Before I write this chapter, I'd just like to say one thing: Poor Tails.

CHAPTER 20: If Days Could Kill...

When Tails got up on that warm August morning, he knew this was going to be a really bad day. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. Even as he stepped into the bathroom for a shower, he had this feeling of foreboding, like he would probably be best off not leaving his apartment. Still, he had to go to school, and as he had a test that day, he made up his mind that he was going, and that was that.

"Hope today doesn't turn out as bad as some of my other days," he said to himself, through a yawn. Hot water poured down his face and into his mouth through this yawn, so he wound up having to spit it out. As he began to lather shampoo in his hands, he had no clue how wrong he was.

Fourth period PE. Tails had gotten to this point without incident, maybe he'd be able to get through the whole day without someone pulling something on him. He was about to find out how wrong he was. Everyone was dressed out for the class, and Coach Hess, at the front of the gym, called the class to order. Upon calling roll, he called out, "Free day today! Shoot hoops, play some football outside, run laps, do whatever. Just don't sit down and do nothing!" Tails noticed a couple big guys looking at him, all of them grinning. One was a red lion, one was a red panther, and the third was a red bobcat, all of which were at least three times Tails's size. They all looked like seniors, which unnerved Tails a little: the whole junior/senior rivalry was particularly bitter at this school. A few minutes later, basketballs were flying around the gym, a couple people were running laps, and the three guys approached Tails as he tried to get his hands on a basketball of his own. One of them had grabbed a football from a freshman and told him to get lost.

"Hey kid," said the lion, "we need a fourth person for a little game we wanna play. Y'know, two-on-two. Wanna be it?"

"Not really-" Tails started, but the panther cut him off.

"Ah, come on, it'll be cool," he said as the lion grabbed Tails's arm and pretty well dragged him outside. On the football field outside, the three cats and Tails all had one half the field to themselves, as half the class was playing with full-size teams on the other fifty-yard stretch.

"Alright," said the bobcat, "this is easy enough to understand. The game is Smear the Queer. One team is whoever doesn't have the ball, and the other team consists of whoever DOES have it. As in, one team has one person, the other team has a shitload of people. Goal line's on the fifty-yard line. Get running." The lion threw the football to Tails, who instinctively caught it, then realized he was about to get nailed and flew straight up. He avoided the tackles, flew straight to the fifty-yard line, and landed easily.

"YES!" he yelled. "TOUCHDO-" He was cut off as the lion slammed into him, hard, from behind. The ball went flying, but no one went after it. The bobcat and the panther jumped on top of the lion, and someone on the other half of the field yelled "DOGPILE!", causing the people on that side of the field to run over and add themselves to the pile. Coach Hess came outside at that moment to see what the commotion was, and saw the dogpile. He blew his whistle and went running over to see what was going on. As everyone got up, the lion whispered into Tails's ear.

"Thanks kid," he said. "I think we've won the bet this round." Tails didn't hear. As Coach Hess found out when the dogpile crowd dispersed, he was out cold.

"What happened?" one voice was asking.

"According to Coach Hess, the kid stopped running in the middle of a football game, right on the fifty-yard line, and the other guys flattened him, then decided it was a dogpile moment," another voice said.

"Can't he do something about it?" asked the first voice. "People are gonna be riding him all year long, according to one of the rumors he told me he'd heard."

"Nope, can't do anything," replied the second voice. "It was an accident the happened during the game. Can't punish someone for an accident. I mean, even if it was on purpose, there'd be no way to prove it." Tails began to come to his senses. He felt a cold cloth on his face, on his eyes. Another one, this one warm, was cleaning his face. He couldn't imagine why, but he didn't care. He noticed the touch was gentle, even motherly. He also noticed, he was lying stretched out on something soft and comfortable. This was good, because his whole body ached, especially his head. He didn't open his eyes or move, having no desire to do so.

"What time is it?" asked the first voice from before. Tails could begin to make out whose voice it was: Amy's. But what was she doing at his school, if he was even there? When he heard the second voice, his whereabouts were confirmed.

"It's about 1:20," said the voice of Ms. Broome, the school nurse. She was a little old lady, human, with medium-length, curly white hair, and everyone in the school liked her. She'd been a popular substitute teacher for a while, but that was before she applied for the job of school nurse and showed that she was more than capable of handling it. Tails guessed he was in her office in the main high school building. Finally, he opened his eyes, slowly, pulling off the cold cloth. The lights hurt, and he snapped his eyes shut again.

"Could you turn off those lights?" he mumbled. He saw through his eyelids as the lights dimmed, and opened his eyes again. He looked up, and saw Ms. Broome standing over him, putting a washcloth into a bowl of what sounded like water. "What's that?"

"You had a bloody nose," Ms. Broome said in her soft, soothing voice. "I wasn't about to just leave the blood on your face, you know. Next time you play football, try not to play so rough."

"Wasn't my fault," Tails said bitterly. "Jerks. I scored a touchdown and they tackled me anyway! I KNEW they were too insistent!"

"How are you feeling, Tails?" Amy asked from off to the side. Tails turned and looked at her.

"I ache all over, but mostly my head," he replied. "What are you doing here Amy? You're not on my emergency contact sheet, are you?"

"No," Amy replied. "From what Rouge said, they called her when they couldn't get ahold of Sonic, but she couldn't come either, so she had them call me."

"Nice one," Tails said. Even though he didn't see her much, he and Rouge still knew each other, and she had been the one to suggest he put her on his contact sheet, just in case.

"Here, put this on your head," Ms. Broome said, holding out a bag of ice. Tails took it and pressed it to his head, clenching his teeth for a moment when the ice came in contact with the lump on his forehead.

"Thanks," he said. "I'm hungry."

"You missed lunch," Ms. Broome said. "Tough luck, kiddo. You don't feel sick or anything, do you?"

"No," Tails said. "Why?"

"Making sure you don't have a concussion," she replied. "Are you allergic to aspirin?"

"No," Tails repeated. "I have got to talk to Mr. Holland about people doing this crap to me..."

"You can probably leave in a few minutes," Ms. Broome said. "I've only got one little test for you first." She held up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Six?"

Finally, after Tails's eyes focused properly and he could tell Ms. Broome how many fingers she was holding up, she allowed him to leave with Amy. Outside, she and Tails climbed into her car, parked close to the building. Tails was a bit unhappy, as the principal hadn't been available. He figured he'd just have to talk to him in the morning.

"Sorry you had to take all this time to come down here, Amy," he said when they were both in the car.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "By the way, while we're here, I wanted to ask you about something."

"Go ahead."

"You still want that job at my restaurant?"

"Huh?" Tails looked at Amy, surprised. "That's your restaurant?"

"Yeah, it is." Amy grinned. "Hard to believe how many people haven't looked at the name and made the connection. You didn't, Sonic didn't, God knows who's next. So, interested?"

"Let me answer that with another question: would you mind me coming in every day in worse shape than the day before?"

"Well, if you know that talking to the principal won't help, best not to bother, isn't it?"

"Good point. Anyway, to answer your question, yeah, I'm still interested."

"When can you start?"

There's you another chapter, right there. Tails got knocked out in PE by a couple of guys playing that little game where they pick on him and see who gets away with it the longest. These guys probably won this round, since no one can prove it wasn't an accident. Anywho, Amy shows up to take him home(of all people), and in the car, she talks to him about his job application. Tails was hired right there. Anywho, R&R please.