AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sheesh, I dunno what's up with me and my liking for pitting Sonic and Tails against each other, lol. I'm aware there are lots of people who are opposed to that idea (including me too, actually, to a very small extent) so hopefully this'll be the last story of this kind that I make because it's starting to get boring for some of you, I bet.

Anyway, I'm trying something new here where I (at least try to) write this story in first person. I'm aware that it does impose some limitations, but… I dunno, it seemed cool in my head. Again, it's also something new for me to try where I can use a lot more casual vocab and writing style since I'm not writing as some sorta omniscient narrator with a vast and fine array of vocabulary, but as a simple teenage boy imagining himself telling a personal story to whomever might be listening. But to be honest, after reading some other fanfics here and knowing that the former approach (3rd person narrator + elaborate, fancy diction) is the more dominant one, I'm not sure if I could pull this off really well. But… again, I'll try. Oh and since this is an AU (a free license to legalize excessive author freedom, maybe?), expect lots of OOC moments since character personalities, traits (mainly age), and their standings with others might be altered wildly.

Also I personally don't like posting stories that are half-done and would rather just post the entire complete thing all at once, but I've noticed that that's not the way most people roll around here, so… yeah, expect some pretty long breaks between chapters since by the time I'm writing this, I'm a 3rd year student which means that I need to start worrying about my thesis, and it's definitely not gonna be easy.

Finally, I wanna give a shoutout to WishMasteria on DeviantArt for being the creator of the original concept for this AU, for allowing me to write this fanfic based off of said AU, and for allowing me to use their art as the cover. I also wanna give another shoutout to John, an American friend of mine who helped me with making sure that my depiction of the high school is as accurate to a generic American high school as possible. And yes, even though this obviously doesn't take place in the US, I feel like it would fit since I want the school to have an American football team and the fact that most of my readers (if not most of all readers in this site) are from the US.

Chapter 1: Stranger in a Foreign Land

Hi. My name's Miles Prower but most people call me Tails. By the way, who am I telling this story to? …ehh, I guess it's just my mind rambling again to itself. Is it really, though? I dunno.

Anyway, my parents moved out from our hometown of Green Hills to Emerald Coast because my dad has a work project there. And that means soon I'll be "the new kid" at Emerald High. We moved in around two weeks too late to catch up with the beginning of the new study year in fall, so I didn't have the chance to blend in with the other freshmen. I know, right? Being the new kid in both school and town. Doesn't that feel a bit scary? At least that's what I felt when I parked my bike and looked at everyone around me for my first day at school. I could just feel how a lot of the other kids in the parking lot were staring at me, particularly at my twin tails that I've had since birth—hence the nickname. But, I just try to ignore them most of the time. I've had that kinda treatment all the way back to elementary so I'm quite used to it.

So I passed all those silently glaring and judging eyes and kept on walking to the school's entrance. I thought the worst was over already, but oh boy was I wrong. Because after that, a group of tall-looking kids in yellow-gray letterman jackets started blocking my way. There was a red echidna, a crocodile, and a green hawk. By the looks of them, I can already tell these were the local bullies/jocks. It was already pretty obvious from the first glance; how they're always bunching up together, loitering around in the hallways, their posture, all that stuff. I've always hated their kind. I tried not to make eye contact with them, but I guess my tails were just that much of an attraction magnet to them. This was one of those days where I wish I never had them. I mean I've grown to them over the years, but there are just some days where they can be a pain in the butt.

Anyway, the red echidna was first to talk. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You the new kid or somethin'?" He said while the other two were quick to back me against the lockers. I was basically surrounded. My heart was starting to pound a little bit but I tried my best to keep calm. These guys like it when they see their prey showing weakness.

"Y-yeah," I said back to him while struggling to keep a straight face. Then the crocodile started talking. "Hey, ya got two tails back there? What is that, some kinda birth defect?" I was about to open my mouth when the green hawk started to open his first. "Yeah, makes you look like a freak, y'know that?" To which everyone laughed.

Can't believe it's only been what, a couple of minutes? And somebody already said it. That word. "Freak." The one word in the English language that I probably hate the most. The one word that's always been labelled to me for as long as I can remember. I can understand "birth defect," but "freak?" No way. I wasn't going to just stand there and take it. If I could, I'd punch their stupid faces right there and then. But… I knew better not to get into any trouble, especially on my first day. Besides, I don't think I'd win easily against a bunch of jockstraps who are most likely on steroids. That'd be stupid of me.

So I just sucked it up while still keeping my head level. And then the echidna started talking again. "Anyway, lemme tell ya somethin' kid: we're the bosses 'round this place so ya better know that. I'm Knuckles and this is Vector and Jet," he said while pointing to the crocodile and then the hawk. "Best remember those names if ya don't wanna get hurt. Anyway, what aboutcha, squirt? What do you go by?"

"Miles. But everyone calls me Tails," I told them, and they laughed again, this time louder than before. Figures. "Man, they really wanna drive home the point that you're a freak, huh? I'm so glad I'm not you," said Jet. There, they said it again. "Freak." It's like they're actually looking for a fight. One of these days, I might just snap and do it for real.

After the laughter died down, Knuckles, the guy with the absurdly large hands (who's the freak here, I wonder), talked again, much to my annoyance. "So… Tails. Betcha think you're smart or somethin', huh?" I told him, "What makes you think that?" "Well duh, why else wouldja wear that brain t-shirt?" He replied while poking my shoulder. "Yeah, your mommy picked that for ya, huh? Momma's boy?" Vector said. And… they laughed. Again. Could there possibly be any other sound that's more annoying than that? Seriously, at that time, I just felt like I wanna disappear somewhere else that isn't here, or rather have them disappear to wherever the hell it is, for all I care.

Also, I probably should have told you this earlier, but to get an idea of how I look, most of the time I wear a black t-shirt with a brain decal on the front under a red flannel shirt. I also wear a pair of dark blue jeans and red sneakers with stars on the sides. And about the brain t-shirt: no, my mom didn't pick it for me. I've had it since junior high and it's been stuck on me ever since. But, of course, no point in saying that to these braindead morons. They'd just come back with more lame insults. So, again, I sucked it all up.

"Man, I can tell we're gonna get along just fine, right dudes?" Knuckles said while nudging his friends' shoulders. They both nodded as if they were his yes men or something. Knuckles then talked again, "Listen kid, ya ain't good to us if ya don't help us, so be a good boy and give us a hand sometime, yeah? We'll find ya when we need ya. See ya round, squirt." After that, they finally left me alone. About time too.

Well, so much for a normal first day. Usually when those kinda people say they need your help, it's always about homework. That's right, they're so braindead they can't even finish something that's meant for their level. So they decide to hand it over to someone who's in a lower grade than they are and expect to get an A for it. Just shows you how dumb these kids are.

But I'm determined not to let that bad first impression get a hold of me. I'm pretty sure there are way more nice kids in this place than there are rotten ones like those. So, I kept on walking the hallways, getting myself familiar with the layout while also looking for my new locker and math class, first subject of the period. After finding the locker and putting most of my stuff in there (save for my book and pencil case), I eventually found where my class was and walked in. There were around 20 other kids in my class and I guess that's a reasonable size. But, as always, they started to whip out the awkward stares and murmurs. Before I came in they were mostly just talking amongst themselves but now that I'm here, it's like they had to stop whatever it is they were doing and pay attention to me and my y'know-what. But… they'll probably stop after a few days.

I looked around and, no surprise, the only empty seat in the classroom was the one directly across the teacher's desk and next to the window. I personally don't really mind, so I just sat there without having any other choice. Thankfully though, somebody next to me immediately tried to strike up a conversation with me. For once, I wasn't the one who's putting themselves at risk of being socially awkward.

"Hey, you're the new kid, right? My name's Charmy, Charmy Bee," he said while offering his hand for me to shake. So, Charmy is… well, a bee, who's wearing what appeared to be a light blue polo shirt along with a pair of tan trousers and orange sneakers. His hair's also short and kinda messy.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Miles Prower, but you can call me Tails," I replied while shaking his hand. And… y'know after saying that, I'd expect him to bring that up, or even annoy me about it. But, surprisingly, he didn't. In fact, the next thing he said was "Ah, okay. So where are you from, Tails?" Thank goodness, finally someone who isn't a jerk in this school.

So we spent the first few minutes talking about some basic stuff, like my hometown, why I moved here, what I need to know about this school and town, and that's where Charmy mentioned something that made me go a bit sour.

"Hey, you didn't happen to bump into some guys in letterman jackets at the entrance, did you?"

"Too bad I did. Who are those stuck-up jerks anyway?"

"They're part of the football team. Just about everyone in there is a bully, really. I'd say just stay away from them completely."

"Ah, figures. You ever got into trouble with them?"

"Just this one time. They made me give them my lunch money or they said they'd beat me up. Said it was "protection tax" or something." And honestly, hearing that got my blood boiling a little bit. Hard to believe those kinda brutes still exist even after I move to another place. Guess it's just another hard pill to swallow.

"What!? Sheesh, the nerve of those guys… I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thanks. What about you, though? What did they do to you?"

"Not much. They just made fun of me and my… y'know, these," I said while pointing at my double namesakes. I gotta admit, talking about them can be pretty embarrassing.

"Oh! Umm… about that, if you don't mind me asking, how'd you end up with that? Like, does the other one move?"

"Oh that, uhh… it… umm…" I tried my best to come up with something to say, but I just couldn't. I could feel my face turning a bit red and my body tensing up. I know he was just asking, politely too, but I can't help but feel intimidated every time somebody asks me about them. I guess it's because of all those years of elementary and junior high where everyone constantly pokes fun at me just for having these.

Then Charmy became a bit flustered. I guess he noticed how nervous I was. "A-ahh! That's fine, you don't have to answer any of those. I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't say things like that."

"N-no no, it's cool. I get that a lot, really. Haha," I said, trying to shrug it off. But… yeah, I got a good feeling about Charmy. So far, he seems like a decent guy. He's shared my experience of being bullied by those jocks and he respects my "deformity," unlike most of the kids I've met in the last schools I've been to. Glad I found a potential friend already.

Just then the bell rang. It was time for our first period. Just a few seconds later, the teacher immediately came in. I could tell he's very punctual because normal teachers would come in around 5 minutes after the bell rings, right? Well, not him. Anyway, there wasn't anything special that happened in class. I was introduced to everyone, we learned about algebra, all that kinda stuff you probably won't find interesting… But if you ask me, math has always been one of my favorite subjects; that and physics. I know, I know. I'm a nerd and I fully acknowledge that, heh. Speaking of physics, that was also the subject for the second period. So after math class I went for my locker, exchanged books, and went to physics class. Again, nothing unusual. At least that was until lunch came by.

The bell rang again and that meant second period is over and it's lunchtime. So Charmy and I went to our lockers to store our books and then headed straight for the cafeteria. The place was pretty big, as you'd expect. It's littered with all kinds of students sitting at their tables, enjoying their meals, and most importantly, putting themselves in the right circle of friends. That's another problem for me, but at least I'm not alone in that matter. I've got Charmy who might be looking for the perfect spot as well.

While we were lining up to get our food, Charmy and I got to know each other even better. He told me, "So yeah, guys like those give athletes a bad name, y'know? It's disgusting."

"Heh. Yeah, tell me about it," I said while chuckling a bit.

"Oh yeah I'll definitely tell you about it. In fact, after orientation, I actually considered joining the football team." Yeah, you can probably imagine how I reacted to that.

"You what!?"

"Yeah. The thing about me is I like sports. I've done lots of 'em since I was little, but after seeing how everyone was like in the team and having my lunch money robbed? Pfft. Yeah, right. I'm not gonna get grouped together with a bunch of low-life bullies and I don't ever plan to. Like I said, they give other athletes a bad name."

"Oh, right… well, good to know there's still a normal athlete out there."

"I know, right? But I'm still considering other sports teams. Last week I tried out for the basketball team but they said I was too short or something. So this week I'm-" Charmy stopped. That's because I kinda snickered when I heard the part about him being short. I know I really shouldn't have done that, but luckily he can take a couple of jokes here and there.

"Aww come on man, don't be like that," he said, nudging my arm with his elbow while laughing along. And after that, we finally got to the front of the queue to pick up our food tray. Now it was just a matter of finding that sweet spot. I scanned around, looking for familiar faces—namely classmates that look approachable—or empty tables while Charmy continued talking about his liking for sports. I tried my best to keep listening, but I guess I was more focused on browsing along.

"Anyway, like I said, this week I'll be trying out for the soccer team. And if that fails too, I still blah blah blah…"

Now as much as I'd like to be a good friend and listen to him talk about his passion, someone else really familiar managed to get all of my attention. Could it be? That guy sitting right over there… he looks like- no… no way, really!? B-but then, why would he…?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, I gotta say, transitioning from writing an action-centered story like my last one (A Broken Bond) into a mostly mundane one like this where the characters aren't superheroes anymore (because AU lmao) felt a bit jarring, especially with the change of POV. This might be something that I'll need to get more used to later on, but for the first chapter, what do you guys think? All inputs are highly appreciated. Don't worry though, later on there will be more aspects of drama and even a bit of action near the climax. I already have a rough estimation on how this entire story will go, so hopefully it's decent enough to hold on its own as things unfold.