What's up, dudes and dudettes? Time for another chapter of NCM. This is a continuation of the last chapter, and will also include the boys after school, talking about their day, and how they feel about the whole NCE thing, Russell and Rudy especially. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2: After School

The rest of the school day seemed to go by okay for the boys. They continued to get stares and questions about the 'No class ever' thing, but they made sure to ignore them. But it wasn't easy for Russell or Rudy since they were the topic of conversation to start with.

By the time school ended, Russell was waiting outside the entrance, just as his brother asked him to. Most of the other elementary schoolers had already gotten on a bus or were picked up by their parents. But he didn't care. He didn't mind waiting for Bill.

Speaking of whom.

"Hey, Rus..." The child looked up to see his brother walking towards him, "C'mon, we're heading to the junkyard to work on homework."

"Okay..." He said quietly as he took his hand.

The walk to the junkyard, as usual, didn't take too long, and soon, the whole gang was sitting in the clubhouse looking at their books. Russell was the only one who didn't have any homework to do, which considered him lucky, based on the other's opinions.

"I can't believe they gave us homework on the first day..." Rudy grumbled as he glared at his textbook, "This sucks!"

"You're telling me." Harold nodded, "It's one thing to go over what we're gonna learn, but to give us something to 'test our knowledge', I'm not ready for it."

Albert shook his head, "Cheer up, dudes. It's not so bad. We're lucky we only have to do one page today."

"It ain't much better..." Bill spoke, before looking over at his brother, "Hey, Russell. How were your classes?"

The little boy looked at the others before he grabbed his backpack, "It was good... if you count all the 'love' I got from my classmates today. And I mean real good 'love' and support..."

Turning his bag upside down, Russell dumped out all of its contents, most of which were cards made by his friends. Curious, the other boys grabbed a few and read them.

"'Sorry for what happened this summer.'" Bucky read, "'Hope you're feeling better.'"

"'You're a soldier, Russell." Harold read.

"'We got your back.'" Bill read.

"'Don't let the demon hurt you again... we love you.'" Albert read, before smiling, "That's nice of your classmates to make these, Russell. They really care."

Russell shrugged, "As nice as it is... I rather not have these..."

When Rudy read a few of these, he was tempted to rip them all to shreds, but didn't for the sake of keeping a cool head, "I can't believe it! You even got cards! Freaking CARDS! I got NOTHING! NOTHING but taunts and jokes from everyone! Where is MY sympathy?! Where are MY cards?!"

However, no one seemed to be listening to the rich boy, as they continuing focusing on the cards. When Rudy realized he was being ignored, he growled and tore one of the cards in half, thinking back to things that happened at school.

Lunch period was happening for the freshmen and sophomores, but the food wasn't much better than last year. The same old stuff, but hey, the Junkyard couldn't argue.

They got their food and sat down, having a normal conversation.

"Hey, hey, hey. This is a great first school day so far." Albert declared.

"Yeah, if you discount that grumpy math teacher." Bill replied, "He acts like he doesn't wanna be here."

"Then he must know how most students feel." Harold chuckled.

As Rudy sipped on his milk, he couldn't help but hear snickers behind him. He tried his best to ignore them, but they continued, and eventually got louder. And before he could bite into his sandwich, he saw a group of kids walking by.

"Hey, Rudy. Beat up any little kids lately...?" One of the boys asked with a laugh.

The rich boy growled but tried to ignore him. But soon a girl spoke with scorn, "Maybe he's planning to attack the kindergarteners next. It would seem likely after what he did to poor Russell..."

There it was again. 'Poor Russell'. These people were only showing sympathy for that little kid over him! Rudolph Davis! He began squeezing his sandwich so hard, it's contents were falling out.

"It takes someone who's really cruel to traumatize someone younger than him." Another girl spoke with just as much disgust.

Suddenly, he stood up to face the teens, "Alright! None of that crap is your business!" He sneered, "And while you're so busy coddling that shrimp for almost dying, what about MY sympathy! I got freaking STABBED trying to save him from some thug trying to rob us! I almost died! But no, focus only on Russell. Because he clearly matters more than me, right?!"

Rudy's rant was starting to get more attention from the other students, as they turned to watch him go off on his tirade. But one of the girls scoffed, "If you almost died, then consider that karma!"

"KARMA?!" Rudy screamed.

Albert stood to put a hand on his shoulder, "Cool it, Rudy."

"Hey, at least you knew how poor Russell felt!" The other girl spat, "You gave him pain, then you felt pain. Doesn't feel so good to be in his shoes for once, does it?"

"Don't you think I KNOW that?" Rudy asked with exasperation, "I STARTED to see the error of my ways, and I've changed since then! But you can't accept that?!"

"Once a 'no class ever' jerk, always a 'no class ever' jerk." The girl replied, "Harming a child is something you can't come back from. No forgiveness, none. Russell has to remember that for the rest of his life. And you're to blame."

"You should be in jail!" Another boy spoke up, "For life!"

"Hey look, it's Mr. No Class Ever!" Another boy laughed.

The gang could see Rudy's face becoming red with anger and realized that if they didn't do anything, Rudy would and it wasn't going to be pretty. So Bill decided to stand up, "Hey, take it easy, everyone. I know Rudy hurt my brother, but I've forgiven him, and he and Rus are getting along better. Things are getting better, so you don't have to worry about him hurting anybody else."

That seemed to lessen the other kids' worries... only a little bit, though, "Can't blame us for being cautious..." One boy spoke.

"I understand. But still, we'd like it if you didn't bring it up... ever again. None of us wanna remember it, especially not Russell or Rudy."

Eventually, everyone started to back off and went about their business. Rudy took a deep breath and sat back down, "Thanks, Bill. You saved me from killing the whole school."

Bill smiled, "Yeah. Didn't want that happening. I get you, man. People need to mind their own business. You and Russell have been through enough as it is..."

"LIke I said, I'm sure things will die down by the end of the week." Albert assured everyone, "Soon, people will forget it all..."

"You better hope you're right, Fat Albert..." Rudy groaned, biting into his sandwich finally...

Unfortunately, the confrontations didn't end at lunch, though they were minor afterward. It didn't make Rudy feel any better. And now seeing all these sympathy cards made for Russell, it made him even more upset and angry. Bill turned towards him and saw the torn card in his hand, "Rudy! You ripped a card. Russell's classmates worked hard on that."

The rich boy stood and growled, "Oh, I'm sure they worked hard on this, alright. Just like how people have been working hard to make me feel like crap ALL DAY!"

"Calm down, Rudy. You don't have to listen to them." Albert said softly.

"Don't you think I TRY?! Because I TRY! But it's HARD when you hear people snickering and laughing everywhere you go! It's a LOT more difficult then you may think it is!"

"You think it's any better for me?" Russell asked, "I get asked questions and hugs and stuff. It gets tiring..."

Rudy set his glare onto the child, "Actually, I think it is better for you! You might think it's annoying, but at least NOBODY is getting on your back about what happened! You got all these cute little cards, while all I got was insults and mocks! People are shaming ME while coddling you! It's not fair!"

"C'mon, man. It's not worth it." Bill tried to tell him, "Those people just wanna start trouble. Just ignore them, and they'll stop!"

"Again, easier said than done!"

"Rudy, maybe you're overreacting..." Albert started to say.

When Rudy heard that... well, look, "Overreacting... I'm overreacting?! Heh, heh... you know what's funny about that? You cats said the exact same thing when all of this happened! You thought I overreacted! Okay, maybe I did, but now, I'm just being reasonable! I'm TRYING to forget what happened, but the kids at school are making it hard to do so! And if it doesn't stop soon, I'm gonna lose it!"

He was getting mad again, and the gang could see it. So they didn't say anything else. Rudy sneered, "Hmph... nothing to say... that's what I thought... I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow..."

With that, he grabbed his books and bag and stormed out of the clubhouse. As soon as he was gone, Russell snuggled against his brother, "I don't blame him... I want the whole thing to be forgotten too, but those kids..."

"Give it time, Rus..." Bill assured him, "They'll get the hint sooner or later..."

Sooner or later. When will the kids get the hint? Things didn't start off too great for Rudy nor Russell, but for Rudy, it was much more difficult. And next chapter, it's going to get even worse, skipping over the first week, and that's when we'll see his mental state take a terrible turn for the worst. Prepare yourselves, because things are gonna get crazy soon. Until then, I'll see you guys later. And don't forget to review, please. Thank you!