Arthur awoke the next morning feeling like a new aardvark. Usually he would feel refreshed after a good night's sleep, but today, he noticed he had a feeling of exhilaration, as if he had ultimately been reborn during the night while he was fast asleep. This was very peculiar, even for him; but Arthur took a liking to this alternate sensation.
In his blueish gray pajamas, he got out of bed, put his glasses on, and gazed outside. It appeared as if it was to be a splendid day once again. The sun was brightly beaming in a sky whose clouds were nothing more but light streaks. The conditions were nice to perform outdoor activities; unfortunately, Arthur had no free time to do so- he had to go to school and meet up with Sharkbite afterwards. He didn't care at all. What mattered to him was he was going to start a new life with a new best friend.
Arthur walked away from the window and made his way out of his room and to the bathroom. While he brushed his teeth, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. His facial expression had absolutely no emotion built into it- just like the feelings he had during school the previous day. However, Arthur took no notice of how his face was molded and carried on with his morning brushing.
After returning to his room and coming back out a few minutes later dressed in his everyday attire, Arthur strolled down the stairs and made his way to the kitchen where he always ate breakfast. Just like every other morning, he would enjoy a bowl of cereal and perhaps some juice to get the day rolling. As he entered the kitchen, Jane was at the sink washing some dishes, which was unusual considering that it was David who mostly did the dishes. Kate was up in her highchair, cooing and moving her hands and head as she would normally do- it was ordinary for babies to do such things as they were curious and playful. Sitting in one of the chairs was who else but D.W., dining on a bowl of fruit-flavored cereal. Arthur quietly sighed- even though he wanted to sigh louder as recognition that his good mood was already evaporating like liquid to gas -and went to the cupboard to fetch a bowl.
Once he found one, Arthur walked over to the table and placed it in front of one of the chairs. Next he went to a drawer for a spoon. Finally he poured some cereal and milk into the bowl and had a seat. As he took his first bite, D.W. glanced up from her bowl to look at Arthur. "You missed a really good episode of 'Mary Moo Cow', Arthur," she told him as if she was boasting.
Arthur desired to grunt. It was bad enough that he couldn't watch television for a few more days; but the thought of hearing his younger sister brag about how she still had her privileges was just downright disgusting. He rolled his eyes and replied, "I don't care about that now. I have certain matters to attend to."
D.W. smirked. "And what might they be?" she asked; her tone of voice sounded to Arthur like she was going to use them for her own evil deeds.
"That's none of your business," Arthur calmly proclaimed.
"I doubt that," said D.W. without showing irritation. "You're up to something, aren't you?"
Arthur felt the need to raise his voice when he spoke. Because his mother was in the room with them and she always seemed to side with the youngest, he knew that he had to fight against the urge within him. As he grappled against his inner rage, Arthur was able to calmly tell her: "It's nothing you or anybody else should be worried about."
"As if," D.W. replied, clearly aware that her brother was- in her case -ready to shatter like a glass window struck by a baseball. She went on to tell him, "You really think you can get away with everything? Sadly, you can't. No matter what you try do, the only thing that you'll get is-"
"That's enough," said Arthur abruptly. Usually it was Jane who would say something like that. However she was too busy at the sink to speak, which was ridiculous since all she had to do was turn around, speak for a moment, and then carry on with her work. That didn't bother Arthur one bit. He turned to his mother and announced, "Mom, I may be a little late when I come home for some time."
Jane pivoted her head to her son. "What for?" she inquired.
Arthur didn't hesitate to fabricate a lie. He actually thought up of a perfect excuse to convince everyone not to be concerned about him. He told her: "Mr. Haney asked me if I could help out with refurbishing some parts of the school with a group of other kids."
"Why wouldn't he just call me to let me know?" Jane asked.
Once more, Arthur didn't stutter- he also saw this coming and made up another lie while in his room. "He said he was much to busy with all of the problems he was facing at the time to make any phone calls."
To Arthur's satisfaction, Jane bought it. "I guess you can help your principal out if it's that important," she said. "Just don't get hurt or stay out too late, okay?"
"I promise," Arthur replied with a nod.
Arthur ate a few more bites of his milk-soaked cereal before D.W. stared at him in deep suspicion. "You're definitely hiding something," she growled at a volume which only Arthur could hear; "and I'm gonna find out what it is!"
"D.W., it's best if you stay out of this," Arthur advised. "Nobody wants you getting hurt by goofing around in places where you shouldn't be."
This infuriated D.W. greatly. She raised her voice when she next spoke. "I do not goof around!" she objected. "I've never goofed around in my life! You just say that to make yourself better than me! You think you can waltz up to me and start crushing my dreams; well, you can't! I'm going to make sure that you-"
"D.W., that's enough shouting!" Jane roared. "Your brother has something important he has to do and if he needs to do it by himself, then perhaps you shouldn't be making such a fuss over it!"
"BUT, MOM!" D.W. began her objection.
"BUT NOTHING!" Jane yelled. The intensity of her voiced caused D.W. to hide behind her chair. "Now sit down and finish you breakfast! School starts in a few minutes!"
Arthur watched in his own hidden enjoyment as D.W. sat herself back down in her chair and continued eating. Arthur carried on with eating his cereal as well. But as he did so, he could not help but wickedly grin at what had just occurred. She just never seems to learn, he thought.
Once the dishes were placed in the dishwasher, Arthur hurried back up to his room while D.W. remained where she was. It was obvious that she was silently pouting over her mother scolding her, which had put a damper on her possible plot to get her brother in trouble and have more privileges taken away from him. Of course that was what Arthur though she had been planning to do- he had no actual idea what she was up to, nor did he even care. If she was devising some sort of strategy, she would have to plan it precisely- it had to have been real and not something depicted in the cartoons that were shown on television. And who would assist her in constructing and pulling off the plan? Her best friend Emily? Timmy and Tommy Tibble? Her other best friend James? Better yet, what explanation could D.W. give when she was caught? Just the thought of his younger sister's plan backfiring greatly and getting her into hot water was pleasing Arthur. He commenced imagining what the scene would be like. He could just see himself sitting on the staircase listening to the storm in the living room as his mom and dad berated D.W. over what she had done, and D.W.'s piercing squalling was highly audible. The punishments that the 4-year old would be sentenced to would be even more satisfying for Arthur to hear. It would be at that moment when he would believe that karma had done its work, and the ghosts of the model airplane incident had been laid to rest. He could only wish that that day would come.
Arthur zipped up his backpack, strapped it over his shoulders, and raced downstairs. He had spent the time in his room to get himself organized. Mostly, though, he used the spare time he had to ponder about what the future had in store for him. He was well aware that he had to go through numerous portions of training, but he knew that in the end it would all be worth it. Just like Derek had told him and Sharkbite that in order to gain access to the fitness area, an extra pair of clothes was to be required. So, long before he left his room, Arthur made sure that he had a spare shirt and pants stored inside his backpack.
The ride to school was quiet for the most part. Arthur didn't speak a single word to either Jane or D.W. who didn't take note of it. Jane was concentrating on keeping her attention on the road, while D.W. grumpily sat with her arms crossed and her eyes fixed on the floor. Both Arthur and his mother could tell that she was still fuming from the event that occurred in the kitchen. Jane was sure that her bad mood would wear off in a matter of time. She was secretly worried that D.W. may lash out on one of the kids at preschool and possibly hurt someone. A fight was a thing that she and David did not want to learn about. Arthur, on the other hand, thought that if his younger sister was caught starting a brawl and earned herself an extremely harsh lecture and punishment, he would gladly say that they were- in a way -even.
The car stopped in front of Lakewood Elementary School and Arthur hopped out. He entered the building and quickly decided that he was to repeat the actions he committed the other day- meaning he would not communicate with anyone else; even those of a higher superiority. If an adult was to catch him in an area where students were not permitted to be in or he was acting unlike himself, Arthur would make sure that he had a logical excuse to get himself out of trouble before hand. Everything was to be just the way it was the previous day.
Arthur wandered through the school hallways without attracting the attention of teachers or any of his ex-friends. He was acquainted with the fact that none of his peers would desire to chat with him due to his hostile behavior- he didn't mind at all that they all saw him as a wrongdoer since he was due to start boxing training after school. Arthur figured that as long as Sharkbite indoctrinated him well enough, he would be tough and fearless, and not afraid to show anyone who dared step in front of him that he was always ready to brawl with nothing but his bare hands.
When the school bell rang to officially start the day, Arthur made his way to Mr. Ratburn's classroom. Just like all of the other students present, he stayed silent throughout his teacher's lecture about whatever he was discussing with his pupils. Arthur forced himself to stay awake during the teaching session, as well as alert if Mr. Ratburn was to ask him about whatever the class was learning about. For him, it was grueling, but it had to be done.
Gym class and recess were equally pleasurable. Arthur was able to put his body into full use long before he was scheduled to start training. That would be something both Sharkbite and Derek would be pleased to hear about. Everyone was astounded by the aardvark's agility in the game they were playing. Arthur seemingly obtained unimaginable knowledge to detect when a large rubber ball was about to be thrown at him. He managed to dodge a great amount of them until he was finally struck out. The other kids chatted secretly with one another about Arthur, commenting on his skills- it occurred during the game and after the class had ended. Francine did admit that Arthur had suddenly became an expert overnight, but she still looked at him in repugnance for not yet apologizing and admitting he was wrong to punch his sister. Buster, however, still had his wishes to speak to his former best friend again and bring him back to reality. He was never given that chance; he couldn't break away from his friends. His desires were especially strong by observing Arthur on the jungle gym doing pull-ups. Buster could tell that something was up, he just didn't know what it was.
When it was time for everyone to eat lunch, Arthur snuck away with generating a sound and hid in the boy's bathroom nearby. He was well aware that someone might have seen him, but he hardly cared about it just like everything else. In one of the stalls, the aardvark opened his lunchbox and started dining on what had been prepared for him. Arthur knew that in order to be active, he had to have tons of energy- that meant he had to eat something. He remembered that he had some money his parents had given him to buy his own lunch from the cafeteria the previous day. He recalled predicting what would've happened if he had been in the cafeteria, searching for a place to sit and eat. That was the inspiration for him to sneak into the boy's bathroom and await for the period to be over. It was dreadful for him to go without a meal for a short time, but it was worth it keeping himself distanced from everyone else. He believed that no one wanted to be around a person who could become so angry that he would resort to use violence against them. Just the sound of it was enough to make Arthur enraged.
Eventually, the last school bell rang and everyone went on their way home. Arthur dashed out the door along with all of the other kids who were desperate to finally be free for the rest of the day. He easily broke away from the sea of kids and walked on in the direction of where he was most likely to encounter Sharkbite. When he was about a few feet away from the school, the familiar gray-furred rabbit appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. Arthur did not jump in surprise, he had expected this. "What's up, Sharkbite?" he asked.
"Nothin' much, Arthur," replied Sharkbite. "How about you?"
"I did a ton of things to prepare myself for our training," Arthur explained. "I dominated a lot of people during our game of dodge ball, I made sure that I ate something healthy for lunch, and I did pull-ups on the jungle gym."
Sharkbite patted Arthur on his back. "Nice to hear that you're taking your training very seriously," he commented.
"I'm willing to do whatever you say!" Arthur stated with great devotion. "The only thing I'm worried about is losing my energy from just thinking about it!"
"Just relax, kid," said Sharkbite calmly. "We should make it there in a few minutes."
Arthur and Sharkbite continued strolling through Elwood City until they found themselves in the familiar area where "Steel Muscles" was located. Just as they were about to go down the staircase, Sharkbite stopped Arthur by holding his arm out. "You got some clothes, right?" he asked.
"In my backpack," Arthur replied.
"Excellent," said Sharkbite. "Let's do this!"
Arthur and Sharkbite entered the boxing gym looking confident as ever. The noticeable sight of Derek facing away from his desk- who was peering down at something that was interesting him immensely -was the first thing they saw. Sharkbite chuckled and knocked on the wooden top of the desk. "Now don't tell me you got porn back there!" he said.
Derek immediately swung around in his chair to glare at Sharkbite. "If I told you once, Mark, I'll say it again!" he snarled. "I do not bring pornography into the building!"
Sharkbite, who was not fazed by Derek's fierce roar, simply snorted. "Says you."
The enormous bear got out of his chair and stood upright. He looked as if he was willing to tear Sharkbite in half. But when Derek was about to bellow once again, Arthur jumped in. "Sharkbite, don't you think we should be getting on with our training?" he inquired.
"Oh yeah," Sharkbite replied, his head pivoted towards Arthur. "I nearly forgot about that." He turned back to Derek and told him, "We came here like you said, we brought some clothes, now let us in if you please."
Derek lowered himself back into his chair and calmed down. "If you insist, Mark," he said in some sort of murmur. "You know where to take him."
"Right," said Sharkbite. He started walking to a door on the right near the front desk, which was decorated with a poster that appeared as a sign that read in bold capital letters: "STAFF AND MEMBERS ONLY". "Come on, Arthur," he told his friend. "We got a lot of work ahead of us."
Arthur smiled and followed behind his friend and coach through the door. They entered a long, narrow corridor that was dimly lit. Such conditions could stir fear in anyone, but Arthur did not sense it. He figured that since Sharkbite was a regular at the boxing gym, he would be informed if something was wrong. The aardvark kept his cool as the older rabbit guided him to the near end of the hallway. On both sides were door-less entrances that had a sign on each flank. Sharkbite turned to the right and, as he walked in, said, "This is the boy's locker room."
Once again, Arthur followed Sharkbite, this time into the dark room. It wasn't pitch black for long, though. Sharkbite found the light switch and flipped it on. The fluorescent lights flickered to life, revealing the spacious room that the duo were presently in. A long row of lockers and benches occupied the left side while the right side there was two other door-less entryways- one for the bathroom area and the other for the showers. It was highly similar to a locker room seen in a high school, but Arthur was not aware of that since he was only in elementary school. Nevertheless, he was fascinated.
The sounds of a lock being unlatched and some sort of door creaking open broke the silence. Arthur looked to where they came from and saw Sharkbite opening on of the rusty lockers. The rabbit turned to his pal and student. "You better get changed fast so we don't waste time," he advised.
"But where do I put my stuff?" asked Arthur.
"Don't worry about that," replied Sharkbite. "I'll just shove it into my locker. You don't have anything valuable in your backpack, right?"
"I don't think so."
"Well don't worry about that now. Just change into your spare clothes and then we'll be off to the fitness area."
Arthur didn't question Sharkbite and obeyed, taking his backpack into the bathroom area.
A moment later, the aardvark returned dressed in a maroon t-shirt and cobalt blue shorts. The rabbit was also wearing his spare outfit. Unlike Arthur's fitness clothing, Sharkbite was wearing what appeared to be a basketball uniform. "Where did you get that?" inquired a very awestruck Arthur.
"I used to play basketball in middle school," Sharkbite explained. "I was the big star of the game."
"Were you really?"
"Hell yeah! Something like that is what makes me qualified to be a trainer. Now, before we getting rolling, let me take care of your stuff for you."
Arthur complied and handed Sharkbite his backpack. The rabbit was surprisingly careful placing it inside his locker- he did say he would "shove" it into his locker. Sharkbite closed the locker and placed the lock back where it was. Arthur heard the noticeable clock that signaled that the contents inside the locker were now secured. Afterwards, Sharkbite started to walk away. The young aardvark followed the older rabbit out of the locker room, through the corridor, and up a flight of stairs. At the summit was a door that had some sort of sing on it. Arthur could barely make it out in the faint light. He kept climbing up the stairs behind Sharkbite who- once he reached the top -reached for the knob and turned it. Light poured in almost instantly. Arthur had to shield his eyes for a second before he carried on ambling up the stairs after Sharkbite.
Sharkbite had led Arthur to a gigantic room that he thought resembled the school gymnasium. What made it stand out from any place he had ever visited was that the area he and Sharkbite were in was elevated above the main floor, held up by sturdy beams. His surroundings were mostly exercise equipment like treadmills, dumbbells, and scales. Arthur strolled to the railing that was installed to keep people from falling. Just one glance was all it took for the aardvark's eyes to widen and his jaw to drop. Below him was a massive area full of more equipment like suspended punching bags, boxing gloves, and other types of equipment that he wasn't familiar with. But what stood out the most was the square-shaped platform in the near center. It was huge and had firm ropes surrounding the edges of the platform, acting like a barrier. There were also a few miniature step stools by each corner- Arthur guessed it was to help people get in and out of the thing, whatever it was.
Arthur continued to look down at the lower area as Sharkbite appeared by his left side. He smiled greatly. "That's where you'll be in the future," Sharkbite told him. Arthur turned his attention to the rabbit. "I can just see it now," he continued. "You're in the ring, it's the last round. The face of the other wrestler is covered in bruises and blood. He is so weak that he cannot stand against you in another round, but he has no choice. Though he pleads for mercy, you show him no mercy! He falls to the ground and the referee counts to three. He raises your arm and announces you as the winner while the crowd cheers for your victory."
"Will that really be me in the future?" Arthur inquired.
"Only if you believe it in your heart," Sharkbite answered. He stepped away and said, "And in order to get yourself there, you must be strong and confident. We'll start off with lifting weights."
"But what about the actual fighting?" Arthur did not ask him like he first believed he could fight but rather out of his own thought.
"That comes later," replied Sharkbite. "If we skip the strength-building portion, you won't be able to stand against any of your future opponents."
Arthur understood and showed it with a nod. Sharkbite smiled once again and led his pupil to the steel rack where the dumbbells were stored. Each pair was a different size and had a different amount of weight to it. Arthur was told to take a seat on one of the nearby benches. He obeyed and Sharkbite grabbed a pair of small dumbbells. "This should be an easy start for you," he said giving them to Arthur. "They are only five pounds."
It was indeed easy. Arthur was able to hold both weights in his hands without any difficulties. He lifted them up and down gently in the same fashion as a person would pull the whistle to a steam locomotive. Sharkbite was pleased with his student's actions. "You're totally getting the idea," he told him. "Now try lifting the weights by moving only your elbows."
Arthur did just that.
After what felt like a full minute, Sharkbite instructed Arthur to lift the dumbbells in a very active way. He was to first lift with his elbows, then raise his arms up into the air and then bring them back down. The aardvark did not disappoint. He was learning fast.
Sharkbite stepped back to the rack and picked up a duo of dumbbells that were noticeably larger than the five pound dumbbells. He carried them to Arthur and said, "You're doing great, Arthur. Let's boost you up to ten pounds."
Arthur ceased lifting the dumbbells he had to glare at Sharkbite. "Ten pounds?" he asked.
"Yeah," Sharkbite responded. "Five pounds are nothing to comment about. Ten pounds however are seen by many of us as the best way to test out someone's strength." He handed the dumbbells to the aardvark. "Now place those weights on the floor and take these."
Though he desired to object out of slight fear that he would be seen as "weak", Arthur forced himself to grab hold of the ten pound dumbbells. Immediately when Sharkbite released his grip, the weight of the objects in Arthur's hands took effect, causing the young aardvark's arms to drop down. Gravity was pulling him down, but somehow Arthur commenced resisting against it. He used all of the strength within him to pull them up. He was of course making grunting noises to symbolize his struggle, and yet Sharkbite didn't disapprove of it. Instead he started motivating Arthur to keep him from giving up. "Keep going, Arthur!" said Sharkbite encouragingly. "Put those muscles to good use! I have faith in you!"
As Sharkbite continued to give verbal support to Arthur, none of them noticed the door swing open from behind. The aardvark had raised the dumbbells up to his shoulders when a new voice made itself present. "What do we have here?"
The voice was of a male. He must have been well known to Sharkbite because he instantly turned around to whoever spoke. Arthur stopped lifting to catch his breath and look at the person who entered. As it turned out, there were two people who had entered. Standing by the door that had previously been slammed shut was a dog and a rat, both tall and muscular, and way older than Sharkbite. The dog crossed his beefy arms as he strolled up to them. "Since when do we allow little kids to be here?" he asked Sharkbite in the common tone of a school bully. "Don't you know the rules of this place, Fumbine?"
"Hey, Arthur here is not just some ordinary kid!" roared Sharkbite. "He actually fought off this older kid and sent him to the big house!"
The dog and rat snorted in disbelief. "Who are you trying to fool here?" the rat asked as he looked at Arthur. "There's no way in hell that this rug rat could stand a chance against anyone!"
Arthur was insulted and the rage within him grew like a fire blossoming in a newly-lit campfire. "How would you know? You weren't even there!" he snarled.
Neither the dog or rat were visibly surprised by the aardvark's outburst. Instead, the dog stepped forward and growled, "Keep your lid shut, you little shrimp! I ain't in the mood to be teaching anyone manners!"
"Then back off!" yelled Sharkbite.
The dog and rat, who were undoubtedly capable of committing greater harm than Arthur could, walked away from the duo in a huff. Arthur leaned close to Sharkbite and asked in a quiet whisper: "Just who do those guys think they are?"
"Austin Evarun and Kyle Neom, the so-called big shots of this place," Sharkbite explained. "Nine years ago, they both were seen as vulnerable dorks in high school. But after stepping in here for the first time, they got stronger and tougher and they began overpowering those who bullied them. Somehow they escaped the authorities and continued doing what they did. I guess we both can agree that they have gone insane."
Sharkbite then glanced over at Austin and Kyle; Arthur did as well. The menacing duo were chatting among themselves while standing far away from the rabbit and aardvark. It was obvious that they were talking about Arthur's presence in the building. The more he observed them engaging in silent conversation, Arthur could feel more anger build up inside of him. He attempted to control his overpowering sensation, yet it seemed to dominant his mind. Sharkbite noticed his friend's mental battle and got his attention by shaking him by the shoulder. "You okay, Arthur?" he asked.
"Of course I am," Arthur replied; just by the tone of his voice could convince someone that he was having great difficulty keeping his anger under control. "It's just that...that-"
"Those two bastards are pissing you off?" Sharkbite guessed.
Arthur was not shocked by his partner's use of profanity, but he shrugged it off and said, "They sure are!"
His voice was loud enough for Austin and Kyle to hear. The rat, who one could guess was Kyle, spun around to face Arthur and Sharkbite and roared, "WE ARE WHAT?!"
Sharkbite stood up. "You both are pissing Arthur off!" he growled.
"So?" replied the dog who was perhaps Austin.
"So you have no right to boss him around!" Sharkbite snarled.
"We're not bossing anyone around!" Kyle objected. "We're just not comfortable with some little kid running around in this place."
That was just enough to make Arthur completely furious. He stood up from his seat on the bench with the ten pound dumbbells still in his hands and hollered, "Are you saying I'm nothing more but a mindless 8-year old?! You seriously have no idea what I can do! If I am just a kid, would I be able to do this?!"
Arthur grasped the dumbbells tightly and lifted them up to his shoulders. Anyone at that moment could've told him that he was being ridiculous. However, before Austin or Kyle could open their mouths, the aardvark raised the weights into the air above the sides of his head, and kept them there for everyone in the area could see.
Sharkbite grinned at Arthur's success while Austin and Kyle stared in total disbelief. "I'll be damned!" muttered Kyle.
"How is he doing that?!" Austin questioned in awe.
"He's just getting started, my friends," Sharkbite told the two burly men. "The way I see it, Arthur is on the road to a great future! With the right training he is willing to undergo, our youngest member will be a non-stop fighting machine! No matter who dares to challenge him, even if they are tough-built or smart, they will end up on the floor unable to move! That is how I see the future of Elwood City's youngest boxing champion, Arthur Read!"
Austin and Kyle glanced at each other before they looked back at Sharkbite. "You do realize he could get hurt, right?" said Austin.
Sharkbite thought that they were trying to call his bluff- though he was secretly concerned about what would happened if Arthur was to step into the boxing ring for his first brawl. He brushed it off and replied, "So he might get a jab to the cheek once in a while. That doesn't mean he's going to get defeated all the time. And besides, it's not like he's going to break his arm or something. He'll go through the best training I can provide and you'll see how clever a kid like Arthur can be."
The duo were ready to question him some more, but they decided not to. They figured that they would not be able to persuade Sharkbite that a person like Arthur was not worthy of becoming a boxer. Both Austin and Kyle strolled away and each hopped onto a treadmill.
The four individuals remained in the upper fitness area for about an hour. While Austin and Kyle walked on the treadmills at a steady pace, Arthur continued to undergo pre-training with Sharkbite instructing him. During this time, the rabbit and aardvark would chat a little about certain things. While in the midst of one conversation, Arthur had said, "That reminds me of how I got to come here."
Sharkbite had become a bit curious about that remark. "What does that mean?" he inquired.
"I knew my parents would probably get worried about me if I didn't come home after a few hours," Arthur explained; "so I told my mom that I was doing volunteer work for the school so she wouldn't be concerned."
"Did you say anything that involves what we're doing right now?" asked Sharkbite.
"No," Arthur replied honestly. "All I said was Mr. Haney- who is my school's principal -asked me if I and a group of kids could help out with improving our school's look so it doesn't look outdated, and she bought it."
Sharkbite smiled. "The old work excuse works after all, doesn't it, Arthur?" he said.
"I guess so, Sharkbite," replied Arthur with a chuckle.
When it was almost 4:45 PM, Arthur and Sharkbite agreed that it was time to quit for the day and head home. They went back to the boy's locker room to change and then check out at the front desk. Derek watched them exit the building. After the door closed behind the aardvark and rabbit, the bear frowned and shook his head. "That kid is going to get damaged," he muttered to himself.