This story was done in collaboration between me and Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and we both own the OCs that are used in the story. Credit to author AaronCottrell97 for a few ideas and character suggestions (especially the duel layout for the story). Everything else belongs to their respective owners:
Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel
The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry
Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami
WARNING: Again, this story is rated T for fantasy violence and minor depictions of blood.
NOTE: This is the first time Sodormatchmaker and I have ever added a same sex couple into any story we've ever written (for this case, Nia will be paired with and Rebecca, and they're both females), although it was something I actually wanted to do for a while, now. As such, we've done our best to try and make it as realistic and everything. If it seems rushed and/or forced, we both apologize and promise to do better with it for next time.
Chapter 4
First Day Rumble!
It was a new day on the Island of Sodor, but it was not just any kind of new day... Summer had finally come to pass, and it was finally time to go back to school for Thomas and his friends!
(elsewhere...)
Inside Thomas's room within the Billinton residence, the blue-haired boy was sound asleep in bed just as his alarm clock, upon ticking to '7:00', started sounding off.
"Ngh..." he grimaced. "N-No..."
Despite the loud noise, Thomas merely shut the clock off, turned, and tried to go back to sleep. However, someone wasn't about to let Thomas be late for his first day back to school... Okay, make that 'two' someones. The spirits of Dark Magician Girl and Kuriboh both suddenly appeared from the Millennium Puzzle, which was sitting on the nearby dresser.
"Come on, sleepy head!" said Dark Magician Girl, trying to wake her master/friend up. "Rise and shine."
"Kuri, kuri!" added Kuriboh, using his teeth to grab and move the curtain a bit to allow some sunlight to shine onto Thomas.
"No... Please, just five more minutes, Mom..." Poor Thomas mumbled in his sleep, just as he turned over to get the light out from his eyes. "I need...more sleep... Ugh..."
And he fell asleep again, causing Dark Magician Girl to sigh. She then whispered something to Kuriboh, who then closed his eyes and braced himself for what came next. From there, Dark Magician Girl suddenly took a brown, paper bag out of nowhere, blew into it a few times until it was big enough, slowly floated over to Thomas, and...
*BOOM!*
...she popped it near his ear.
"GWAAAHH!" screeched Thomas. In his surprise from the loud popping sound of the paper bag, he dove out of bed and found himself in Dark Magician Girl's arms. "Huh?"
"Good morning, Thomas." The female Spellcaster-Type monster greeted cheerfully.
"Kuri, kuri!" added Kuriboh, looking and sounding equally as cheerful.
Thomas merely blinked at Dark Magician Girl for a few seconds before realization seemed to hit him...
"Wait, were you the one who made that noise?" he asked in dismay.
"It sure was." confirmed Dark Magician Girl. "Today happens to be your first day back to school, and you obviously need to get ready for it."
"It's back to school already?" groaned Thomas.
Kuriboh floated over to the calendar on the wall and motioned to it. On the calendar, there was a circle marked over 'September 1st', much to the disappointment of the blue-haired boy.
"Aww...!" Thomas whined, before accepting defeat. "Okay, okay! I'm up now..."
Dark Magician Girl then dropped Thomas down onto the bed and faded away, with Kuriboh quickly following suit. From there, the tired Thomas got up and grabbed his towel off the hooks near the dresser, leaving the bedroom for the bathroom so he could take a shower.
(new scene...)
Twenty minutes later, Thomas returned to his bedroom while only wearing a towel around his waist. There, he found that the spirit of Dark Magician Girl had returned, but she was wearing something far different than her usual outfit. Her new outfit looked a bit like a school girl's outfit in the color scheme of her usual (revealing, too) female magician-like outfit. At the moment, she was looking at her new outfit in the mirror.
"What's with the wardrobe change?" asked Thomas, looking a bit puzzled.
"Oh, Thomas!" exclaimed Dark Magician Girl, happily turning and posing in her new outfit. "I was hoping you'd come back. What do you think? Because it's the first day of school, I thought I might change my outfit up for the day."
"Well, it's rather fitting for you." admitted Thomas.
"Aw, you're such a sweetheart." giggled Dark Magician Girl just as she pulled Thomas in for a hug.
Thomas reacted with a blush due to him being close to the well-endowed female monster's large bust yet again, but he got used to it and hugged her back. It was then Dark Magician Girl, as she let go of Thomas, finally realized that her blue-haired friend was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, and thus blushed right back.
"I'd...better let you be alone so you can get changed." Dark Magician Girl commented, just before respectfully fading away and not wanting to see her male friend drop his towel and become naked (although she secretly wanted to see it happen).
(elsewhere...)
Ten minutes later, Thomas, wearing his school uniform, walked down the stairs towards the kitchen. There, his Dad, Mom, and two younger Twin Sisters, Annie and Clarabel, were already having breakfast.
"Good morning, Mom, Dad, Annie, Clarabel." Thomas greeted.
Mr. Billinton looked up from his newspaper and smiled at his son. "Good morning, son."
"Good morning, sweetie." greeted Mrs. Billinton.
"Good morning, Big Brother." Annie and Clarabel both said in unison, as they ate.
Thomas joined his Father and sisters at the table as his Mother brought him over a plate of pancakes.
"Thank you." Thomas thanked his Mother, and began eating.
"All ready for a new school year. Are you excited?" asked Mr. Billinton while he was reading his newspaper. "Soon enough, it'll be the year you'll graduate."
Thomas smiled, but then sighed. "Yeah, but I'm really used to getting up to early."
"You'll get used to it. Now, eat up, you'll feel better after you do so." Mrs. Billinton said, just as she joined her family at the table.
As the family ate breakfast, Mr. Billinton's eyes widened as he read the newspaper.
"Well, would you look at this." The head of the home laid the newspaper down on the table so the family could see it. "It says here a new artifact had been added to the museum."
"New artifact?" asked Thomas curiously.
"Could we see?" added Annie.
"I bet it sounds cool." put in Clarabel.
Mr. Billinton nodded in agreement, and Thomas and his Twin Sisters each took a look at the newspaper. The article revealed that a pyramid shaped artifact had been discovered in the Egyptian deserts and brought to the Knapford museum.
"Pyramid of Light?" breathed Thomas.
"It looks a bit like your Millennium Puzzle, Big Brother." Annie pointed out.
"Yeah, it does..."
"I've heard that many people who dug that artifact up were killed by an unknown force of some kind." explained Mr. Billinton, reading about the discovery.
"Honey, don't scare the children like that!" Mrs. Billinton scolded her husband.
Thomas folded his arms. "Oh, please..." he scoffed, as he rolled his eyes. "I'm not scared of something like that, Mom"
"But we are!" Annie and Clarabel both said at once in fright, while holding onto each other tightly.
Thomas soon noticed the clock was saying '7:45'. As soon as he saw the time, he got up to grab his backpack.
"I got to go now or I'll miss the bus! Bye!" The blue-haired boy ran for the door and exited the house.
"Have a good day, honey!" called Mrs. Billinton, waving to her son.
(elsewhere...)
Later inside the school bus heading for Sodor High School, Thomas was speaking to both Percy Avonside and Edward Stewart.
"I'm rather sad that both Gordon and Henry have already graduated." sighed Percy. "Things won't be the same without them."
"Well, at least it will be more peaceful with one less troublemaker." insisted Edward; he was of course referring to Gordon. "No offense to Gordon nor James."
"At least Gordon has been getting so much better." Thomas pointed out.
"So now, we're stuck with James." groaned Percy.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I do have some news that might prove to be interesting." reassured Edward, changing the subject. "According to some sources, our high school is getting two new teachers."
"Oh?" asked Thomas. "Who might they be?"
"Do you recall someone named Nia Kur from 'The Great International Duel Cup'?" asked Edward. "She's one of them."
"Nia?" repeated Percy.
"She's not only a duelist, but is also a school teacher." explained Edward.
Thomas remembered Nia. "Nia... She was defeated by Matt in round two of that tournament."
"Do you know anything about the other teacher?" asked Percy.
"Not at the moment." answered Edward. "Nothing was mentioned on the second teacher... I suppose we'll learn more about who her or she will be later."
Before long, the bus had stopped outside the school.
(elsewhere...)
Minutes later, Thomas, Edward, and Percy were each in the schoolyard. They were still talking about Nia of Africa...
"I wonder what made her consider transferring to Sodor." wondered Thomas.
"Beats me." shrugged Percy.
"Oh ho ho!" A familiar female voice chortled. "Maybe I could answer that for you."
The three teenagers turned and saw Nia Kur, in the flesh. The African young woman bowed before the three students in greeting.
"Hello there!" she greeted. "My name is Nia, but I'm certain that you remember me from weeks ago."
"Yes, we remember you." confirmed Percy.
"You were one of the many duelists competing for a chance to win the tournament and duel Discord." added Edward.
"Yes, I was." nodded Nia. "Unfortunately, I ended up defeated by the United States's champion - Matt Fudo."
"Hey, he's one of the hardest duelists to ever defeat." Thomas pointed out.
"But you, Thomas, have not only defeated him and won the tournament, you've also defeated Discord himself!" continued Nia. "You've also mastered all of the current Summon Types and become one of the newest 'King of Games'! You've become so famous on this island and all of the United Kingdom."
"Shh! Shh! Shh!" hushed Thomas, trying to keep the noise down. "Please, I don't want to draw any attention."
Nia smiled sheepishly. "Oh, right." she giggled. "My apologies."
"Yeah, Thomas here likely has become so famous after that tournament, that he's afraid that a crowd might try to gang up on him and demand a duel." joked Percy. "He already had one duel not long ago, after all."
"Yeah, pretty much..." scowled Thomas, glaring at his cheeky best friend.
"H-Hey, I was only kidding!"
Before anything more could be said...
"Whoa! G-Gang way!" cried an adult, female voice.
The three teenagers (Thomas, Percy, and Edward) and adult (Nia) all turned to see a young woman, 27-years old (the same age as Nia), with long brown hair heading towards them on a set of roller skates, going much too fast to stop. Suddenly, she went out of control and crashed into the nearby flagpole.
*BASH!*
"Ouch..." The young woman groaned goofily, falling onto the ground with swirling eyes.
"Oh!" Nia ran over and helped the injured young woman up. "Are you okay?"
The young woman rubbed the back of her head. "Oh, I'm perfectly alright; I was just rollerskating too fast." She then touched Nia's hand and patted it. "Nothing's broken, so there's no harm done."
As the young woman then took the time to change her footwear into proper shoes, Nia, having felt her hand being touched by the young woman, fell into silence as she brought her untouched hand to her chest, feeling her heart skip a beat.
"Um... Who are you?" asked Thomas.
"Oh, me?" The young woman chuckled, looking to the blue-haired boy and his two friends. She then smiled and introduced herself. "My name is Rebecca Eastleigh. Since you don't know, I'm going to be your new Homeroom Teacher."
"Homeroom Teacher?" repeated Percy. "But what about Mr. C?"
"I've been told that he's retired." explained Rebecca.
"Retired? But he's only in his forties!"
"Percy..." cut in Edward. "If Mr. C thought he should retire, then that's entirely his choice."
Percy felt rather discouraged. Rebecca soon looked to her watch and gasped at what time it was.
"Oh, goodness me! I have to get going!" The brown-haired young woman exclaimed. "I must go and visit Sir Topham Hatt so I can get signed in." She then looked over to Nia and waved with a bashful giggle. "See you later."
With that said, Rebecca walked towards the front entrance. While Percy remained upset that Mr. C had retired, Thomas and Edward both noticed that Nia had been silent for the last minute or so. She also seemed to have a blush on her face.
"Nia?" peeped Thomas. "Nia, are you okay?"
"Huh? What?" Very quickly, Nia snapped out of her daze. "What's going on?"
"Are you feeling okay?" asked Edward. "You were awfully quiet when we were meeting Rebecca."
"And your face looks a bit red." added Percy.
"Oh, I was... erm..." Nia, being unable to think of an explanation, decided to leave. "Oh dear! Look at the time! I have to go and get signed in, too!"
Very quickly, the African young woman ran off towards the front entrance way, leaving Thomas, Percy, and Edward each at a loss for words. Just then...
"Guess who?" A familiar female voice giggled, who then covered Thomas's eyes with her hands.
"Hmm, let me see." joked Thomas, pretending like he didn't know. "Does your name happen to start with the letter 'E'?"
Turning around, the blue-haired boy was met by a kiss on the lips from Emily Stirling. Even though Emily and her family had moved back to their own home before summer ended (since Thomas had finally recovered from the events of the Duel Monsters spirit world), Thomas was always very happy to see his 'Supreme Queen'.
"You peeked." Emily giggled again, after pulling free from the kiss.
"But still a good prize, either way." smiled Thomas.
"Hey, hey, hey!" called the voice of James Hughes, walking up to greet his friends. "You guys were just talking to our new Homeroom Teacher?"
"You know?" blinked Percy.
"Duh, Percy! I was chatting with her ten minutes ago while walking down the street!"
"She seems a bit excitable and clumsy, doesn't she?" asked Edward, speaking about Rebecca.
"Not only that-" added Thomas. "-Nia was also acting rather strangely when we were talking to Rebecca."
"Ah, yes! The same Nia from 'The Great International Duel Cup'!" commented James. "She's here, too."
"I wonder what's going on with Nia." pondered Emily, wondering why Nia would act strangely around Rebecca.
"No idea." answered Edward. "And besides, the way Rebecca was waving to Nia also seemed to be bashful or something."
"That is strange." added James, before deciding to shrug it off. "Oh well... Let's go and find Toby before the bell rings."
And the group went into the school...
(elsewhere...)
Inside the Tidmouth classroom, Thomas and everyone else were seated at their desks when Sir Topham Hatt entered the classroom with Rebecca staying by his side.
"Good morning, everyone." The stout gentleman greeted the students. "As you all know by now, Mr. C, who has been with this school for many years, is no longer with us. During the summer, he suffered a heart attack that put him in the hospital for quite some time. So, Mr. C has decided to retire so he can spend more time with his family and away from stressful activities like these. In the meantime, I would like you to meet his replacement; Ms. Rebecca Eastleigh."
"Good morning, Ms. Eastleigh!" The students (minus Percy) echoed in response.
"Hello, everyone." greeted Rebecca warmly. "And, please, you're all free to just call me Rebecca. Now, I do hope all of us will have an amazing time together."
Sir Topham Hatt then noticed that Percy hadn't said anything since he introduced Rebecca to the class. What was wrong with him?
"Percy, you haven't said a word since I walked inside with Rebecca." said Sir Topham Hatt. "Is something the matter?"
Percy looked up. "N-No, sir... Everything's fine."
Somehow, Sir Topham Hatt wasn't convinced, though he said nothing else. Finally, he left the classroom to let the students get to know their new teacher.
"Now, class, could I start things off by calling the rows?" asked Rebecca, holding onto a list. She then looked onto it. "James Hughes?"
"The one and only." James confirmed proudly.
"Duck Collet?"
"Present." said Duck politely.
Rebecca smiled in response. She continued to go down the list of names until she came upon...
"Percy Avonside?" The brown-haired young woman asked. The new teacher then looked puzzled when no response came. "Percy Avonside?"
Over at his seat, Percy wasn't paying attention.
"Percy?" Emily called out. "Percy, what's going on? Rebecca's just called out your name out, twice."
At last, Percy snapped back to reality. "Huh?" he blinked, looking around briefly. "What's going on?"
"Percy, I've called your name." said Rebecca firmly.
"Oh... Here..." Percy mumbled in embarrassment, before looking out the window once more. "I'm here..."
Now it was Rebecca's turn to feel concerned. Even though she'd just met Percy today, she felt like something was bothering him. But, ultimately, Rebecca decided to wait for the right time to talk about it.
(elsewhere...)
Later on during lunch hour, Thomas, Emily, Toby Holden, and Mavis Drewry were all having lunch together (call it a double date if you wish) at a private table away from the other students.
"Percy hasn't been feeling very cheerful for most of the day." Emily was saying.
"I think I know why." mused Mavis. "He must miss Mr. C."
"We all do." added Toby. "But, if he retired due to health problems, there isn't anything we can do about that."
Just then, Thomas turned and saw Nia walking by with her own lunch.
"Nia! Would you care to join us for lunch?" offered Thomas.
Nia smiled. "That's sweet of you to offer, Thomas-" she said kindly. "-but I'm actually going to have lunch with Rebecca."
With that said, she set out to one of the nearby tables (which Rebecca was seated at). When the African young woman reached the table, she greeted Rebecca, and sat down beside her. As lunch went on...
"You know, that's interesting." commented Toby.
"Two teachers having lunch together?" quizzed Mavis. "It's everyday life, Toby."
"No, take a good look."
Mavis turned around. "What are you-?" she blinked. "Huh?"
Over at the nearby table, Rebecca and Nia were both shown talking. Under the table, however, it was a different story...
"Are Rebecca and Nia...holding hands?" whispered Mavis, looking surprised.
"Indeed, they are." Toby whispered back. "Though I thought mainly couples held hands."
"So did I." agreed Emily. "Unless they've become REALLY close friends or what not."
Thomas stared long and hard at Nia and Rebecca. Was there something going on between the two teachers that nobody else seemed to know about? At this point, we don't know for sure... Somewhere in another part of the lunchroom, Diesel, Dennis, Arry, and Bert were all eating lunch, but they also felt very bored.
"Man, my Mom gave me tunafish?!" complained Dennis, looking at his sandwich. "I wanted a ham sandwich!"
"Forget your food, it's too boring in this here lunchroom!" snapped Diesel, and it currently was 'him' who happened to be bored. "I want some excitement in my life... What to do, what to do?"
Bert chuckled. "Hey, Diesel!" he pointed out. "I think you might get your chance for fun sooner than you might think."
"What do you mean?" pondered Diesel.
"Look at Percy over there!" suggested Arry, pointing to nearby. "He's looking mighty depressed at the moment."
A devious grin came to Diesel's face. It looks like an idea came into his devious little head...
"Dennis, gimme your sandwich." Diesel ordered quickly.
"Sure, take it." accepted Dennis, giving his friend/leader the food he hated. "What're you planning to do?"
"Wait and see..." snickered Diesel, who then threw the sandwich with all his might at Percy...
*SPLAT!*
...and slammed him in the face.
"H-HEY!" cried Percy, spitting some of the tuna out of his mouth in disgust. "Who threw that?!"
"Bulls-eye..." Diesel chuckled quietly.
From there, all eyes in the lunchroom were on the red-faced Percy Avonside. From there, Arry and Bert both stood up from their seats and...
"SHE DID IT!" The twin boys accused.
Arry and Bert were both pointing towards...Rebecca, making her and Nia both gasp with surprise.
"P-Percy... I did no such thing!" protested Rebecca, looking quite shocked. "I would never do something that mean!"
"LIAR!" Percy shrieked angrily.
Now, normally the green-haired boy would never believe a word that Arry, Bert, Diesel, Dennis, and the likes, but he was feeling so upset about the changes going on at the school that he didn't care what he did... With that being said, Percy stood up and hurled with all his might his half-eaten chili-dog, hitting poor Rebecca in the face and making her cry out in alarm.
"Bingo!" Diesel whispered to Dennis, who quietly laughed in response.
Suddenly...
"FOOD FIGHT!" Arry and Bert both called out, joyfully, standing on their seats.
Before long, almost everyone present in the area was throwing food all over the lunchroom. Thomas, Toby, Emily, and Mavis all ducked under their seat for cover.
"Diesel's idea?" Emily whispered to Thomas.
"Diesel's idea." agreed Thomas.
"Figures." sighed Mavis. "He never gives it up, does he?"
"Sadly not." added Toby.
(elsewhere...)
Nia, meanwhile, was trying to get Rebecca out of the lunchroom and away from the chaos going on.
"It'll be okay." The African young woman reassured, once they were in the hallway. "You go and get cleaned up, and I'll go and get Sir Topham Hatt."
"Okay, thank you so much." whispered Rebecca, giving her new friend a quick kiss.
The kiss brought a blush to Nia's face, while the brown-haired young woman's own face turned a bit red, too. Eventually, the two teachers split up and went their separate ways; Nia went to find the principal, and Rebecca went to the washroom to clean herself up.
(elsewhere...)
Back inside the lunchroom, it was absolutely crazy... Students were hurling their food all around at other people or the walls. But then there was trouble... Nia and Sir Topham Hatt both entered to find everything a mess...
"Oh, my word!" gasped Sir Topham Hatt in such shock. Becoming very cross, the principal raised his voice... "CEASE!"
Suddenly, everyone present stopped what they were doing and became silent, with all eyes were on their principal.
"I do not believe what I'm seeing... On the first day, too..." stammered Sir Topham Hatt, trying to restrain himself from completely losing his temper. "Who... who started this?"
With the exception of Thomas, Emily, Toby, and Mavis, everyone else was pointing towards Percy. That was all the stout gentleman needed to see...
"Percy?" realized Sir Topham Hatt, then becoming very stern. "I kind of expected this sort of behavior from Diesel's group, not from someone like you. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"It was Rebecca who started it!" exclaimed Percy. "She threw a tunafish sandwich at me!"
"Ms. Eastleigh, you say?"
"Rebecca?" added Nia, who then shook her head. "Percy, she did nothing of the sort! She and I were just talking and eating."
"She's right, Percy." said Mavis. "Rebecca had nothing to do with it."
"Oh yeah?" fumed Percy. "Then tell me; who was it that hit me with that sandwich?"
"You can figure that out as you're cleaning the lunchroom up after school." replied Sir Topham Hatt firmly. "I'm deeply disappointed with you, Percy Avonside, and I'm sure that your parents and sister won't be either when I give them a call. Now, you will come with me to my office."
Percy said nothing else... All he felt right now, was shame.
(elsewhere...)
In the hallway, Rebecca had been observing the whole scene through the nearby window. She wasn't angry with Percy over him hitting her with that chili-dog. In fact, she felt more and more sorry for him by the minute.
"Oh, Percy..." Rebecca whispered sadly.
All the brown-haired young woman wanted, right now, was to help him—to find out what was wrong. No matter what, she was going to learn just what was the matter with her student.
(elsewhere...)
When the day was finally over with, Percy returned to the lunchroom. Mr. Carlin, the janitor, was waiting.
"Well, well, well..." began Mr. Carlin. "I never thought I'd see the day when someone other than Diesel and his friends would be responsible for such a mess."
"It was all Rebecca's fault!" argued Percy. "She threw a sandwich at me."
"Nice story. Too bad it's a load of bull. Everyone knows you have to own up to your own mistakes, you know." The school janitor pointed out. "I've left a mop, several wash cloths and rags, and a full bucket of hot, soapy water. The principal wants you to get started, right away."
With that said, Mr. Carlin departed from the lunchroom, leaving Percy to get started on cleaning the place up from that food fight during noon hour. As the green-haired boy worked, he heard the sounds of a door opening—followed by a familiar voice.
"Hello, Percy?" echoed the voice of Rebecca.
Percy looked behind him to see it was, indeed, Rebecca. The sight of the new teacher made Percy scowl in response as he resumed his work.
"What do you want?" he demanded rudely.
Rebecca slowly walked closer. "I came to tell you that I'm not angry with you." she said softly. "I also wish to help you with whatever is troubling you."
"I'm fine!" snapped Percy, not taking his eyes off his work. "Just leave me alone!"
"No, Percy, you're not." insisted Rebecca firmly. "I've seen signs of denial from other people once before. I know something has to be troubling you, and I really want to help you overcome it."
Percy didn't know if he could trust this new teacher or not. Rebecca could sense this, but she wasn't about to give up that easily.
"Please, Percy..." begged Rebecca. "Give me a chance... I really want to help you."
Before long, Percy sighed heavily before looking to Rebecca...
"Alright... I'll tell you." The green-haired boy accepted.
With that said, Percy and Rebecca both sat down at the of the tables to talk. There, the explanation began...
"It's just that all of these new changes in my life are turning out to be bad ones." began Percy. "During a Duel Monsters tournament back in August, my first girlfriend, Lady Stone, had to leave to go on a journey to find herself, and, as a result, broke up with me."
"Losing your first love... I know how much that can hurt." sighed Rebecca. She then gave an encouraging nod. "Now, go on..."
"Then, I was so upset with her leaving that I blamed Thomas for it due to him yelling at her prior, leading us to have a fallout." Percy went on. "My anger then ended up costing me my spot in the tournament when I lost a duel to my opponent." He then shook his head. "When the new school year was coming closer to happening, it was then we remembered that Gordon and Henry, two good friends of ours, have already graduated."
Rebecca said nothing else, merely allowing the troubled green-haired boy to continue speaking...
"And to top it off-" continued Percy. "-Mr. C, one of my favorite teachers since my friends I started attending Sodor High School, left, too. It's not fair. I just want things to go back to the way they were supposed to be."
Rebecca felt terrible for Percy. "Oh, Percy, I'm sorry..." she apologized. "But, you know, while things did change for the worst for you, there can be some good hidden in some of the change."
"R-Really? Like what?" peeped Percy.
"For one-" Rebecca went on. "-while you did lose some friends, you could end up gaining new ones. Besides, lots of people face difficult changes at times. Take Nia for example."
"Nia?"
"From what she told me during lunch, she's also dealing with big changes in her life." The brown-haired young woman explained. "She's in a new country, working in a new school, and trying to make new friends. And all of her old friends in Africa are much farther away than Gordon, Henry, Mr. C, or even Lady are."
Percy scowled. "So, you're basically telling me that other people, like Nia, had it much worse?" he accused. "Huh! Well, that makes me feel better."
Rebecca felt a bit worried over the fact her own student was taking her words the wrong way.
"No, no, Percy, that wasn't how I meant it at all." denied Rebecca, trying to correct her words.
Before Percy could say anything else, the sound of the door opening was heard.
"Percy?" echoed the voice of Sir Topham Hatt. The stout gentleman soon came into frame. "I wish to say something."
Percy, seeing Sir Topham Hatt, stood up from his seat, believing that he was in-trouble again.
"S-Sir! I-I was just...!" stuttered Percy, and then immediately apologized for the delay in cleaning up... "I'm sorry, sir, I'll get back to work now, sir."
"Please, let me finish." said Sir Topham Hatt, holding both hands up. When Percy became silent, he continued speaking... "I wish to offer my sincerest of apologies for getting upset with you."
"Huh?" Percy blinked, not knowing what this was all about. "What?"
He was left very confused. Seeing the look on the green-haired boy, Sir Topham Hatt decided to elaborate...
"As it turns out, you were innocent in your actions this noon hour." he pointed out.
On cue, Nia walked into the lunchroom.
"Nia?" pondered Percy.
"It turns out there were was someone else who was responsible for hitting you with a tunafish sandwich." acknowledged Nia. "As you were being lead to the office, I got a bit suspicious about the whole thing, and so I did some checking on the security camera in the main office. There, I've discovered the ones who really started it all." She then looked outside in the hallway. "And here they are..."
At that moment, Diesel, Arry, Bert, and Dennis were all brought into the lunchroom.
"Diesel here was the one who had hit you with that sandwich, Percy." continued Nia. "Arry and Bert only told you Rebecca did it so that he wouldn't get into trouble." She then frowned. "Not to mention the security camera showed them snickering over you being escorted out of the lunchroom."
"I'm innocent, I tells ya!" wailed Diesel. "It was Dennis's sandwich, and so it was his fault!"
"Silence!" thunder Sir Topham Hatt, making the devious black-haired boy quiet down. "I am displeased with all four of you!"
"Mercy! Mercy!" begged Dennis.
"Not only did you cause a huge ruckus on the first day of school-" Sir Topham Hatt went on. "-but you've also tried to frame one of my newest teachers for causing the incident. Why did you do all of this in the first place?"
"We just wanted to have some fun..." squeaked Diesel. "We were bored!"
"More like you were bored." retorted Arry, but was immediately scared into silence when he saw Sir Topham Hatt's glare.
"I say these four should clean up the lunchroom instead of Percy." said Nia severely, before looking towards Sir Topham Hatt. "Don't you agree, sir?"
"Yes, indeed." agreed Sir Topham Hatt. He then smiled at Percy. "Percy Avonside, you are free to go home. I will also make a call to your parents to let them know that all is well again."
Percy was very happy. "Oh, thank you, sir!"
(elsewhere...)
While Diesel and his group had to finish cleaning up the lunch room, Percy walked down the hallway with both Nia and Rebecca for a little bit. Nia had also been told about the reason for Percy's depressed attitude.
"Why didn't you tell us about it sooner, Percy?" asked Nia.
"Because I didn't want people to worry about me or make a big deal out of it." sighed Percy. "I guess I ended up repeating Lady's mistake."
"Everybody makes mistakes from time-to-time, Percy." said Rebecca. "The main thing is to learn from them and become wiser in the future."
Percy then realized he had something to say to his new Homeroom Teacher...
"And Rebecca?" he began. "I'm really sorry I blamed you for the sandwich hitting me. I should have known better than to believe Arry and Bert's lies, but I was too upset to think properly."
"Oh, it's okay, Percy." smiled Rebecca. "Once again, I'm not angry with you, at all."
"Now, why don't you get your belongings and hurry on home?" offered Nia. "We'll see you and everyone else tomorrow."
"Okay." nodded Percy, brightly. "Until then!"
With that said, he left to get his stuff from his locker. Once they were alone, Rebecca turned to face and speak to Nia...
"Thank you for straightening that whole mess out." she said gratefully, taking hold of the African young woman's hands. "I'm really happy over what you've done."
"It... it was my pleasure..." blushed Nia, looking away bashfully. "I mean, we care for out students, yes?"
"Just as much as I care for you." Rebecca pointed out bashfully. "While we've only known each other for a very short period of time, I..."
"You...what?" Nia asked, looking very hopeful.
"I... I've grown to like you, Nia." said Rebecca, sounding very truthful. "And I mean 'really' like you, a lot."
"D-Do you...mean it?"
The brown-haired young woman smiled. "I do mean it." she confirmed, before adding... "In fact, I...love you."
Happily, Nia felt her heart flutter about when she heard Rebecca say that to her. This feeling; it was something the African young woman had felt before when she was living in Africa. Before long, the two young women brought themselves closer and closer...
"Wait, I think I left something back in the lunchroom." Percy suddenly came walking back down the hallway towards the lunchroom. He stopped in sudden shock. "B-Bust my Buttons!"
The green-haired boy was absolutely startled at seeing Rebecca and Nia both sharing a passionate kiss.
"N-Nia... R-Rebecca...?" peeped Percy.
The two young women soon broke apart from the kiss, smiling lovingly at each other before turning to look towards Percy. It was, by now, very clear that Nia and Rebecca were in-love.
"Percy..." began Nia, not losing her smile.
"You saw us kiss?" added Rebecca, with absolutely no shame.
"Y-Yes..." stammered Percy. "Does this mean you both are... are..."
"Yes." admitted Nia. "We're in-love."
Percy was stunned by the revelation; this was something he never thought he'd ever see happening.
"You two are...homosexual?" Percy pressed. "Is this true?"
"The actual term for women, is lesbian..." corrected Rebecca. "I guess you can say it...sort of happened when we first met this morning."
"When I was younger and living in Africa, I was always questioning myself about my sexuality before I ultimately came to accept it." added Nia. "I'll admit that there times where I wanted to date men and seem straight to others, but I soon came to accept that I prefer being in romantic relationships with other women."
"The same with me, except I was living in 'London - England'." added Rebecca, before becoming worried. "Percy, please try to understand that us being together doesn't make us any different than from you or others. At the end of the day, we're still just ordinary people."
Percy didn't know what to say about all this. Out of all the changes in his life, this was perhaps the BIGGEST one yet.
"Oh... wow..." The green-haired boy whispered.
Nia and Rebecca looked to each other, both rather worried that Percy would end up losing his respect for them despite their explanation. Thankfully, their worries were never found...
"I completely understand." Percy said at last.
Nia and Rebecca were both very surprised...
"R-Really?" asked Rebecca hopefully.
"Yeah." nodded Percy. "To be honest, I'm really not too big on the same gender relationships thing, but who am I to decide who people are supposed to fall in-love with? If being together makes you two happy, then that's good enough for me."
Rebecca and Nia both smiled gratefully. Even then, there was something they felt they needed to do...
(elsewhere...)
The next morning, Thomas and the others were in their Homeroom classroom waiting for Rebecca to arrive.
"I wonder when Rebecca will get here?" wondered Thomas.
"It's the second day, now." added Emily. "I hope nothing bad has happened to her."
"Oh, I think she will be just fine." winked Percy, sounding more upbeat and cheerful.
Before long, the door opened up...and revealed Sir Topham Hatt.
"Good morning, students." The stout gentleman greeted.
"Good morning, Sir Topham Hatt." Thomas and the likes (minus Percy) said in response.
"Where's Rebecca?" asked Percy, even though he already knew the answer.
"She'll be along shortly." As soon as Sir Topham Hatt said those words, the door started to open once more. "Well, here she is now!"
Rebecca entered the classroom shortly followed by Nia.
"Huh?" blinked Oliver. "Is that Nia Kur?"
"But she's a teacher from another classroom." Duck pointed out.
"I wonder what brings Nia here?" wondered James.
"Good morning, everyone." greeted Rebecca.
"How is everyone today?" added Nia.
"Fine so far." replied Edward. "What are you doing here, Nia?"
Sir Topham Hatt smiled. "Because Nia and Rebecca have a special announcement they would like to make."
The other students in the classroom (except for Percy) were murmuring to each other. Just what did their new teachers have to say to them?
"Alright, quiet down, please." ordered Sir Topham Hatt, resulting in the classroom becoming quiet, much to the principal's relief. He then looked over to the two new teachers. "Now, would you two like to proceed?"
And so, it began...
"This might come to a shock to some of you." said Rebecca. "But we figured the sooner you knew, the better. You see, Nia and I..."
"Rebecca and I are dating." Nia confessed, as she and Rebecca started holding hands and looking at each other lovingly. "We are lesbians."
Everyone (except Percy) was shocked.
"Lesbians?" peeped James. "You mean, you both are, like, gay or something?"
"That's right, James." smiled Rebecca, not feeling ashamed or anything.
And so, for the next half hour, the two young women went into a discussion with the class about the whole thing (namely gay and lesbian couples).
"And so, that's just how it is." finished Nia. "Even though Rebecca and I are lesbians, we're still regular people like all of you."
"Indeed so." added Rebecca brightly.
James was the first to speak up about it. "You know what?" he proclaimed, smiling. "If you two are a couple, then I'm cool with that."
"Me too!" agreed Thomas.
"Me three!" put in Toby.
Before long, the whole class was speaking up with accepting that the two female teachers were in a lesbian relationship. The sight of praise they were getting for admitting their relationship warmed their hearts very much.
"Your students are quite well-behaved and willing to accept differences, sir." commented Rebecca.
"Sometimes it takes them a bit of time." said Sir Topham Hatt earnestly, who then started to leave. "Now, come... Let us go on to the next classroom."
With that said, the two teachers followed the stout gentleman out of the Tidmouth classroom, leaving the students talk to talk to each other.
"Well, that sure was an interesting presentation." James remarked pleasantly.
"This school year is really starting off with surprises." agreed Toby. "It's just too bad a few more of us are graduating this year."
"Yeah..." sighed Edward.
"We'll just have to make the most of it until then." Emily pointed out. "I mean... what sort of adventures could we all get into this year?"
"Who knows?" shrugged Toby.
And everyone else agreed to that...
END OF CHAPTER 4