Chemistry. Of all the classes Sonic took, chemistry was his least favorite. He had never had the knack for science, and it was the only class he ever came even close to failing. It was an afternoon class, too. Afternoon classes were when Sonic was the least able to concentrate, since he was almost always ready to go home as soon as he got done eating lunch, and often he'd find himself impatiently watching the clock or daydreaming about what he would do when he got home instead of paying any attention in class. So, it was a relief to see the words "LAB DAY" written on the blackboard in his teachers, neat feminine handwriting when he came into the classroom. He took a seat and waited for his friends to come in while the teacher set up things on the lab tables in the back.

Knuckles was the first to come in. "Hey, lab day!" He exclaimed. "Sweet!" He added, sitting down next to Sonic.

"It's better than learning about entropy or half life," said Sonic. "I wonder what we're doing today."

Before Knuckles could get a response in, Mighty flopped down into a seat on the other side of Sonic. "Yeah, we're doing a lab today. Ray told me it was kinda lame though when he did it." He said, haphazardly tossing his books on the desk.

Sonic scoffed. "Anything that isn't absolutely insane is lame to Ray. I'm just glad we aren't doing anything that requires massive brainpower."

The trio tried to theorize what the experiment could be as the rest of the class piled in before the bell rang to signify the beginning of class.

As the bell rang, the teacher, a relatively new teacher, Ms Montgomery made her way to the front of the class after finishing up organizing the back tables. "Good afternoon, class," She said, and then quickly took roll wordlessly, before continuing to speak. "So, if you'll recall, last class we talked about the transfer of heat. Well, today I have a little demonstration for you to observe, and then replicate at your stations. Please pay attention as I do this, take notes, even, because I will not be repeating myself. Okay?"

The class all agreed, and she began to do the experiment. Sonic tried his best to pay attention as she laboriously explained each step as she did them. Whatever he faltered on, he was sure Mighty and Knuckles wouldn't miss. At the end, Ms. Montgomery clasped her hands shut and smiled. "Now, more detailed instructions are at each table, and as always, I hope you took notes, as you can always refer to those as you are doing your work. Well, everyone get into your lab groups, grab some goggles and get to your stations!"

With that, Sonic, Mighty and Knuckles all got their goggles and went to their assigned lab table. As he had suspected, Mighty and Knuckles had indeed covered anything he had missed. As they did their work, they began to just chat, continuing the conversation that had begun in the morning, and through lunch: the foster kid.

"So, the kid, what'd ya say his name was?" Asked Mighty.

"Miles," said Sonic, carefully stirring a solution. "His name is Miles and he's in seventh grade. That's all I really know."

Knuckles took the beaker out of Sonic's hands. "Lemme check that," he muttered, looking at the instructions. Turning back to Sonic, he asked "Can we meet him sometime?"

Sonic shrugged as Knuckles did the next step in the experiment, and waited whiled Mighty stopped Knuckles to tell him he was pouring the solution wrong. "I mean, I don't think right away, but you'll meet him sometime eventually. You two and Ray are always at my place. My mom said he was kinda shy, so I think we have to like, ease him into life at my place, you know?"

"Shy?" Questioned Mighty.

"Yeah, he's apparently one of those super smart but also super awkward types."

Knuckles watched the mixture he just made, waiting for the change that was supposed to happen. While staring at the beaker, he said, "so a nerd."

Mighty grumbled. "Don't say that! He's basically a kid. He's probably shy because aren't foster places, like full of kids? Whatever, its just dumb to make fun of kids."

"What do you mean? I make fun of my kid cousins all the time, that's totally normal," retorted Knuckles.

"Cousins and siblings don't count. They're barely people. I just think its a dick move to call a kid you don't know a nerd."

"Hey!" Shouted Sonic, pointing to the reaction. It was currently bubbling over. "You were supposed to start pouring it over when it began to fizz you idiots. I can't believe I knew that over you two." He carefully tipped the beaker into the other one that they had prepared before, and finished the last part, a different reaction occurring. He called over Mrs Montgomery to clean up the mess and examine their results. It must have been good, as despite the mess, she seemed pleased with the boys, who were usually chronic experiment ruiners. "But, as you were saying, yeah, he does seem kinda nerdy, but I don't really care. I mean, there's not much I can complain about, its already been set into motion. All I can really do is go with the flow."

"So, you've accepted it?" Asked Knuckles.

"I guess I have. I just hope he isn't smarter than me."

Mighty chuckled. "I mean, in some places that isn't very hard. Just let us know when he's settled in, so we can see him or just hang out in general, cause the way you're talking we probably shouldn't come over and freak the kid out."

"Yeah. You might meet him earlier if my mom makes me walk him to school. I really hope she doesn't do that."

Knuckles cringed. "Ugh, that would suck. That's like the only time we get on school days where there isn't adults breathing down our necks."

"I'd also have to be near the middle school and all the little middle schoolers," added Sonic. "There's only so much thirteen year old exposure a guy can take."

"That would be the worst." Said Mighty as he cleaned up the work space and rinsed out the beakers. "Let's hope it won't work out like that."

"I'm sure it won't," said Sonic, shaking his head. "They wouldn't do that. My parents are weirdos, not sadists."

After reassuring himself and his friends some more that his parents would never do such a thing, Sonic went to the front of the room to collect the rest of his things. Once the bell rang, he was out like a shot as always, anxious to get to his next class and closer to the end of the day.