(A/N) Pizza is back! Sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth; that wasn't intentional. Then again, I don't usually intend on taking over half a month to update my story.

I've been having some trouble getting my schedule together. It's not as if I have a lot to do, either; I quit my job not too long ago and I don't have much schoolwork to do, but I am incredibly lazy. Seriously, it amazes me that even though I love this story and have been excited about writing it for a long time, I struggle so much with the actual writing portion. I think, like everything else, I just need to make it a regular habit to write and work on my stories, which is what I'm trying to do now. I'm feeling hopeful, but I realize you're probably all shaking your heads since I've said about a million times that I'm going to start 'updating more often' before dropping off the world.

Oh yeah, and I also joined the AVEN forum recently, so I've gotten in the habit of just going on there whenever I have nothing else to do. Not that this a bad thing; I just think I need to learn how to balance things better so that I don't wait another month to post the next chapter of this story.

What else is new? Well, I'm quarantined because of this thing called coronavirus, maybe you've heard of it? If I drop off the face of the Earth again, you can assume I was killed in the Toilet Paper War of 2020.

(Hey shut up pizza and let them read the story ok)

Yes, I'm talking to myself now. I really need sleep. I can't think of anything else to say, so enjoy the chapter!

Thanks to Zephyr Fyrian for proofreading!


Nick was shaking as he stepped into the classroom, his paw holding Judy's tightly as if his life depended on it. He knew he should have been grateful; he was incredibly lucky to be in the same classroom as Judy, but for some reason, he just couldn't stop himself from feeling scared.

"Come on, Nick," Judy said to him quietly. "Let's go find our seats."

She started to pull away, and Nick reluctantly let go of her paw. Just as he was about to take his seat, he froze. In that moment, as he looked around the classroom at the other rabbit kits taking their seats, and Judy walking away from him to do the same, he found himself unable to move.

The memories of the Scouts' meeting came flooding back into his mind, the terrified feelings becoming as clear as if he was back in that room again, knocked to the floor. No, it was more than just feeling scared this time. Ever since the incident during his first visit to the Hopps' farm, Nick's guilt and shame about being a predator had only grown worse.

He tried to stop it. He reminded himself of what Judy had told him, that he should never have to feel ashamed for what he was, but some days were harder than others. For some reason, being here in the classroom, he was suddenly struck by how innocent and harmless the bunny kits seemed.

And…how different he was from them.

All at once, he felt incredibly self-conscious about being here, about his predatory attributes being on display for all of these bunnies to see. The worst part was that he knew, if they were to gang up on him like the Scouts' did, he wouldn't fight back. He couldn't. He hadn't tried to defend himself then, and he certainly didn't see himself doing it now. He felt a tear forming in his eye…

"No!" his inward voice shouted firmly. "I will not let them see me this way! Not this time!"

Taking a deep breath, Nick held back the tears and started towards his desk. Relieved to see he was seated across from Judy, he quietly sat down, careful not to make any loud noises as he did so.

That was another side effect of Nick's embarrassment; he had started subconsciously behaving more calmly and quietly, as if to counteract his supposedly intimidating appearance. It had happened so gradually that Nick hadn't noticed he was doing it, but Judy had pointed it out to him a few times. He didn't think she knew the real reason behind it, though.

Nick didn't move or make a sound as he waited for class to start. He sat perfectly still in his seat, looking down at his desk, refusing to make eye contact with anyone else. It felt as if everyone was watching him, but he wouldn't dare look to see whether or not that was actually the case.

"Alright, class," the teacher started; she was a light brownish gray rabbit who looked a little younger than Judy's mother. "I'm Miss Warren and I'll be your teacher for this year. Let's see…it's about time, so we'll go ahead and get started with roll call."

As Miss Warren started listing off names, Nick became more anxious with every second. He knew his own name was somewhere on that list, and he would have to speak up when it was called.

"I'm already in the class; it's not like no one can see me," he reminded himself. "Besides, all I have to do is say 'here!' and then it'll be over."

"Judy Hopps?" Miss Warren read from the list.

"Here!" Judy announced cheerily.

Being reminded that Judy was in the classroom eased Nick's worries a little. He knew that, even if all of the other kits hated him, she would still be there for him. And right now he needed that, because if anyone tried to shame him just for being a fox, he didn't think he could defend himself. How was he supposed to argue against those who called him a dangerous predator if he couldn't stop seeing himself that way?

And then finally, Miss Warren read off the last name on the list.

"Nick Wilde?"

"Here," Nick said quietly, barely raising his paw.

"And your family just moved here from Zootopia, right?" she asked.

"Um…yes, that's right…" Nick confirmed, now feeling even more like everyone was watching him.

"In that case, welcome to Bunnyburrow," Miss Warren said kindly. "We're glad to have you here."

Nick breathed a sigh of relief as she proceeded to start teaching, and he could distract himself from all of his worries and fears. Looking over at Judy, he saw she was smiling at him encouragingly. At least, if nothing else, her presence made him feel slightly less anxious about being here.

"I am not going to let them see I'm afraid," Nick promised himself. "If they judge me for what I am, I can't let them see that it gets to me. I may be a predator, but I would never hurt anyone on purpose! If Judy believes in me, then I can too."


"Hi, Judy!" called a familiar voice from across the cafeteria.

Judy spun around and saw her friend Sharla, a black sheep, sitting at a table on the far side of the room. Excited to see her friend for the first time since the fair, Judy bounced over and sat down by her.

"So, what have you been up to?" Sharla asked curiously. "I haven't seen you since…you know. How was your summer?"

"It was a lot of fun!" Judy answered. "Oh, you'll never believe what happened, Sharla! You remember I told you about that nice kit that gave me the bandage, after Gideon clawed me?"

"Yeah, I remember," Sharla confirmed. "Did you ever find him?"

"Actually…yes, I did," Judy said. "He should be here soon. Do you want to meet him?"

"Really?!" Sharla exclaimed, taken by surprise. "Oh…um…sure!"

Judy chuckled. Sharla was usually nervous about meeting new mammals, but she seemed to get along with most of them just fine. Well, except for Gideon Grey, but he wasn't known to be the most approachable kit anyway. He and Sharla especially disliked each other; they had been this way for so long that Judy couldn't remember how it started.

"Ok, hold my seat while I go find him!" Judy said, setting her tray down on the table and jumping up from her seat.

"Wait—" Sharla started.

"It's ok; I'll be right back!" Judy promised. "It's just that Nick is a little bit shy and I don't think he'll come sit with us unless I ask him to."

"Um, ok then," Sharla mumbled as Judy took off running across the room.

Sharla had always struggled to keep up with Judy, who seemed to live her life at about 1.5 times the speed of most mammals. Luckily, because of this, it didn't take Judy long to locate Nick in the crowd. His face displayed a neutral expression, though she could tell he was nervous. Despite his efforts to hide his emotions, she knew him well enough to see through it.

"You dumb bunny!" Judy berated herself. "Why would you run off without checking to see if Nick followed? He's probably been wondering where you were…"

Nick was walking through the lunch line, between a deer and a squirrel. His eyes kept darting all around the room, as if he was expecting some kind of ambush. Not wanting to see him worried like this, Judy hurried over to her friend.

"Judy?" Nick said, looking a little surprised to see her. "Where did you go…?"

"Sorry about that," Judy apologized. "I was just in a hurry to get to lunch and I didn't notice you weren't following me."

"You ran off too fast!" Nick exclaimed. "I couldn't find you—"

"I know, I know," Judy interrupted. "I was being a dumb bunny, ok? Please don't be mad at me."

Nick sighed. Though he did his best to hide it, it was clear to Judy that being separated from her had frightened him. Being one of the only predators in a school full of prey couldn't be easy. Judy suddenly wished she had been paying closer attention when they left the classroom.

"I'm not mad at you, Judy," Nick said. "But…please don't run off like that again…"

"I won't," Judy promised. "Oh, I was going to ask you if you wanted to meet my friend. She's a little shy, but I think you'll really like each other."

"Um…ok, sure," Nick agreed.

Judy waited until Nick got his food, then led him across the cafeteria to where Sharla was waiting for them. When the sheep noticed who was walking with Judy, she flinched.

"Sharla, this is my friend Nick," Judy said, indicating the nervous fox kit behind her. "Nick, this is my friend Sharla. We've known each other for a long time."

It was one of the most uncomfortable moments of Judy's life. Sharla, who had just gotten out of her seat when Judy and Nick walked over, was now standing still, watching Nick anxiously. Nick, however, looked just as nervous. He was still holding his lunch tray, and seemed afraid to sit down.

"Maybe I should have told Sharla that he's a fox?" Judy thought. "But I really didn't think it would be such a big deal…"

"Um…why don't you both sit down?" Judy suggested, trying to ease the tension.

She sat down next to Sharla, and Nick took the seat across from them. A few more seconds of awkward silence passed, during which Judy noticed Sharla seemed to be examining Nick's lunch tray.

"Huh, I didn't even notice Nick's tray was all vegetables, like ours," Judy thought. "I guess foxes are omnivores, but they still have to eat meat sometimes, right?"

Now that she thought about it, though, she wasn't sure the cafeteria at this school served anything other than vegetables and fruits and such, so it was likely that any predators that had to eat meat would have to bring it themselves. And Judy supposed, with Nick being as nervous as he was about being one of the only predators in the school, he probably wouldn't want to make himself more obvious by eating something most prey found repulsive.

The three of them continued eating their lunch in awkward silence. Occasionally, Judy considered saying something to try and break the ice, but she was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable with every second, and honestly just wished lunch period would end soon.

"Why didn't I tell Sharla that Nick is a fox?" Judy wondered. "Would it have even made a difference, telling her in advance? I mean, I don't even know how I would feel about it if it hadn't been for Nick standing up to Gideon—"

That gave her an idea.

"Hey, Sharla?" Judy said. "There's something I forgot to tell you about when I met Nick."

"Oh…really?" Sharla replied quietly, still nervously watching Nick out of the corner of her eyes.

"Well, before he gave me the bandage, he actually stood up to Gideon and scared him off," Judy explained.

"Really?!" Sharla exclaimed, suddenly intrigued.

"Yep," Judy confirmed, smiling. "Nick, why don't you tell her what happened?"

Nick flinched, his eyes widening. He hadn't expected to be asked to talk.

"Um…well, it's not that interesting, really," he mumbled, facing down to avoid looking Sharla in the eyes. "I just saw Gideon trying to hurt Judy, so I got really angry and went over to help her, and…well, I think I kind of…screamed a little…"

"It was incredible!" Judy said. "He was so angry; it was kinda scary, at first. But he just kept yelling at Gideon to leave me alone, and then he did this thing where he sort of growled and screamed at him at the same time, and Gideon went running!"

"Wow, that's amazing," Sharla agreed, looking genuinely impressed.

"I—it wasn't quite as impressive as Judy makes it sound…" Nick said modestly. "I'm lucky he ran off and didn't try to attack me, too. I couldn't have fought him by myself."

"Are you sure?" Sharla replied. "I mean, those fangs of yours look pretty sharp. Sharper than Gideon's, I think."

Almost reflexively, Nick slapped a paw over his snout, startled. Sharla, confusion evident on her face, glanced over at Judy.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Judy said quietly, making sure no one else could hear. "Nick is a little sensitive about being a predator. I don't really understand why…"

"Oh!" Sharla said, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Nick, I didn't mean to offend you or anything. It was actually supposed to be a compliment…"

"Wait…really?" Nick replied, still a little hesitant. "So you meant…me having sharp fangs is a good thing?"

"Well, yeah, why wouldn't it be?" Sharla replied. "I wish I was a predator too, then maybe Gideon wouldn't mess with me all the time."

"I know!" Judy agreed. "I've told Nick the same thing; I don't see the downside."

"I guess the downside is you'd probably cut your tongue more often," Nick said thoughtfully.

Both Judy and Sharla laughed, and Nick finally smiled. Judy was relieved; she hated seeing Nick so nervous all the time, and she was glad that Sharla had made him feel better about himself. It still didn't make sense to Judy why Nick was so uncomfortable with himself, but it was nice to see him relax a little.

"This could be the start of a really good school year," Judy thought hopefully. "Who knows? Maybe by next summer, Nick will have forgotten all about being nervous. He really doesn't need to feel that way. Can he not see what an amazing mammal he is? I wonder why he doesn't believe in himself…"

But all of that would have to wait. As good as today had been, it was only the first of many days of going to school together. So, Judy told herself to wait patiently, to see what the coming year had in store for them.

It was going to be unlike any year before it.


(A/N) I realize it's not quite as long as the last few. I'm hoping with my new writing schedule, I'll be able to write longer chapters, but I know I wouldn't be too surprised if I take another ridiculously long hiatus because I'm so lazy.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Stay safe, everyone! (and please don't hoard toilet paper, that isn't cool.)

P.S. if anyone from AVEN is reading this, the ace headcanons are coming...eventually.

See you all next chapter, and good night!