The next day was Friday, the day before the homecoming dance. Knuckles was in the library, looking for a book during his study hall time, but wasn't having much luck. That's when another boy that he recognized walked up to him. It was Todd Becker, one of the guys who happened to be pretty cruel to him on a regular basis, and also happened to be a bit of a drug junky. He moaned in his throat and tried to avoid eye contact as he approached. He stopped right next to him and leaned on the book shelf right in front of him.

"Hey Knux! So I heard you're going out with Amy Rose now," he said, his voice appeared surprisingly calm, which made Knuckles suspicious.

"I just asked her to homecoming," he said firmly, looking back over at another bookshelf for a book.

"It's all cool bro, you don't need to get defensive," Todd replied. That struck Knuckles by surprised, and he gave Todd a look. "…I just wanted to give you something that'll help," Todd continued. Knuckles rolled his eyes, and waited as Todd reached into his sweatshirt pocket. From his pocket, Todd pulled a small joint of marijuana, and he placed it in Knuckles' hand. Immediately, Knuckles shoved it back into Todd's hands.

"Get that away from me!" he said angrily.

"Chill dude, it's just to help you loosen up," Todd replied, trying to hand it back to him. Knuckles shoved his hand away and turned to walk away. That's when Knuckles felt someone's hand in the back pocket of his pants. He froze and turned around, to see Todd turning and running. Knuckles reached into his pocket, and felt the marijuana joint in his hand.

"HEY!" he shouted, and he ran after Todd. "Todd, I said I didn't want it!" he exclaimed. "Take it back!" He chased Todd out into the middle of the library, and was about to catch him too.

"Hey, you!" the male librarian's voice called, stopping Knuckles dead in his tracks and allowing Todd to sneak away. "What do you have there?" the librarian asked as he approached Knuckles, looking at the joint in his hand.


"This is bogus! It's not mine; Todd Becker stuffed it in my pocket when I wasn't looking!" Knuckles exclaimed to the principal. The principal, Mr. Blake, readjusted in his seat and let out a long sigh.

"I don't know who to believe Knuckles," he said. "I've already talked to Todd. He doesn't have any drugs on him or in his system, and he swears you tried to give it to him," he said. Knuckles didn't know what to do or say that he hadn't already.

"Look, it's not mine, ok? I don't do drugs," he said quieter, before he got up to leave the office.

"If you leave, you'll be suspended," the principal calmly warned. Knuckles stopped and clenched his fists.

"Get my brother in here," he said through clenched teeth.

Sonic walked into the principal's office, and the moment he saw Knuckles in there as well, he immediately panicked. He ran up to his brother.

"What happened? Did they beat you up again?" he asked him urgently. Knuckles looked away angrily and didn't reply.

"No Mr. Sonic, your brother has been caught illegally distributing marijuana," Principal Blake said.

"I already told you, I don't do drugs…" Knuckles muttered angrily, not looking at them. Sonic couldn't believe what he was hearing; his brother, a drug dealer… that couldn't possibly be right!

"B-But Principal Blake, I've been very close to him all my life, I'd know if he was a dealer," Sonic defended.

"Well Sonic, the evidence is right here," Principal Blake replied, gesturing to the bag with the joint of marijuana in it sitting on his desk.

"But sir, look at him! Does he look like a user to you?" Sonic asked, gesturing to Knuckles. The angry echidna looked down, to avoid eye contact, as the principal looked him over.

"Well, he does have some telltale signs. Bloodshot eyes and sores on the face," principal Blake pointed out. Sonic was furious now.

"You've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed. "He only looks like that because-,"

Principal Blake spoke while Sonic was shouting. "Like it or not, I-," he had to shout the next part, to be heard over Sonic's shouting. "That's it, until this matter is resolved, Knuckles you're suspended!" he yelled. Suddenly, the room grew silent again, and the principal took a calming breath. While Sonic just stood there and looked at Knuckles fearfully, Knuckles moaned and sunk in his seat, worried about what his parents would think.

"I'm sorry, I just don't know who to believe," Principal Blake continued. He turned to Knuckles. "Until we resolve this matter, you are not allowed to set foot on the school grounds," he said. "For your sake, I won't call the police… yet," he added. "I'll get your parents on the phone." Leaving the 2 boys alone, he got up and went over to look up Knuckles' home phone number.

Sonic got up and knelt down by Knuckles' chair, placing his hand s on his brother's shoulders.

"Please tell me… did you do it?" he asked him quietly.

"No, I already said, I don't do drugs," Knuckles replied. "That rat Todd Becker snuck it in my pocket!" Sonic growled and clenched a fist in anger.

"I always hated that guy! I'm going to kill that sonnova-,"

"SONIC!" Knuckles interrupted, "Don't, you're just going to get yourself in trouble!"

"Hello? Yes, is this Mrs. Prower?" Principal Blake asked into the receiver.

Knuckles could feel his stomach clench. "What am I going to do?" he murmured.

"Knuckles, I'm sure if you just explain the true story to mom and dad, they won't be too mad. They'd understand," Sonic assured.

"I know, but… what about Amy, and homecoming?" Knuckles asked. "If I can't set foot on the school's grounds, how am I going to take her to the dance? Maybe I should call and cancel," he asked.

"No way!" Sonic said firmly, standing back up. "You're talking like a quitter! You never back down from a fight!" Sonic helped Knuckles up and out of his seat. "You're taking her to that dance, and you're going to have the time of your life!" Sonic prompted.

"But what about Principal Blake?" Knuckles whispered, looking at the principal as he talked on the phone.

"Don't worry about him! I'll take care of that," Sonic said, smiling at his brother.

Principal Blake walked back over to them.

"Your parents are on their way over to take you home," he told Knuckles. Then he turned to Sonic. "And YOU may go back to class," he said to Sonic. Sonic hugged his brother goodbye and headed out, planning how he was going to make this work.


Sonic saw Amy in the hall and caught up to her, calling her name. He caught up with her, but she turned her nose up at him.

"Go away, I already said I don't want to go with you!" she said.

"What? No no, that's not what I want to talk to you about!" Sonic said, remembering that he blindly asked her out.

"Then what is it?" Amy asked impatiently.

"It's about Knuckles," Sonic said. Now Amy was interested in what he had to say. She could sense a bit of nervousness in his voice.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Ok… how do I put this delicately…" Sonic started, "Some kid snuck a marijuana joint in his pocket, and now he's suspended," Sonic told her. Amy looked like she was about to explode.

"What? Who?" she cried.

"One of the jerks who've been bullying him," Sonic replied.

"So you know about that, huh?" she asked him, rocking awkwardly on her feet.

"He told me last night," Sonic replied, quieter. Amy smiled slightly, happy that Knuckles had finally told him.

"…But anyways!" Sonic continued, "He isn't allowed to step foot anywhere near the school."

"Then what about homecoming?" Amy asked.

"I've got a plan for that… kinda," Sonic replied. "Knuckles is going to get into the dance with my school ID card, so the man at the entrance can let him in. Then you two can just avoid teachers or the principal. Try to keep it low profile; there's going to be so many people there that if you do, you'll never be noticed," Sonic said.

"That's genius!" Amy replied, smiling. But then she lost her smile. "But wait, Knuckles looks nothing like you. How's he going to pass off as you, when there's a picture on your ID?" she asked him.

"That… I haven't figured out yet…" Sonic admitted, and put a finger to his chin. "I'm going to have to work on that…"

Amy smiled at Sonic. "I'm sorry I've been so snappy to you… you're a really great brother to Knuckles, you know. You're very sweet," she said, and she leaned upward and kissed him gently on the cheek, just a small, gratifying peck. Sonic felt like he was going to melt, as he smiled and blushed.

"I'll stop by your house later after school so we can get all this planned out," Amy said, and she turned and walked off to her next class. Sonic touched his cheek, still smiling and blushing, as the bell rang and kids rushed around him. But then he shook his head and walked forward.

"Pull it together Sonic, remember, this is Knuckles' big day," he reminded himself.


Another short chapter... Ug, I don't know how else to take this, so I'm going to have to get right to it... :P

I'm so swamped; I have, like, 5 unfinished stories that I have ideas for. I need a break...