Chapter 3: New School, New Teachers, Same Rules
(Flaky's POV)
"Hey, Flaky."
"Mmf..."
"Wakey wakey." My eyes fluttered open. Flippy was standing there, smiling and waving a hand in front of my face. I sat up and looked around. Guess Flippy had moved me when he woke up since I'm in the middle of the bed.
"Huh?"
"Good morning Flaky. How was your sleep?"
"Umm, ok? What about you?"
"I was fine." Then, his eyes went distant. "Listen, while you were sleeping, I heard a knock on the front door. I went to investigate and well...see for yourself." He gestures towards the sofa. I leaped out of bed and walked towards the sofa, while rubbing my eyes. A jingle sound was heard. Bells? My eyes snapped open at the sight of two soft lavender eyes.
"Oh! Good morning!" said the white cat. Her voice was quiet, yet friendly.
"Uh, hi."
"I'm Flora, it's...nice to meet you, Flaky." I looked at Flippy, who was grinning sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.
"Eh-heh. Yeah, I kinda introduced you to her already." Flora smiled.
"Flippy had helped me a lot. He disinfected my wounds and bandaged them." Once again, Flippy gave me a sheepish grin. I smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Suddenly, the front door bursts open.
"Hey guys c'mon! Lumpy is opening a new school!" shouted Handy. Petunia peered from behind.
"Who's your new friend, Flaky?" she asked. But before I could say anything, Flora walked up to her.
"I-I'm Flora." Petunia beamed.
"Hi Flora! I'm Petunia, and this cutie here is Handy!" He blushed.
"As I was saying, I finished building us a new school, yes there are no traps in it, Lumpy's gonna open it, and we gotta get there pronto-"
"AIEEEEE! FUCK, FLIPPY'S HERE!" And with that, Petunia ran away, dragging Handy along with her. I gazed at Flippy, who was holding his face in his hands and was struggling to not cry. Then, he caught my look of worry and forced a smile.
"I'm fine. Don't worry. Let's go."
(Flora's POV)
"Are you sure?" I asked. He nodded.
"Yeah, don't worry about me. C'mon, Handy said we gotta get there ASAP."
Moments later...
"Wow, Handy did a real good job." commented Flaky. She's right. The school has two floors, several large rectangular windows, and an acorn shaped banner that hung on the largest window, which is above the door. A green flag with an acorn symbol waved from the flag pole. My left ear flickered from the gentle breeze.
"And now, duh, I'm gonna open the school!" We all spun our heads to see a blue retarded looking moose, holding giant scissors against the red ribbon. Flippy clasped his hands onto his head.
"Oh fuck! They're letting LUMPY handle the scissors?!" In a flash, he ran over and snatched the scissors. Lumpy gave a bewildered look. "Lumpy! I don't think you should handle giant scissors."
"Why shouldn't he?" Flippy turned to face a certain blue flying squirrel with a red mask.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Splendid, the greatest superhero of all times. I've heard many...things...about you, Flippy." His eyes narrowed.
"Such as?" The two boys connected their foreheads and growled.
"Guys, quit it." said Flaky, stepping in between the two opposing guys.
"Pfft, trying to defend Flippy? Honestly Flaky, what has gotten into you?" huffed the pink chipmunk. The yellow rabbit beside her crossed his arms.
"Leave her alone guys!" I shouted. The couple faced me.
"And who are YOU?" All at once, all of my confidence faded away.
"I'm...ahh..."
"She's Flora." said Handy, stepping forward. "Flora's new here, so don't be hard on her, ok Giggles and Cuddles?"
"...she doesn't know anything about Flippy, does she?" she asked. Handy shook his head.
"No, but let's not put any nightmares into her mind at the moment. C'mon! The school's about to open! Flippy, give me the scissors."
"Careful Handy, you know what he's capable of."
"Just shut up, will you?" Giggles clamped her mouth shut, but still glared at Flippy.
(Handy's POV)
Flippy handed me the scissors, head hanging low. I patted his back with my tail, since both of my stumpy arms were occupied.
"Hey, don't feel so low." He grinned, slightly.
"Thanks."
"Hey, Flora, I think you should cut the ribbon." Everyone fell into shock, except for Flaky, who was trying her best to soothe Flippy.
"WHA-? WHY?" they all screamed. I shrugged.
"Why not? After all, she's new here." They all stared at each other for a moment before Splendid spoke up.
"Yes, why not? Please give Flora the scissors Handy." Quietly, I passed the big scissor to Flora, who struggled to keep hold of it. A few fits of snickers were heard. After a few moments of stillness, Flora finally split the ribbon into two. Cheers erupted from all over.
"WOOHOO! I CALL BEING THE LUNCH TEACHER!" shouted Lumpy. But right before we reached the school grounds, Splendid stopped us.
"Ahem, we can't go running into the school like mad, we need to walk. And Handy, give us a tour since you built this school." I shrugged.
"Alright, but I can't open doors. Remember?" I said, waving my stumps.
"Fine, I'll help you open them."
"Anyways, let's get inside." Slowly, Splendid opened the front door. Everyone from all directions poured inside.
"Oooooh..." they all said, marveled by the details. The room of the front entrance has a large open door in the middle, leading to the school cafeteria (which has an enormous chandelier hanging from the ceiling). Spiral staircases surrounded both sides of the door. And the best part is...the sunlight, shining through the big windows.
"Ok, first stop! The cafeteria!" I yelled. Once we entered, Lumpy raised his hand. "Yes Lumpy?"
"Can I be the lunch teacher?"
"Umm, I don't think-"
"Ok Lumpy, you're the lunch teacher." said Splendid.
"Hah?!"
"As the principal and student council, I say that Lumpy could be the lunch teacher." I frowned. For a guy with a big ego, he's an idiot.
(Flippy's POV)
"Next room. Up the stairs." said Handy. Quickly, we ran up the spiral stairs and entered the room to the right. I looked down the hallway and behind. So many doors. "Science class."
"Sniffles, you're the science teacher." said Splendid. Sniffle's eyes brightened.
"Wow! REALLY?!"
"Yep."
"Next class." said Handy.
Later...
"Theater class."
"Giggles, you're the teacher."
...
"Woodworking class."
"You of course Handy."
"Yay."
...
"English class."
"Cuddles."
...
"Math class."
"Toothy."
...
"Food science and nutrition."
"Nutty."
"Er...you sure?"
"OF COURSE I'M SURE! It shouldn't be a problem."
"Umm...ok, if you say so." Great. Lessons about sugar, sugar, and more sugar. Nutty's dream world.
...
"Dancing class."
"Disco Bear."
...
"Fishing class. With a personal class lake connected to the ocean."
"Russell!"
...
"History class..." Handy gave me a worried look. I could've sworn that I felt a sweat drop going down my face. Splendid didn't take notice.
"Hmm...well, I guess it'll have to be me." I breathed in relief.
"You?"
"Why not? I could go back in time if I wanted to. Or use Sniffle's time machine."
"You sure that's teaching? Not trips?"
"Yeah."
"Alright then... last class!"
...
"Gym."
"Hmm..." Splendid shifted his eyes from Flaky, to Flora, to me. "Flippy." What?!
"WHAT?!" I shouted.
"You had training and experience in the army. Might as well make you the gym teacher."
"But...I wasn't the strongest soldier there." Splendid nodded.
"You know, I like your honesty. It's not about strength that would make you a great gym teacher. No, wait, actually, you do need a lot of strength. But still..." he waggled his finger at me. "You might have a chance to prove those rumors wrong."
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" laughed Nutty, zooming down the corridor, dropping several candies. Sugar rush.
"HEY! NO RUNNING! AND NO EATING OUTSIDE OF THE LUNCHROOM!" yelled Splendid, flying in pursuit. Once they two were out of sight, I turned to Flaky.
"So what do you think of this school?" She looked around.
"Well, me and Flora are the only students here."
"Huh, you're right."
"I mean, I understand why Pop, Cub, Lifty and Shifty wouldn't be here."
"Yeah, Pop has to take care of Cub, and Lifty and Shifty...they better not mess with my place again."
"Again?" I looked away.
"Nevermind. Besides, Don't you have to go to your first period class?"
"We don't even have schedules, Flip-"
"Here's are your schedules, now get to class." said Splendid, zooming past her and Flora and down the hallway. "GET BACK HERE NUTTY! YOU SHOULD PREPARE YOUR CLASS!" Moments of silence passed.
"...how convenient." Flaky rolled her eyes at me and glanced at her schedule, then Flora's.
"Why do we have the exact same...?"
"Maybe because teaching one student at a time is boring?"
"I guess so."
"Well then. Let's get a move on. I guess I gotta prepare the room for soccer."
"Ok, see you."
"Mhm."
(Lifty's POV)
"Don't you think this is a bad idea?" I asked. Shifty gave me a hard look.
"Nah. Besides, he's not here. It's perfectly safe."
"But he might kill us agai-"
"Hey, don't worry! I brought replicas this time. He won't notice a thing." Then, I spotted a golden heart shaped locket with beautiful engravings.
"Ooh, look at this thing!" I picked it up and flipped it over. "'To the love of my life.' Pah! Cheesy."
"Hey, nice find! That'll fetch us a couple thousand bucks!" Suddenly, I heard a thud sound from below. I gazed at my foot to see a tiny golden heart with a heart shaped amethyst in the center. On the back, a name was engraved. Flora. Gingerly, I plucked the 10k heart. It felt a little heavy in my hands. My grin broadened.
"And THIS will fetch us a couple thousand more!"
"HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! We'll be filthy rich before you know it!"