughing nervously.

"I… I think… I think we've lost her…" Gumball said, trying to catch his breath. They were looking back to confirm said fact, unknowingly running into the middle of the road. When they looked in front of them again all they saw was the front of a dark-blue Vespa scooter. They screamed and braced themselves for impact, but the driver was able to stop right on time.

"Hey, you boys should be more careful! You can't just go running around willy-nilly like that!"

They looked up to see that the driver was a female ring-tailed lemur. She had light-grey fur covering most of her body, except her hands, which were dark-grey, the area around her eyes, were her fur was black, giving her the appearance of being wearing a mask, and her tail, which was white with black stripes. Her eyes were yellow with black pupils, and she had white wavy hair with black streaks, resembling her tail. She wore a plain yellow t-shirt with a modest cleavage, which showed that her chest was white, jeans, black and white sneakers, and a helmet with the same color as her scooter. She appeared to be in her 20's.

And she didn't look too pleased for almost running over two kids.

"Lady, you gotta help us!" Gumball begged the complete stranger. "There's a T-Rex chasing us!" the lemur's eyes widened.

Meanwhile Tina had just reached the turn where she had seen her prey disappear, but when she made it all she saw was a young female lemur wiping some oil off the side of her Vespa.

"Have you seen a cat and a fish run by?" she asked the stranger, approaching her in fury. The lemur got up and poked her chin in thought.

"Oh yeah, as a matter of fact I did!" she declared, making Tina smile viciously, and pointed behind her. "They went that way."

"Thanks." Tina ran off in search of the two youngsters. The lemur lifted the Vespa's seat, which was also the trunk.

"It's safe. You can come out now." she told Gumball and Darwin, who had squeezed themselves into the small compartment to hide from their predator. They squeezed out and gasped for air.

"Thanks, lady…" Gumball panted.

"No prob." she smiled at the two as they jumped off her Vespa.

"Is there anything we can do to thank you?" asked Darwin, sweetly.

"Actually there is." she said as she lowered her seat and hopped onto her vehicle. "You wouldn't happen to know where Elmore Junior High is, would you?"

"We were just gonna head back there." replied Gumball.

"Well then, hop in and I'll take you there." She patted the empty portion of the seat behind her.

"We're not supposed to accept lifts from strangers." Explained Darwin.

"But I'm not a stranger! I'm the chick who saved your life!" she giggled. The two boys smiled and hopped onto the lemur's Vespa. They held onto the seat as she zoomed through the streets. "Name's Leela, by the way. Leela Winters."

"I'm Gumball and this is Darwin." Gumball pointed at himself and his brother.

"We're the Wattersons!" Darwin stated, joyfully. Leela giggled again. She pulled over as they spotted the school. "We've never seen you around before. Are you new?" he asked, as he and Gumball jumped off of the seat.

"I go to Elmore Community College." She explained as she removed her helmet, revealing that her hair was parted to the right and that she had light-grey ears with furry white tips. "I used to live in a dorm but a few months ago I finally earned enough to rent an apartment."

"Oh. Well then, seeya!" said Gumball, as the two boys started walking towards the building.

"Wait!" Leela cried out, making them stop in their tracks and turn back around. She scratched the back of her head. "I need one more favor…"

"Sure!" Darwin grinned. She walked up to them.

"I need your help to find someone. Do you know a Mr. Steve Small?"

"Mr. Small's first name is 'Steve'?" Gumball asked Darwin, who shrugged. He turned back to the lemur. "Yeah, we know him. He's the school's guidance counselor."

"Oh good, could you take me to him?"

Gumball nodded and gestured so she would follow her. They walked up the stairs and entered the school. Leela looked around, absorbing all the scents and colors.

"So, why do need to see Mr. Small, again?" Gumball asked Leela.

"Curious little chap, aren't you?" she lifted an eyebrow at him, making him shrug and smile innocently. "I'm in my senior year and I applied for an internship here, with Mr. Small as my 'boss'." She made air quotes around the word 'boss'. Finally they reached a door in the middle of the hallway.

"Here it is." Gumball gestured towards the door. "We gotta get to class now."

"OK. Thanks guys, I'll see you around!" she thanked them with a smile.

"Bye, Leela!" Darwin waved. They continued down the hallway as Leela faced the door and took a deep breath.

Meanwhile inside, Mr. Small was about to take a sip from his mug, inhaling the sweet scent of his special herbal infusion. He sighed deeply in pleasure.

"Finally…" he took the mug up to his lips, but before he could have a drink he heard a knock at his door. He frowned, settled his mug down on his desk, took a deep breath to calm himself and tried to smile convincingly. "Come in." The door opened and Leela entered slowly.

"Mr. Steve Small?" she asked nervously.

"Yes?"

"My name is Leela Winters. I contacted you earlier this month? You accepted me as your intern?"

"Oh yes, that's right! Please sit down." He gestured towards the chairs in front of his desk, one of which Leela sat down on. "I'm sorry, I was expecting you, but I got a little distracted." He smiled, embarrassed. He retrieved some papers from the inside of his desk and gave them a look. "I see you're majoring in Child Psychology."

"That's right."

"Mh-hm… May I ask why you chose that area?"

"Well, ever since I was a kid I've always been fascinated by psychology, and I've always been told that I'm great at reading people…" he nodded as she explained herself. "And I've always loved children. Even as an adult I got along better with kids than adults. So when the time came to choose what I wanted to major in, I just put both together and chose Child Psychology."

"Interesting…" he smiled, obviously interested by her story. "Well I majored in Child Psychology and I don't regret it one bit." She returned the smile. He looked over at his papers again. "And I see you're from Vancouver… What made you apply to college so far away from home?"

"Elmore Community College has a great psychology program. As much as I miss my homeland, I'm glad I followed my dreams." He nodded in agreement.

"Bold move… I respect that." That made her smile. "Well, everything seems in order. Your grades are excellent, you have the right amount of credits… There's just one thing I need to understand. According to your birthdate you're now…" he looked up at her. "…twenty-five?"

"Yes…" she knew what he was going to ask next.

"My question is: shouldn't you have finished college about…" he thought for a minute. "…four years ago?" Leela's expression turned serious. She sighed and stared at her hands on her lap.

"When I graduated high school there was a series of circumstances that didn't allow me to pursue my studies, and I had to stay inactive for four years…" she looked up. He looked concerned, so she smiled to reassure him. "But I'm all better now, so no need to worry."

"Good, that's good to hear." His smile returned and stored his papers back in his drawer. "That's all for now. You can start tomorrow, Leela." They both got up and Leela shook Mr. Small's hand.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Small." She thanked him heartily as they both moved towards the door.

"My pleasure. And please, call me Steve."

He opened the door for her and they both said their goodbyes. After she left he unknowingly observed her walk away, with a wide smile that he just couldn't wash off his face.


AUTHOR'S NOTE (PLEASE READ)

I described Leela as best as I could, but if you have trouble imagining her just check the picture on the top left corner of the page.

And she is mine. NO STEELIEZ! xD