Disclaimer: Arthur is copyright to Marc Brown. Note: I couldn't think of a book that 14 year old boys might like, so I made up the Complete History of Bionic Bunny thing.

The gang settled in Miss Chen's English class. Miss Chen, a petite rabbit woman with dark hair was in front of the classroom.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please settle down!" she said

The kids continued to talk.

"Ladies! Gentlemen! Please! We are about to begin!" she tried again

The kids still continued to chat.

"CHILDREN!!"

Suddenly, all 25 pairs of eyes were staring at Miss Chen. Calling teenagers "children" always worked, she thought. It was an old trick that she learned when she was in high school.

"Good afternoon. As you can see, I'm Miss Chen" she said, pointing to her name, which was written on the board. "I guarantee you that this year will be an amazingly fun year…"

"Great!" whispered Arthur, "Another tough teacher."

Miss Chen continued. "One of the books we're going to study this year is Pride and Prejudice. Has anyone seen the miniseries?"

Several girls put up their hands.

"Good. Today, I'm not going to assign anything,"

A sigh of relief was heard in the class.

"I am, however, going to ask each one of you to introduce and tell the class a bit about yourself. There is a trick, however. You have to tell us what your favorite book is. Let's start on this side of the room."

A petite wolf girl with glasses stood up. "I'm Jenn. I went to West Elwood Middle School. I was at band camp this summer and I play the clarinet." The kids giggled when she told the class that she was at band camp. Miss Chen hushed the class so that Jenn could continue. "My favorite book is Anne of Green Gables."

After Jenn, Anne stood up. "I'm Anne. With an 'e'." The kids giggled again at the "Anne" joke. I'm Canadian, but not from PEI. I'm from Edmonton, Alberta. My dad transferred to Elwood city recently, so I'll be going to school here. My favorite book is Jane Eyre."

"Very good, Anne. Next?"

Other kids introduced themselves. One rat boy, Richard, said that his mom and stepfather recently had a new baby, a girl called Penny and had to spend the entire summer learning how to take care of a baby. The other kids followed, telling the same basic story. Soon, it was Arthur's turn.

"Ummm…My name is Arthur Read. I have two younger sisters at Lakewood, Kate, who is in first grade and DW, who is in fifth. My favorite book is The Complete History of Bionic Bunny, which I read this summer. Did you know that Bionic Bunny didn't always look like he does now?"

"Arthur, do you have a favorite novel?"

"Henry Skreever 9. I got it three weeks ago." The students kind of giggled. Henry Skreever was for elementary and middle school kids, even though Henry and his friends were already seniors in high school.

"That's a good choice. I like Henry Skreever too. Ladies and gentlemen, Henry isn't just for little kids. Grown-ups like him too!"

Miss Chen concluded the session by telling them that the class will start out with short stories, so they should be bringing Short Stories for High School Students 9 to class next time. She then dismissed the students.

Buster was putting his English books away in his locker.

"I think Miss Chen is very nice. What do you think, Arthur?"

"She isn't Mr. Ratburn, that's for sure. And no homework tonight. All she told us to do was to bring the short stories book to class next time."

"Do you have homework already, Arthur?" Buster wanted to know

"Well, no, not even from Mr. Smith, but we all have Ratburn after next period, so you'll never know."

Arthur's next class was music. It should be easy for him. After all, he'd been taking piano for years, and picked up the trumpet in middle school. He read music very, very well. He would be taking band with Francine, will be playing drums and other percussion instruments.

The music class that Arthur and Francine are taking is for students who have taken music before and wish to continue with the instrument that they know. These students are also required to play in the senior stage band. There were two music classrooms at Central, so two classes could go on at the same time. During this period, one class was for beginners and the others were for kids like Arthur and Francine.

"Please take your seats, class. I'm Mr. Maher" said a chubby chipmunk man by the piano. "This is Advanced Band 9. If you have played an instrument for less than three years, you should be in the next room with Mrs. Stevenson. Has anyone played an instrument for less than three years?"

Nobody moved.

"All right then. As I said, I'm Mr. Maher. As you know, Advanced Band members are part of the senior stage band. Not only do you have to come to your band class, you must also make it to at least one full band rehearsal a week. Rehearsals are Wednesday after school until 4:30 and Friday at 7:30 sharp. You can only miss Wednesday practices if you have a practice or a game. You MUST make it to Friday rehearsals."

The kids groaned. 7:30 is very early! But the reason why Mr. Maher scheduled one morning and one afternoon practice was because it was the Music Department's policy, to accommodate students involved with athletics. Mr. Maher went on to explain to the students about the two major concerts the school has each year, as well as the big competition in the winter.

"As you know, Central has an excellent music program, and has won county-wide awards for many years. This year is no different, and we must keep up our reputation."

Mr. Maher went on about dress codes. All boys had to wear white tops with a black vest and black pants. All girls had to wear the same, but had the option of wearing a knee length skirt. Both boys and girls had red bow ties.

"I'm going to wear pants," whispered Francine "I wouldn't be caught dead in a skirt."

Despite becoming more girly in the last few years, Francine STILL refuses to wear dresses and skirts unless she had to. Funny though, because she wears make-up. But it might be because Francine was mistaken for being a boy when she was twelve.

Gym followed music, and Arthur, Buster and Binky were in the same class. Their teacher was Mr. Solis, a dog man, who will also be coaching Binky's football team. Mr. Solis emphasized that there will be a very important health component to the course this year, and that they must attend the seminar.

"I'm sure we've heard all of it before," Buster told Arthur "you know…..SEX…it's not like we don't know where babies come from…"

"I don't know, guys, it might be something else."

"What else is there to know?" Binky wondered out loud

Mr. Solis went on, "This year, all students are required to participate in a team. If you are athletically challenged or have health problems that limit you from participating in a varsity or junior varsity team, then you are required to help out."

Some of the kids groaned at the fact because, well, they just weren't good in anything. Buster said that he might try out for the swim team, but wasn't sure. He knew that he needed to exercise more!

Meanwhile over on the girls' side…

"What do you mean we have to be in a team?" cried Anne "I HATE gym!"

The school's policy on freshmen gym was the same for girls. They too had to be involved on a varsity or JV team.

"Hey, Anne, you do cheerleading," said Amanda "it's considered a varsity sport in high school. Central went to the county championships last year."

"I guess. I was a cheerleader last year. It's that or gymnastics."

The girls' gym teacher was Mrs. Connor, a fit squirrel woman with red hair. Mrs. Connor emphasized the importance of being prompt, and that they shouldn't spend too much time in the locker room. After all, physical education was an actual class where they were going to receive a grade that will be on a permanent record.

"Please don't take this class too lightly. The credit is worth just as much as English, math or biology. We are just as serious. If you don't do well in this class, it will reflect on your GPA."

Gym class soon let out for both the boys and the girls. It was time to face the hardest class of all…World History with Mr. Ratburn…