Well, let's get on with it, shall we?

Disclaimer: Fangface is owned by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, not me. (darn it)

Chapter Three

Crushing Friendship

Year: 1974... Still no high-tech music devices and gaming systems.

Biff walked down the school hallway to his 6th grade class, passing by a group of girls who stopped and stared at him, smiling and giggling. He turned to them and nodded his head upward in greeting, causing them to blush and sigh dreamily. A couple other boys walked by, high-fiving Biff as they passed him. He was always the most popular kid in his class- girls all liked him, boys always respected him…

But popularity didn't always make him happy. He was surrounded by people who only liked him for his looks and because he was good at sports, and some of the kids only wanted to hang out with him because they wanted to be popular as well. It was all peer pressure for Biff, feeling that he had to impress everyone- nice hairstyle, cool clothes, no zits, good athletic skills- to have someone to hang out with him. Deep inside, he felt alone…

…Until they got a new kid- a new girl, to be exact. "Class, I'd like to introduce a new student to our school." The teacher said, standing next to the new girl. "This is Kim."

Biff's jaw practically dropped when he looked at the new girl, Kim. She had lightly dark skin, long black hair that was tied up in a pony-tail, and she wore a blue T-shirt and jean shorts. To Biff, she was beautiful.

But to the rest of the class, she was fresh meat. It was a tradition in their class to pick on the new kid, having been started by a group of bullies, who 'persuaded' the others to join in, expanding opportunities to prank them with no suspicion. The whole class got into it, except for Biff- especially since he was the last new kid they've gotten in three years, and the bullies decided not to mess with him, in hopes of becoming popular.

"Take a seat anywhere you'd like, Kim." The teacher said. The girl, Kim, walked down the middle aisle and sat in the empty seat… Next to Biff.

Oh, my gosh, she's actually sitting next to me! Biff thought joyfully, though he didn't smile (but he sure was sweating). He looked at Kim, watching her take out her notebook and pencil. She's so beautiful…

The bell rang for recess, and the kids ran out to the playground. Kim walked over to the swings, but some of the kids rushed over and took each one before she could sit. She decided to go to the slide, but every time the line moved up, another kid would cut in front of her. She then decided she could go play volleyball with some of the other girls (it was her favorite sport, after all), but they wouldn't let her. "We've already got even teams," one of them said, shrugging. Biff knew what was happening: they were giving her a lockout.

Kim turned around and walked over to a bench and sitting down, sadly. Don't they like me? She wondered, watching all the kids play. She began to wince, a couple tears slipping out.

And Biff couldn't stand to see her shed tears. He looked back at the other kids and sneered. Jerks. He thought, though he had more nastier names come to mind, but he pushed them aside and walked over to the crying Kim. "Hey," he said.

Kim looked up at the brown-haired boy, her eyes filled with tears still. "H-h-hi." she said, nervously.

Biff's mind suddenly went blank. What was he going to say? He then said the 'smartest' thing to Kim, "I like your pony-tail." …Idiot!

"Thanks," Kim calmed down a bit, wiping away a tear. "But you don't have to be nice to me if you don't want to."

"Of course I do!" Biff found the courage to speak. "You seem like a nice girl, and nice girls deserve nice attention. Kim, right?"

Kim nodded. "Thank you… um, what's your name?"

"B-Biff, my name's Biff," Biff stuck his hand out, his palm sweaty. He blushed so red it would make a tomato look pale. Kim took his hand and shook it, and his heart began to race.

"Um… Biff?" Kim looked around nervously, letting go of his hand. He looked around, noticing the whole playground went silent and all the kids were staring at them in disbelief (and jealousy from the girls).

"Uh, Biff?" A blonde-haired boy asked. "What are you doing?"

"Yeah, Biff! What's the deal?" A boy with red hair and freckles sneered. He was one of the bullies, and the toughest one. He walked up to Biff and whispered. "Don't you know our little 'tradition' for new kids, or do me and the boys have to pound some sense into you?"

"Yeah, come play with us!" A brunette girl said.

Biff looked at Kim, who looked as if she were about to cry again. "Only if Kim plays, too."

Kim's eyes went wide. This boy, surrounded by his peers, actually wanted her to play with him? I think my heart is going to burst! she thought, smiling. But her smile faded when she saw the dirty looks the girls were giving her, full of jealousy.

"Um… never mind." The brunette girl said, walking away after giving Kim one last glare. A group of girls followed her, and the rest of the crowd began to disperse.

Now Biff was mad. "Stupid sons of a-" he muttered angrily, then turned to Kim. "Don't mind them. They're just idiots."

"They don't like me," Kim sighed, staring down at her sneakers.

Biff put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't let it get you down. They do this to all the new kids." Kim looked up at him, her eyes glittering with tears. "But they'll stop soon, and you'll be like the rest of us. C'mon, we can go play Tetherball."

Kim smiled. "Okay." The two of them walked over and began to punch the tetherball back and forth. Time flew by and the end-of-recess bell rang.

Filing into the classroom, all the kids sat down, whispering about Biff and Kim while glaring daggers at them. So let them whisper. Kim thought. She didn't care- she had a friend to back her up now.

But her joy increased at the sudden news. "Believe it or not, class. We have another new student!" The teacher exclaimed. "Two, to be exact!"

And in walked a dark-skinned boy with a black afro (which was all the rage back then) and an Asian girl with long jet-black hair. Every mouth in the classroom dropped, except for Biff and Kim's. "Care to introduce yourselves, children?" The teacher asked the new students.

"I'm Harold Hal," The boy with the afro said. "But you can call me 'Hal.' I'm from New Jersey,"

"And I'm Su Chang." The girl said, shyly. "I'm from China Town, in New York City."

"Wow, two more kids to mess around with," The freckled bully whispered to his classmate behind him. "The saps just keep on coming!"

Hal approached the boy, then picked him up by the shirt. "Care to repeat that comment?" he asked, fiercely.

"Uh-uh… I-I didn't say anything!" The bully trembled. Hal dropped him back into his seat.

"That's what I thought."

"Alright, class, I couldn't help but notice that you haven't been giving our kids a very warm welcome," The teacher said, sternly. "Which is why you'll each have a 2 page book report due Friday."

The class groaned, and some of the other bullies started hitting the freckled kid with their caps while the other girls blamed one another for their punishment.

At lunch later, Biff sat with Kim, Su, and Hal at their own table. I feel so isolated. Kim thought, looking over at the rest of the lunch tables that were crowded.

"Don't feel bad," Hal said to her. "I've been through this before. They'll get over it."

"Hopefully," Su said, quietly poking at her food with her fork. She reached over for her drink, knocking her spoon off the table. "Oops."

"I'll get it." Hal bent down to retrieve Su's spoon. Having a hard time finding it, he lifted up the table- literately, lifted it up, holding it with one hand and grabbing the spoon with the other. "Got it!" He set the table back down, careful not to set it in the other's laps. He turned to Su to hand her the spoon, only to see that she was gaping at him, along with Kim and Biff.

…And the rest of the cafeteria. "Whoa, dude!" A boy exclaimed, running over to Hal. "How did you do that?"

"Yeah, man! That was awesome!" Another boy cried.

"Um… Yeah, I forgot I had super-strength." Hal said, sheepishly.

"Well, why didn't you say so, before?"

"Possibly, because none of you gave him a chance." Biff said, snapping out of his shock. "You guys decided to go along with the bullies' dumb 'tradition' than getting to know them."

The kids in the cafeteria crowded around Hal, asking him all sorts of questions- how much he could lift, how he got so strong, and if he had the ability to break through stone walls. I guess I'm not the most popular guy around, anymore. Biff thought, happily.

The experience with Hal- or Hal 'Hercules', what some of the kids would call him- made everyone treat him (along with Su and Kim) with more respect- namely because they wanted to know more about them now (mostly Hal), and namely because the bullies decided to end their games before they got pile-drived by Hal (which would hurt. A lot.)

The girls let Kim play volleyball, after learning how good she was at it (her team was undefeated in each game), and Su told everyone about how her father owned a shop back in China Town (and that her parents were divorced, and she and her mother moved into town), and that she wanted to learn to fly a plane and perform in the New York Air Show.

But the greatest advantage was that Biff now had friends who didn't like him for his looks or sport skills, but for who he was, and he liked them the same way.

4 years later… iPods still don't exist.

From what Biff and Kim knew, Su had decided to move back to New York to live with her dad for a while, and Hal decided to join the circus in his old hometown. They missed their two friends dearly.

"I wonder how they're doing." Biff wondered aloud as he and Kim sat outside one clear, summer's evening. "Hal and Su, I mean."

"I got a letter from Hal," Kim said. "He's a huge star. And Su got her license to fly, and she's going to try out for the next air show,"

"They're gonna be really famous." Biff sighed. "I can't believe summer will be over, soon."

"Yeah," Kim's voice was sad, and her eyes showed proof that she was upset.

Biff noticed. "Are you okay? You've been kind of depressed all week. Is something wrong."

Kim sighed. "I… have to tell you something. I'm leaving town next week."

Biff's jaw dropped. "What?"

"I'm going away to visit a State University… and I'll be gone for a while."

"Oh… well, I hope you'll get accepted." he tried to sound upbeat, but sorrow hung on his voice. "I mean, you're pretty smart."

"Thanks," Kim smiled, but sadness remained in her eyes. "I wish you could come with me. It wouldn't be any fun without you,"

"Hey, don't worry about me. You've got a future to chase. And we'll meet again. Don't worry."

"Hopefully it'll be on campus." Then Kim did the unexpected: she leaned over and kissed Biff gently on the cheek. "I'll miss you, you know." Then she stood up and walked back to her car and drove home.

Biff touched his cheek, feeling a tingle on his skin. She… kissed me. he thought, a smile spreading on his face. His friend- the girl he had a crush on- kissed him.

And she was leaving in a week.

One week later…

The sun shined through Biff's bedroom window, having him wake with a jolt. "Oh, no! I overslept!" He cried, then jumped out of bed, hastily pulling on his shoes and a jacket, rushing out the front door and climbing into his car, driving like a maniac to the train station.

He parked out front in an illegal zone, not caring how many tickets he would get. He had to catch the train! He had to catch Kim! He pushed through crowds of people, bolting through the checkpoint. The security guards yelled at him, but he ignored them, focusing on catching up to his friend before-

It was too late. Kim's train was already rolling down the tracks. Biff ran up, yelling for it to stop, but his voice couldn't be heard over the train whistle. He rushed toward it, then tripped on the wooden platform. No… he thought, standing up in a haste, watching the train roll away.

Kim sat in her seat, looking at a newspaper. For no reason at all, she looked out the window at the depot the train was leaving behind. That's when she saw Biff, gazing at her from afar in sadness.

She turned away, and began to cry.

A/N: Man, this story's getting dramatic! Hopefully, the later chapters will be better. Also, Su and Hal are from the episodes The Invisible Menace Mix-Up and The Cuckoo Carnival Calamity. R/R, but please no flames.