WARNING: Funeral, suicide attempts, topic of abortion and homophobia


Chapter 49: You're Where I Belong

The air was extra chilly today, the winds blowing much more fierce than usual. Not even the sun could find the strength to shine through the mass of dark clouds on this dreary day.

Hanging over the six foot deep hole in the ground was a sleek, wooden casket. Resting atop was a framed picture of a cheery, Rotor Walrus.

There was a crowd of black-dressed figures swarming around scene. Women dabbing tissues at their teary eyes as men tried their best to hold it together. It was silent, the somber mood causing a wave of tension before Antoine walked over to the casket and turned to address the crowd.

"M-My name iz, Antoine D'Coolette. Rotor was my best friend for as long as I can remember." Through shallow breaths and a thick accent, the coyote did his best to sound coherent. "H-He was always s-so, so…" His voice trailed off as he turned back to the picture resting on the casket, too distraught to speak any further.

"It's okay, Sugah…" A saddened Bunnie whispered to him from the front of the crowd, gesturing him back over to her, Sally, and Nicole.

He shook his head, opting to storm out of the cemetery and into the nearby woods to compose himself elsewhere. As he rushed off passed the crowd, a pair of jade eyes locked onto him.

The coyote was normally so frightened of wilderness, but every emotion other than sadness was casted aside, including fear. He loosened his black tie in an effort to breathe better, but it didn't help much. His throat felt so swollen, like oxygen just wouldn't come through. So many images of his walrus friend, and all the times they shared together flashed in his mind.

This was the second friend he lost in a fatality this year alone, and it proved too great a weight on his already fragile heart.

He looked up, noticing the trees surrounding him that bore no leaves, branches stretching out like arms. Then he looked down at the tie he held in his hand, a wicked thought crossing his mind.

'I could see you again, if I…' His dark thoughts continued as he climbed a nearby rock and stood up to eye-level with one of the thick branches, tying one end of the black fabric around it, and the other and into a loop.

Tears trickled down his face as he stared through the loop, hesitating a bit. All he could think about was Tommy and Rotor, and how weak he was in the moment. He closed his eyes, and finally put his head through the makeshift noose. All he had to do now was step off the rock…

"ANTOINE!" A voice called out, making his eyes shoot open as he clung to the fabric around his neck with both hands. He looked down to see a horrified Sonic, slowly taking steps forward with his hands up as he shook his head. "Wh-What are you doing?!"

"I cannot do zis anymore." He babbled through his excessive crying, "I've lost so much already…"

"Please, just get down." The blue hedgehog begged, panicking once the coyote shook his head in refusal. "What about Bunnie, Nicole…and Sally? They need you…"

"Rotor needed me." He replied in a shaky voice, his hands trembling as he stuck one foot over the rock. "They're stronger zen I am. They'll go on." The coyote added.

"I won't!" Sonic cried out as he continued to inch closer while he distracted the suicidal teen with his words.

"You already have." Antoine replied before finally stepping off the rock.

He cringed, bracing himself for the noose to snap his neck, but impact never came. He opened his eyes to see that Sonic had leapt up from the rock and yanked the tie off the branch before he could fully descend.

An overwhelming feeling of shame and sorrow washed over him as the hedgehog embraced him, sobbing frantically as they both caved to their knees on the large rock.

"I'm so sorry, Antoine." The blue hedgehog cried, tightening his hold on the coyote who cried along. "I never got to tell Rotor or Tommy… If I never got to tell you, I don't know if I could ever live with myself. So I'm telling you now, and you don't ever have to forgive me, but I'm sorry."

Back at the funeral, Rotor's father had just walked to his son's casket and turned to address the crowd. He received harsh glares from the LGBT students that attended, particularly Cobar and Wave standing off to the side.

"The last time I saw my son, I told him he was dead to me." The older walrus began, tears brimming his eyes as he glanced back at the casket every so often. "I can't take it back now. I can never tell him I'm sorry, or that I love him ever again. His older brother died in the war and his mother died of grief shortly thereafter. I was all he had, and I pushed him away."

Shortly after he began his speech, a lot of the angry glares softened, and hearts went out to him as he went on.

"I couldn't accept my son for who he was, and I know they say 'it's never too late', but it sure as hell doesn't feel that way." He whimpered, a single tear escaping him as he glanced back at the picture of his son. "I failed him. We all failed him. Chaos forgive me… Rotor…forgive me."

The crowd of people wept over the heartfelt speech, and mourned the walrus a thousand times over as his coffin was lowered into the hole. Cobar was the first to step up and drop a single red rose, then Sally, Nicole, Bunnie, Wave, and so on.

Sonic and Antoine had both arrived just in time to toss the final red rose together.

Standing far in the back, cloaked in a black hoodie was a remorseful Jet, a single tear escaping him before he took off.


After the video was leaked, staff had alerted the authorities and a proper investigation was underway. The boy's locker room was condemned with yellow crime scene tape, and the middle area of campus by the flagpole was also sectioned off with the same tape.

With some kids coming from all across Mobius as well as other countries, there was no way for school to be canceled without transportation for everyone back home. So they all resided on campus and continued their studies, occasionally walking by that same flagpole.

Not that it mattered much anymore, considering almost everyone had moved on in less than a week. The only thing anyone still found relevant anymore was the harsh video that had been circling around ever since.

"It's been a week since the untimely death of a beloved student, and the leak of that horrifying video. Until we identify those five masked suspects there will be NO off-campus privileges, and no extra-circulars. I've also hired more officers, and I'm enforcing curfew at eight on the dot from here on, and your dorm advisor will be taking attendance before bed. That is all." Principal Acorn bellowed into the intercom before lifting her finger off the red button to slide it away.

She had seen the awful video a hundred times over, enforcing a stricter policy to ensure the safety of the remaining students. On the windowsill behind her desk burned three large candles for every student she had lost this year. Tommy Turtle, Mellow Bee, and now Rotor Walrus.

The chestnut-haired woman sighed heavily, pulling over the stack of files at the edge of her desk to look over, hoping that throwing herself into work might ease her mind.

Just before she could open the first one, her sapphire eyes caught sight of something more interesting. It was the black duffle bag that Jules had given her, resting on one of the chairs by the door. No longer wishing to carry it around in her car, she threw it onto that chair in her office and forgot about it.

She tried to shrug it off and open the file to get to work, but her mind persisted to drift back to it, and his claims of its contents potentially changing her mind about her wedding to Locke. After a mental battle of confliction, she stood up from her chair and walked over to it.

"What the hell does that moron think could possibly ever change my mind?" She questioned aloud, tossing the heavy bag up onto her desk before unzipping it. "What in the world?!"

Inside the bag were envelopes, thousands of them! Some were yellow with age, dating back to over seventeen years ago, and some were freshly dated just last month. Amongst the mass of envelops was a bright red sticky-note.

She reached out and grabbed it, bringing it closer to her face as she inspected the shaky ink scribe on it.

Knowing you, you're probably thinking something like 'What the hell is this?'. Well, it's pretty much exactly what it looks like. A ton of unopened letters. Over seventy-five thousand if you want to be exact. A letter for every single day after we said our goodbyes at the lake. Proof that there hasn't ever been a day that goes by where I haven't thought about you… -Jules the Hedgehog

"My Chaos…" She breathed, picking up several envelopes to inspect the dates on them.


Cream was one of the many people who came forward to Dr. Tikal with suicidal thoughts after Rotor's death. She confessed to the counselor that she had been having those types of urges for a while now. The echidna had scheduled her in as a regular from then on.

The rabbit trudged the halls silently with her head down before hearing giggles that coaxed her to look up. Her heart gave away to that heavy feeling again when she saw the kitsune and seedrian by their lockers, exchanging adorable pecks on the lips.

Her eyes began to swell up with upset tears as her stomach turned with that horrid sensation she'd become so accustom to. She reached down into the pocket of her orange hoodie to take hold of the familiar orange bottle of sleeping pills she'd been hiding. Her teeth grinded together as she whipped around quickly to run into the nearby bathroom.

The loud squeak of her rubber shoe sliding against the white tiled floor picked up in the young fox's ear. He turned in time to see the rabbit slam the door shut with a powerful force, making him a bit curious.

"Wait right here, Cosmo." He ordered the green-haired girl before rushing toward the door he saw the rabbit run off to.

"What? Tails?!" Cosmo shouted after him, "That's…That's the girl's bathroom." She mumbled with a blush.

Upon entering, he noticed no one in sight, but he could hear sobs echoing from the only closed stall.

"Cream?" He called out, his voice drowned out by her heavy pants and sobbing.

Inside the stall, the rabbit had popped the cap off of the orange bottle. With an angry shriek, she dumped the small white pills into the toilet, just as the door behind her opened.

"Cream? What are you—" She turned around to face the kitsune, and for the first time in his life, he saw something other than a cheery smile. "Wh-What's going on, Cream?"

"Just leave me alone, Tails." The rabbit mumbled, pointing him away as she slid down the pink stall to sit on the ground.

He refused to do as told, and kneeled down beside her. He caught sight of the orange bottle laying at her feet. He picked it up and inspected the label, mortified as he realized what her intentions might have been.

"Were you going to take these?" He asked her in a pained tone, shaking the bottle in his hand for emphasis. She nodded in response, breaking his heart to pieces. "Why would you even think of doing something like that?!"

That's when she turned, her usually bright and happy light-brown eyes completely dead and void. "You…"

"Wh-What?"

"YOU!" She screamed, upset tears streaming down her face as she clawed at the pink tiled floor she sat on. "Less than five months…Fiona and Cosmo have only been in your life for less than five months and you fell in love with both of them! I've known you since we were two years old and you NEVER once thought of me as more than just the girl next door! Like I'm…I'm worthless." She whimpered before putting her head to her knees.

A wave of sadness washed over him as he pieced everything together. The way she cherished that little chao he gave her years ago, the way she was so overjoyed to see him even when he left the room for a mere moment, and the radiant glow she seemed to have at the sight of him. Then he remembered the unconsciously cruel words he spoken to her in the hall…

Her love confession in drama class wasn't a false sense of affection brought on by the emotionally confusing high school scene.

She really had been in love with him all along, and he was just now realizing it.

"Cream…" He whimpered, tears rolling off his face as he leaned over and held her close. "I'm sorry… Sorry for ever making you feel so bad about yourself."

She lifted her face up to his, meeting his apologetic blues eyes with her sorrowful light-brown ones.

Maybe it was getting caught up in the moment, or the emotional stress they were both under. Maybe that's what coaxed both of them to lean forward and press their lips together for a blissful prolonged kiss.

Once they pulled away, they gasped at realizing what they had done before uttering the same thoughts aloud in unison.

"Please don't tell Cosmo!"


Mina sang to herself as she pranced around her dorm room, leaping from her bed to Honey's and occasionally Nicole's, doing twirls as she sang into her pink hairbrush. Her roommates were both out again, so she figured she could get some practice in for the gig she had lined up next week.

Manic's aide in her performance at Elise's Halloween Party had skyrocketed the lavender-haired girl's career tenfold. Agencies were blowing up her phone, and her presence had been requested by several important figures of Mobius.

Her brief time of pregnancy had put all of it on hiatus for a while, but now she was free and up to par with all the demand for her angelic voice.

Amidst her bedroom dancing, there was a knock on the door. She blushed, tossing the brush aside before plopping down into a seated position on her bed in fear that someone might catch her doing something so childish.

"Come in!" She called out, her cheery mood instantly falling flat at the sight of Shard entering. "What? Come to ditch me for the millionth time?" She growled, crossing her arms in a huff as she watched him stroll over to her bed.

Her hard glare soon softened as she caught sight of the disheartened look on his face, and wasn't countered with one of his typical snarky remarks.

He took a seat beside her, elbows resting on his knees as he clasped his hands together and stared down at the wooden floor. She reached over to wrap her arms around him, calling out to him a bit more sympathetically this time.

"Baby? What's going on?" She asked in a soothing tone.

"You know that kid that died last week?" He mumbled, "I watched some guys pick on him… but I never said anything…"

"I'm sure a lot of people didn't." Mina replied, "I only knew him from that one gig for the LGBT students. It's a sad thing, but getting all depressed over it won't bring him back. You didn't know him anyway-"

"I've been thinking about killing myself for weeks." He cut her off, turning to her with all seriousness in his light-green eyes.

"Oh my Chaos!" She yelped in disbelief, concern flooding her voice. "Shard? Why the hell would ever think something like that?"

"Because I've just been feeling like shit. Like nothing I do will ever make me a better person, like I'm stuck in limbo for shitty people." The hedgehog explained, running a stressed hand through his short quills. "No one ever wants to be honest with me, not even myself."

"I'm honest with you…"

"Then why haven't you told me you're pregnant yet?" He asked, making all the color drain from her face. Looking into her eyes, he could tell she was caught off guard, and the tension was indescribable.

"W-Wh-Who told you that?!" She stammered breathlessly, the wind being knocked right out of her by his words.

"So it's for real." He nodded, biting his lip as he turned his gaze back down to his feet, twiddling his thumbs anxiously.

"I-I-I can explain!" The mongoose yelped, tears erupting from her eyes.

"I know it's not mine." Shard replied, pulling out the sonogram he had kept to hand her. He then looked up, watching the mortified look come across her face as she held the photo in her shaky hands.

She looked up to him, heart pounding nearly out of her chest as a tornado of fear and nervousness destroyed her insides.

"Shard, please. Just let me explain—"

"I was gonna freak out as soon as I found out, but I didn't want to believe you'd pull some shady shit on me like that. I thought we were gonna better ourselves together, like a redemption couple. I just wanted one person to believe in." He began, voice on edge as he stood up from the bed. "Then this kid died, and it just changed everything for me. Like an epiphany."

He then kneeled down in front of her, took her hands in his as he coaxed her sad jade eyes to meet his own. She was so confused, not following at all with what he had insinuated.

"Whatever you did before me is in the past. I can forgive it all because in all honesty my heart has never once faithful to you anyway. We've both got our baggage, and now that shit is whatever to me. Life is hard, and sometimes not everyone can live to handle it." He squeezed her hands tightly, his next words quite the surprise. "I've been through hell in this life, and I don't think I ever could have made it this far if I hadn't had the greatest dad in the world. Mina, I know I'm a shitty person, but I know something about what it takes to be a good dad. I know it's not mine, but I want to raise it with you…"

Her mouth hung open, astonished by his shocking decree. She expected him to flee, to abandon her at the first sign of betrayal, but she wrong. So very wrong. Guilt pooled in her heart as she thought of Manic's plea, and the same hopeful expression Shard wore right now.

"There is no baby…"

"You don't have to lie to me anymore. I already know—"

"THERE IS NO BABY!" She screamed in his face, her crying worsening as she ripped her hands away from his to hold herself and look away in shame. "I had an abortion…"

It was like time stopped with how long the pause in between their conversation was. Shard's mouth hung open as he stood up from the floor. She heard him get up, and quickly stood up to throw herself into his chest, gripping his shirt as she sobbed.

"Abortion…" He repeated in disbelief, "How the fuck could you do that?!"

"I did it for us!" She cried out, looking up to him with pleading eyes. "I didn't want you to hate me or leave me—"

"Are you fucking serious?" He bellowed, shoving her off of him with a disgusted look. "You…You selfish bitch…"

"Shard, don't." She whimpered, reaching out to touch him again.

He instantly stepped back, more than appalled by the mongoose. He shook his head, inching toward the door before turning his back to her. She fell to her knees and cried into her hands once that door clicked shut.

The worst part of it all was realizing that he would have stayed all along…


"Sally…" Nicole whimpered, running up to the disheartened-looking chipmunk putting books away in her locker.

She had reverted back to wearing her usual over-sized clothes, now with a blue hooded sweatshirt that shielded her face from view. Once the lynx was close enough, she tilted her head to catch the depressed look on her older sister's face, gaze falling unconsciously toward the thick-rimmed black glasses that concealed those horrifying scars.

"Get to class, Nicole." Sally ordered in a lifeless tone as she shut her locker.

"Please talk to me." The lynx begged, grabbing hold of the chipmunk's wrist before she could dart off. "You always used to tell me everything…"

"There's nothing to tell."

"What happened to your face, Sally?!" Nicole questioned in a sympathetic tone.

"Nothing."

"Who did that to you? Was it—"

She was cut off by Sally snatching her wrist out of her hold. She watched with sad eyes as the auburn-haired girl stormed out of the building without another word.

The chipmunk trudged down the steps, adjusting the hoodie to conceal her upset frown. As soon as she emerged from the building, all the eyes of every student within ratios locked onto her. Shortly after, things were thrown, and names were called.

She had went from hero-to-zero in everyone's eyes in no time at all, finding herself right back at the bottom where she began. She did her walk of shame across campus toward the girl's dorm, people screaming and taunting her the entire way.

Coming from the opposite direction of the walkway was Sonic, Tails at his side, and Amy hugging his arm.

"What are they doing to her?" The blue hedgehog asked, upset to see the familiar chipmunk get pelted with pencil holders and swatted with magazines.

"Oh, it's that chipmunk girl." Amy noted, tightening her grip on Sonic's arm.

"A lot of people—especially the LGBT committee—blame her for putting a target on Rotor's back." Tails explained, crossing his arms. "Rightfully so in my opinion."

"Are you fucking serious?" Sonic shouted, glaring down at the fox. "She stood up for him!"

"She started a school war. Say what you will on the intention, but she should have known better in a school made up by two-thirds of homophobic people."

"She was trying to end bullying for that kind of shit! Was she supposed to just let Jet and those other homophobic assholes pick on him forever?!"

"C'mon, Sonic. You know Tails is right." Amy chimed in, "The bullying would have died down eventually."

"So he was just supposed to deal with it?" Sonic scolded them, tearing his arm out of Amy's hold to stand in front of them with an angry look. "She was trying to help the LGBT community! How the hell can you justify the way their treating her right now?!"

"She added fuel to the fire of their struggle!" Tails shouted back, "Now most of them are too afraid to even leave their dorm rooms! Stop trying to defend her!"

"She was trying to protect a friend!" He shouted back.

"Well, thanks to her, that friend is dead." Amy retorted, finishing off the argument. It was a harsh statement, but the pink girl didn't really have much empathy about the situation, not having known him the way Sonic and Tails did.

Sonic looked in between them both as they stared back at him with unmoved and stern looks. He just shook his head in disapproval.

"You both can go fuck yourselves." He stated bluntly before turning his back to them.

He jogged off back into the main building. Anger and sorrow gnawing at his heart for both Sally and Rotor.

During his speedy take off, he noticed a familiar group of misfits sitting in the café. Unconsciously, he turned heel and headed toward them. They all looked so depressed, staring blankly at the table as they muttered occasionally to one another.

"Hey…" The blue hedgehog called out, resting his hand on the lynx girl's shoulder. She lifted her head to see the blue hedgehog standing behind her with a sincere, weak smile. "Can I sit with you guys? Just for a minute…"

The lynx turned to exchange glances with the coyote and rabbit across from her before she nodded. He thanked her kindly before taking the seat next to her, greeting the couple across from them with a nod.

"Welcome home, Sugah-Hog." The rabbit smiled.


Scourge was off doing whatever it is he usually did when not around, leaving Rosy and Mephiles to lean against his car in the parking lot as they waited for him. Security was incredibly tight these days, leaving them little leg-room to walk their way around the rules to smoke or drink.

Rosy held her left arm, rubbing the wrist area of her long-sleeved black shirt to sooth the stinging pain from freshly made wounds. It seemed these days that her self-harming had gradually gotten worse, the time of year being one of bitter memories to her.

It was around this time years ago, that she had her abortion, and the love of her life said that bitter farewell.

Standing next to her with phone in hand was her current lover, Mephiles the Dark. He scrolled through the apps on his cellular device. The pink hedgehog groaned in frustration at their friend's constant tardiness. In doing so, her light-brown gaze caught sight of the striped hedgehog's screen.

"That's your fucking screensaver?" She cringed, appalled by the image of the boy who hung from the flagpole less than a week ago.

"What? It's just art." He chuckled, "Not to mention hilarious."

"You're fucking morbid." The pink girl growled in disgust.

"Says the girl who murdered a child." He countered, making her blood boil.

"I hate you so much." Rosy replied coldly.

Their conversation was cut short by both of their ears twitching in sync, hearing the crackle of a twig nearby. They both turned in the same direction to see another striped hedgehog walking up to them, this one with blood-colored eyes.

Mephiles broke out into a wide Cheshire grin at the sight of him, receiving a disgusted snarl in return before the other hedgehog walked up to Rosy.

"I need to talk to you." Shadow spoke, his attention directed at the pink girl leaning against the black vehicle.

"How rude of you." Mephiles purred, "Walking right by family without so much as a single word—"

"We're NOT family." The red-striped hedgehog corrected him coldly before turning back to Rosy. "You shouldn't hang around guys like them, especially this one."

She looked up at him with a conflicted expression before Mephiles draped his arm around her and expelled any disobedient thoughts from her mind.

"Worry about yourself, and leave me the hell alone." She replied.

He nodded, glancing at Mephiles one last time before turning back to where he came from. She watched him go with curious eyes before he vanished into the crowd across the field.

"Good girl." Mephiles smirked, patting her on the head before turning to see a depressed Blaze roaming the campus grounds. "Looks like the next toy for my collection is coming along nicely."


For the last week, Silver had been a very attentive, kind, sympathetic shoulder to his newly-crowned best friend, Gold.

In her arrival here, Rotor was one of the kind people to welcome her to campus, and offer her someone to go to whenever she needed something. It was devastating to find out the kind walrus boy that toured her around on her first day had killed himself after such a revolting and traumatizing experience.

She was at least grateful for Silver's comfort, the white hedgehog that had allowed her to call him in the dead of night to cry, and the one who held her hand the whole way through this depressing time. The tenrec was quite sensitive, and really appreciated the hedgehog's tender nature.

They walked down the walkway toward the electives building, on their way to the music room. The tenrec adored classical music, and it just so happens that Silver is incredibly skilled at the piano as well as several other orchestra instruments.

He thought that maybe playing her something nice would lift her spirits, even just for a moment. He hated seeing her so sad, and felt bad himself after hearing the news of the fellow student's passing.

He held her hand tightly as they walked along, his amber eyes casted on her as he thought of how she must've felt when he was so depressed.

"Silver." A voice called out from behind them. They both turned their heads back to see a distraught Blaze, hazel eyes fixed on the hands they had clasped together.

Gold turned over to Silver before letting his hand go.

"I'll just meet you there…" She mumbled, worried that he might not show up after whatever conversation he was about to have with the cat.

"I won't take long." He called after her before turning back to Blaze with a blank stare. "I promise." He mumbled, unmoved by the cat's teary eyes and puckered bottom lip.

She walked closer to him until they were standing face-to-face. It pained her to see him not look back at her with an adoring or loving expression. He'd had enough of her and her selfish games, it was evident in the vacancy of his eyes.

"What do you want, Blaze?" He asked completely void of emotion.

"I wanted to say…that I'm sorry, Silver." She whimpered.

"Great." He nodded, "Are we done now?"

"I mean it this time!" The feline yelped, disheartened by foreign coldness he was showing her.

"You say that every time, and every time after that." He replied in reference to the countless times she had scorned him in these last few months, making her feel so low.

"I was wrong to try and change you. I love you, Silver, but—"

"Let me guess." He cut her off, "You love him too, right?"

"Only skin-deep." She admitted, making him shake his head in disapproval.

"You know what sucks? No matter how much you hurt me, I love you. And no matter how much I hate it, I can't change that." The white hedgehog turned his back to her, finishing up with a devastating line before walking off in search of, Gold. "But I don't want to be a casualty in your little games anymore. I deserve better than you. It's all of me or none of me, and you always end up choosing the latter. So until you get it together, just do me a favor and stay out of my life."


Up on the third floor of the boy's dormitory, the last door at the end of the hall on the right hadn't been opened in the last week. The room belonged to, Jet the Hawk.

It was dark, the curtains drawn shut and furniture scattered about in a disorganized mess. Thanks to the darkness, it was impossible to see the disastrous looking room. The dresser was toppled over, a mass of torn up papers littered the floor, and the twin-sized mattress was halfway off its frame, lime-green sheets torn to shreds.

On the mattress sat a zombified Jet, knees to his chest as he hugged them and rocked back in forth while staring into darkness. He hadn't moved out of this position for a week. Not to eat, use the bathroom, or sleep. He was filthy, and the condemned room had a disgusting odor to it.

Guilt had been eating him alive from the inside out ever since the discovery of Rotor's body, and secretly attending his victim's funeral had only worsened his catatonic state.

All he wanted was to beat him up, video tape it, and send it to Sally to teach her a lesson on speaking out against him, and scare all the gay kids straight. He didn't know Eclipse would take it so far, and he wish he hadn't.

"Chaos, it smells like shit in here." A voice called out after the door had finally opened, the light in the hall coming through to make the hawk squint in pain.

It was Eclipse the Darkling, his face twisted into that sick and angry look it was stuck on. He looked down at the traumatized hawk with a wicked half-grin.

"Good to see you won't be talking for a while." He snarled, "Not that you would if you could. The whole thing was your idea after all. If anyone's doing hard time for this shit, it'd be you."


A relieved Sally finally made it back to her room, slamming the door shut behind her before wiping off the stickier things that had been thrown her way before leaping onto her bed, clutching her pillow for dear life as she buried her face within it to cry.

Rather than putting in any effort to find out who the masked people in the assault video were, everyone had just casted the blame of Rotor's suicide and attack upon Sally, whose outspoken defense had put a target on his back.

The saddest part was that she herself even started to believe it.

She couldn't sleep or eat anymore, the weight of guilt on her chest caving in on her fragile heart.

She avoided her remaining friends, rarely spoke to anyone at all, and tried everything to hide whenever she could. With all the blaming and shaming, no one allowed her a second the grieve one of her oldest and dearest friend's death.

Thankfully Fiona was away, and she had the room to herself.

But she just couldn't find the strength to grieve, not with Cobar or anyone else's accusations on her mind. She held her pillow tightly, smothering herself as she closed her eyes shut and wished herself away.

"Sally?" A voice called out, making her sit up in fright.

She looked over to the now ajar door, a familiar monkey squeezing through before closing it behind himself. His heart broke for her, having seen the aftermath and outrage against her on campus for days.

Two weeks ago she had everything going for her. People started to like her, she started to get more comfortable with herself, and she was always smiling. But now she can barely keep it together.

He stepped over to her bedside, taking a seat next to her as he gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry about all of this. You don't deserve any of it."

"Just leave, Ken."

"It makes me sick how everyone around here is so quick to hate on you for standing up for him, when they were cheering you on less than two weeks ago for the same shit—"

"I should have just kept my mouth shut." She mumbled, "Maybe he'd still be alive."

"Don't talk like that! Like this your fault, because it isn't." He corrected her, using both hands to turn her face toward his so their blue eyes would meet. "One of your best qualities is being so outspoken on matters that most people are too afraid to speak out on. You gave Rotor a voice when he needed one, and for a short while he was truly happy. You aren't to blame here. Those sick fucks in that video are!"

The chipmunk's eyes began to line with long overdue tears, thankful to hear that someone didn't blame her.

"I miss him…"

"These people haven't given you a chance to grieve at all, have they?" Ken whispered, pulling her into a hug as he ran a hand through her auburn hair. "It's okay to cry, Sally…. I'm here with you, always."

"Thank you, Ken." She sobbed, finally allowing the repressed tears to escape her as she clung to the monkey for dear life. "Thank you…"


Knuckles sighed heavily as he walked through the grassy plains of the football field toward the bleachers he had become so used to escaping to in times of sorrow. The death of Rotor Walrus didn't have much baring on him, considering he didn't know the guy, but it got him thinking.

He'd never thought about suicide before, but it could have been a possibility before hearing that he had a daughter. He thanked Chaos for Lara-Su, because she made those kinds of thoughts impossible anymore. He couldn't picture leaving that little girl behind in a million years.

Just when he got to the bleachers, he noticed a familiar figure sitting on the spot he usual did around sunset. His presence alerted the boy sitting on the bench, because he picked up his head to meet the echidna's amethyst eyes with sapphire ones slightly shielded by auburn bangs.

"I thought I was the only one who came out here anymore." Knuckles smirked, "Considering its hella cold out these days."

"I always come here to think." The squirrel replied, turning his gaze back to the grass. "I haven't been around these last few days. Probably why we haven't run into each other here before…"

"Or maybe we've gotten into the habit of avoiding each other unconsciously now." The echidna snickered, coaxing a light chuckle from the prince as he took a seat beside him. He peered over at the squirrel curiously. "How was it? Seeing your daughter be born I mean…"

"Special…" Elias nodded.

"I wish I could've been there for mine…" The echidna frowned, "I feel so shitty about it sometimes."

"Hey, it's not your fault you didn't know."

"Still, if I had been there…she wouldn't be calling someone else her daddy."

Elias frowned, looking over to the disheartened echidna he used to loath so badly, only feeling the utmost empathy for him at the moment. The dynamic certainly had changed between them. For the first time ever, they weren't ignoring each other, or trying to outdo one another. They were both in the same sinking ship of depression and daddy issues.

"She's not mine."

"What?"

"Alexis… She's not mine."

"W-Wow…" Knuckles stammered, sitting up to stare at the squirrel with sympathetic eyes. "I'm…I'm sorry man…"

"Yeah…"

"So what are you gonna do?"

"I have no idea." Elias breathed out in a sorrowful tone, "I have no idea what to do…"

"Well, my advice as the bio-dad…Talk to her and find out who the real dad is, because for all you know, he might want her more than anything on the planet…"

Knuckles rose an eyebrow as the prince let out another chuckle.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing, it's just….who would have thought you and I would ever be sitting here and giving each other advice?"

"That's true." He laughed along, "Definitely not, Sonia. That's for sure."

"Sonia…" Elias repeated, a frown resurfacing on his face as he thought of the magenta girl he loved so much.


Amy sighed heavily, feet dragging across the sidewalk as she walked out of the electives building with her head hung low. She couldn't shake Sonic's rude comment, or that fact that he was sticking up for that chipmunk girl against her and his best friend.

She didn't want to believe he had any feelings for the auburn-haired girl, especially after the romantic night they had at Twinkle Park, so she chopped up all his angst to grief. She knew he used to be friends with the kid who committed suicide a long time ago, and figured he'd be upset about it. She on the other hand, like most students, didn't really care too much.

The only thing bringing her down was the possibility that her earlier comments might have ruined the possibility of her and Sonic getting back together yet again.

"You blew it again, you dunce." She scolded herself aloud, staring at her feet sorrowfully as she carried on.

"Yo!" a voice called out to her, making her stop in her tracks. She looked back over her shoulder to be greeted by a familiar smile, the same smile she adored on her blue crush. "Angel Face!"

"What do you want, Manic?" She groaned, turning back toward the direction she had been walking in.

He jogged up beside her, leaning over to meet her sorrowful gaze with one of concern.

"I wanna know what's got you bluer than my bro." He explained, pulling her back toward him by both wrists until they were face-to-face.

"He told me to go fuck myself." She mumbled.

"What? Where's the fun in that on his end?" Manic chuckled, trying to light up her spirits with jokes as he usual did in any given situation, only in her case it wasn't working out too well.

"He's so angry with me." She whimpered.

"You know how it goes with him." The green hedgehog sighed with an eye-roll, "He's always so damn over-dramatic. You can definitely expect an apology call from him later on."

"I hope so…" She sighed, starring down sorrowfully at her shoes.

Manic stared at her intently, tilting his head as he drifted back to the first day he ever encountered her, ironically wearing that same sad frown.

It was pouring rain that day, and he had just gotten off the bus with his blue umbrella when he noticed a soaked little pink hedgehog shivering in the cold with that frown.

"Hey, c'mon." He whined, lifting her chin with his hand to shoot her his goofy smile. "Let's not worry about all that right now. How about you treat me to some lunch with one of those gold credit cards, eh?"

She giggled in response, coaxing his cheeks to glow and his smile to soften.

"You're such a dork, Manic!" She jeered playfully, poking a dainty finger to his chest. "But I could use a good laugh or two, and a hot chocolate."

"I could go for just about any sort of company right now." Manic chuckled, swinging an arm over her shoulders as he steered her back toward the café.

"As if." Amy rolled her eyes, "You, Shadow, and Rouge are practically attached at the hip!"

"Usually." He corrected her, brows furrowed together in a confused look as he thought of his two best friends. "But things have been…a little awkward this last week. They seem to be kind of avoiding each other at the moment."

"Really? Why?"

"Not sure." He shrugged, pulling her closer. "But I've got a cutie treating me to a lunch date! So, really don't care at the moment."


To clarify a few things mentioned in several reviews:

1. Tommy Turtle and Mellow Bee died in a car crash on their way back to campus because they were high. Legally, the school isn't liable for their deaths because it didn't happen on school grounds. The only death their liable for is Rotor because he committed suicide on school grounds. There is an open investigation underway with the video of his assault going viral.

2. As Tails stated in his argument with Sonic, two-thirds of the school is homophobic, and Rotor wasn't bullied by just Jet alone. He was constantly harassed by several boys in the locker room and people around campus. Plus, there were five people in the video wearing masks, meaning it's not as clear-cut as we see it.

3. The LGBT community is hurt and looking to put the blame somewhere. They aren't sure who the assailants are, but they know who triggered them, and that was undoubtedly Sally's revolt.

4. The school can adopt a bullying policy until their blue in the face, but it all really comes down to kids following those rules, which we all know doesn't happen 99% of the time. Principal Acorn has hired more security and upped curfew, but we all know teens are the best at hiding what they do... It's not that the school is bad, it's the kids being quite secretive. If no one tells, nothing ever gets done, and so far no one tells.

Now, back to the chapter itself...

The duffle bag Jules left Alicia has been opened! And it contains over 75,000 letters (I had to do the math) A letter for literally every day since their breakup.

With all the misguided hate directed at Sally, no one has really given her a chance to even grieve her close friend. Will things ever get better for her? Only time will tell...

Amidst his old friend's untimely demise, Sonic's priorities have definitely flipped, in the gears of morality and consciousness have been slowly turning in his mind. Will he finally learn what's really important, and reconcile with his former friends? Or will he just fuck everyone over again?

Tails was finally faced with the mess he made of an insecure, hopelessly in love Cream. Maybe Sonic rubbed off on him a little too much when they were adoptive siblings, because the young kitsune has found himself in a similar dilemma to the boy he once called his big brother. Just what will he do?

Shard has finally learned the truth of Mina's child, and he's finally left her...but is it for good? Or will the hedgehog finally give Espio a run for his girl?

Silver is FINALLY growing a backbone, and has begun to realize his self-worth, but will his feelings for Blaze have him running back in no time at all? Or will he take a chance on something new?

Manic and Ken are both genuinely caring individuals, but will their chivalry and charm be enough to outdo the charismatic player plaguing the hearts of their respective love interests?

Next Time On Green Hill Academy!

Alicia reads some of Jules' letters...

Tikal forces Rouge to face a few underlying feelings and possibilities

Did you forget it's still December, and that Christmas is well on it's way? So did Gold and Silver...until they got caught under the mistletoe.

Poor Ray can never seem to catch a break...

Sally has a moment with all her love interests, but only one will steal a kiss

Shade finally makes a more direct advance on Knuckles, and he might just find himself walking back on that dark road he came from

Sonia and Amy both find themselves spending time with people they never even gave a second thought before

With Rosy's addiction worsening, is there even any hope of saving her?