Alright, let's try this again… Tried uploading already and it somehow messed up. Anyways, thank you all for your patience with me, since I hadn't updated in so long. I will do my best to try to keep this going strong and create quality content for you all.

Chapter 4:

The next few classes seemed to fly by. Charlie was continually distracted by his thoughts, continually overwhelmed by the sheer coincidence of the day. It never occurred to him that he would see any of his tourmates again, and yet they all now attended the same school! It was too incredible of an idea to comprehend! These thoughts flooded his mind as the day progressed, and before he knew it, the bell was ringing for lunch. Without hesitation, he gathered his belongings and rushed his way to the cafeteria.

He would never say it to their faces, but Violet made it far too easy to find where his friends were sitting, and having Mike sitting next to her made it all the more apparent. Charlie waved to them as he came over and seated himself. Augustus and Veruca were yet to be seen.

"Welcome to the cool kids club," Mike said, moments before he began stuffing his face with the pizza he had in front of him. "Damn, this school makes better stuff than my last one. Their pizza tasted like cardboard!"

Violet nodded in agreement, as she continued eating the salad she had procured. Charlie noticed that she had a small pile of discarded toppings beside her plate that was covered in a napkin, and he could just barely see the tip of a slice of strawberry poking from beneath it. Looking up from this observation,

Charlie saw that she was looking right at him. He just shrugged as he reached into his pack and pulled out his lunch.

"Hey," came a voice behind him, and Charlie turned to see Augustus and Veruca both approaching with trays. "Sorry it took so long. The princess couldn't figure out what she was going to have."

Veruca scoffed at him as she sat down. "My apologies, but I have a sensitive palate. I did agree with my parents that I would eat what the other kids ate, but so much of it is too coated in grease for my liking!" She then turned and noticed Mike and his plate. "Clearly it doesn't bother some people though."

Mike had the common decency of finishing the mouthful of food before stating, "Might be coated in grease, but it tastes fantastic. You should really explore more food options."

Veruca watched as a small drop of sauce dripped from Mike's pizza and landed on his plate. "Another time maybe. Can't rush these things."

"Clearly not," Augustus mumbled.

Even with the situation being right there in front of him, Charlie still had a hard time believing any of this was real. For all he knew, he was having a bizarre dream, and would soon wake up from it.

This dream theory was abruptly halted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Charlie looked up from his seat to see a rather buff student standing almost menacingly over him.

"Well, well," the figure said as he leaned over the table to look at those seated. "Quite the group we have here. Rich kid, nerd… And look, even the freak is here."

Charlie sat motionless. He'd had issues with bullies before, and he could tell that this guy was definitely one of them. He felt the best course of action in this moment was to not engage. Of course, he did look at his friends around the table, and noticed the varying looks upon each of their faces. Veruca couldn't hide her disdain as she looked at him. Augustus remained stone faced, as though he was watching and waiting for a proper moment to strike. Mike nonchalantly ignored the individual as he kept wolfing down his lunch.

Violet, however, sat back with a large grin on her face. "If it isn't Danny the Dick. Miss me over summer?"

The bully growled at her and said, "Watch it, bitch, or I'll give you some bruises that can even be seen through your freak skin."

"That's the only comeback you got? Not really even much of a threat. Already had a fight today and it was worse than anything you could dish out."

Danny glared at her before saying, "I just wanted to introduce myself to the new kids in town. Danny Richardson. Quarterback. This is my school. Things go as I say they go, got it?"

Violet let out a quick laugh. "If this school followed your words, nobody would be able to see for shit because their heads would be up their asses. Still surprised you haven't bumped into anything yet with how far your head is up yours."

Danny chose to ignore her statement as he leaned down next to Charlie's face and said, "Might want to figure out quick who your friends are. I'd hate to see something bad happen to you from hanging with the wrong crowd." He then released his steel grip on Charlie's shoulder and walked back to his table, where Charlie could see a small group of other rambunctious students cheering for their leader.

Augustus watched him like a hawk for a few minutes after he left, before finally returning to his meal with his friends. "I know this is the first time I've met him, but mark my words, he's going to be eating my fist by the end of this school year."

"Don't bother," Violet said with a shrug and a sigh. "He talks tough, but I've never seen him do anything. I mean, he might have, but I've never seen it."

Veruca huffed as she said, "Well, if he tries to do something again, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."

Mike finished his food before he said, "Guys like that are a dime a dozen. It would be like talking to a brick wall. Hell, the wall would probably be a better conversationalist."

Violet shrugged, though a smile was plastered on her face. "You have no idea how accurate that statement is. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the rest of the goon squad over there. New girlfriend this month, it looks like. Don't know her. Taller guy is Nick Mackwell. Linebacker. Smartest guy on the football team, and the one that does the dirty work if any gets done."

Charlie chuckled a bit, then said, "Smartest guy on the football team, huh? Based on my previous experience with jocks, that would be the equivalent of being the tallest dwarf."

"Hey!" Augustus said, feigning being hurt by Charlie's comment.

"Our resident jock being the exception," Charlie amended, playing along.

The group continued chatting casually as they each finished their meals, mostly discussing classes and how the first day in each one was. When lunch was over, they all waved goodbye and headed their separate ways to finish the day. One thing Charlie knew for sure, though, was that somehow, in just this one day, he had made the best friends he was ever going to have.

And the look of shock he imagined on everyone's faces when he told them at home made the fact all the better.

Once again, thank you all for your patience! I will begin the review answering starting next chapter. I'll see you guys then!