(A/N) I'm back! Apologies to everyone again; it took longer than I intended.
Apparently, I seem to write about school a lot, which is interesting considering I've never actually BEEN to school. Which means I've had to ask my dad a few (or rather, a lot of) questions about how everything works and all that. Hopefully it's accurate enough! XD
Also, I am SO ready for this infernal post-election drama to end. I swear, if I see ONE MORE political post ranting about stuff that makes absolutely no sense, I am going to freaking lose it. (that is, if i haven't already)
Anyway, Zephyr Fyrian proofread this chapter, as usual. Enjoy!
After a long and quiet summer, the day had finally arrived. The day Judy had been both dreading and eagerly awaiting for months. It was the first day of sixth grade, the first day of junior high school. It was the beginning of a completely new chapter of her life, and she had forgotten to set her alarm the previous night.
Judy hurried to get ready as she fought against the fatigue, hoping she'd be fully awake by the time she got to school. She could barely think with all of the bunnies running around everywhere, and she was already much later than she ever wanted to be.
"Why did I think I would be ready?" Judy muttered angrily, hurrying to fix herself some breakfast and trying not to bump into any of her siblings. "Stupid, stupid, dumb bunny."
"Are you talking about me?" James suddenly exclaimed.
"I wasn't, but that works too," Judy replied tiredly.
"Hey!" James protested.
"Look," Judy said, looking her brother directly in the eye. "Here's the deal: I'm not going to deal with your nonsense another whole year, so either you stop annoying me or I will devote every waking moment of my time towards making your sixth grade a living hell. Are we clear?"
"Yeah, whatever," James muttered, turning to walk away.
Judy sighed heavily, taking her breakfast and heading for the door. The inside of the burrow was starting to feel like it was suffocating her, and in her barely awake state, it was absolute misery. She sat down on the porch and started to eat, jumping in her seat when she noticed Chloe standing outside as well.
"Chloe!" Judy exclaimed.
"Cheese and crackers, Judy, what's gotten you all worked up this morning?" Chloe asked.
"Forgot to set my alarm," Judy explained.
"Ah," Chloe said. "Yeah, but on the plus side, sixth grade is terrible anyway, so this will probably be the best part of your year."
"Is…that supposed to make me feel better…?" Judy asked.
Chloe shrugged.
"It's just a fact," she said. "You can do whatever you want with it. But that reminds me, we're going to be in the same school again this year. So, if you ever need anything, you can always come find me, ok? This year is probably going to suck, but I can certainly try to help make it suck less for you if you want."
"Thanks," Judy replied.
"If you don't mind me asking, though…" Chloe started uncertainly. "Have you even seen…you know who since before the summer?"
"No," Judy said sadly. "I wish I had talked to him, but…I don't know what to say. And now it's been so long… I don't even know if he'll still want to be my friend now. Maybe he really has moved on. I don't want to get my hopes up."
Chloe sat down next to her younger sister and nuzzled her gently, something she often did to comfort her.
"If he doesn't want to be friends with the world's most awesome bunny, then that's his problem," she said firmly.
Judy looked her sister in the eye, and smiled.
"Thanks, Chloe," she said. "In any case, it'll be good to see Sharla again. Her family was so busy this summer; I haven't seen her since fifth grade either."
"See, that's good," Chloe said. "Just try to stay positive. Your friends have your back, and so does your totally cool older sister. Peter would too, but he's in high school, so he can't help us anymore."
"Probably doing more homework you want to read," Judy laughed.
"Oh, shut up!" Chloe giggled. "Hey, wait a minute. If Nick's in sixth grade now…does that mean those friends of his are too?"
"I'm sure they are," Judy sighed, rolling her eyes. "We were all in the same grade, so unless they moved—which would be awesome—then it looks like they're going to be here too."
"Hmm…" Chloe said thoughtfully. "I might just have to introduce myself, in that case."
Judy snorted in amusement.
"You are one strange bunny, Chloe," she remarked.
"And proud of it," Chloe agreed.
Judy climbed onto the bus, nervously anticipating what junior high would be like. Chloe had tried to prepare her over the summer by explaining how everything worked, but she couldn't help but feel at least a little uncertain now that her first day was finally here.
"Hi, Judy!" called a familiar voice.
Judy spun around to see the black sheep she'd missed all summer. Sharla looked like she was about to burst with excitement, but also the slightest bit nervous too. Judy hurried over to sit next to her friend, feeling a little less scared knowing she wouldn't be going in alone.
"Hi, Sharla," Judy said. "It's good to see you again."
"You too!" Sharla replied. "Hey, are you alright? You look a little…out of it."
"Forgot to set my alarm," Judy explained. "I know, worst possible day to make that mistake, but I did."
"Don't worry," Sharla laughed. "You're not the only one that had a rough morning. Gareth was up getting ready at, like, 5:00 in the morning and woke me up. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I just sat up in bed for a while and eventually just gave up and got ready early. Don't be too surprised if I fall asleep halfway through class today."
"Neither of us are starting this year very well, are we?" Judy remarked.
"No, definitely not," Sharla agreed.
When they arrived at the school, Judy and Sharla got off the bus and walked in together. It was the first time they had ever seen the junior high building up close, and Judy couldn't help but feel a little excited, even if it wasn't the perfect first day. This was the beginning of something new, and she hoped that it would turn out better than the end of elementary school had.
"Feels weird, doesn't it?" Sharla remarked. "It looks like such a normal place, but it's weird that it's not the same as the other building was."
"I'm sure we'll get used to it," Judy said, trying to convince herself as well. "My sister Chloe got used to it eventually…"
"Isn't she the one that steals all the blueberries or something?" Sharla asked.
"Yeah, and she also wants to be bitten by predators, apparently," Judy said.
"Wait, what?" Sharla laughed. "I never heard anything about that."
"Oh, right!" Judy said. "That was a few years ago when I asked her about that Trust Ritual thing. She was really interested in it for some reason, and when I asked her I'm pretty sure she said she thought it would be fun to be bitten."
"Interesting," Sharla said, still laughing awkwardly. "That's…unusual. I've never heard of a prey that wants to be bitten by a predator."
"What are you two talking about?" another voice intruded.
It was Samantha, the white bunny that Judy had gotten into an argument with a while back. Their friendship had been a little bit shaky ever since then, especially since she hadn't started to hang around Judy again until Nick ran off with Trevor and Vanessa, a fact that Judy knew full well was no coincidence.
Judy knew it was probably petty to still be angry with Samantha now, since she wasn't speaking to Nick either now, but old feelings were hard to put aside. It was probably because a part of her was still hoping that her fight with Nick would sort itself out soon enough, and then they would be friends again. Having Samantha around just served as a reminder that that hadn't happened yet, and the vindictive part of Judy still mildly resented her for that.
"Stuff you wouldn't be able to handle," Judy answered, unable to help herself.
Samantha rolled her eyes.
"Wow," she remarked. "Sixth grade and you're still behaving like a whiny kit. How surprising. Well, if you ever want to have a civilized conversation, you know where to find me."
The white rabbit turned to walk away, and Sharla glanced back and forth between her and Judy with a stunned expression.
"I—wait, Samantha!" Sharla called after her.
Samantha turned back around and looked at Sharla with a face that made Judy clench her fists.
"Oh, hi, Sharla; didn't see you there," Samantha said, though Judy knew for a fact it was a lie. "It's a shame your friend there has a vendetta against me and refuses to grow up. I'm surprised you're still hanging out with her. I would have thought you were smarter than that."
With that, she spun around and walked off down the hall, leaving both Judy and Sharla with stunned looks. They glanced between Samantha and each other for a few seconds, incredulous, and then both burst out laughing.
"Did that really just happen?" Judy laughed, trying to conceal the internal rage she felt towards the other bunny.
"What happened between you two, anyway?" Sharla asked. "It seems like she's always a little…high maintenance lately."
"She still hates predators and only came back to pretend to be my friend because Nick left," Judy explained. "Once Nick comes back, she'll probably want nothing to do with me anymore. I've tried with her, but she never listens."
"But…are you sure Nick is going to come back?" Sharla asked hesitantly. "I mean…he seemed pretty mad at you, and that was back before the summer—"
"He'll be fine," Judy said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "I'll go find him and explain everything, and then we'll be fine again. You'll see."
Sharla didn't look at all convinced, but she didn't say anything. Judy herself was still worried about what would happen with Nick, but she didn't want to admit that she thought it was a real possibility their friendship may have really ended last spring. It just didn't feel right for it to end that way.
As they walked down the hall, Judy caught sight of Nick walking with Trevor and Vanessa. As some of the only foxes in the school, they weren't easy to miss. All three of them walked with a confidence that she had never seen from Nick before, one that frightened her somewhat. She wanted so badly to run up to Nick and talk to him, but…she felt frozen. She didn't know what she was so afraid of; maybe finding out that Nick had become just like his friends and wanted nothing to do with her anymore? She couldn't bear that thought, and the fear that it might be true was enough to keep her from even trying to start a conversation with her old friend.
When they reached the classroom—which she evidently was not sharing with Nick—Sharla turned to her with another stunned look.
"Why didn't you talk to him?" she whispered. "Didn't you see him? He was right there!"
"I know; I know," Judy replied. "I just…I don't know; I'll try to talk to him later."
Sharla nodded, though again she still looked worried. Judy tried to put her fears aside as she entered the classroom and took her seat. She didn't recognize anyone else in the room aside from Sharla, but she reminded herself that this was only homeroom and she wasn't going to be here very long anyway. It was strange to think about not being in one classroom all day, but it made her feel more hopeful that she might share some classes with more of her friends. There was of course a part of her that hoped—perhaps foolishly—that she would share at least one class with Nick, and this could help her break the ice with him.
"Don't get your hopes up, Judy," she told herself. "Just be grateful that Sharla's still here. You haven't seen Clara and Mark again yet, either. It's going to be fine, whether you get the chance to talk to Nick or not."
As much as she might try, though, Judy knew there was no way to avoid it. No matter how much she tried to lower her expectations, she was still going to be devastated if things didn't work out with Nick. She was going to have to face him eventually, one way or another, even if it meant ending their friendship for good.
"Alright, class!" shouted a deep voice that startled Judy out of her thought. "Let's get excited about morning announcements! Who's with me?"
It was a conscious effort for Judy to hold in a laugh. The teacher was a moose, and a big one even for his species. Judy couldn't tell if he was being silly or if he was actually enthusiastic about his job, but either way she instantly liked him. Having a teacher who wasn't boring to listen to made school feel like a lot less of a chore.
"Maybe this year won't be so bad after all," Judy thought hopefully.
A few hours later, Judy was on her way to her locker, Sharla following beside her. She still hadn't seen Nick again since the morning, but there were a lot of hours left in the day. There was a chance she might get the opportunity to talk to him later, and she didn't want to let it slip away like she had the last time.
"What did you think of that morning announcements guy?" Sharla laughed. "Do you think they're all like that?"
"I don't know; I think we just got lucky," Judy said. "I think I'd rather listen to him than that annoying old buck in math class today…"
"Wow, was he that bad?" Sharla asked. "Sorry I can't be there to support you."
"It's ok; Mark's in that class too, and I think he was a little disturbed too," Judy replied. "I mean, it's like he wanted us to—"
"Wait, stop!" Sharla whispered loudly.
She put a hoof over Judy's mouth and pulled them back a little, hiding around the corner. Judy was just about to protest when she heard a familiar voice, one she had hoped she wouldn't have to hear again. Peeking around the corner, she saw Nick's new friend Vanessa talking to Samantha.
"And where do you think you're going, prey?" Vanessa snarled.
She moved closer to Samantha, who backed away slowly until she bumped into the lockers behind her. Judy's heart started pounding as an anger built up inside her, only held back by her instinctual fear of predators.
"I-I don't understand what you want from me," Samantha said, maintaining her cool surprisingly well despite the circumstances. "I would appreciate it if you would step out of my way and—"
Vanessa growled again, moving even closer so as to trap the rabbit against the wall of lockers. Samantha looked genuinely scared now, not even trying to fight back. Several other mammals—all of them prey—were also walking down the hall, but they looked like they were doing their best to avoid the vixen at all costs.
"Are you scared of me, bunny?" Vanessa laughed coldly. "What are you going to do if I don't let you go? You think you're so brave, but you can't hide from predators forever!"
"Stop!" Samantha protested, her voice losing its calmness now. "I wasn't bothering you at all, so why do you feel the need to act like this to me?"
Vanessa leaned in closer, causing Samantha to shrink down beneath her.
"I just want you to know powerless you really are," the vixen said. "If I decide I want to eat you, there is nothing you can do to stop me. How does that make you—?"
"Hey!" Judy shouted.
Taking one last glance at Sharla—who looked terrified now—Judy jumped out from behind the corner and ran up to Vanessa and Samantha, anger finally overtaking fear. She had a brief relapse of terror when the fox turned to face her, seemingly staring her down as if she really did intend to eat her, but Judy fought through it.
"I don't care what you want to say to me, but I will not let you treat my friends like that," Judy said bravely. "Who do you think you are, anyway? Predators don't eat prey anymore; sorry if you missed the memo, but that ended millennia ago."
Judy felt a surge of pride at speaking these words, being able to stand up for herself, but it was soon replaced once again by fear when Vanessa stepped forward and snarled, baring her fangs.
"Come on, Judy; you've seen Nick's teeth all the time and you're not scared of them anymore!" she scolded herself. "Don't be afraid of this fox!"
"And what do you think a couple of cute bunnies like yourselves could do if we preds decided to go back to the old ways?" Vanessa said, smirking.
"Cute?!" Judy exclaimed furiously. "You think we're just fluffy and helpless, don't you? Guess you didn't hear about when I kicked Gideon Grey in the face, did you?"
"Um, Judy…?" Sharla started nervously.
"Well, I'll admit you're one of the bravest bunnies I've met," Vanessa said, stepping back. "Alright, I'll leave you alone for now, I guess. Plenty of other helpless prey here, after all. Just don't get in my way again, little bunny."
With that, she spun around and walked away, brushing Judy with her tail as she did so. Judy clenched her fists, but didn't pursue the fox. She didn't want this to escalate any further than it already had, but she was downright furious.
"Are you alright, Sam?" she asked, reaching a paw out to her still trembling friend.
"I…yes, I'm fine," Samantha replied, straightening herself up. "I could have handled her on my own, anyway."
"Oh, really?" Judy laughed, her empathy for the white bunny fading again. "Didn't look like it to me. But hey, if you want to get eaten, be my guest."
"Y-you don't think she'd really try to eat us, do you?" Sharla asked, shaking a little.
"No, I don't think so," Judy assured her, placing a paw on the sheep's shoulder. "She's just trying to scare us. I'm going to have a few choice words for Nick about this when I see him again…"
Sharla still looked nervous, but she nodded anyway.
"I can't believe you still insist on being friends with that fox after what just happened," Samantha said. "Do you really hate me that much? Don't even bother answering that; I know what the answer is."
"This isn't about you!" Judy shouted. "And I don't like Vanessa either, but Nick isn't like that!"
Samantha shook her head.
"You're just making excuses for him," she said bitterly. "You know the predators would be far happier if they were still hunting and eating us, no matter how much they pretend to act civil. If what just happened doesn't make that clear to you, I don't know what will."
She turned and walked away without another word, and Judy had to fight the urge to scream. She couldn't believe that even now after all this time, Samantha still refused to accept the most basic and obvious truths. And though she didn't want to admit it, there was a small part of her that wondered if there was some truth to her friend's words. Nick had admitted he didn't feel comfortable trying to act like a prey, whatever that meant, so did that mean there was a part of him that longed to be a 'real' predator? Was that why his friends were so mean to other kits, because they had some instinctual desire to be predatory?
"Don't be silly, Judy; you know that's not true," she told herself. "There are plenty of predators in the world who don't act like that, so it can't be something all of them want. But still…why would Nick want to be friends with them? Can't he see what they're like?"
Judy sighed, turning back to Sharla.
"Let's get our stuff and hurry to class," she said, defeated and tired. "We don't want to be late for anything on our first day."
"Yeah, you're right," Sharla agreed.
By the time Judy's lunch period arrived, she was still thinking about the encounter with Vanessa, and what Samantha had said. She hadn't seen Nick yet, or either of his friends again, but she had already met up with Mark and Clara, and she and Sharla were explaining the earlier events to them as they walked to the cafeteria.
"Did she really say that?" Clara gasped. "She wouldn't actually eat someone, though…right?"
"I don't know…it sure sounds like she wanted to…" Mark replied nervously.
"You guys, you're being ridiculous!" Judy said. "Surely you don't think she would really eat one of us, do you? She might be a jerk, but she's still just another kit like us. She's not going to murder another student in the middle of the school!"
"What was all that about going back to the old ways, then…?" Sharla asked.
"She's trying to scare you!" Judy explained. "And apparently it's working, since all of you are afraid she's going to try to come eat you. Look, I'll just go talk to Nick and I'm sure he can smooth everything over, ok? I know he wouldn't want to hurt anyone…"
Judy's attention was briefly taken away when they entered the cafeteria. She had almost forgotten they were in a different school now, but seeing the cafeteria look completely different brought that right back to the front of her mind. It was smaller than the one at the elementary school, but she was struck by how much bigger the other mammals were. When she had finished elementary school, she had been among the oldest students, but that was reversed now. It didn't really help her confidence, but at least she knew she had an older sister who could look out for her if she was ever overwhelmed.
"So…where do you guys want to sit?" Mark asked, looking around nervously. "I'm not used to this place…"
"It's alright," Clara assured him. "Just follow us and you'll be fine."
Judy led the way through the line, taking deep breaths to calm herself. She knew there shouldn't be anything to worry about in here, but all her friends talking about predators wanting to eat everyone was starting to make her feel the slightest bit nervous too.
Thankfully, the line went just like any day at elementary school would, with no trouble at all. Judy was leading her friends over to an empty table, when she heard some angry voices to the right and turned to see what was going on. She could have sworn her heart skipped a beat when she saw Nick, Trevor, and Vanessa over by another table, in what looked like a standoff with Judy's brother James and some other bunnies she didn't recognize.
"This was our table!" James complained. "If you losers don't get out of here—"
He was cut off by a loud growl from Trevor, who looked like he'd grown a bit from the last time Judy had seen him.
"We predators will take whatever table we want," he said threateningly. "So unless you want to be our lunch, I suggest you get lost and find somewhere else to sit, prey."
Judy already didn't like Trevor and Vanessa, but hearing how they said 'prey' in such a disdainful way only made her angrier. They seemed to think that prey were beneath them, and that they could treat them however they wanted to just because they were predators. And the worst part of it was, unless Judy continued standing up to them, they weren't likely to stop.
"If only the rest of the prey would realize we outnumber them like crazy," she thought. "But they're all too afraid to stand up and help each other…"
"I-I'm not going anywhere, fox!" James shouted back, clearly trying to sound brave. "Y-you'd better get out of here or—"
Trevor snarled again, and then leaned forward and snapped his jaws right in front of James's face. The rabbit immediately went running, his buddies following right behind him. Judy wasn't sure how to feel; she was angry at the foxes for abusing their strength like this, but on the other paw she kind of thought James deserved it.
"D-do you think they'll come over to our table?" Sharla asked nervously.
"If they do, I'm not moving," Judy said firmly. "I'm sick and tired of them pushing everyone around like this. Though, it is kind of nice to see James get humiliated. He really is an obnoxious brat."
As they sat down at an empty table—one that was far away from the foxes—Sharla kept glancing back and forth from the predators' table to Judy.
"Do you think…Nick is really one of them now?" she asked.
She looked genuinely worried, as did Clara and Mark. Judy didn't want to admit it, but she was starting to worry too. Even if she hadn't seen Nick threaten anyone the way his friends did, she had seen him watch the whole thing play out and do nothing to stop it.
"I don't know," Judy said. "I'll…I'll talk to him eventually. I'm sure there's a good explanation for all of this…"
"But what?" she thought. "You have to face the truth; your friend might not be who he used to be anymore…"
The rest of the day wasn't any easier for Judy. Any excitement about new classes and new teachers was completely gone now, replaced by nothing except a hollow feeling of despair. She wanted so badly to talk to Nick again, to hear him assure her he hadn't changed, but she wasn't sure there was much hope of that happening now. She didn't know if she could take it if he told her outright that he really had moved on, that he was just like Trevor and Vanessa and didn't care anymore if he scared helpless prey or not.
Judy held out hope until the end of school that she would see Nick in one of her classes, but it didn't happen. She consoled herself knowing that she did at least share a lunch period with him, if she ever worked up the courage to actually go and talk to him, but right now she didn't think she'd be doing that anytime soon anyway.
By the time she got home, Judy didn't even want to go inside the burrow. She had too much on her mind and didn't want to be around all her loud siblings right now. So, she went for a walk around the farm, ending up by the blueberries. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she ran into her sister Chloe.
"Judy?" Chloe said. "Hey, are you alright?"
Judy closed her eyes, realizing she was starting to cry. She had tried to hold it in, but she knew it was going to have to come out sooner or later. There was no sign that things were going to get better anytime soon, so there was no use pretending it was all fine.
Eyes still shut tight, Judy felt Chloe pull her into a warm embrace, stroking her ears to comfort her. Judy buried her face in her sister's chest, reminding herself she didn't have to hide her emotions around this bunny. Chloe would always be there for her, no matter what happened, and right now that was all Judy could hope for.
"I saw Nick and his friends in the lunch room today," Chloe said. "Do you want me to talk to them for you?"
"No…" Judy replied, tears still filling her eyes. "I just…I don't know what to do now."
"I know," Chloe said gently. "But have you talked to him yet?"
"I'm just scared he's going to say he doesn't care about me anymore!" Judy cried, voice breaking. "His friends treat prey like we're lesser than them and if Nick said he thought that too, I don't think I could take it…"
"I'm sure he doesn't really think that," Chloe assured her. "He's probably just scared you won't accept him for who he is, especially after everything that's happened. You just need to let him know he can still be a predator without having to hang around those jerks."
Judy sniffed, pulling away from her sister's embrace and wiping the tears from her eyes. She looked up at Chloe, whose expression was so warm and comforting. She wanted to believe her sister was right, and that there was still hope for her and Nick.
"Thank you, Chloe," she said. "I…I'll try to talk to him."
Chloe smiled and patted her sister on the shoulder.
"There's the Judy I know," she said. "And remember, if you get too nervous, you can always bring me with you. I meant to go introduce myself to those preds today, but my stupid nerves got the best of me…"
Judy laughed, smiling for the first time in several hours.
"I don't know if I'll ever understand you, Chloe," she chuckled.
"Hey, that's what's fun about me!" Chloe replied. "Now, should we go inside and see if dinner's ready? I don't know about you, but I'm excited to hear how James is gonna twist the story of what happened at lunch today to make himself sound like a hero."
"Yeah, let's go inside," Judy agreed.
Chloe held out her paw for Judy to take, and with that, the two bunny sisters walked back across the farm together.
(A/N) It's been so much fun watching Zephyr Fyrian react to these chapters. She can't STAND Samantha! And my mom doesn't like Trevor and Vanessa... XD
Also, I'm planning to write more of Nick's perspective in the next chapter, so we'll get to see exactly what he's thinking throughout all of this.
That's all for now! Bye!
