Smile
An expression indicating pleasure, approval or amusement.
"Assigned seating-"
The teacher needed to say nothing more.
He was cut off by the groans of his student's, lined up against the back wall of the classroom like prisoners.
"Assigned seating," he said again, more sternly, "will be in place starting today. Too much slacking went on when I let kids choose their partner's last year. So thank the seniors for this!"
Amy looked over at Tails who was smiling apologetically back at her.
"Sorry," he whispered. "I didn't know."
Amy shrugged.
"It's alright."
It was not alright.
"I'll be okay."
She would be far less than okay.
"Are you sure?"
No!
Amy nodded timidly.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
Tails wasn't exactly convinced.
What could he do though? The teacher had made it clear that seats were arranged this semester.
"I'm sure whoever you get paired up with will help you," Tails assured her. "Just ask them, alright?"
"Thank you, Miles," Amy said, looking back at the teacher, who was now reading over his class list. "I'll be sure to ask."
"Carol Badger and Peter Panda are at table one. Miles Prower and Scott Seal are table two. George Racoon and-"
The rest droned on as Amy watched Tails walk away over to his work bench and greet his partner.
He had such an easy smile and steady composure as he greeted the other boy.
Amy studied his movements.
She could do that. She was sure of it. When she got up to her seat and met her partner she would look them in the eye, smile and-
"Amy Rose and Shadow Hedgehog, table six."
Amy gulped, looking across the line at the other remaining students. The one who stepped forward was not who she hoped he'd be.
He was a tall hedgehog with black fur and a red dyed streak running along each of his quills. He was adorned in leather and denim from head to toe. Needless to say, he was hardly the comforting presence Amy needed.
"Amy Rose?"
Miles looked over at the girl, frozen against the wall, not moving to sit beside Shadow.
He could hardly blame her for being a little freaked out, after all, Shadow was freaky. But could she really justify being paralyzed to the spot?
The teacher shook his head and sighed in disappointment. "Absent on the first day."
"W-wait," Amy cut in with a small, sugary voice. "I'm her...I was just a little-"
"No excuses, just go sit down."
"Yes, sir."
Amy scurried across the room, feeling the other kids' eyes bore into her back.
This was hardly the ideal start to her classes but she could make the best of it. She always managed to make the best of things.
Amy plopped herself down in her seat and glanced over at her partner.
Shadow was even scarier up close. Not because he looked mean or big or had red eyes like pools of warm, flowing blood.
Nope, it was because sitting beside him now, Amy realized he was not bad looking. In fact, he was rather...
She blushed.
Bad Amy!
Boys lead to anger. Boys lead to anger. Boy's lead to anger.
"Why do you look constipated?"
Amy froze.
Shadow's voice was smooth and low with the kind of edge that made you feel like every word he said had some sort of darker double meaning.
She shivered and tried her best to smile.
"No reason, just thinking."
"Don't strain yourself."
Amy huffed.
Well, that was rude.
"Alright class," the teacher said, taking his place at the front. "You're going to be working very closely with the person beside you from now on so I want you to spend your time getting to know them."
He picked up a stack of paper from his desk and gave them to the front row to pass back.
When a paper landed in Amy's spot she read over it and realized they were all questions about Shadow.
"Fill out this question sheet and return it to me by the end of class," he instructed. "So I know you actually did it."
Amy heard Shadow sigh as he rested his muzzle on his hand.
"I'm guessing your favourite colour is pink?"
Again, so rude.
"Funny, I thought pink would be your colour," Amy grumbled under her breath.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing," Amy sang. "I like green."
"Hmph, red."
Amy scribbled the answer down under that first question.
"What do you like to eat?" Amy asked first this time.
For some reason she felt like he'd say something awful like 'the dreams of small orphan children.'
What he actually said surprised her.
"Pasta Napolitana."
Amy raised her brows.
"That sounds fancy."
He shrugged.
"It's just pasta with vegetable sauce."
Napolitana sounded fancier.
"I like ice cream."
Shadow made a face that warned her that he was painfully unimpressed as they moved on.
"Favourite movie?" Shadow groaned, not even trying to sound genuine.
Amy puzzled over that one.
She had only ever seen one movie before. She had watched it countless times in class back at Piko.
A movie about an angry girl with evil powers, just like her: Carrie.
"Carrie?" He raised a brow at her answer. "As in the horror movie."
She nodded in conformation.
Most Piko girls would have said The Notebook or something cliche and overused like that.
So, he just had to ask himself, why was the most Piko-esque Piko he had ever laid eyes on answering with a mentally scarring horror movie?
Not being able to comprehend it, he assumed it must have been a lie.
"Yeah, and I love Titanic."
Amy nodded, pretending to know what Titanic was, and scribbled the answer down.
"No, I don't actually...never mind."
The questions went on and on until finally, near the end of class, the last questions were asked.
Amy was relieved to be done.
She had no idea that there were people out there that could leave such an uncomfortable air hovering over her head during a mere casual conversation.
It was almost supernatural how he could do it.
Maybe it was his Chaos power.
With little warning, Shadow snatched away Amy's paper before handing her his.
"Go over it and make sure there are no mistakes."
Amy did as she was told, finding no problems as she did.
Shadow, on the other hand, scratched out Titanic and replaced it with Terminator immediately.`
Yeah, that sounded more macho.
He slapped Amy's work back down in front of her and reached out for his, Amy moved, keeping it away.
"Don't tell me you're not done," Shadow complained.
Amy ignored him.
She was too invested with what she had found in Shadow's work to bother flushing red and handing back his sheet.
Shadow had written his answers in perfect cursive. It was elegant, graceful, surprising.
Amy smiled.
Never before had she seen such lovely penmanship.
It was such a small thing but it really did make her happy to see.
"Gimme that," Shadow growled, getting annoyed.
The paper was taken but the image still remained.
She looked at him, eyes wide and dazzled by the talent that hid beneath such a stiff mask.
"What?" He hissed.
This girl was staring at him a little too hard and the shyer part of him wanted to curl up because of it.
Was she judging him or something?
She might as well have been. Everyone else did.
"You write like a prince," Amy said, not being able to keep the thoughts inside her head anymore.
He hadn't been expecting that.
Varied emotions crossed his face, first shock, then confusion and then that one expression that would mark the first of many.
His lips turned up as a ghost of a smile crossed his face.
As quickly as it appeared, it was gone.
Amy blinked, sure that she had imagined it entirely.
Then the bell rang.
"You're new, right?" Shadow questioned.
"Yes."
"Thought so. I'd remember your face if I'd seen it before."
Amy gathered her books in her arms and stood, stepping to leave.
Shadow rose suddenly, blocking her way.
"What class do you have?" He almost demanded of her. "I could take you there."
Amy was past confused right now.
She could have sworn that only a few seconds ago he had hated her perky guts.
Now he wanted to help her?
She was about to stammer through a hesitant yes when someone interrupted them.
"Hey, Amy," Tails said from behind her.
She turned to see his welcoming face smiling at her.
"Miles." Shadow addressed the other boy. "You know her?"
"She's a friend of Sonic's," he answered, putting some kind of sharpness to his otherwise warm words. "I'm keeping an eye on her for him."
The hedgehog grimaced, looking away.
"I see."
"Let's get going," Tails said, giving Amy elbow a gentle tug. "I'll take you to English."
She walked along with Tails, trailing behind him like a lost puppy and said a rushed goodbye to Shadow.
He just frowned at the two as they walked away.
Why was Amy getting the feeling that she had just found her way into the middle of trouble?
It was 7 o'clock, on the dot, and the Union Academy Book Club reserved the library for their first meeting of the year.
Amy walked up to the tall, gothic building and toyed with her skirt nervously.
What if the kids there didn't like her? What if she didn't have any fun? What if she sucked at Book Club? Was that even possible?
All these questions swirled through her head as she advanced towards the door.
As she entered, all those worries vanished.
"Hey! Amy! Over here! I saved you a spot!"
"Ssshhh!"
Amy smiled at Sonic, who was flailing his arms around in his seat.
He was grinning from ear to ear, not even caring that the rest of the club was pretty peeved at him.
Amy walked over to the reading tables that were wedged between countless shelves and took her seat beside Sonic.
She took note of the open book laid on the table in front of him and lifted the cover slightly to get a good look at it.
"Pride and Prejudice," she read. "That's Jane Austen, right?"
He nodded, stretching his arms over his head and out as he did.
"Yep, her most regarded work. Have you read it?"
Amy didn't exactly have the wits to answer that question. She was more concerned with the fact that Sonic's arm rested around her on the back of her chair.
"Um...I...I haven't."
"No worries." he waved it off, misinterpreting why she was on edge. "I haven't read it either. I heard it was a piece of fluff."
"Fluff?"
"Mmhmm, romance at it's mushiest."
Amy giggled.
She wasn't sure why, exactly. There was just something about Sonic that made her want to giggle.
"Do you not like romance?"
"Not most, no." He admitted. "I believe that romantic fiction holds both males and females to unrealistic degrees of perfection and that it skews perception of what a healthy relationship actually is."
Wow...that was deep.
Amy could feel her mouth go dry as Sonic waited for a response.
Maybe people actually could be bad at Book Club.
She had no idea what to say.
"I've never actually read a romance novel," Amy decided to add in. "They wouldn't let me in Piko."
"Why's that?"
"They said love had too many confusing emotions to deal with. They were worried it would make me angry."
Sonic's eyes widened.
"Seriously? So it wasn't just romance books? It was love in general?"
She shrugged.
So?
Why would she need to love in the first place? It wasn't necessary for survival or anything.
Besides, it was for her own good.
"What about your parents?" Sonic half wondered half joked. "Were you at least allowed to love them?"
What parents?
An answer played on Amy lips before they were interrupted.
"Hey guys! I'm Maia, president of the club, for those of you who don't remember. Let's officially start off this years Book Club. Has everyone got a copy of Pride and Prejudice?"
Sonic raised his hand up and pointed at Amy, indicating that she needed one.
Maia smiled, kneeling down to a pile of books beneath the table and sliding it over to Amy.
"Well, I'm afraid this is going to be a slow meeting today because we have nothing on the book to discuss yet but if you guys could get started on reading from chapters one to five then when we meet next week there'll be plenty to talk about."
Maia clapped her hands together.
"Now get to it."
Maia's promise that the first meeting would be slow was not in vain.
Not that Amy minded. She rather liked the casual pace as she simply read.
Now it was around 8 o'clock and everyone was being sent home.
Amy walked along to the girls' dorm with Sonic in tow.
"Isn't the boy's residence the other way."
"Yeah," he confirmed. "But I wanna walk you home, make sure you get there okay."
It was a nice notion, a very nice notion indeed.
"So," Sonic went on, "I never got to ask. How was your first day?"
"Good," Amy chirped. "I did well with all my classes so far and I met new people."
"I'd call that a good day."
"Absolutely!"
"Who did you meet?"
A pair of red eyes flashed through Amy's mind.
She shivered.
Shadow's were just the kind of eyes that left a icy, strong impression on you.
"Cold?" Sonic asked.
"No, I'm fine. I just-"
Before she could finish, Sonic had his uniform black blazer off and was draping it carefully over her shoulders.
"There you go. That should help a little."
Almost on instinct, Amy hugged the jacket closer to herself.
It was so warm and easy to hold close, just like it's owner.
She stopped walking and looked down at the materiel lovingly.
"You could just be the nicest person in the world," Amy whispered.
Sonic caught every word.
Really?
He didn't think he was that great. He was just being kind.
"What? No way! There are plenty other's. I mean, Tails, Cream, Gandhi, they're all nicer than me."
Amy just shook her head, her smile glowing radiantly in the dim evening light.
"Thank you, Sonic."
She began her stride anew, walking on towards the light of the dorms.
Sonic found that he was following her now.
She had a grace about her that no meekness could over shadow.
He found it quite admirable.
They arrived at their destination in no time and entered the foyer.
Amy turned around and began to slip off the jacket Sonic had given her.
He held out his hand, expecting that Amy would just hand it to him but found himself at a loss for words when she circled around to his back.
He felt her tiny hands ease his arms through the cloth as she helped him back into it.
Gingerly, she traced her hands along his broad shoulders, patting the fabric perfectly into place.
Sonic felt his breath hitch as she came back around and patted down the lapels as well.
He could feel her hands resting steadily on his chest.
He could swear he heard his heart beat fluttering in his ear in that second.
Amy's eyes went up as they both smiled at each other.
The momnet was peaceful, warm, totally without pressure on either end.
It was hard not to soak it in.
"Goodnight, Amy," Sonic purred in the purest of tones.
Amy felt blood rush to her cheeks and, oddly enough, her lips, as she stood there with him.
He was handsome, very handsome. He looked like the kind of boy you'd find in a palace, surrounded by golden finery but out shining it all.
Her eyes flickered down to his lips. They looked so inviting. Maybe she could just-
She pushed away and crossed her arms.
Boys lead to anger.
This was the second time today she had forgotten that. She hoped she wouldn't make a habit of this.
"Good night," Amy responded, shooing Sonic with her voice.
He blinked away his confusion at her sudden movement.
He felt it weigh down like rejection in his gut. That was not a good feeling.
With care to her now jumpy nerves Sonic took a slow step forward and pecked a kiss at her cheek.
"Sleep well, Doll."
With that he was out the door.
Amy raised a hand to the skin where his lips had brushed her.
He was so tender with her.
Could boys really be as bad as she'd been told?
"Don't think I didn't see that, missy."
Amy whipped around, finding Rouge sitting on the stairs, peaking through the railing's bars.
"He totally likes you."
Amy blushed.
She didn't know if he liked her but she was sure of one thing: she hoped he did.
Hi! I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. I had a lot of fun writing this update, especially with the introduction of Shadow.
Thanks to all of you for reading and keeping up with this so far. Leave a review, if you like and tell me what you think.