The rest of the day had gone by without an issue. During their math lesson, Nick had spent the period with Jack and Judy again. Nearing the end of the period, Nick had asked Jack for more assistance with his work. Jack, although a little annoyed, had agreed to invite Nick over to provide help once again. Nick had asked them to meet at the same spot as the day before, and after they agreed, the bell rang. Nick bid them farewell and left the room as quickly as he could. With the meeting place and times set, Nick's plan could finally be set in motion.

Nick left his fourth period class and made his way down the hallway toward the northern stairwell. Nick was quick about it, as there was about to be a flurry of students coming from their classes all trying to leave at once. Nick stood to the right of the doors, out of the way as not to get swarmed. As expected, a wave of students filled the stairwell and the landing below it. Even with three doors, the crowd could move no faster than a crawl.

After the last few students forced their way through the doors, Nick found himself alone. He glanced to the stairwell to see Jack and Judy descending casually. Jack looked down to see Nick standing next to the doorway. He cracked a smile.

"Ah, you survived the stampede. Good," he said jokingly. Nick shrugged his shoulders and left his place on the wall.

"Turns out if you stand next to the doors they can't getcha," Nick replied, returning the smile. The three stood next to the door for a few minutes, catching up and telling each other about their afternoons. Judy was complaining, as her fourth period teacher had just assigned her class a semester-long study project that was worth thirty percent of her final mark. Jack and Nick felt sympathy for her, as she had that, as well as her whole student government job. A few more minutes of conversation and, just like Nick had asked, Aaron showed up.

Nick had seen Aaron approach their group. Jack and Judy were in the middle of a conversation and Nick had to keep a straight face. It was definitely easier said than done, as Aaron didn't know what to do. He simply stood behind the two bunnies with his paws in his pockets occasionally making eye contact with Nick. Once they were finished their conversation, Nick was finally able to stop ignoring Aaron.

"Oh, hey Aaron," Nick said nonchalantly. The Hopps' eyes widened and they slowly turned around. Aaron towered over the two rabbits as they looked up to meet his eyes. He gave a light wave. Jack and Judy returned to Nick, both wearing a surprised expression. They stared at Nick expectantly. "Oh, I sort of told Aaron that you could help him with his work as well...Would that be alright?" Nick asked. Jack looked at the wolf over his shoulder.

"I... don't see why not?" Jack said. Nick smiled.

"Good!" Nick replied happily At least he didn't try to book it this time... "Should we go?" he added.

They all exchanged glances before nodding in agreement. There was no sense in staying at school, after all. They left the building and started down the path to the sidewalk. As soon as they approached the road however, they heard the honk of a horn coming from across the walkway. Nick looked up and immediately recognized the vehicle. Before he could say anything, the driver rolled down the window and revealed himself to be Nick's father.

"Hey, Nick! Are these your friends?" he shouted. Nick sighed.

"Hey, Dad. What are you doing here, and yeah." he replied. David shot Aaron, Jack, and Judy a toothy grin.

"Well it's good to meet you. It's a shame we won't be able to get to know each other better," he added. Nick blinked.

"You still never answered my question, we were kind of on our way somewhere," Nick stated. David thought for a moment.

"Oh, right! Well, whatever it was you were gonna do, it's gonna have to wait till another time because I need you to come with me," David said. Nick was shocked, his eyes widened.

"Uh, why?" Nick asked sternly.

"Because I'm taking you to get your phone. We're gonna be working long hours starting next week what with the harvest, so I wanted to get this out of the way right now," David explained. Nick tried to think up an argument to his father's point, but decided it wasn't worth wasting everyone's time.

"Alright, just give me a few seconds," Nick replied. He glanced over toward Aaron. The plan that they had come up with was beginning to fall apart, but it wasn't over yet. The look in Aaron's eyes told Nick that he was still prepared to do his part. Nick and Aaron held eye contact for a moment before Nick walked around the car and got into the passenger seat. "You'll be fine on your own, right Aaron?" Nick called through the still open driver side window.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Aaron replied.

"I guess that means I'll get your number tomorrow?" Jack asked. Nick nodded. The three watched as the car pulled away from the curb and took a right at the end of the street. Aaron glanced down at Jack and Judy. He was now tasked with doing what he and Nick had originally planned to do. He took a shaky breath in and sighed lightly.

"So are you still coming over?" Jack asked. The sudden question caused Aaron to jump.

"Oh, uh, yes," he replied. Jack nodded.

"Right, let's go then," Jack said.

They departed their spot in the street and began the trek to the Hopps den. Aaron had been there before, it was where he had his first practice, as well as every session during the summer months. He knew the Hopps parents, as well as many of the children. He was well liked there, but this was the first time he'd be coming over while not in the company of his bandmates.

No conversation occurred between them as they walked through town and down the long dirt road to the den. As they approached the lot, Aaron could farm equipment moving across one of the fields. He remembered that harvest season had just kicked off, meaning that the den would be emptier than usual. Aaron followed Jack and Judy across the driveway and into the garage. He continued through the second door and down the long staircase to the main hall. From there he would usually turn right, to where all the instruments and other equipment were set up in a large room, but he followed the two rabbits in the opposite direction, where he had never been.

Eventually they had stopped in front of one of many identical doors in that corridor. As Jack opened it, Aaron thought to himself as to how he remembered which door led where. Once everyone was inside, Jack closed the door behind him. Judy sat at the desk in the corner while Jack sat on the bed.

"Alright, what do you need help with?" Jack asked. Aaron was confused for a moment, but then remembered that help with schoolwork was his excuse for even being there in the first place. He didn't actually need help with his math, he was actually quite proficient, but in order to even bring up the topic of his band he would have to settle down with them first. Aaron sat down on the floor and pulled a notebook and some papers from his bag.

"Just a few questions from the handout. I need a bit of clarification," Aaron replied. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"That's it? Couldn't you have just asked the teacher?" Jack asked.

"It was already the end of the class, I didn't have time," Aaron rebutted. Jack crossed his arms

"Well you could've," Jack paused before sighing. "Know what? Never mind. Show me the problems," Jack stated, pointing at the papers. Aaron turned around and handed the papers to Jack. After skimming the page, Jack beckoned Aaron with his paw and patting the empty space on the bed to his right. Jack pointed to the page. "Which ones?" he asked.

Aaron had already done all the work on the page, so he selected three random questions near the bottom of the page. Jack read them over and nodded in agreement.

"Ah yeah, those ones took a bit for me too," Jack added. Aaron fetched his notebook and a spare pencil from his bag and allowed Jack to walk him through the first problem. Although he already understood the process, Jack explained it in a way that allowed it to be solved much quicker. He was genuinely surprised.

The second and third questions were much easier once he learned Jack's method. Jack watched as Aaron ripped through the second question and started on the third. Jack smiled.

"Hey, looks like you got it now," Jack said approvingly. Aaron glanced over and nodded.

"Yeah, your way of doing it is so much better!" Aaron exclaimed.

"I've been told I have a knack for stuff like this. Whenever I learn something new I always see if there's a faster way to do it," Jack added. Aaron chuckled. He finished up the last part of the last question, closing the notebook once he was done.

"Done. Wow... that went by faster that I thought it would," Aaron added. Jack left the bed and walked over to the desk, where Judy was using the computer. He stood behind the chair and watched her over her shoulder.

"Be sure to forward this to Nick, alright?" Jack said.

After being so focused on the work, Aaron had nearly forgotten why he was there in the first place. He packed up his things but didn't pick up his bag. He walked over to the computer and joined Jack in standing behind Judy.

"I will...but there's something Nick wanted me to forward to you," Aaron said, trying his hardest to not let his voice shake. Jack and Judy stopped looking at the screen and glanced up at the wolf.

"What is it?" Jack asked. Aaron took a deep breath in to calm his nerves.

"Well...I heard, through Nick, about what my band has been saying about you guys..." Aaron said, trailing off near the end. Jack and Judy tensed up. Judy sighed and put her head down on the desk.

"Oh, good lord..." Jack said, followed by an exasperated sigh.

"Hey, hey, I'm not done!" Aaron said, raising his voice. "He also said that he wanted to see the end of it. He wanted us, all four of us, to go up to them and make them tell everyone they've lied to the truth." Jack rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, that's totally gonna happen," Jack said sarcastically.

"It will, we need you to come with us," Aaron argued.

"All that's gonna do is cause more conflict, Aaron," Judy added. Aaron crossed his arms and shook his head.

"No it won't, especially not with Nick there." Jack and Judy remained silent. "Come on, guys. I'm sure you want this to end as much as Nick and I do," Aaron added, practically begging. Jack went deep into thought on Aaron's proposition.

"I don't know, won't this affect you negatively? Once they know you know what they've been saying about us, won't they kick you out?" Jack asked. It was Aaron's turn to think.

"If that's the case, then I don't care, as long as it stops. I don't want to be in a band with a bunch of liars. Besides, if they do kick me out for this, what are they gonna tell everyone? It would seem kind of hypocritical of them to kick a predator out of their band after calling you guys anti-pred, wouldn't it?" Aaron asked. Jack and Judy tried to argue Aaron's question, but their minds drew a blank.

"I guess so," was all they could say. Aaron nodded and extended a paw.

"So whaddaya say? You in?" he asked. Jack and Judy exchanged glances before nodding. They placed their paws on top of Aaron's.

"We're in," they said in unison.


The drive to the service provider was a short one; it was only a few blocks away from the school. David pulled the car up to the curb of the store. Nick looked out the car window to the large sign above the door. It read: 'Rick's Electronics.' Beneath it, in smaller print: 'Authorized Rogers Retailer.'

"You ready to go phone shopping, Nick?" David asked. Nick rolled his eyes as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Sure thing, Dad," he replied.


Here's chapter twelve, a tad longer than chapter eleven. Thanks to everyone who as left feedback/a review, and to those who have followed/faved. It tells me that I'm improving.-Prince