Chapter Two

- - - - X

It had been three weeks and surprisingly everything had gone smoothly.

I hadn't seen Shadow as much as I thought I would have. He was never in the room, not even to sleep sometimes, he rarely stayed and when he did he always came late at night.

Sometimes it made me wonder why it bothered him so much to have a roommate when he wasn't even sleeping on campus. It also made me wonder where exactly he went at night but that was none of my business. I had other things to focus on rather than a rude jerk like him.

Like trying not to faint from the stench of the guys sitting beside me in the lunchroom.

"Ames!" a voice shouted over at me. "Ames!" and again.

Try as I might, I could not escape the suffocating fog that was Sonic T. Hedgehog. It turns out he's a big shot around here and he was especially kind to others. "Get over here!" He motioned at me, waving at a space where he and his posse sat, chatting, and laughing.

Being front and center in a jock sandwich wasn't my first choice, but it was better than my current situation. Stinky guy to my right threw his arms up, yelling, "I beat you, losers!" and it was immediately clear he didn't believe in, own, or use enough deodorant.

I couldn't get to those jocks fast enough.

"What were you doing up there sandwiched between Dumb and Dumber?" Sonic asked, weaving his arm around mine. "You do realize you probably just made their day because I'm certain that was the first time either of them had gotten anywhere near copping a feel."

"Eww." I shuddered. "Sonic, that's really disgusting. I'm totally creeping out right now."

"Also this is Tails and Silver here," he introduces as he glances over at a handsome gray hedgehog and cute blonde fox whose working on some type of gadget.

I offer a shy smile at them both. "Hi."

"Hiya," greets the handsome hedgehog with a smile and I curse inwardly for blushing.

The fox barely glances up but smiles nonetheless. "Hey there!" He greets, focusing hard at his work at hand.

I hear Sonic chuckle besides me. "And you've already met Knuckles." He says, nodding over to the muscular echidna with eyes like daggers aimed at me.

I nod unsurely and swallow hard. "Hey there, Knuckles."

"Loser." He says back, going back to his food and ignoring me completely.

"Oy Vey," Sonic says with a sigh, munching on his food and glancing at Knuckles with a smirk. "You really need to work on your people skills, Knucklehead."

"And you have to work on minding your own business," Knuckles snapped back.

Sonic laughed. "You've been moody a lot lately, Knux. You PMsing or something?"

"Why you—!" Knuckles begain before being shut up by Sonic turning away from him and turning his attention suddenly on me with a smile.

"Well, you're lucky I saved you," he said, motioning at a few other jocks. No big surprise they were the typical cool kids, but the only one I knew was Knuckles. "Besides, a guy like you belongs down here. I saw your running in gym this week and you've obviously done this before." He joked. "You're not the fastest but you've got willpower."

Of course Sonic would be the one person to catch a glimpse of my improv running on the track while I was waiting for everyone else to suit up. "I've never done sports," I said. "But running is the only thing I'm worst at though I was thinking of joining the tennis club."

"Well, we have a tennis club here, but that's just where the guys who are too fat or slow to run go." Not even a smidgen of remorse in his delivery. "You don't want to join the tennis club. You belong with us."

A few of the other guys circled around us and nodded their heads.

"Since Manic graduated last year, we've got an extra uniform and we just can't be a track team without a fifth team mate."

"Thanks for the offer, Sonic, but really, I'm more the tennis club type of guy. Plus, I heard Central Acadamy has won some state champion—"

He lifted his hand to cut me off. "You're runner material. You've got perseverance, you have willpower, and with a bit of practice you can improve your stamina."

"There's a potpourri of reasons to join if I've ever heard some," I muttered, wondering if I was better off sniffing rancid armpits and getting "accidentally" felt up all night.

"Give it up, Sonic," Knuckles said, glaring over at me distastefully. "Why do you even want that loser in the track team? He's a total twig with no muscles on him."

I grab my own bony wrists subconsciously. It's not like he's wrong either. Compared to his body builder body I'm nothing but a twig. This guy was completely ripped!

I hear Sonic chuckle. "It's not like you weren't a twig either before you got started with those steroids that dumbed you down."

Knuckles eyes grew fierce. "I have never taken steroids! These beautiful muscles are from tough training and hard work, idiot. You're just jealous your not as ripped as me!"

"Whatever you say, Knucklehead!" Sonic jokes, reaching over besides him and putting Knuckles in a headlock.

Knuckles gritted his teeth, breaking out of the hedgehogs hold and wrestling for dominance. "Get your hands off me!"

I roll my eyes at the wrestling friends and shake my head with a smile. Just a few weeks ago it looked like they were ready to fight over the whole incident. Maybe this was just how guys acted with each other on a regular basis.

Boys being boys.

"Ogilvie Maurice T. Hedgehog!" A stern and masculine voice echoes through the lunch room, silencing all the students immediately. "Behave yourself, boy." He says, making Sonic's eyes widen and making him freeze in place as he looks behind me, where the voice came from.

My eyes dart over to the basil green hedgehog standing by the lunchroom entrance in a suit with crossed arms and a stern expression on his face. He looks terrifying but handsome all in the same. What's with so many handsome men in this school?

I shake my head away from these thoughts. I had to stop thinking about boys but I was sure this guy wasn't a student. He looked too old to be one. More like he was in his mid forties. Who exactly was this guy?

His finger curled over, beckoning Sonic to follow him, and like a hopeless puppy, Sonic ran to his side. Whoever this guy was had a great influence on Sonic apparently. His ears had folded back as the basil green hedgehog seemed to scold him but I couldn't make out what he was saying but no one seemed to dare look over at the pair but me. Like this was a regular occurrence.

"Who's that?" I ask Tails, watching Sonic being lectured by a green adult male hedgehog in a suit.

"That's the headmaster and Sonic's father," Tails explains with a sigh as he stopped ticketing with his device. "he's really strict and a major chauvinist. He always wants Sonic being the best there is, top of the class, and the best in sports. Just like his older brother Manic."

"I didn't know Sonic had siblings." I say and take a bite of my sandwich.

"Yeah, he does but his brother already finished college and is working some major business for his dad in Station Square." Silver adds as he swallows his food. "He also has a twin sister who goes to the girls academy across the school."

"Excuse me class of 2016," The Headmaster boomed, turning to the students inside the lunchroom and clearing his voice. All eyes were on him in an instance. It was like he controlled the whole school with ease. "I have come to make a quick announcement to you all."

My ears flickered with attention as I watched him stand proudly with Sonic by his side, looking the most serious I had ever seen him. It was like his goofy persona had turned to dust with a snap of this guy's presence. I made me uneasy just seeing him look this way. It didn't seem well...right.

"I want you all to beat the girls academy once again this year," he stated boldly and confidently with both arms crossed behind his back. "As should expected, considering that we are much more intelligent than they are." Wait, what? I wonder, pondering if that comment was sexist. He continues, "With my youngest son beating record this year for the highest score, just as his brother did, I'm sure we have nothing to worry about."

The crowd of boys cheered and clapped, patting Sonic in excitement and thrill, but I could see the uneasiness in his eyes.

Heavy breaths and sweat drip down my forehead but somehow I'm still not good enough. Running has never been my area of expertise, in fact, it's my worst area when it comes to physical education. So I was dreading the upcoming race that was against the other senior classes from the other private school in the next city.

My thighs were sore and my muscles aches as I did a hamstring stretch on the ground. I needed to be ready. I couldn't embarrass my classmates but the guys were just naturally faster so it was hard to keep up. I was the slowest one there was and everyone dreaded it.

It was really frustrating.

"What are you doing there?"

"Oh, Sonic!" I say, having had my eyes dart up at a familiar cobalt hedgehog watching me with intrigued eyes as he leaned against the fence around the track. I feel my cheeks flush in embarrassment as he looks me over.. "I'm just trying to practice for the race we have in a few weeks but for some reason I just don't understand how to keep up a good pace."

"It's better if you swing your arms," Sonic instructed as he demonstrated what he meant. "It helps create momentum so you run faster."

At first I was hesitant but I walked to the starting line and started to run. Keeping my breathing steady, I pushed harder and went faster. My shoes pounded heavily across the ground until my steps became leaps.

"Try to land on your forefoot and slow down your breathing!" Sonic yelled from the sideline as I started cramping and my body shook uncontrollably. What good would that do?

Still I did as told and pumped my legs, gaining momentum/speed with each push. It was actually working! My running became so fast that I felt that my legs were about to explode, glad when I saw myself approaching the finish line faster than before.

Sonic watched his watch with a smirk. "Nine minutes and thirty nine seconds," which was not my best for a mile run but it was better by one and a half minutes and that's just by one different approach!

"Wow, Sonic. Thanks for the advice!" I say, smiling brightly and out of breath as I lean down with my hands on my knees.

He offers me a water bottle. "Want some help on it?" He asks with a chuckle as I gulp down the water. "I'm free for coaching if ya need it, man."

I wipe my sweaty face. "I don't have any money."

"You don't have to pay me," Sonic laughs with a fake smile, slapping my back a bit too hard but he doesn't even notice because his smile broadens. "that's what friends are for!"

He always smiled with a fake smile of his. Like he always thought that life would be easier that way. To be kind to others, compliment them while in reality all he wanted to do was the opposite. But that would only make his life harder, which prevented him from doing so.

I wouldn't fall for his charms. "Are you alright?" I asked bluntly.

"Hmm?" He hummed like my words took him by suprise. "Oh, yeah! Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "I mean you do look a bit on the uneasy side. Do you want to talk about it?"

Sonic have an awkward smile. "Is it that obvious?"

"Pretty much," I replied, watching his smile twitch into a slight frown. "is it about what your father said?"

"Yeah…" He hesitated, sitting on one of the bleachers and leaning back on them. He turned to me unsurely, "can you keep a secret?"

I blinked, joining a seat beside him. "Of course. You can trust me."

He smiles sadly but looks away, "My father expects so much of me and I feel like I can never reach his expectations. Everything I do is a mistake to him. I can never satisfy him with anything I do."

"You shouldn't have to satisfy him," I smiled at him and gave him a light punch on his shoulder like Rob O' would often do to me whenever I was sad. "you're your own person."

He gave a sigh. "I just wish he could see that but everything that matters to him is that perfect score. I'm not even valedictorian this year and I can barely keep an C- in my physics class. There's no way I'll be able to do that with that grade," his knees began moving up and down in worry, saying, "I just want his approval for once in my life."

"If you want…" I offer, looking up at him. "I can help you study."

He snapped his head to me, grinning. "Seriously? You're good at AP Physics?"

"I have an A+ right now so you can say that," I say with a smile. "Think of this as my way to pay you back if you train me how to run.."

"Ames, you're a lifesaver," he said, ruffling my quills and making me blush in the process. "you've got yourself a deal!"

My pulse speeds up just thinking about spending so much time with Sonic. And completely alone. It's not like I expect something to happen but being with a cute boy does tug my heartstrings.

I couldn't be caught making googley eyes at other guys when I was one now too.

Besides, Sonic was only a friend and that was all he would ever be.

Or at least that was what I actually believed at the time.

I am still hesitant on continuing this story but I hope you all enjoy this! The next chapter will depend on how many people review (letting me know their opinions) which is what makes me want to keep continuing this ! :D