Freshman: Chapter 7
Shadow's POV
The weeks passed and I seemed to have an easier time fitting in at school now. There was still much I didn't understand about Sonic's generation, but that was hardly my concern. I focused on my classes and hanging out with Sonic, Amy and Tails. The latter being a direct order from Rouge, who seemed convinced that I needed her to be more than just a friend now that I was in high school.
Scourge seemed to have left me alone for now. It's been a few weeks since his threat, which I told Rouge about and she swiftly responded that I should kick his ass and show him why I'm called The Ultimate Lifeform, and the green hedgehog had yet to act upon it. I would've been confused had it not been for Sonic's constant presence.
And it's not an understatement. When not in class I seem to be unable to shake him from my side. I had a feeling he was taking Scourge's threat to heart, which is stupid. I mean, I have showed him I am more than capable of defending myself.
Either way, it had been peaceful for atleast a month now.
But now that February had arrived, things took a less peaceful turn.
It's been a very rainy week so far. Monday, rain. Tuesday, rain. Wednesday, rain. Thursday, rain. And friday, you guessed, rain.
"ugh, this weather sucks." Amy complained as we sat in class, her gaze refusing to move from the dreary sight the window gave us.
"I agree, it could've been better." I agreed as I read through my notes for this class, Economy.
We were granted a five minute break as always in between two hours of the same class and since we were expecting a test about the past lectures, I decided to use these extra few minutes to study.
"I can't wait until summer finally arrives. No, scratch that, I'd be happy with just spring." Amy continued, sighing as her head rested on her hand. She should be studying as this wasn't one of her best classes, but she apparently thought complaining about the rainy weather was a better idea.
"Shouldn't you be studying?" I asked, glancing at her.
Amy shook her head absentmindedly, obviously not paying as much attention to the now as she should.
I looked back at my notes and resumed my last repetition. I didn't get to read them for much longer as the teacher, a beaver of somewhere in his thirties, came walking back in and declared that it was time for the test. So we put our notes and textbooks away and waited for our copy. Well, most of us did. There were those, Amy being among them, who quickly took their books and tried a last second check up before the teacher barked at them, yelling that it was much too late to study now, and gave us our tests.
It wasn't all that difficult. My memory was pretty good so I didn't have a difficult time answering the questions. But the only one capable of judging how good I did on the test was the teacher. So for now I could only assume I did a good job.
Now that class was over, lunch break had arrived. Amy and I left the classroom for the canteen, the former a little more enthousiastic than the latter. On the way the pink hedgehog fired question after question about the test, interrogating me for the answers.
I tried to ignore and avoid them to the best of my ability, but Amy wasn't so willing to accept my excuses of 'not remembering the question' or 'forgetting what kind of answer I had written'. Her answer to each of my pathetic excuses was that the Ultimate Lifeform was too ultimate to forget.
She only let the matter go when we arrived at our destination.
"Ah, finally lunch!" Amy chirped happily as we walked into the cafeteria. She immediatly ran to stand in line and I followed her shortly, my eyes scanning the area to look for Sonic and Tails, but it didn't seem like they were here yet.
Someone tapped me on my shoulder.
I looked behind me to see Sonic standing behind me with a smile, greeting me with a friendly 'hey'. Of course he wasn't going to take so long to get here. Students never took their time getting to the canteen. Some practically even raced to be here.
"So how was Economy? You had that big test coming up, right?" Sonic asked as he stood in line behind me, Tails standing not far behind him.
"It went without a hitch for me. Amy, however, doesn't seem so sure that she did a good job on it." I answered, turning halfway to look at him. It was only natural he knew about the test we had today, although it wasn't as big of a deal as he was led to believe. Amy's been complaining about failing it ever since the teacher told us about it last week.
"No surprise there! Amy hates that class." Sonic replied, the two of us inching forward in the line.
"If you think that's bad, you should see her during Math." I stated as I took a tray and some utensils and got what's on the menu for today's lunch before making my way to the table Amy saved for us.
Lunch was nice as always. And just like always, we talked about trivial stuff. How classes went, rumors we heard and things we might be up to in the nearing weekend. People were vocal as usual, but that didn't bother me as much now that I was a little used to it. Having a table to share with just the three only people I knew and trusted helped alot with that too.
"Huh, Shadow? Scourge is staring at you again." Tails told me as he noticed the green hedgehog staring at us from the corner of his eye. Well, more like stared at me in particular.
That's right. Weeks ago he had threatened me, stating that he was going to make my life hell on this school if I were to keep hanging around Sonic. I had completely forgotten about that. All Scourge's fault, though. As serious as he tried to get that threat across, he had not made a single move to back it up.
"He looks pretty pissed too." Amy added as she sneaked a glance at his table. Sonic frowned at her statement, but she was right. Scourge did look pretty pissed and the way he kept glancing at me didn't really help.
I decided to ignore him. Scourge was all talk, nothing to worry over.
We finished our meal and the bell rang. We had to go back to class.
After the two hours of music came two hours of gym, our last class of the week. We were all in the gym. Sonic, Tails, Amy and I. Our classes had gym together along with this one other class.
It was during gym that I had discovered that Tails wasn't the only familiar face in Sonic's class. Scourge and Fiona were part of that too. I guess that must be partially responsible for why Sonic dislikes going to class.
One thing I had learned about besides the uniforms we had to wear for gym, a white shirt with the school's logo and red shorts, was that Scourge was a troublemaker. Especially if he felt that Fiona was at stake. And frankly, he seemed to think that all the time.
I can't fathom how it's possible for this Fiona to have such a dominant boyfriend. I wouldn't be able to work with a boyfriend like that. Or a girlfriend for that matter.
Anyway, it was a very large gym. Large enough to allow each class more than enough room to do their own thing. My class had volleyball as their activity for today, Sonic's class had soccer and the third class had basketball I believe.
But playing was something neither Sonic or I were doing. We were sitting on the bench and watching our classmates play. We were one of the reserves and had to wait for our turn.
"Finally a class I don't have to sit still in and what do I have to do? Stay on stand-by." Sonic sighed as he crossed his arms and leant back against the wall behind us.
The hedgehog next to me had never been the one able to sit still for long. He was one for action. He wanted to go out and do something. Sitting around doing nothing was absolutely terrible to him. And the fact he was so energetic didn't exactly help either.
"Be glad you don't have to play volleyball. That sport is absolutely terrible." I replied, my left hand nursing my much less dominant right wrist. I, myself, wasn't one to sit still either, but I didn't let it bother me as much. And besides, I had only just returned from replacing a girl in the game.
"What's that? A volleyball got the better of the Ultimate Lifeform?" Sonic teased, smirking lightly as he noticed me nursing a possibly very sore limb.
"Oh, shut up, Hedgehog. My body isn't used to playing this sport. It's natural for my arm to hurt. Especially if it's not my dominant one! Besides, I've seen more action than you today." I retorted, still rubbing a very sensitive wrist. I wasn't lying, though. My body was trained for military purposes, not for volleyball.
"I'd take that as a good comeback if I hadn't seen you fail miserably at it." He smirked, obviously feeling much less bothered now that he had me to tease.
"I wasn't failing miserably!" I replied as I sat up straight and faced him.
"Oh, you totally were! You kept hitting the ball out of the field! Word of advice, if it's your turn to serve, it's best to serve the ball in the direction of the court and not away from it." He 'advised' me, chuckling as I punched his arm.
"I hate you so much sometimes!" I told him, which only served to worsen his amusement.
"Only sometimes, huh? What about the other times?" He asked, catching me off guard.
"Sonic! You're up!" Some guy from the hedgehog's class called him and tossed him the ball, indirectly saving my ass.
Sonic caught the ball with ease and jumped up from the bench, eager to do something other than sit around and do nothing.
I was glad to be left alone for a moment. And then Amy plopped down next to me.
"Ah, volleyball. Never liked that sport." She said, the red sore skin standing out under her light coloured fur.
"Well, it's not like they gave us much of a choice." I responded and faced the volleyball game again.
"I've been watching you and Sonic, you know." Amy suddenly said, making me look at her. What has she decided to bring up?
"I'm not stupid, you know. I'm mature enough to understand that Sonic doesn't see anything in me. And although that makes me a little sad, I'd rather see him together with you instead of that-"
"Shadow!"
I didn't get to hear the end of her statement as I suddenly got a ball launched to my face, making my head hit the wall behind me. Thankfully my quills got most of my head's impact with the brick surface.
"Oh my gosh, Shadow!" Amy yelped in shocked as her hands covered her mouth, jumping up from the bench.
I hunched forward a little as my hands covered my face, the whole area aching. Damn. How can a stupid ball hurt so much?!
"Shadow, are you okay?" Sonic asked in genuine concern as he kneeled in front of me. So did the teacher as he tried to pull my hands away to get a look.
Most of Amy and my classmates gathered around to look, like they had just seen a car crash happen in front of them. So humiliating.
"It's nothing, I'm perfectly fine." I tried to convince them, but they didn't buy it, especially not Sonic. And blood dripping out of my nose and staining the white shirt I wore didn't back my statement up either.
"That's bleeding pretty serious. I think you may need to pay the nurse a visit." The teacher stated as the blood just kept coming out, making my tan muzzle turn a dark red.
"No, I don't need to go. All I need is a tissue for my nose." I protested as I held my nose, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Shadow." Sonic said in my name in this dissaproving way. He wanted me to leave too. Even if it was just to get me away from here.
So I listened and went to the infirmary, Amy tagging along since they apparently believed I might need a buddy to accompany me. Not that I would've found the way to the infirmary on my own. Believe it or not, I'm still learning the layout of the school.
"What happened?" The nurse, a strict-looking older woman, asked as she gestured for me to sit down on one of the few beds in this room.
This infirmary looked like what you'd expect one to look like. Beds, an office in a seperate room, examination table, counters, cabinets and drawers filled with medical necessaries. Similar to a hospital room. Just without the chemical smell and all the devices.
"Nothing serious. Just got a ball to the face during gym." I answered the nurse's question as she gave me something to hold against my nose, which by now had made an absolute mess of my shirt.
"Just got a ball to your face?! That wasn't an accident, Shadow! Scourge kicked that ball into your face on purpose!" Amy shouted, furious with the alleged attack.
I looked at her in surprise.
So Scourge was the one who did this?
I guess he wasn't all talk, after all.