Another update and I just wanted to say thanks for the one review I got last chapter. I would appreciate seeing more reviews eventually (it keeps me inspired and happy) but for now, thanks for the review.

Until the first story arc is completed in Infinite, I am going to keep The Shame Game 1 up so that you readers can compare the two if desired. Once I finish the first story arc, however, I will be taking The Shame Game 1 down from this website permanently, so if anybody wants any nostalgic feelings or just a laugh from the sheer awfulness of my old writing style, you better go back and give the Shame Game 1 another read.

So, I put the disclaimer last chapter and I really do not intend on making any other disclaimers until the second story arc (TSGII), so yeah.

Enjoy.

-x-

I realized that hanging out with my friends was not something that I could easily get away from. The day had started off with me hoping to lazily dwell in the house and beat the heat, but it had quickly changed to yet another bonding experience with my friends. Not that I really minded, of course, but after such a radical time at the movie theatre the night before, I would have expected my friends to have all tired themselves out, but, as it turns out, they did just the opposite. However, it didn't matter due to the fact that I would be spending the day with Amy as well. I guess you can call me selfish because, if it were Sonic who had come my house to invite me to their outing, I would have flat out rejected the offer.

I quickly located a very unused gym bag in my closet and started packing towels and other beach related items. To be completely honest, I was actually quite happy that Amy had come and invited me out that day. I really had nothing of importance to attend to, so hanging out with her and the rest of my friends was going to be a blast. I picked up a ruffled pair of jeans from the floor and slipped them on quietly, and then I sat down on my bed and put my shoes on. I was debating putting on a shirt that covered more of my torso then just my white muscle shirt, but decided against it. It was far too warm that day for sleeves.

I picked up my half empty water bottle and slung the gym bag around my shoulder. Taking one last glance at myself in the mirror, I headed out of my bedroom and closed the door. When I got downstairs, I saw Amy sprawled out on my couch and sipping on her water bottle with her eyes closed. So I tip-toed over to her and sat down right on her stomach, being rewarded with a rather annoyed huff from her.

"I see that you remembered your pants this time," Amy observed, shooting me a very snarky smile. She pushed me to the far end of the couch and sat herself up.

"Yeah," I replied, suddenly feeling in the mood for playing a couple mind games, "I wouldn't dare be caught around you without pants."

Amy feigned laughter and punched my arm lightly, causing me to chuckle. I got up and offered her my hand, and she took it. We walked out of my house and, after locking my door, were on our way to the train station that was very close by. We held hands every step of the way. I can vouch that it was one of the perks of our relationship, being best friends and all. I still craved for more, but when it came to intimacy and physicality, I was quite inexperienced. I had only been in a relationship with one person, and that was when I was in the sixth grade. Her name was Cosmo and she was a very nice girl. However, due to the fact that we were so young, (eleven years of age, to be exact,) our relationship was innocent and short lived; the farthest we ever went was one day when I got a kiss on the cheek, in fact.

When Amy and I got to the train station, we paid our tickets and boarded. The train ride wasn't particularly long, considering the fact that Station Square was pretty far off from where I lived. The plan was most likely that we would all be going to Emerald Coast, as it was the nicest and least expensive when it came to refreshments and such. Amy didn't let go of my hand throughout the entire ride, and it was making me very uncomfortable, but in the good way. We exchanged some conversation on a few popular topics, like music and high school. I tried to change the subject when it came to the later of the two, due to the fact that I was still nervous, no matter how miniscule the feeling was. However, my efforts did not fare well as Amy was relentless when voicing her excitement.

I can't say that I wasn't relieved when the train stopped at Station Square terminal. I was definitely sad that Amy let go of my hand when we exited the train, but that uncomfortable feeling was nothing like continuing the conversation about school. I would have rather have her let go of my hand a hundred times over then shed another word about the topic.

Amy and I hopped down the stairs after getting off the train and, to my surprise; the train station was quite full of people and animals alike, all trying to get on the train to the Mystic Ruins. Amy and I took it as a good sign and quickened our pace, trying to arrive at the beach as soon as possible. The beach was not too far away from the station, in fact, all you had to do to get there was walk out of the front doors and then go around the side of the hotel that was next door. It only realistically took Amy and I about three minutes to reach our destination, and when we did, it did not take long for us to spot our very colourful group of friends.

Sonic and Knuckles were splashing each other in the water while Rouge was on the shore, lying under a giant beach umbrella to stop the harmful sun rays from hitting her body. Amy and I casually strolled over to where Rouge was laying, and I carefully placed two towels on the sand – one for me, and one for Amy. I sat down on my towel and smiled at Rouge while she and Amy conversed. Technically, I was the youngest one of our little group of friends. There were only five of us then.

"Hey, I'm going to go join Sonic and Knuckles in the water, Tails. Come if you want." Amy stated, and when I turned to her to offer a reply, I saw that she had already started stripping off her tank top, revealing that she had been wearing her two-piece bikini underneath her clothes this whole time. It proved to be very hard for me to take my eyes off of her, but I realized that if I wanted not to be obvious, I had to look away. So I picked up a hand full of sand and let the tiny particles run through the cracks of my fingers back onto the sandy floor. When all of the sand left my hand, I turned up to Amy to see that she was already running off to the water, and I couldn't help but let an absent minded smile spread across my face.

"Last I checked, best friends didn't look at each other that way," voiced Rouge. I instantly felt my face heat up to a pretty deep blush, and I turned to Rouge, who had secretly been watching me this whole time, to argue back.

"I wasn't looking at her in any way, she's my friend," What a lame defence. I was literally beating myself up in my mind. I should have quit just then. But I just had to continue to dig this hole even deeper, "Anyways, what's it to you, Rouge?"

"It's othing', Tails," Rouge said, playfully twisting the tip of one of my tails in between her fingers, causing me to blush, "I just think that it's cute that you have your first crush, that's all."

"It's not my first crush, actually. If we're being logical here, Cosmo was really my..." I cut myself off before I could finish the observation. I had definitely just screwed myself over by letting Rouge get to me with her mind games. I felt my blush deepen and intensify, and the knowing grin on Rouge's face grew even wider than it already was.

"What did I say? I know it all." Rouge stated, and I could see how extremely conceited she was at that precise moment in time. She may have caught on to my secret crush, (which it now dawned on me that I may not have been keeping it as secret as I should have been,) but that did not mean that she knew everything. In fact, when it came to intelligence, I was probably the most advanced one of the group, even if I were the youngest.

Ignoring Rouge completely, I turned to the cooler that was right beside us, which Sonic or Knuckles must have brought, and opened it to retrieve a nice, cold refreshment. I had noticed while speaking with Rouge that my throat had gotten pretty dry due to the heat, so I needed to quench my thirst. I pulled out a can of Coca-Cola and cracked it open, taking a refreshing swig. I put the can down beside me and turned to Rouge, who was lying down, facing me, and still staring at me with an expectant look on her face.

"What?" I asked maybe a bit too harshly. I realized that my reaction was not taken as seriously as it sounded because Rouge didn't even flinch, "Even if, hypothetically, I liked Amy, who is my best friend, then so what?"

Rouge put her sunglasses on and dramatically laid back down on her back. She still had a smug look plastered across her face. I was about to question her motives for a second time when I felt a wet hand slap my back. I turned around roughly, about to swing a fist at the assaulter, when I realized that it was none other than my other best friend, Sonic. He let out a chuckle at my abrasive behaviour and told me that I should calm down and go chill out in the water because I was acting delusional. So I laughed and playfully pushed him back, causing him to fall into the sand which clung to his fur due to the fact that he still was damp from the ocean.

I got up and headed toward the snack vendor to buy a hot dog because I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. I took a moment to check my watch to see that it was a little bit after two in the afternoon. It had only been about two and a half hours since I had woken up in the morning, but it felt like it was a lot shorter than that.

After purchasing my hot dog, (with extra chilli and cheese on top,) I sat down on one of the chairs in front of the little beach hut and just admired the scenery. Summer and autumn were my favourite seasons and it always felt nice to just sit back and relax while viewing them. I took a bite of the chilli dog and relished in the flavour. There was never anything like beach food in the summer.

"So, I think it's really cute that you like Amy."

I turned to Rouge, who had taken a seat next to me without me acknowledging the fact. I was very thankful for the fact that she had decided to bring up the issue far enough away from the rest of our friends so that they wouldn't hear, but I was starting to feel a little bit exhausted because I thought that I had closed the conversation for good.

"Yeah, well, it's not like I seriously have a chance anyway," I stated, figuring that there was no point in trying to hide anything from Rouge.

Rouge turned around in her seat and purchased a tall cup of lemon cola. She then turned around and took a long sip, looking at me with a bewildered expression. "Who says you don't stand a chance with her?" She questioned, the look of bewilderment growing more noticeable on her face by the very second, "You are quite the attractive young guy, Tails. I think you stand as much of a chance as anybody else."

"I don't stand as big of a chance as Sonic does," I replied almost instantly, the realization of just how jealous I was suddenly dawning on me. I felt extremely bad knowing that I was jealous of my longest friend, simply due to the fact that growing up, we shared everything. I tried to push the unwelcome feelings to the back of my mind so that they wouldn't be on display, but again, I really had no chance at hiding anything from Rouge.

"You don't have to feel jealous, Tails. I've grown quite close to Sonic in the last few years, and I can say that I am almost one hundred percent sure that he has no romantic interest in Amy," Rouge said, and instantly I felt my spirits heighten, a large, goofy smile starting to plaster itself on my face, "I can talk to Amy for you. I won't mention that you like her or anything, I'll just dig for some information, and I'll let you know what she says, how about that?"

"Sure," I agreed quickly. I knew it was sort of wrong for me to be gaining information about my best friend that was thought to be confidential, but I would do virtually anything to be with her. However, the reasoning behind why Rouge was being so nice to me was still unknown, so I had to ask. "Why are you helping me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Rouge questioned, acting like her analysis was the most obvious thing on the planet, "I fancy Knuckles over anybody that I know, and when you and Amy end up getting together, and he finds out that the reason for that happy engagement is because little ol' me decided to help, he will definitely want to be with me."

Of course there was an ulterior motive, which was just expected of Rouge. I smiled at her way of thinking, however, and decided to play along and let her continue to think that her little plan was going to unfold without any inconveniences. Her feelings for Knuckles had nothing direct to do with me, so I just decided to let it slide and let the future come to be.

The rest of the day went by like any normal hang-out session with my friends would. We all shared many laughs and arguments, and at one point, Sonic, Knuckles and I rented a couple surfboards and took them out for a spin. Eventually, the sun started to set and we all were feeling sort of hungry, so we packed our things and got into Knuckles' car. We ended up going to a McDonald's that was nearby and ordered some food. We all had a blast talking about the events of the past summer and what was expected to come as the new school year began.

Eventually it had become too late, so Knuckles and I left the restaurant so that he could drive me to the train station, which wasn't too far and I could have walked, but he insisted on giving me a lift. The ride was silent for the most part, (if you didn't count his speakers blasting out Wiz Khalifa,) but it was pretty comfortable. We got to the train station and I said goodbye and then exited his vehicle.

I got home at half passed ten in the evening. Everything was the way I left it and I felt sort of relieved to be home. I filled a cup of water and then sat myself on my couch, turning on the TV. Eventually I fell asleep on the couch, a smile still playing on my face from the fun that I had with my friends that day. I was even more comfortable because of the fact that I still felt warm from when Amy and I held hands on the train.

-x-

Thank you for reading and remember to review! I am having quite the enjoyable time rewriting this piece of fiction, so I would like to see if you guys are enjoying reading it as well.

I like to think of this rewrite as an updated version of a videogame, like the updated Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the 3DS. I would also enjoy thinking of this as a special addition of a videogame with added content (which is what I'm doing) like Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. Regardless of how you look at it, I hope that you are all enjoying it much more than the original draft.

Oh, in case you guys are wondering where many of the characters from the other Shame Game(s) are, Tails hasn't met them yet. A few of them will be making their debut in the next update.

I'm going to start a new thing to at least involve you all in this story more than simply putting in review responses, and it's going to be question of the update. So, after writing a review based solely on the writing and plotline of this chapter, write a small, one or two line answer to this update's edition of "question of the day."

So the question of the day is: what are you most excited for in 2012? My answer has to be going to College in the fall. I can't wait.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed!

Ciao.