I'm surprised that went over as well as it did, eheh.
Lost and Forgotten Memories: Yay! Perfect is excellent news! I love Wave; I've never actually played any of the games she's in, but I researched her a LOT because her personality is so delightfully complex. I wanted to represent her well and I'm glad that came across. (Although, I am curious about the thing that bothered you. Even if nothing changes I do take my reader's personal preference very seriously)
DahserMan1025: I definitely thought I'd be more winded after finishing Advents, but I realized the most important thing for writing well is to just keep writing. No brakes on the learning train! I hope you enjoy this, as it's definitely far from my area of expertise.
Nab-Nab450: Down the narrow, dirt road in my mind called 'Arrogance', I initially came up with this idea as a challenge to all the other school-fic writers. There is a bizarre sort of appeal to the idea of nearly any fandom's characters being put in a school setting, but it's usually executed so poorly and with severe OOC, useless drama. I wanted a more mature take on a long-dead beaten horse. Granted, there will be random humor, but it will reach far beyond that of "bacon is a funny word, I'll say it a lot" type jokes. I digress! I welcome you back with open arms and hope you enjoy!
My husband who betas my chapters will not let me live "Ryan the Gosling" down. Little does he know. This chapter is long and slightly dull, but it serves as a gateway to a grander path. Please, meander with me.
2: In Fair Linehardt, Where We Lay Our Scene
Amy slipped into her first class, Advanced Literature, as discreetly as she could. Unfortunately, due to her long chat with Sally and Tikal as well as being stopped by Sonic, she was too late to choose a seat with deliberation. Each row she passed was full to the brim and no one wanted to make room for "some new kid". After her hike up the bleacher-like lines, she reached the final row, which overlooked the lecture room like a box-seat in a football stadium. The last available chair was next to a lavender cat, whose tight ponytail and slanted gold eyes were... intimidating to say the least. Amy shakily pointed to the seat. The cat leaned back from her notebook and gave the pink hedgehog a neutral stare before shrugging and returning to her papers. Amy sighed and plopped down in the seat. Suddenly, the cat spoke. Her voice was vaguely familiar and Amy had to force herself to listen instead of trying to place it.
"I'll let you sit here today, but don't think you can do it again if you're some immature girl here for the boys."
"What? How rude!" Amy blurted, instantly regretting it as gold eyes looked sidelong at her with a chilly expression. The cat sighed and leaned back in her seat once more, crossing her arms.
"Sorry. I guess you couldn't be completely foolish if you got into Advanced Lit as a freshman. What's your name?"
"Amy Rose... and yours?"
"Blaze the Cat. There. Pleasantries aside, my statement still stands. If you are frivolous, I will make sure that this seat is never available again." Before Amy could respond, the room went silent. She turned her attention to the front, so far away and small-looking. A badger stood at the front of the room in a stuffy tweed suit, shuffling papers at his desk. He scanned the rows of students with a critical eye, only pausing on one parrot with a glaring mohawk hairstyle before continuing on. At last, he rumbled out in a deep, gravelly voice.
"Welcome to Advanced Literature, Day One, dear students. I am Professor Bramble. I trust you will all bring your own supplies from this day to the end of the quarter. You're all adults and I will not tolerate slacking. Now," he gestured at the pile of papers he had shuffled. "The syllabus is on my desk. Do I have a volunteer to hand out stacks to the front row? Yes, you there." A yellow rabbit carefully doled out even stacks to the first row of students. The professor waited in silence until each of the papers were passed around. Amy took hers and skimmed the list of books they'd be covering.
"Ooh, Persuasion!"
"Don't get too excited," Blaze stated blandly. "I took Bramble's Beginning Lit. He hates romance and only makes us read the first and last chapters of whatever book he chooses." She frowned suddenly, giving Amy a curious glance, "You weren't expecting a lot of lovey stuff, were you? Bramble is known across campus to focus on one genre. That's why I took his class."
Amy's stomach began to twist, "What... what genre?"
Blaze smiled, an uncomfortably coy expression for the one-word statement, "Horror." Amy Rose bit her lip and looked at the syllabus again, a single thought echoing in her mind.
Why me?
"Young lady, you in the very back!" Professor Bramble growled. Amy jumped and looked at him. He frowned, "Don't think you can get away with chattering just because you're all the way back there. I have the ears of an owl." Amy nodded vigorously while Blaze looked bored. After gritting his teeth, the badger began to address each point of the syllabus. When he was halfway through, the male squirrel on the other side of Blaze leaned over and whispered nigh-imperceptibly.
"You think Triple S are going to quiet down anytime soon?"
Blaze raised her eyebrows and looked down at him, suddenly appearing very regal, "Shadow doesn't partake in the noise factor. It's the other two." Amy listened with interest. Sounded like Blaze had a thing for one of the troublesome trio. She smiled at the idea of this prickly person having a crush; it just seemed so... awkward. Professor Bramble growled again.
"I will not warn you again, Miss Hedgehog!" Amy leaned away from the cat and nodded.
I hope the rest of my classes go smoother.
After a harrowing hour where Amy was forced to remain utterly silent lest she be scolded again, the bell rang and she escaped to her next class, Physics I. The halls were crowded and she had to study her map several times before realizing she was in the wrong building entirely. After running down the stairs and nearly slipping on a puddle near a drinking fountain, she sprinted across the courtyard to the Maths and Sciences building. Out of breath and clothing mussed, the freshman finally stepped through the door of the classroom she was positive was the right one. She was met with raucous laughter and the sight of a fuming lizard, who was scolding a familiar pair of hedgehogs, red-faced.
It was Sonic and his albino friend. The white hedgehog was giggling madly as he juggled—alarmingly—a laptop computer, a glass paperweight, and a fire extinguisher. The funny grouping of quills on his forehead wiggled comically. Sonic stood by, cheering him on as the class roared with glee. The lizard flailed his hands.
"Silver the Hedgehog, stop disrupting my freshman class this instant!"
The white hedgehog (known as 'Silver') only grinned, "Easy, Mr. Spine! I'm giving them an introductory lesson in the breakable laws of physics!" Amy noticed a strange cyan glow to each of the items Silver played with. As he juggled, suddenly the laptop went shooting towards the audience, only to be pulled back as if on an invisible cord. Professor Spine shook his fists.
"You are an exception! You can't let them think they have telekinesis, too! My classroom will be in ruins!" Amy realized the white hedgehog was using his mind to control the items rather than actual juggling. She spluttered in shock.
"But, that's impossible!"
Silver stopped his false juggling, letting the objects settle and hover in the air. The entire room turned its eyes on the pink hedgehog, half upset at her interruption and half curious as to who she was. Sonic's face lit up with recognition and he stepped towards her.
"Hey, it's the cutie freshman from before! What a coincidence, eh?"
Amy was painfully aware as the class' stares turned frigid, "Yeah... funny seeing you here..."
"Eh, don't worry," Sonic laced his fingers behind his head, motioning with his chin at the room, "Silvs and I aren't held back or anything. We're in Chem two."
"How nice," Amy said weakly. The blue hedgehog's charm was greatly reduced as she stood under the proverbial microscope of the student body. Sonic turned to nudge his friend in the ribs.
"Well, let's let the new girl have a good first class with Spiny over here." He saluted the old lizard playfully, "See ya later, Spiny!"
"Just get out," the teacher spat back. Silver gently placed the laptop, paperweight and fire extinguisher down on the professor's desk before throwing his hands in the air in double peace signs.
"I'll be here all week!"
"Not if you don't want to get expelled, young man," Professor Spine glowered as the pair of hyperactive frat boys exited, Sonic winking at Amy again and blowing a kiss to the room. After they were gone, a painful silence settled in the air. Amy looked up at her scaled teacher, desperation in her face. He simply sighed, exasperated, before gesturing at the sea of desks. "Find a seat, Miss...?"
"Rose," Amy said, hoping her respectful tone was conveyed properly. The lizard nodded, rubbing his temples.
"Miss Rose. Also, I'd advise you not to get close to those infuriating young men. It would be a... negative choice for a new student like yourself."
"I appreciate the concern," Amy picked her way over the floor of backpacks, finding a seat in the middle of the room. She smiled pleasantly at the surrounding students, hoping to make friends that were freshmen like her. However, every person she turned to looked away, as though she was tainted somehow. A pair of girls in the row ahead of her turned to each other and whispered mockingly.
"She thinks she's special because an upperclassman called her cute?" One hissed.
"As if; she looks totally innocent. Probably doesn't even know they're from SLK." The other giggled behind her hand and they pulled apart. Amy gripped the edge of her desk, a pout stealing over her lips. All she wanted was to have a good first year, but that darned dorm kept interfering! She resolved to be more careful; if rumor spread that she was involved with the hated students, she'd never escape the chains of bad repute.
Once Professor Spine had calmed down, he turned out to be an excellent teacher. His syllabus had funny clip art in it and Amy could tell he really loved his subject. He answered questions no matter how simple-minded they seemed and he wished each student a good day when the bell rang. Amy looked forward to his class.
"Okay," she compared her schedule with the campus map, "Pre-Calculus it is, then. Oh! That's only down the hall!" Her shiny red boots squeaked on the tile floor as she traversed the crowds. Her daydreams of college glory returned, and she was so deep in thought by the time she reached her next room she nearly bumped into a familiar face. Seeing Blaze at the arm of the black hedgehog from SLK, Amy hid around the corner to spy on the crush in action.
"I don't understand a Sol-forsaken symbol of this..." Blaze shoved a packet at the taller hedgehog. She threw her hands in the air, "How I passed Pre-Calc I'll never know!" Amy watched as the hedgehog's merlot eyes flickered over the paper. He pointed at one section, speaking in a soft voice.
"This is the part you're having difficulty with?" Amy wondered how someone could actually be quieter than the purple cat. The feline nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. Her companion pursed his lips and continued, "You multiplied where you should have divided. Also, a double negative equals a positive."
"Ugh," Blaze bared her teeth, "I always forget that!" Amy frowned. This was possibly the most boring flirting she'd ever witnessed, not that there had been much to see back home. The black hedgehog smirked and handed the papers back to Blaze before ruffling her hair.
"Pay me back later?" He asked huskily. Amy blushed as the feline shrugged ambivalently. So... not a crush... Friends... with benefits? The two upperclassmen sauntered by in silence, Amy pressing herself to the wall so as not to be seen. As she turned the corner and entered the classroom, her thoughts shuffled all the information about SLK the other students had supplied. Sonic didn't seem too bad... but for some reason it was a bad thing to be called "cute" by him. Silver appeared to have an authority problem and the black hedgehog ('Shadow'?) used girls in payment for homework help. Amy shuddered, deciding she'd seen enough and would rather not run into any more of the outcast frat.
She was in luck: Pre-Calculus was void of anyone that had crossed her path so far and she even made a friend in a short raccoon who spoke with a clunky, foreign accent. The girl introduced herself as 'Marine'. Memory of Wave yelling about 'gear' in Gamma Nu Omega the previous morning burst into the pink hedgehog's mind and she smiled, snapping her fingers.
"So you're Marine! We live in the same sorority!"
The stubby mechanic grinned, "Is tha' right? Well, I look forward to seein' ya around the house!" The rest of the class passed quickly, with Marine agreeing to help Amy if she needed it with some of the harder problems. The professor was a soft-spoken female owl named Pytha, who used an old-fashioned pointer and smelled of roses. Amy quite liked her. After the syllabus was discussed and the list of required books passed out, the bell rang. Marine waved goodbye in the hall and Amy smiled, her nerves settling down for the first time that day. Her next class was in another building and she began the long trek through Maths and Sciences.
Outside was a welcomed change; a brisk breeze steadily blew across the campus. The fountain trickled merrily and there was a warm chatter of students lounging on the many benches. It smelled of sun. Amy reluctantly entered the History and Language building again, missing the scheduled lunch break of high school. Her Global Studies class sat on the first floor, tucked away in a corner beyond a janitor's closet, which was surprising considering it was one of the largest lecture halls on campus. Upon entering, the first thing she noticed was the musty odor of old books. The second was the only student who had arrived so far: a muscled red echidna idly flipping through archaeology magazines in the first row. Thirdly, a weathered old tortoise who wore a fez stood at the front of the room. He peered at the hedgehog girl with narrow hazel eyes before speaking.
"Hmm... I like pink with red. Have a seat next to Mr. Knuckles, young lady."
Unable to argue considering her own love affair with the color, Amy simply sighed and waddled over to the hulking figure, sinking into her seat with halfhearted caution. The echidna—or rather, Knuckles—didn't show any notice of her. Amy stared ahead, not wanting to bother him lest he have a temper. The elderly tortoise smiled appreciatively, nodding his approval.
"Yes, yes... It's so nice to see such charming young people. Does a body good."
Fifteen minutes ticked by. The tortoise only chewed his gums and nodded occasionally. Knuckles shuffled his magazines and began one again. Amy bounced in her seat. The silence was stifling. When the pink hedgehog couldn't stand it anymore, she risked a question.
"Um... Are there any... other students in this class?"
The tortoise snored while standing. Finally, Knuckles closed his magazine and turned to stare down at his company, face unreadable. Amy noticed two large spikes on either of his hands. They looked... dangerous.
"This is my third time taking this class," he said. "The first time, there was five of us. The second, just three. Now... Well, here you are. Shell just stands there. Occasionally he lets us take home ancient texts, which I'm sure were uh... borrowed from a museum. Other than that, there's not much to do."
"Well why is it still a class?" Amy asked, irritable.
"Because he's old and tenured," Knuckles shrugged, as if the idea was the simplest thing in the world. Amy pressed fingers to her forehead, sighing.
"So why are you still taking this 'class', then?"
"I have to pass it." There was a non-debatable sort of edge to the echidna's voice, and his dark violet eyes shined with determination. Amy cocked her head and looked up at her companion.
"Why do you have to pass this class?" Her question lingered in the air like smoke. Knuckles didn't answer right away—only chewed his lip and stared at his hands. Amy waited. Would she be able to switch this class on such short notice? Could one do that? Knuckles spoke at last, the faintest tinge of pink on his face.
"I'm trying to get into Ancient Society Two... but I didn't pass this class the first time because there wasn't anything to grade. It's like a... a 'glitch in the Matrix', know what I'm saying?"
Amy stood abruptly, "I can't be stuck in here! I have a college life to have!" Professor Shell snorted and Amy quickly sat down, eyeing the tortoise in case he woke from his nap. Knuckles blinked vacantly.
"Well I don't know what to tell you... If there's nothing to grade, there's no grade. No grade, no pass. I'm as angry as you are."
"Let's get our classes switched!" Amy pounded a fist into her other hand, not realizing she was getting carried away with a stranger twice her size. "We'll go to the main office tomorrow and change to the other Global Studies class. You'll get to move on to Ancient whatever Two and I'll move on from freshman year!" She thrust a hand in the echidna's face, nearly smacking him in the process, "Whaddya say?"
Knuckles took her hand gingerly, "Um... Okay?"
"It's settled!" Amy sat back, smug. A cricket chirped in a nearby classroom. Amy opened her eyes to look at the red upperclassman, suddenly curious, "Why is it so important to get into Ancient Society Two?"
Knuckles didn't answer, and the bell rang.
Amy took a deep breath as she stood before the door of her final class, Computers. The Arts and Technology building was expansive, to say the least. To find the tiny classroom, she had passed the noisy theater, a spacious Fine Arts room, and several Design classes. When at last her red boots stood on the tile and her green eyes read "Computers I", she paused to straighten her clothes, shift her backpack and stand up straight. She pushed open the door and marched in.
The room was small, dark, and crowded with long tables covered in black computers. Some of the students had already arrived and were chatting or setting up notebooks and pencils. Amy chose a seat off to the side in the middle row. The day could still be saved if she blended in enough! A dark brown fox came in and sat beside her. He ran fingers through his messy bangs. Amy smiled at him when his chestnut eyes met hers and he offered a friendly smile back before checking his phone. The pink hedgehog suppressed a giggle.
At least this class is looking up from the start.
The final set of lights dimmed suddenly and Amy looked to the front wall, where the purple chameleon from Sigma Lambda Kappa had flipped the light switch. Dread began to creep across her skin. Had she spoken too soon? Would this frat boy be as disorderly and strange as the others? His flat yellow eyes flicked to her own, causing her fur to stand on end.
"Thank you, Espio," a paced, feminine voice sounded from the large desk at the front-left of the room. "Attention, class... If I could have you all face the front so we can go over the syllabus?" The chatter ceased. The chameleon—who could only be said 'Espio', Amy decided—walked over to the desk and sat in a rolling chair beside it. A powerpoint flared to life on the canvas against the front and the voice spoke again.
"Welcome to Computers One. My name is Sharon Lebelle. You can call me Professor Lebelle. This lovely gentleman is my teacher's assistant, Espio the Chameleon." She paused, allowing the class to chorus "hello" and the chameleon to wave silently. "He will be helping me with grading as well as fixing your computers should one of you mess them up." The class chuckled. "Try not to do that, though. It's time-consuming. Now, let's talk about the curriculum for the quarter."
Professor Lebelle went on to discuss the basics of computing and why it was important to learn such skills. The world was changing, she said. Computers were going become a part of everyday life, no matter what major you went on to take. Amy found herself furiously scribbling notes throughout the entire hour. The bell rang and she gathered her things. After zipping her backpack, she looked around in the hopes of introducing herself to the fox. However, instead of a tall-dark-and-handsome, Espio stood in front of her. She jumped.
"Gah!"
Espio blinked, "You're the new girl at Gamma Nu Omega."
"Um..." Amy gulped, "Yeah... I am. Why?"
The chameleon cocked his head, his face an emotionless mask, "I saw you watching us yesterday morning."
"Oh.." Amy bit her lower lip. Crap, crap-crap-crap! "I was curious about the... the car!" She pointed with both index fingers, scrambling for an excuse. "I wanted to know who was driving it."
Espio nodded vaguely, "I see. Well, welcome to Linehardt. If you need any computer help, I'm here until noon classes are over, Tuesday through Saturday." Amy nodded, slowly donning her bag and backing away.
"Thanks, um.. Nice to meet you..."
"Espio," the chameleon offered. "And you are?"
"Amy Rose."
"Cool. See you around, Amy." As soon as his back was turned, Amy bolted for the door. Thank heavens the day was over at last!
Misunderstandings and chance meetings abound! *SARCASTIC DRAMATIC GASP DEADPAN* Will Amy survive? (Of course she will.) Who was the mysterious hooded person, and where are they now? (You probably know.) Next time, on Greek Life...
By the way, will anyone help me come up with a better title? I feel like "Greek Life" may deter some younger readers who are like "Why are the characters in Greece"... I was thinking The Infamous Dorm of Linehardt or...? Anyway. Thank you again, my dear viewers!