-The Wilde-Hopps' Aardvark Rise Apartment, Monday, 7:00 AM-

"Okay, honey, do you have everything? Schedule, supplies, all that?" Judy Wilde-Hopps said as she finished rolling up a brown paper bag with her adopted son's name on it. "Just finished making you lunch." She was already in her police uniform, and Nick Wilde-Hopps was just finishing getting ready as well.

"Yes, mom, I double-checked twice," Larry said, nodding. He slung his backpack over his back, which pushed aside his big, fluffy gray squirrel tail.

"Do you have the phone I gave you for emergencies?" Judy pursued.

Larry slapped his pocket and felt for it. "Yes, mom."

"Okay, it's just, um, your first day of middle school; I hope everything is going to go okay," Judy gave a small, but concerned smile. "A new school, having to go to multiple classes, new classmates..."

"Would it make you feel better if your mother walked you to the bus stop?" Nick asked, tightening the knot in his tie.

"Yes!" Judy replied before Larry could. Larry smirked.

"Sure mom, let's go," Larry nodded, grabbing his lunch from her and putting it away as well.

Judy gave an apologetic sigh as the two walked down into the elevator to get out of Aardvark Rise. "Larry, I'm sorry if you think I'm being smothering or anything. It's just... you haven't been with us for too many years; I feel like your father and I are doing this parenting thing on fast-forward."

"It's okay, mom," Larry smiled. "What, do you think I'm gonna be mad that you care about me?"

"Well I don't know!" Judy admitted. "Next thing I know you're going to be a teenager, and then I don't know how you'll get along with us. I mean, you're already full height; you're practically a grown-up already..." As the elevator chimed for the ground floor, Larry offered his hand to the bunny's. Judy fought a soft adoring sound, but it came out anyway. She took his hand and started to walk with him. "Oh, Larry, I love you..."

"I know," Larry smirked. "Love you too, mom."

-Middle-Small Middle School, Mr. Weatherbeaver's Homeroom Class, Monday, 7:58 AM-

Larry felt a bit apprehensive as he headed for a seat. He was actually glad he was no longer the shortest animal in class. A lot of mid-sized rodents and mustelids had not attained full height yet. He did, however, walk past a chinchilla seated in the second row that was just about his height and a lot wider. The chinchilla was wearing sunglasses and had a somewhat blank look on. Larry thought he saw him smirk at him. The squirrel took a seat two rows back and a column to the side.

A middle-aged beaver with glasses walked towards the front of the room. "Welcome to Middle-Small Middle School." His voice was a bit stern and flat. "I am Mr. Weatherbeaver, and-" he interrupted himself. "Young chinchilla, glasses do not conform to the dress code. Please remove them." The chinchilla grinned, complying. Larry heard giggling behind him and looked.

There were three mustelid girls sitting in close proximity. A tough-looking white stoat, a gentle-looking honey and white colored ferret with pink glasses and braces, and a somewhat snooty brown weasel.

"All right, simmer down," Mr. Weatherbeaver looked at the girls. "Time to call roll."

Larry listened intently for his own name; he knew it would be close to the last one. He also couldn't help but listen for the names of the others he had noted.

"Chet Chilla?"
"In attendance!" The chinchilla's somewhat bold voice rang out, popping up his hand, and then bringing it down in a fist pump. Mr. Weatherbeaver rolled his eyes.
"Heather Mine?"
"Yo." The stoat's hand went up.
"Kara Pedshark?"
"Here!" The ferret's hand went up.
"Kerry Weaselton?"
"Uh-huh." The weasel's raised in boredom.
"Larry Wilde-Hopps." The squirrel was actually the last one to be called out, alphabetically by last name.
"H-here." Larry nodded, raising his hand slowly.

"All right, class, let's go over some procedures and guidelines for your new life in middle school," Mr. Weatherbeaver said, picking up some paper packets. "You're going to be here for a few years, so get used to it."

-Middle-Small Middle School, Between Periods, Monday, 9:00 AM-

Larry had his schedule in his hands, trying to carefully but swiftly navigate to his next class.

"Oof!" "Urh!"

Larry wasn't watching his step, and ran straight into Chet, the chinchilla. He wasn't watching either, and his sunglasses clattered to the floor.

"Oops, sorry, squirrel dude!" Chet smirked, bending over and picking up his sunglasses. "Guess I should watch where you're going!"

"Uh, sorry about that," Larry returned timidly. Chet was fluffy so it was hard to tell how much stronger he was than Larry, but he was definitely a lot wider.

"Hey, you're the squirrel from my homeroom!" Chet pointed at him. "I'm Chet. Some people call me... 'the Chilla'." He held his hands out in front of himself and separated them, nodding in what he thought was a smooth move.

"Uh, I'm Larry, Larry Wilde-Hopps," Larry greeted, trying not to meet his gaze.

"Dude, right, the last guy!" Chet nodded. "That is a sweet name. 'Wilde-Hopps'... can you do all those slick squirrel moves and bounce around off trees and stuff?" Chet held his fists up and shuffled his shoulders around. Larry felt a pang of worry; he felt as though he was being made fun of. This feeling only worsened when he looked past him and saw the three girls from earlier together and gossiping.

"Um, I, think my class is quite a ways from here; I should get going," Larry excused himself, walking past him.

"Smash into ya later, Larry!" Chet called after him.

-Middle-Small Middle School, Lunch Period, Monday, 12:00 PM-

The gray squirrel sat at a table by himself. Larry sighed as he unpacked his homemade lunch, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some milk, and some fruit snacks. He flinched a bit as he saw those same three girls again, walking by his table.

"We saw you talkin' to Chet," Kerry gave him a judgemental glance. "He's super cool; you should be glad he was even talkin' to you." She was a bit shorter than the other two, but Larry got the sense she was the ringleader.

"Yeah, the Chilla is awesome," Heather nodded, smirking.

Larry looked to Kara for his next admonition, but she just gave a small smile and wave.

"Let's go, ladies," Kerry spun on her heel and the three girls moved off. Larry gave off a sigh of relief. He tried to spot Chet in the lunchroom, and he seemed to be talking to some slightly bigger rodents.

For his part, Larry was just glad to be left alone.

-The Wilde-Hopps' Aardvark Rise Apartment, Monday, 6:30 PM-

Larry ate dinner with his parents that night. Nick had made some tasty salad wraps, full of fresh tomatoes and carrots, nuts, and with plenty of types of dipping sauces, like ranch, chili, and vinaigrette.

"So, Larry," Judy smiled at him. "How was your day?"

"Find all of your classes okay, buddy?" Nick added.

"Yup, no problems!" Larry grinned, nodding his head, eating a bite.

"Meet any friends?" Judy asked hopefully. She knew he had quite a bit of difficulty making friends in elementary school.

"Not exactly?" Larry tilted his head. Nick looked curious.

"Go on...?" The fox encouraged.

"There was this chinchilla I bumped into in the hall, I think he was making fun of me, my last name," Larry's mouth shut and he twisted it.

"Oh, I see," Judy seemed a bit upset.

"Then these three girls, a weasel, a stoat, and a ferret, talked to me at lunch and told me how cool he was," Larry shrugged.

"Ugh, a clique," Nick shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Here's something you're going to need to remember, Larry. A person is smart. people are stupid."

Judy made a scoff. "Nicholas! That's not very nice."

"S'the truth, though," Nick took a big bite and swallowed it. "I know this wildebeest who's a physics professor at college. Super smart. But when he's with all his buddies, I couldn't pick him out. Dumbs himself down for his pals. All I'm saying is, it's group psychology. People will do the wrong thing to be accepted by the crowd. That's how things like hate rallies work-"

"Woah okay, let's not fly off the rails here," Judy held her hands up in caution. "I guess your father is just trying to say be careful of that clique?"

"Sure, mom, I will, thanks dad," Larry nodded, dipping his next small wrap into the ranch sauce.

-Middle-Small Middle School, Ms. Tideaway's Language Arts Class, Wednesday, 11:07 AM-

"All right, students, settle down," a somewhat nice-seeming sea otter named Ms. Tideaway said, smiling. Her face stood out because of the lighter fur around it compared to the rest of her body. "Since it is quite early in the year, we will be doing a small group exercise so you might get to know one of your classmates a bit better. I will be handing each pair a sheet of words I do not expect you to know. One will call out the word, the other will read them the definition and then their partner will write it down. Then, you will switch."

Larry nodded at the instruction. He looked around in this class, seeing a bunch of animals that looked fairly friendly that he wouldn't mind pairing up with. But Chet and Kerry were also there.

"Larry and Chet, you two will be partners," Larry finally heard the teacher say. The squirrel sighed through his teeth and his eyes moved to Chet. Chet gave a flinch of amusement, looked at Larry, and clicked his teeth twice, making finger-guns at him.

As they got together, Chet pushed the dictionary over to Larry. "Okay squirrel dude, you look up the first one." Larry didn't resist, but feared he'd end up looking up all of them. Chet looked over the paper. "Oh, what? This one is easy." He wrote down on the paper. "This one, too." More writing. "Jeez, do they think we're in kindergarten!?"

Larry blinked. They finished their assignment in no time. Larry barely had to help; he looked up three words out of the fifteen, and he had to ask for the definition of all of the ones where he had the paper. Chet's handwriting was even better than his, and he thought his was pretty careful. There was still a lot of time allotted for the assignment.

"Man, those were baby words, right?" Chet laughed. Larry gave a nervous chuckle. "I need hard ones. Like, you know what my favorite word is?" Larry shook his head. "Portmanteau!"

"What the heck does that mean?" Larry wondered.

"It's a cool word for a cool thing!" Chet nodded. "That's when you take one word and smash it into another one!" He nodded over at Kerry. "Y'see her? Know what I'd call it if I knew she liked to be hugged?" Chet shook his head. "A squeasel! Squeeze plus weasel!" Larry was a bit amused, but also confused.

"So you like words?" Larry asked without thinking.

"For sure, dude!" Chet said cheerfully, then lowered his voice. "Uh, don't tell anyone I said that. Or this: I like reading. Like, sci-fi and fantasy and stuff."

"Really?" Larry was getting more and more surprised.

"Yeah!" Chet chuckled. "I mean, cartoons are whatever and stuff, but with books you get to imagine all the scenarios yourself! What are you into?"

"I kinda like video games? Kicking a ball around?" Larry shrugged.

"That's cool bro, that's cool!" Chet grinned. Larry smiled softly as well.

-Middle-Small Middle School, Lunch Period, Wednesday, 12:00 PM-

Chet approached Larry at lunch that day with a tray of cafeteria food.

"Hey, this seat taken?" Chet grinned. Larry shook his head, and Chet sat next to him. He looked over at Larry. "Your mom make your lunch for you?" Larry's eyes looked away. He wondered if he wasn't just having an elaborate ruse pulled on him to be bullied. His eyes caught sight of the three mustelids looking at the two and he felt nervous. He scooted away slightly.

"Uh, yeah..." Larry said in a dry voice, eating a bite of his sandwich.

"Nice!" Chet said and Larry's eyes widened. "I wish my mom made me lunch. This cafeteria food is gross, haha! Tastes like it's a week old, and we haven't even been in school that long!"

Larry's eyes shifted around. Chet was quite a strange chinchilla, to him.

"Yo, doesn't it kinda suck that we don't have recess anymore?" Chet laughed.

"Yeah," Larry admitted. "It was nice to run around."

"Right!?" Chet nodded enthusiastically. "Rodents like us need that stuff!"

Larry gave a skeptical look to Chet. "You like running around and stuff?"

"Oh c'mon, is it cause I'm a chinchilla?" Chet laughed. "All of us chinchillas are this fluffy. But we've got moves. Chillas are like ninjas! In fact, I was thinking of organizing a meet up after school today where some of us get together and do some tricks and moves and all!"

"Really?" Larry narrowed his eyes. "Who's gonna be there?"

"Well me, and a couple of other rodent guys, and," he nodded over to the three mustelids. "The girls. I know them from elementary. You know..." He clicked his teeth and wiggled his eyebrows. "The musteladies."

Larry felt a laugh burst out at that. "Uh, that kinda sounds fun?"

"Dude, come with us then!" Chet gently pushed Larry on the shoulder.

A corner of Larry's mouth went up. His parents would be working until about dinner time. He was supposed to go to his next-door neighbor Jiji's place instead for a few hours. He felt like he could get away with it, if Jiji didn't know exactly what time school got out.

"Sure! Uh, maybe just for an hour or something," Larry nodded.

"Yeah, that's perfect! We're gonna meet up in Mezzo Park, near the eastern area with a lot of trees."

"I'll be there," Larry nodded.

"Nice!" Chet offered Larry a fist bump, which he accepted.

-Eastern Mezzo Park, Wednesday, 4:18 PM-

"All right, I'm goin' first! Ladies first!" Kerry said to all the kids gathered there at the park, flicking her twists to shoo everyone away from her. "Check out my Weasel Walk!" She flipped over, walking on her hands, her slinky body curving in front of her in a crescent. She kept going as far as she could, then let her lower body touch the floor and flipped upright, holding her arms out.

"Nice!" Chet nodded, giving a fist pump. Larry clapped.

Kara stepped forward, putting her glasses away. "Well, I'm not too good at this yet, but I've been practicing 'the dance of my people'." She held her paws over her head and energetically bounded this way and that, slinking her body back and forth as she bounced. Larry was captivated. It looked somewhere between silly and pretty. She gave a sheepish smile as she stopped.

"Ooh, that's the ferret 'War Dance', isn't it?" Chet folded his arms, nodding. Larry clapped again, slower this time because he was in a bit of a daze.

"Okay, back off you two," Heather pushed Kerry and Kara aside and got herself some room. "Time to show you some real mustelid moves. This is the Ermine Cartwheel!" Heather started flipping backwards repeatedly, her paws pushing off the ground until she looked like a white loop, chasing her own black-tipped frayed tail. Larry's jaw dropped. She finally leaped up and landed on her feet, folding her arms smugly.

"Woah, you got the moves, Heather!" Chet pointed at her with both forefingers.

"Totes McStoats!" Heather responded confidently, pushing her chin up once and folding her arms.

"Awright, its MY turn!" Chet exulted. "Time for the Chilla Thrilla!" Chet ran forward, towards a tree. He ran up the tree with just his feet until he started to slow, then bounced off the tree with a double back flip, landing smoothly.

The girls started cheering wildly. "Yeah, the Chilla!" "Go, Chet! Go, Chet!" "Woo!"

"Woah, that was really cool!" Larry said, and offered a high five to Chet. Chet took it and shook his hand while the two's paws were together.

"You wanna go, squirrel bro?" Chet said, panting a bit.

"Uh..." Larry hesitated.

"Dude, it's okay if you don't," Chet shook his head. Larry looked skeptical. "No bro, I'm not trying to psyche you out or anything, it's cool!"

"Maybe I'll do something easy?" Larry wondered.

"Go for it! Whatever you feel inside that squirrel soul!" Chet seemed quite psyched. Larry scampered up to a different tree, clambering up the whole length, then smoothly arcing around and using his specialized feet to scurry back down with his head facing the ground. He halted a few feet from the ground and launched off, landing on his feet.

"Whoa, cool!" Kara said, clapping. "You're like spider-squirrel!" Kerry gave a tiny smirk.

"Eh," Heather shook her head and shrugged. "Got anything else?"

"Dude, Heather, lay off," Chet finally looked displeased. "It's his first go. That was sweet stuff, Larry, real smooth."

Larry's mouth twisted. "Uh, I got one more trick I know. Can I try again?"

"Sure!" Chet said, and no one disagreed. Larry balled his fists and psyched himself up, taking a deep breath. He ran about halfway up the tree again, then started scurrying around its circumference, faster and faster. Then, he launched off, spiraling through the air in a swirling disc of gray fur and tail, and landed on all fours in the midst of his onlookers, who backed off. He tried striking what he hoped was a cool pose, trying not to wince.

There was a moment of silence that stabbed at Larry. The eyes of the onlookers were wide. Then, almost at once, they all started cheering for him. Larry felt his heart leap up in excitement.

"That. Was. SICK!" Chet enunciated in excitement, scrunching his knees and balling his fists. "Dude! Lares! Wish I had a phone so I could've recorded that! What do you call it?"

"Uh, it doesn't have a name," Larry said, dusting himself off. He looked sheepishly at the girls, who looked enthralled. Even Heather seemed impressed, nodding. Larry felt really good at that moment.

"We gotta give it one!" Chet insisted, thinking. "Uh, how about the SQ-Whirl!?"

"Oh, that's pretty cool!" Larry nodded, smiling.

"You're pretty cool, squirrel bro!" Chet pushed Larry in a friendly way.

Larry giggled as his body rocked from the shove. "Thanks, Chet!"

-Aarvark Rise, the Wilde-Hopps and Jiji's Floor, Wednesday 6:12 PM-

"Thank you so much for looking after Larry this afternoon, Jiji," Judy said gratefully to her leopard gecko neighbor. Larry was in quite high spirits as he greeted his parents.

"It is no trouble at all, yes?" Jiji grinned, giving a little bow. "I will soon be leaving for the evening shift."

"Hey mom! Dad!" He launched up to hug Nick, then sprang onto Judy's back.

"Woah! Hey there, sport," Nick chuckled. Nick saw Jiji's eyes change shape slightly and gave her his attention, pausing before fulling turning away. Judy headed off to their apartment with Larry on her back.

"We didn't feel like cooking tonight so we brought home some fast food," Judy told Larry.

"That's fine!" Larry said.

"Can I speak with you briefly?" Jiji asked quietly in reptilian. Nick nodded and closed the door behind him and Jiji.

"I... you know I do not wish to cause any trouble at all, yes?" Jiji started timidly. "But Larry came to my place an hour later than Judy had said. I... did not ask him where he had gone."

Nick nodded with a small smile. "Thanks for telling me, Jiji. And thanks again for looking out for the little guy."

"Any time I am able, yes?" Jiji nodded with her bright smile.

The Wilde-Hopps' sat down to dinner with their sandwiches from "Cheesy and Nuts", a vegetarian fast food joint whose mascot was a deranged-looking cartoon mouse. The burgers had a layer of sliced almonds on the bottom of the bun and lettuce, tomato, and two types of cheeses.

"So," Nick said casually between bites, "where'd you go after school?"

"Uh..." Larry trailed off. Judy blinked.

"Where'd you go? Where did you go...?" She asked.

"I went to the park!" Larry smiled as he told the truth. His voice was still a bit high though.

"Okay," Nick nodded. "Why?"

"Uh... to burn off a little steam!" Larry smiled nervously. "You know us squirrels, we have a ton of energy and stuff!"

"By yourself, though?" Judy seemed worried.

"No I was with uh, a lot of kids from school," Larry finally admitted. "We were doing a... uh, trick meet, or something."

"A trick meet?" Judy repeated. "I don't know if I like that sound of that."

Nick seemed less concerned. "Oh come on, Judy, you were doing side-flips when you were nine. I was hustling at his age."

"Not that you should be proud of that," Judy had a tired smirk, then sternly looked at Larry. "You are not to do anything dangerous, do you hear me?"

"I'm not, mom!" Larry insisted. "I only did the tricks I already know, like the SQ-Whirl." Both of his parents looked confused, then Nick brightened in understanding, holding a finger up.

"Oh, is that the one where you... whoooosh..." Nick spun a finger around in circles. "Then nyeoooww..." He moved the whirling finger in an arc. "Then pppfft." He made a "boo" gesture to simulate the landing.

"Wow, I sure have one articulate fox," Judy rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Yeah, that's it," Larry nodded, then added with a bit of anxiousness, "all the kids thought it was so cool! I felt super excited when I showed it off!"

"Just be careful, Larry," Judy said seriously. "What's cool one day is lame the next. They might try to get you to do something dangerous, as a dare."

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "I'm okay with you going, but don't let them pressure you."

"I won't!" Larry said. "I'll scale it back; I won't do anything more dangerous than the SQ-Whirl! Please can I go again?"

"...Okay," Judy agreed. "Nick, if he hurts himself, I'm going to beat you up."

"What? Me!?" Nick laughed. "You just gave him permission! Okay Larry, don't get hurt, for both of our sake, okay?"

"I won't!" Larry promised.

-Eastern Mezzo Park, Friday, 4:26 PM-

"Your turn next, Lares!" Chet said to him. Larry nodded, smiling, heading between two close-together trees.

"I'm gonna call this one the Squall Jump!" Larry shouted. Chet realized this was a word mash up and looked impressed. Larry jumped up onto a tree and quickly bounded between one and the other all the way up to the top, then started sliding down, adding a couple more hops between trees as he was going down. Larry was panting from the exertion as he landed.

Chet shook his head, marveling and clapping. "Really cool, Lares! I love it!"

"Hmph," Heather folded her arms, but she was smirking. "I bet I could do that."

"Speaking of Larry's tricks..." Chet started, "I wanna try the SQ-Whirl! Whatcha think, Larry?"

"Sure!" Larry offered. "Go for it! I don't have a patent on it or anything." Chet laughed.

"All right, squirrel bro, stand back!" Chet headed up a tree and started to spin around its circumference. His tail was long, but not as wide as Larry's, and his wider structure made it not as easy for him to keep up speed. Before he launched, he lost balance. "Woah...!" He tumbled to the ground, landing hard on his right foot.

"Ugh!" Chet grunted in pain. All of the onlookers gasped.

"Chet! Chet are you okay!" Larry worriedly rushed over to him.

"Yeah buddy, no problem!" Chet gave an exhale of amusement, getting to his feet carefully. "Just gonna walk it- AUGH!" He winced as he tried to put pressure on his right foot.

"No!" Larry held his hands out. "S-sit down, don't move!"

Kerry started walking backwards. "Uhh, isn't it about time for the meet to be over? I can't be late getting home, my dad would freak if he knew I was here." She headed off.

Kara winced apologetically, but started backing off as well. "Yeah, mine too, I'm not really supposed to be here..." She headed off in shame.

The other rodents scattered. Heather was the last one left. Larry gave her a stern look. Heather winced, but fled as well.

"What's wrong with you!?" Larry's voice was louder and more indignant than he had ever heard it. "You're just going to leave him!?"

"Yo, chill Lares, its okay," Chet chuckled. "Just a little foot sprain probably. I just need to hobble over to the subway and I'll be fine."

"No, stay there!" Larry said firmly. He picked out his phone and called his father.

"Yo, wish I had a phone!" Chet laughed again, but cringed in pain as Larry turned his head away to focus.

"Hey Larry, what's up?" Nick's voice came over the phone.

"Dad, I need you to call an ambulance to eastern Mezzo park!" Larry said hurriedly.

Nick's eyes flew open and darted to Judy. He knew he had to measure his response or she'd probably crash the cruiser. "Um, are you okay?" Judy's eyes widened anyway.

"Yes! But my friend, he hurt his foot real bad!" Larry went on, biting his lip.

"Okay, you just hang tight there, all right? Keep him company," Nick nodded.

"Okay!" Larry nodded and hung up.

"Lares, it's okay, really..." Chet smirked.

"Quiet, Chet!" Larry was upset. "You got hurt cause of me, so I'm gonna help fix it! Don't move; what if your foots broken!?"

"Dude it's okay Lares, don't worry... it's not your fault..." Chet chuckled weakly.

"It is, so just sit there and shut up, okay!?" Larry was trying not to cry.

"All right, Lares..." Chet was still smiling at him.

-Zootopia Mercy General Hospital, Pediatric Ward, Saturday, 12:30 PM-

"Are you sure you want to go see Chet, Larry?" Judy winced at the hospital's entrance. "I know you and hospitals don't exactly... you know..."

"I gotta go see him," Larry shook his head. "He tried to do the SQ-Whirl and got hurt."

"That's his own fault then, Larry," Nick said gently.

"No! I encouraged him!" Larry's teeth clenched. "I'm going!" He rushed into the hospital, followed by his parents, who were in uniform that day for a function they had gone to in the morning.

Nick's arms were held behind him as they entered the hospital room. He gave a tiny gasp. His voice was a small whisper. "He's a c-chinchilla!? S-so fluffy..."

"Don't. Start," Judy hissed at him dangerously.

"Woah, Lares, what's goin' on?" Chet laughed at him. His foot was indeed broken; it had been set. "Never had a classmate visit me at the hospital before."

"You've been in here before?" Larry said cautiously.

"Oh yeah!" Chet chuckled. "All the time!" He rotated his arm. "Broke my arm once, but I still got full range of motion. This foot fracture is nothing. Chinchillas break their bones all over the place; we heal right up!" He paused. "Uh, what are you doing with the cops, Lares? You didn't get arrested, did you?"

"Oh!" Larry laughed. "No, these are my parents."

"Really?" Chet seemed surprised. "A fox and a rabbit? Hey, that's cool, bro! Never seen such a diverse family before!"

"Uh, I got you something, Chet," Larry said, nodding to Nick. Nick offered him a small brown package which he took, then carefully jumped on the left side of Chet's bed to offer it.

"Whaaaat? A present?" Chet brightened up. He eagerly tore it open. It was a book with a nice hard cover. "Yo! Galactic Invader T! This is about this huge crazy space creature that can adapt to anything, and we puny Earthlings have gotta stop 'im!"

"Oh, you uh, haven't already read it, have you?" Larry seemed disappointed.

"No dude, but it's got good reviews, I was saving up my allowance for a new book and this was on my hit list," Chet nodded. "Thanks, Lares!"

"You're welcome," Larry smiled in shame. "I feel kind of responsible for this, egging you on to do my trick..."

"Pff, not even, bro," Chet shook his head. "I shoulda known that trick was too high-class for the Chilla. But I can do wall jumps like no one's business. When I get outta here, I'm gonna do the Squall Jump, you'll see!"

"Hopefully your foot heals up well enough that you can..." Larry bit his lip.

"Yeah! Like I said, no problem there," Chet was absolutely confident. "Thanks for giving me something to read while it does!"

Larry seemed happy, and so did his parents at seeing the unusual but cheerful chinchilla. They were glad Larry seemed to have made a friend. A white chinchilla female entered the room and Chet's mood took a small dip.

"H-hey mom!" Chet grinned weakly, and hid his book beneath his pillow suddenly. Larry looked excitedly towards the white chinchilla. Her mood was even.

"The police?" She inquired. "I'm Rinn Chilla, Chet's mother. Is anything the matter?"

"Oh no, we're just Larry's parents, Chet's friend," Judy smiled and nodded.

"I see," Rinn said, "then would you please excuse my son and I?"

"Oh, of course, ma'am," Nick said. "C'mon, Larry."

"See ya, Chet!" Larry waved.

"Yeah, see you at school soon!" Chet nodded. As they left, they closed the door. But almost immediately, Judy's ears twitched as she and only she heard yelling coming from the other side.

"So you've managed to break another bone, huh, Chet!? You know I can barely afford these insurance co-pays! You were doing those idiotic tricks again, weren't you? What am I going to have to do to you to get you to stop this foolishness!? Look at me when I'm talking to you! If you really need to burn off all that energy, maybe we should get you a treadmill, huh? Lose some of that fluff! You just wanted to skip school again, didn't you, slacker? Stop crying, you big baby! You're twelve!"

Judy bit her lip as the three moved away. Larry noticed his mother's face.

"Mom, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Oh, it's uh..." Judy hesitated.

"Mom? Mom!?" Larry was insistent, hugging onto her leg to slow her down. Judy stopped and sighed.

"Gee, I wonder where Larry learned pressing to get information from?" Nick chuckled. "Just tell him the truth."

"Uh, Chet's mom was um, yelling at him."

"What!?" Larry was shocked. "Th-that's not fair! It was my fault! I need to stop her!" Nick's eyes widened and he put his hands around Larry before he took off. "What!? Let me go!" Larry thrashed a bit.

"Easy, Larry," Nick frowned. "Her... her parenting style is none of our business."

"It's not fair!" Larry seemed like he might cry.

"I know, little squirrel," Nick smiled sadly. "She might just be yelling because she's worried. I think I know someone who might do the same thing if HER little squirrel got hurt."

Judy laughed nervously. "Um, if it's any consolation, she's not yelling anymore?"

Larry's mouth twisted. He stopped struggling. He didn't know what to say anymore.

Nick just cuddled him in his arms and started walking away with Judy. "C'mon big guy, let's get you home."

-Middle-Small Middle School, Mr. Weatherbeaver's Homeroom Class, Monday, 7:55 AM-

The following Monday, Larry gasped slightly as he saw Chet return to class in a cast and crutches. He walked toward Chet.

"Chet!" Larry said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm great, Lares!" Chet smiled. He made his way over to his desk and sighed. Larry took his crutches and gently set them down, and Chet removed his backpack. "It's a lot of work, but its GREAT for upper body strength! I'm gonna be break dancing like crazy once I heal up!"

"I still feel responsible for this," Larry said apologetically.

"No dude, you're cool! I'm okay," Chet chuckled, his voice lowering a little. "The SQ-Whirl is off limits for me. Sometimes it takes a good pounding to get something into the Chilla's head."

"I um, I kinda meant what happened with your mot-" Larry started.

"Yo!" Chet loudly interrupted, going into his backpack. Larry was pretty sure he saw the book he gave Chet in there. He withdrew a bunch of markers. "What's your favorite color, Lares?"

"Uh, blue, I guess," Larry pointed.

"Dude, sign my cast!" Chet grinned.

"Um, okay," Larry agreed, picking out the blue marker. The cast was blank; Larry was going to be the first to sign it. He tried to sign small, as he knew the "musteladies" would probably be signing it as well. Larry thought he heard Chet's breath catching as he wrote. "I'm hurting you!"

"No dude, not at all!" Chet insisted, his voice sounding somewhat wrong. Larry was very unconvinced, staring up at Chet. "Dude, I swear you're not hurting me." Chet took out his sunglasses and put them on. Larry finished and offered the marker back. "Yo, it's so bright in the morning, a-am I right?"

"Yeah, it is," Larry said evenly. "...I don't suppose you'd still wanna have lunch with me?"

"Y-yeah, man!" Chet gave a wobbly smile. "Just don't sit too far away from the door, all aright? I'm probably gonna be ready to drop at the end of the day!"

"Of course, I'll sit right next to the door!" Larry offered his fist, and Chet softly bumped it.

"Thanks, see you there, brody," Chet said weakly.

"Brody?" Larry's eyebrow cocked.

"You know, you're like my bro and buddy. Brody," Chet gave a shaky sigh. Larry nodded and grinned.

"See you at lunch, Chet," Larry waved, getting to his seat.

Mr. Weatherbeaver sighed as he sat down to start class. "Mister Chilla, we have discussed this. Please remove your sunglasses."

Larry shot him a concerned look as he did, but Chet had managed to calm down. Larry sighed in relief and was smiling at him.

Chet turned and smiled back, aiming a finger gun at him and clicking his teeth once.