Hope this is a good chapter. I was kinda stuck on how to do it for a while. Anyway, enjoy! ^-^ Also, to all the people who are wondering if Robbie and Maddie will ever become boyfriend and girlfriend: No comment. I really don't want to spoil anything, so for now I'm going to say they'll stay friends for the whole story. Whatever type of friends they will be (good, best or boy/girl-friends), you'll just have to wait and see :) On to the chapter!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The young bird groaned. Stretching out her violet wing, she hit the snooze button for the 2nd time that morning. Maddie knew any minute now one of her parents would make her get up, but she just wanted to enjoy her last few moments of summer, and of sleeping in. For being such an active girl, she was the heaviest sleeper out of her whole family.

"Maddie, you need to get up now," she heard her mother call, "and I mean right now."

"Okay, I'm getting up," Maddie replied, lifting the soft pillow off her head. The girl got up, stretched, and then started to get dressed. She had taken out her clothes the night before: a pair of tan jeans, a light blue shirt, and the headband her mom had bought her a week earlier.

"Hey kiddo," Mordecai greeted as his daughter walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Dad, hey Mom," she replied, sitting down in front of a plate of warmed up, frozen french toast. She began to eat the delicious breakfast, and was nearly finished with them in only a few minutes. Her parents definitely knew how to make frozen food taste good.

"Excited for your first day of Middle School?" Margaret asked as she sat down with a mug of hot coffee.

"Well, it's school and it's a Monday, so there's kinda a limit on how excited I can be," Maddie replied, "but yeah, I guess it's kinda cool that I'm going to the middle school now. The cafeteria's supposed to be a lot bigger, and have better food,-"

Mordecai let out a laugh, but was quickly silenced.

"- and we get to choose a couple of our classes this year. I chose an art class, Robbie chose Spanish class, and we both chose the class you guys told us about, Mythology and Superstitions."

Both adult birds smiled. "So, you took our advice," Mordecai said, before taking a sip of coffee.

"Yeah, but why'd you want us to take it?" Maddie asked, "I mean, what's so special about it, I mean, except that it's a new class."

"Oh, no reason," Margaret replied. But both birds continued to smile, as if it were an inside joke. Maddie looked at her parents suspiciously. "Shouldn't you be heading to the bus stop, sweetie?"

"Oh, right!" Maddie took her plate to the sink, grabbed her lunch money off the kitchen counter, and then grabbed her bookbag and left, but not before giving her parents a hug goodbye.

Since the Middle School was farther away than the Elementary School, the kids couldn't walk or ride their bikes there. So, they were forced to take the bus. But luckily, they could at least sit together.

"Hey Robbie!" Maddie greeted as she arrived at the corner that connected the path to Maddie's and the path to Robbie's, which also happened to be the bus stop.

"Hey Maddie," Robbie replied. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a dark green jacket. It may've been early fall, but it was still chilly in the mornings. Maddie also snickered a little at the raccoon's combed hair (most likely styled by his mother), making it look totally different from his usual hairstyle that looked like his dad's. The young raccoon pushed his glasses up a little, and smiled back at his lifelong friend.

Maddie noticed the paper bag Robbie was holding. "Decided to brown bag it today?" Maddie asked.

"Not taking any chances until I know what they actually serve there," replied Robbie.

"Probably a good idea," commented Maddie, "Can you believe we're in Middle School already? I wonder how much different it'll be."

"Well, what ever it's like, we can probably handle it no problem," said Robbie, confident and perhaps a bit cocky (guess who he got that from).

"Yeah. I mean, we did fight giant lemonade monsters and escape a crowd of angry middle school... oh crap." On the first day of summer vacation, Maddie and Robbie had shut down the middle schoolers secret black market. Probably something they wouldn't be too happy about, and the perfect reason to bully.

"Well, they're middle schoolers, they probably won't even remember," said Robbie.

"Yeah, you're right," said Maddie, smiling again.

Just then, they heard a puff of smoke, and a yellow, metal bus pulled up. The old doors opened, and the bus driver told them to get on.

"Here we go," Maddie said to her raccoon friend.

"Hm hm," replied Robbie. The two stepped on the bus, and it drove towards the middle school.

()()()()()()()()()

The middle school wasn't too different than the elementary school, it was just bigger. Bigger halls, bigger lockers, bigger building, and bigger crowds to walk through.

"Whoever thought of cramming four elementary schools into one middle school is an idiot," Maddie commented.

"Yeah, but at least we'll have plenty of room in our lockers," added Robbie. Since he was a raccoon, he liked having his own little territory, whether that was his bedroom at home or his locker at school.

Suddenly, both kids felt a hand push them. Maddie's bookbag was knocked out of her wings and her books spilled onto the floor, while Robbie was slammed shoulder first into one of the green, metal lockers.

"Out of the way, newbies!" Mikey shouted with a satisfied smile, "Eighth graders get hallway space!" The green, chubby middle schooler laughed as he walked away, while the two friends glared at him.

"Well, at least we only have to deal with him for a year," said Robbie, rubbing his shoulder.

"That's still a year too many," Maddie retorted. She got down on her knees and began picking up her things. As she placed her hand on a notebook, and human hand was placed over hers.

"Oh, sorry," said a voice. Maddie looked up. In front of her was an average looking, human middle school boy. He had strawberry blonde hair, and looked like a nice guy. He smiled at her, and handed her the notebook.

"Uh, thanks," Maddie said, giving the boy a small smile. Standing up, the boy was about half a head taller than her.

"No problem," he replied, "sorry about that guy, I had to deal with him last year."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "I've had to deal with him my whole life. His parents know mine, so I have to know him."

"Guess that doesn't help much, does it," he asked.

"Nope."

"Well, still, I hope he doesn't pick on you too much," he said. He smiled again. "I'm Aaron by the way."

"Maddie," Maddie replied, giving a more friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you," Aaron replied, "I guess I should get to my class." He handed Maddie the rest of her books. "I'll see you around, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, I'll see you, later," Maddie said. Aaron waved goodbye, and then continued walking down the hall.

"Hmm," Maddie said to herself.

"Aww, I'm proud of you, Maddie," Robbie said. Maddie looked down at her friend, who had a smirk on his face.

"What do you mean by that?" Maddie asked, scowling a little.

"You're finally showing your girly side," Robbie answered. He then raised his voice so he could sound like Maddie. "Oh Aaron, thank you for helping me! Can you walk me to my class too, holding hands of course!"

"Shut up!" Maddie growled, "he's just a nice guy that might be my friend."

"Sure, if that's true why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing you little rat!" Maddie shouted, "and by the way, don't you have class you have to get to before a get out a bat and send you there myself?" The kids had seperate first hour classes, but had 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Lunch, Gym, and 7th together.

"I'm going, I'm going," Robbie said, laughing. Both friends turned away from each other and began walking the opposite way. "Mrs. Aaron!" Robbie yelled over his shoulder.

Maddie turned on her heal and began chasing the laughing raccoon through the halls.

()()()()()()()()

2nd period, Math, came around. Maddie and Robbie both sat in the desks next to each other, the teasing and chasing (and squirting with cold water from the fountain on a certain raccoon) now long forgotten. Like their dads and even to an extent the employees at the park they considered family, teasing was just a part of their relationship, it never meant any harm and was usually forgotten and forgiven an in hour.

"How was Spanish?" Maddie asked.

"Okay, but it's hard to understand the teacher's accent. What about you?" Robbie asked.

"Same, but it's more of a 'do-busy-work-while-teacher-naps' kinda class," replied Maddie.

"Isn't that what most below high school classes are?" Maddie didn't get a chance to reply, because she was interrupted by the slamming of a door. Their math teacher had just walked in.

"Okay students," said the middle aged man, "how about we do a little review, see if most of you are where you're supposed to be." He said that as if he were teaching a class of idiots in a class meant for special advanced students. The man began writing long algerbra equations on the chalkboard. Nearly every head in the classroom had an invisible question mark above their heads.

"He has to be joking," Maddie whispered.

"Maybe this is just a repeat of kindergarden," Robbie replied, "maybe any minute now, the real teacher will walk in." Both kids looked at the door. After two minutes, no one had come in. "Dang it," they said in unison.

Forty five minutes later, the two kids as well as the rest of the class, left the classroom with a headache.

"Well, I know what's going to be my favorite class this year," Maddie said sarcastically.

()()()()()()()()()

After 3rd period English, it was lunch time. "So far, almost everything smells just as bad as the Elementary school food," Robbie said, his sensitive, scavenger's nose twitching. He walked over to a plate of what looked like grey casserole, and the dish growled at him. "But I would probably stay away from that one."

"No need to tell me twice," Maddie replied. Instead, she grabbed a pre-made roast beef sandwich, a bag of pretzels, and an apple.

Since most of the middle schoolers remembered the first day of summer, it was almost impossible for the kids to find a table they would be allowed to sit at. But eventually, they were invited to sit a table consisting of fellow sixth graders: a human girl, a weasel boy, and a couple other random kids.

"Thanks," they said as they sat down.

"No problem," replied the weasel boy, whose name was Greg.

As Maddie opened up her sandwich, she felt something cold and wet hit the back of her head. Peeling it off, she discovered it was the peel-off lid of a yogurt cup. Robbie got hit too, only with a banana peel. They looked and saw a group of middle schoolers they recognized from the secret underground middle school market. Some were laughing at the two animals, others were scowling at them.

"It's only the first day of school and you two already made the older kids mad?" the blonde girl, Kimi, asked, "What did you guys do?"

"It's a long story," Robbie said, "but don't worry, we'll be fine."

"Yeah, don't worry about us," added Maddie.

"Well, just watch your backs in gym today," said Greg, "since it's the first day of school, the gym teachers do this 'unifying the classes' activity by having the older students go up against the older students."

"What sport do they play?" Maddie asked. Greg told them. He would've thought they would be worried, but instead, Maddie and Robbie just smiled. "We'll be fine," they said.

Just then, Maddie felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Aaron walking past her. "Hey," he said with that kind smile.

"Oh, Hey Aaron!" Maddie replied, smiling and sitting up a little bit straighter without even realizing it. Aaron gave her a small wave, and continued walking to his table. Once he left, Robbie started laughing. Maddie gave him a death glare, but it didn't bother the raccoon at all. So, she stuffed her sandwich in his mouth to silence him.

"Aw gross! I hate sandwices with mayo!" Robbie shouted.

"I know," Maddie said with a smile. Robbie glared at her and gave her a shove, but Maddie just giggled and shoved right back.

()()()()()()()()()()()

The game they played in gym was a game as old as playgrounds and gym classes themselves. The stinging rubber, the struggle of survival, the humiliation of losing. This game was not for the weak of heart. It's name: dodgeball.

But this was no problem, thanks to Maddie's excellent pitching and Robbie's great speed. Maddie would stay in the back while Robbie stayed in front. Nothing could hit him, and he was quick to gather up the rubber dodgeballs and roll them to Maddie.

The purple bird was merciless in her throws. Everything she aimed for, she hit. There were even times when there was no way she could hit a player, but she would simply throw the ball at a wall and it would bounce back and hit the player.

By the end of the class, Maddie and Robbie were the only ones left standing. The seventh and eighth graders were stunned, and badly bruised, both their bodies and their egos.

"Well, I don't think they'll bother us anymore," Robbie said with a smile.

"Or they'll just be twice as mad for losing against us," Maddie retorted, "but hey, totally worth it, right?"

"Definitely!" This had been the first time the sixth graders had ever beaten the seventh and eighth graders. It was totally worth a little teasing. The sixth graders all cheered as they left the gym. "Okay, so next is our last class of the day, Mythology and Superstitions."

"Hmm," Maddie said, "my parents were acting weird when I mentioned that class this morning. I wonder what'll happen in it."

"Probably just some old guy showing us old story books," said Robbie. When the two arrived at the room, they discovered they were half right. The teacher was old, but he wasn't just 'some old guy'.

"Skips!" they said happily in unison.

The old yeti, who was still wearing his normal blue jeans but was also wearing a brown jacket and a tie, looked up at the kids. He gave them a small smile.

"That's why our parents wanted us to take this class," Robbie said, "because you're teaching it!"

"But, why are you teaching a class, Skips?" Maddie asked, "Did Maellard fire you?" She already knew Benson would never fire him.

"Nah, I just figured since things had really slowed down at the park ever since your dads had left, I'd get myself a new hobby," Skips answered.

Truth be told, back when Skips was in his pack, he'd help teach the younger yetis. He was a born storyteller, and was very wise. Centuries later, when Skips had started working at the park, he'd sometimes tell kids random bits of information to kids who asked, and would even help lead nature hikes if asked by Pops.

The old yeti had figured teaching something he knew all about would help pass the time, and with the kids in middle school now, he would get to spend some time with them too. It had taken a couple years to get the school board to accept the class, but now, it was another job Skips could add to his list of experiences in his lifetime.

Groups of students started pouring into the classroom, so Maddie and Robbie sat down. When the bell rang, Skips skipped up to the front of the room.

"Okay kids," Skips started to say, "You can leave out the Mr. stuff, just call me Skips. In this class, I'm going to teach you all about magical elements, dark magic, superstitions, and basically everything in between."

"So what, you're going to be like our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" a boy in the back joked. Some of the other students chuckled. But Skips didn't even glare at the kid, he just stayed stoick until they finished laughing.

"First off, those books aren't accurate what so ever," Skips said, "and second, I'm only going to teach you about magic and dark arts." He gave a small smirk. "Defendin' yourself against them is something you learn on the job." The kid stayed silent.

Skips then skipped up to the black board, and began to draw a cloud kingdom. He then drew five small, pudgy round figures. Maddie and Robbie smiled. Skips then began to give a lecture on a legend both the two friends and himself knew all too well: The Guardians of Youth.

When the class ended, Maddie and Robbie waved goodbye at Skips, telling him they would talk to him later, and walked towards the front entrance. "Okay, I think we've found our favorite class," Robbie said without a hint of sarcasm.

"I couldn't agree more."

()()()()()()()()()

"Rigby, I said keep your paws off my grilled cheese!"

"But yours is bigger than mine was, just give me one bite Benson! I'm starving!"

"Maybe if you didn't eat your sandwich so fast you'd feel like you actually ate something."

"Stop talking!"

As was the first day of school tradition ever since 1st grade, the entire park family was at Cheesers for supper. Mordecai, Margaret, Maddie, Rigby, Eileen and Robbie all sat at one booth, and pushed up against the booth was a table where Pops, Benson and Skips sat. Muscleman, Starla, their three kids and High Five Ghost sat in the booth behind them.

Both kids shared their day at school with their family, and finished just before their tray of delicious grilled cheeses arrived. The arguing across the dinner table, the random dinner conversations, Muscleman's 'My mom' and Mikey's 'My Grandma' jokes, Pops' random giggling, and the small fights between Mordecai and Rigby and/or Maddie and Robbie. All this made for just another regular family dinner.

With a lot of energy left, Maddie and Robbie decided to head out to the playground outside Cheesers, which was made out of dismantled and disabled space crafts. The two friends climbed up the giant rocket ship and looked out over the town.

"Not bad for a first day, huh?" Maddie asked.

"Other than getting banana in my hair and that weirdo math teacher, it was a pretty good first day," Robbie replied.

"Yeah," Maddie smiled. But then, her smile fell. "Do you think we'll do this on every first day of school? You know, have everyone eat at Cheesers and then play on the space playground?"

"Well, we've been doing this for the past five years," said Robbie, "but I guess it can change. I mean, no one lives forever, and high schoolers playing on a playground might look a little weird."

Maddie giggled a little. "Well, even if all of us can't eat supper together, and if we become too old to play on playgrounds, we should still come here on every first day of school. I mean, it is a tradition worth continuing."

"Yeah, the grilled cheese sandwiches here are awesome!" said Robbie. Both kids laughed.

The kids continued playing the rest of the night, chasing each other until they finally got tired, and then sat outside the restaurant and watched the sun go down. all in all, it was a good way to start their middle school career.

"One day down," Maddie said, "and about a hundred and fifty more to go."

Hope this wasn't too boring. I originally wasn't going to have Skips be a teacher, but I figured it would work here. I was kinda planning a fanfic where all the park workers were human teenagers and attending an acadamy, and Skips would be the teacher helping them defend against magical elements and monsters around the school (basically Harry Potter). But I liked this better, and now, I can still have the usual weird creatures and irregular adventures with the kids even though they're in school.

Tomorrow I've got finals, so wish me luck! I'll try to update either before Christmas or if not, the first day after Christmas. Please review, and have a happy holidays :)