Sonic was on his 5th chilidog, yet the gaping hole that was his stomach yearned for more. He scarfed down his lunch with the vigour of a coyote devouring a carcass.

He leaned back in the chair and released a puff of air. The empty feeling prevailed. He pushed the greasy plate away from him and heaved a sigh.

"Are you done ravaging? We're gonna be late." Knuckles' voice came from behind him, gruff and curt. His knapsack was lazily pulled over one shoulder as he leant on the wall of the kitchen.

Sonic side eyed him. He rose to his feet, brushing himself off. He scoped the kitchen, gaze gliding over the marble counters and piles of unwashed plates. Spotting his backpack, he retrieved it and turned to face the echidna.

"How'd you get in?"

"The window."

Sonic blinked. Dread settled in his gut as he turned to see what the echidna was referring to...

Above the kitchen sink was the shattered window, fragments of its glass scattered across the floor. His jaw dropped. "KNUCKLES!"

"You weren't answering the door," Knuckles shrugged.

"My mom's gonna kill me!"

"She'll kill you harder if you're late to school."

So they (Sonic glaring at Knuckles with murderous intent) made their way to Knuckles' red Mitsubishi. Ever since Knuckles got his driver's license a few months before, he'd been driving it EVERYWHERE. Needed to get to the park across the street? Mitsubishi. Okay, how about the basketball court, 2 minutes away? Mitsubishi. And the mailbox that was in his front yard? You guessed it, Mitsubishi.

Heck, Knuckles had even named it: Master Emerald. Sonic was clueless as to why but knew better than to question it.

Sonic jumped into the passenger seat and shut the door, careful to not slam it. Knuckles backed out the driveway, and they began en route to school.

The hedgehog realized they had driven past the turn to Tails' house. "Knucks, we missed—"

"He has a different ride today,"

Memories of the night before resurfaced in the sea of Sonic's conscious. The solitude, the proximity, the...He flinched. That was why, wasn't it? He fumbled uselessly for other options, but the answer was already clear.

He'd been a fool for hoping that maybe, they could both forget. He'd heard of simple, silly things ruining relationships, but he'd never thought that he'd had to worry about it.

"How was it?" Knuckles' voice jerked the hedgehog out of his thoughts.

He blinked. "What?"

The echidna glanced at Sonic through the rear-view mirror. "The kiss?"

Sonic froze. His pupils reduced to pinpricks and he gaped like a suffocating fish.

His throat was a dry as a dessert in drought, and he had to open and close his mouth several times before anything came out. "How...How did you know?"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes, looking at Sonic in the same way he'd look at his math homework. 'What do you mean? Everyone knows. Doesn't help that Amy's been posting about it since yesterday."

Amy. His heart slowed. He'd kissed two people the night before, he recalled. He chuckled despite himself. "Oh. Yeah, it was great." He discharged a mental sigh and allowed his shoulders to slump and his muscles to relax.

Knuckles nodded and turned his focus back to the road, signalling to Sonic that the conversation was over. They made the final turn into the school parking lot. The echidna pulled into a spot that clearly said STAFF ONLY. Sonic had a feeling that if Tails had been there, he would've advised Knuckles not to park there—seeing as whoever did get detention...But there was no protest, and the duo jumped out of Master Emerald and onto the concrete ground.

The immense brick building awaited him. A wooden signpost was cemented into the grass, displaying 'EMERALD HIGH SCHOOL' in broad, thick letters.

Sonic maneuvered through the constant stream of students, scanning the crowd for two fluffy tails. His eyes browsed through the dozens of forlorn faces and broken eyes. Not one of them was Tails. Maybe he was already inside?

He found his pace matching that of the crowd's. His backpack gently trumped against his back, and Sonic hoped his quills wouldn't rip into it again.

As he approached the imposing front doors, he pondered if there had been any homework due. "Don't I have a test on Wednesday? And we have that project due tomorrow." He smiled. "Man, I'm screwed."

He entered the school. The tiles were checkerboards with high schoolers as the pieces, and the walls were occupied by lockers. Whoever designed the hallway must have liked the colour grey, seeing as everything was a variation of it. A few bursts of colours were provided by the cheesy inspirational posters scattered across the walls with sayings like If You Can't Think Of Anything Nice To Say, You're Not Thinking Hard Enough.

Sonic felt two arms fling around his waist. "Sonic!" A bubbly voice squealed into his ears.

He knew immediately who it was. "Amy." He said, wriggling out of the pinkette's embrace and turning to look at her.

Amy beamed so wide it seemed as if her face would split in half. Her eyes were bright green, and Sonic swore he could see little hearts in them. Her fur/quills were pink, and her muzzle was a peach colour similar to Sonic's. "I missed you last night! Where did you go?"

Sonic took a cautious step back. A few passersby had stopped to watch their exchange, and he recognized a couple of them as Amy's friends. They were giggling and whispering.

Amy glanced back at them and mouthed 'get out of here' before turning back to Sonic. Her smile hadn't faded, though it twitched a bit at the sides.

Sonic offered a non-committal grin. "I...was tired. I went home early. Heh."

"Oh, whatever! Anyway..." The snickers of the pinkette's entourage increased in volume. "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Deep down, Sonic had seen this coming. Heck, how couldn't he?

It was unspoken law that when you kissed someone, there was something romantic going on between you and that person.

And despite the kiss being nothing more than a shallow connection of lips to Sonic, it must've meant the world to Amy. To her, it must've been a confirmation of the love Sonic held for her that he was just too shy to confess. It was proof enough to her that they were soulmates, that they were destined to kiss that night at Jet's stupid party.

The cobalt hedgehog felt eyes boring into his soul, their gazes sharp and dangerous. A few of the eyes belonged to Amy's friends or the guys he hung out with at gym class.

He wondered if, perhaps, Amy had purposefully chosen to ask him in front of everyone. His eyes swept the hallway - which was suddenly cramped - before he settled back on Amy, who was smiling with cheeks as red as Knuckles and his Mitsubishi.

His mind wandered back to Tails. How the fox conveniently had 'a different ride' the day after they...you know. His hand balled into fists. It had already started. They'd grow distant and detached from each other, and 10 years of comradery and comfort and knowing what the heck their relationship was would flush down the drain.

He desperately searched for an escape, maybe he could get away with pretending that he needed to use the bathroom? That's when his eyes met with a cheesy poster that was plastered on the wall to his right. In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.

Sonic came to a verdict.

"Yeah, sure. When are you free?"