You were eating some cereal when the doorbell rang. You swallow a spoonful more and head over.

Once you open the door, before you is a face you've hadn't seen since freshman year. Wakko gives you a hearty grin.

"Hey," He says, beaming you a big old smile. He's wearing his old turtleneck sweater again, the blue one. You recall when he was younger how he often went around it without pants. Now that he's grown in age he now wears pants. "I'm back from summer camp! Miss me?"

"Always." You and him hug.

"I wanted to stop by and say another thing." Wakko says once you've both stopped hugging. "Good luck."

You raise an eyebrow. "For what?"

He chuckles. "Well, I never got to say it for your first year at high school, so second year is the charm, right?"

You laugh. He does so too. "Wakko, that makes absolutely no sense."

You grab him into a headlock and start ruffling the heck out of his hair. "Come here you big old goofball."

"Hey, hey! Watch the hat!" Wakko shrieks as his hat goes flying into your hedges. You laugh as he squirms free and goes running after his hat.

"Wakko that thing is old as fuck."

"And kept in mint condition." He says with a grin, placing the hat on his head.

"How was camp?" You asked. He picks up his school bag from the side of the hedges.

"Great! I had a lot of fun!" He looks up at you. "Are you ready to walk?"

"You wanna walk me to the bus?"

"Yeah. Why not? It's been a while." Wakko smiles, the tip of his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth. It was so hard to say no to those smiles.

You nod. "Sure. Why not? Lemme get my things."

You head back in, leaving Wakko at the doorsteps. You grab your bag off the chair in the kitchen and put your half eaten cereal bowl in the sink. You head back out.

You and Wakko are walking from your house and towards the bus stop.

"How come you're not walking with Dot?" You ask.

Wakko shakes some hair from his face. "She's waiting at the bus stop. And I wanted to grab you before we left. I thought you'd want some company."

"I've walked alone before." You say, but smile. You were happy he thought of you. But a thought pierces through you and you frown. "What about your brother? Is he waiting too?"

Wakko bites his lip. He hesitates, adjusting his bag. "No, he got his license. He went to pick up Delphine and drive her to school."

You felt a turning in your stomach. You fiddle with the strap of the book bag. "So he drives now?"

"Yep." Wakko says, meeting your gaze. He gives you this concerned look. "Was it bad I mentioned her?"

"What? No."

Wakko stares at you, unconvinced. "It was, wasn't it? I won't bring her up again. Promise."

You hesitate and say. "Cross your heart?"

Wakko grins, crossing his heart. "And hope to die."

You laugh. It felt good to laugh, you thought. Wakko was being so considerate of your feelings, especially around the Delphine subject. He knew as much as you did you hated the mention of her name. What's even harder to stomach was the mere idea of Yakko with her. She was a witch. She's always been one. What does Yakko even see in that girl?

"Oh, look! Dot's there!" Wakko exclaims, running up to his sister who's waiting by the bus stop sign.

"Took you long enough." Dot says with a grin. You notice she was wearing a cute flowered blouse and pink skirt. "I was beginning to think you'd both ditch me. I don't wanna ride alone."

"As if we'd force the student population to endure that." Wakko smiles.

You laugh as he dodges a swat from his sister.

"Moron!" Dot scowls.

The three of you engage in small talk as you all wait for the bus. Wakko wouldn't stop talking about camp. You could tell he was trying to distract you as you looked around the street aimlessly. To be truthful, you were thinking about how empty the bus stop felt without Yakko around. Sure. Wakko and Dot made great company., but it sure would have been nice as hell to see the bastard's face one more time. Yet, you were grateful he wasn't here too. You both would have been arguing non stop.

Wakko was still talking when the bus finally rolled around the corner and drove over to the bus stop. All three of you step on and take your usual seats. As per the norm, you take the window seat and they take the seat behind you. And per the new norm, the seat next to you remained a place for your backpack. Yay.

Dot calls your name. She's leaning over the back of your seat, Wakko following her lead. "You know, you gotta come over some time, I have some fabulous dresses I bought over the summer that you'd look totally gorgeous in."

"Dot I'm not even your size."

"That doesn't matter!" She waves a dismissive hand. "We could always go shopping for your size, I want to see how they look!"

Wakko crinkles his nose. "Ew, shopping."

"The food courts." Dot sings, poking her brother.

"I'm in!"

"Great! Yakko can chauffeur for us." Dot says with a smile.

Wakko immediately begins waving his hands around, as if trying to warn her not to continue that sentence, but it had already left her mouth. Your smile slips clean off your face. So does Dot's.

"I mean-we could always walk!"

Wakko lowers his hands. "But the mall is all the way in the city!"

Dot grimaces. "I don't have money for a bus ride…I used my allowance on the dresses."

Wakko raises a brow. "Then who's buying the new dresses?"

"You!"

"Me!" He says, outraged.

They bicker back and forth before you interrupt.

"Guys, it's fine." You lie straight through your teeth. "Yakko can drive us."

They shut up and stare right at you.

"Are you sure?" Wakko asks, worried. "You guys will be fine with that?"

"You don't need to, we can honestly-" You cut Dot off.

"It's completely fine." You ignore the forming pit in your stomach. It was not fine, you tell yourself. In fact, it was completely absurd!

With all your heart, you longed to spend some time with the siblings, but have to share space with Yakko as well? Screw what you said earlier. You would never make it. You would become flustered, a heaping mess of utter disaster. Even worse, he still hates you. Your last conversation would have made sure of that.

"It's fine." You reassure again for good measure.

Dot and Wakko share a glance, like a secret message only they knew was being said between them. They look back at you.

"Well, we can always make him carry all the clothes." Dot says with a bright smile.

"And let him pay!" Wakko adds in, smiling.

You honestly let yourself laugh at that. "When do we go?"

"This weekend." Dot exclaims, her eyes brighten up. "Like old times?"

The two give you the biggest begging eyes ever. You gave them a weak smile. The thought of weekend shopping tugged at your heartstrings. It reminds you of the old times when you went over to Warners' place and hung out. Weekends weren't only sleepover days with Yakko. They were days of fun with him and all his siblings. Going shopping, going to the park, and going out to restaurants. The works!

The four of you always committed to doing something fun that everyone could enjoy over the weekend. So Wakko and Dot would share you too when Yakko wasn't busy taking you out for alone time. You adored your alone time with Yakko, it let you two talk to your heart's desire, and you fully indulged in it. At the time you were noticing how wonderful you felt when it was just you and him. And as more weekends went by, it was all the more noticeable. You were falling, falling hard for that scruffy toon.

So being reminded of all the two straw shakes at malt shops and shared cookies at the bakeries made your heart ache. Gosh, how badly you wanted that feeling again.

"Sure." You finally said, ignoring your heavy heart and your turning stomach. "That sounds nice."

"Yes!" Dot squeals. She grabs your hands, squeezing them. "We're gonna have so much fun! You're going to love the dresses, we'll have a fashion show before we go and then it's shopping!"

Wakko rolls his eyes as you both squeal. "Boy, so much fun. Don't even try to leave me out of it."

"But Wakko, the food courts!" You point out.

"Believe me, I'm never forgetting that the whole time we're shopping." He squeals at the word shopping, mocking you and Dot, even shaking his hands around like a schoolgirl.

You promptly boop his nose. "Oh, har har."

Wakko's eyes crossed when you did that. He promptly smiles at you.

"We're gonna have so much fun." Dot said, squeezing your hands one last time before she let them go. "And promise me, no bickering with Yakko."

You hold up your hand and cross an x over your heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Great!" Dot says and sits back down in her seat. Wakko gives you one last grin.

"Again, good luck!" He says as the bus moves onto the next street and you could see the school in view.

The bus parks just before the school and all the students start piling off the bus.

"I'll see you guys later!" You yell back to the siblings as you made your way to the high school portion of the school. So many years later and you could still not leave this place.

Once you reached inside, students were everywhere in the main lobby. You could only assume the teachers were behind on first day school preparations. Preparing yourself for the long haul, you find a spot vacant and sit down. You pull your book bag onto your lap and open it up. You were wondering what to do in the meantime. Maybe pull out that book you were in the middle of. But in the process of getting it out of your book bag, you bump elbows to the person next to you.

"Oh sorry-"

"Excuse me-"

You look up and come face to face with a pair of black eyes. You freeze in your tracks, like a deer caught in the headlights.

There he was. Yakko Alvin Warner. His coal eyes stare into yours. You can't cut off the stare. But neither does he. His mouth parts, an attempt to speak but no words leave him. Recognition drops into his face, leaving you flustered.

It's been one whole year. One year since you two have looked each other in the eye. You were so caught up in the mess that was your mind, you hardly noticed his eyes drop to look you over before meeting your eyes once more.

"I-I'm sorry." You found yourself saying. He looked as surprised as you did. You pull up your school bag, get up, and sling it over your shoulder. You don't even bother to close it. "I'll just sit somewhere else."

You leave before he could have much of a chance to speak. You were sure your cheeks were dusted in a red blush.

You walk onward, no real location in mind. Just get out of here, you think to yourself. Away from him. Far away.

You bite your lip.

But you can't help yourself can you. You just have to look back. And you do, just a little glimpse, just enough to peek.

He's watching you walk off.

The redness in your cheeks flourishes. You're so caught up in him staring, you don't realize you've walked right into a couple of students.

A grunt passes your lips as you knock heads with one of the students, dropping your unzipped bag. Your things scatter and you mutter apologies to the students who complain and walk off. You flush. What a clutz you've turned into. You bend down and begin to pick up your things.

From behind you you hear a rush of footsteps before a pair of white furry feet are in the corner of your vision.

"Here, lemme help." Yakko bends down to help, grabbing a history book.

Your breath hitches but you shake your head. "No, no. I got it-"

"Please." Yakko insists, scooping up notebooks and pencils. "I want to help."

You bite the inside of your cheek but say no more on the matter. As you begin to stuff your bag up, you refuse to meet his gaze. But then he says your name.

"So," He begins, looking nervous. He balances the things in his hands. "Been a while hasn't it?"

You're silent. You take the things from him and stuff them into the school bag. Memories of middle school come crawling back. It makes your stomach turn.

You stand up. So does he. "Um… you good?"

"I'm fine." You say sharply. He starts, and you didn't wanna care, but then the thought of Dot's promise returns to you. You inhale. "Really, I'm fine."

You turn to him. He stares for a moment before his cheeks puff out in an attempt to not laugh. You grow red. "What?"

He covers his mouth and coughs, a weak attempt to cover his laugh and looks you dead in the eye. "You got a bruise the size of Texas on your forehead…"

Your eyes widen and then you're scrambling to take out your compact mirror.

"Omg!" You squealed, embarrassed. This results in another fake cough from Yakko, more hidden laughter. You scowl.

Yakko starts, ready to say more, but a pair of arms wrap around his neck.

"Oh Yakky-poo!" A beautiful blonde squeals, hugging him while kicking a leg up. Delphine gives him a smooch on the cheek. "I said to wait for me!"

Your scowl vanishes as a bitter feeling hits your gut instead. Yakko, looking startled, turns to his girlfriend. His cheeks dust red. Probably from the nickname.

"I was." Yakko says, removing her arms from his neck, he acted as if she was choking him. Honestly, she could have been with how suffocating that hug looked. "But she dropped her books and I-"

Delphine finally had the nerve to look you in the eye. You were more distracted by her outfit. She wore a shirt that showed off her stomach and bell bottoms. It was covered in more glitter than should be legally allowed. To top it off her satchel bag had a bunch of rhinestones making the whole thing glimmer in the light. By the time you noticed her looking at you, her smile vanished. It was like she had mistaken you for a mosquito and wanted to strike you down with the palm of her hand. She turns to Yakko before looking you up and down.

"Honey cakes, who is this?" She asks, batting her lashes at Yakko. You fume on the spot. How dare she flirt with him in your presence and then have the audacity to not even remember you. Like she would even care, but it still hurt!

Yakko's nose wrinkles. You recall that habit, a sign he was in distress, yet he smiles through it. "You remember, don't you?" He says your name. "That's her."

Delphine gives you this look. Then realization dawns on her. "Oh yes! I remember." She places a hand on her hip. "That bruise really didn't help."

Yakko sighs, but you barely pay any attention. The witch lends out a hand for you to shake. You hesitate but take it. Her manicured nails practically pierce your flesh. Ow!

"Oh darling, Yakko has told me so much about you! I remember we were such cruel little things to each other in grade school!"

You turn red, but smile onwards. You drop her hand. "Right, right…so cruel."

There's awkward laughter between you both. But what you really wanted to do was deck her straight in those pretty little teeth of hers. Cruel? Cruel? Says the bitch who dunked a whole water bottle on your head right on picture day! The little priss was a horror in grade school. Whatever you did back was just a cold sip of classic revenge…

A smile slips onto your lips, which you hope to God just passes as friendly, but on the inside it was pure resistance to keep from lashing out.

You slip on your book bag.

"Well, this has been fun, but I have a bruise to cover up. Good day."

You turn, walking right away, but you hear Delphine call your name.

"Why don't you join us for lunch?" Delphine says next.

You freeze. You turn right back around.

"Y-you, want me to join you guys for lunch?" You managed to choke out.

You could not believe your ears. Delphine, queen popularity, was asking you to join her table for lunch. You. Of all people.

Delphine nods. "For old times sake."

You were silent, unsure of how to respond. For a glimmer of a second, your eyes land on Yakko. He wasn't looking at you, but then his eyes jumped up to meet yours. You look away.

"You know what…"

No, Absolutely not. You in a million years would never actually say-

"Yeah. That'd be fine." You force on a smile.

Delphine grins. "Great. Meet us outside, by the doors. We're buying out our lunches. Sophomores have that privilege now. So we're taking full advantage of it."

Your ears grow warm. You swear the five bucks in your bag was screaming your name. Buying out lunch? With what money?

But you found yourself nodding. "Of course! Can't wait!"

"Fantastic." Delphine takes Yakko's hand and turns away from you, leading him away.

You stand there, watching Yakko be led away. Your gaze meets the floor and you turn away and start walking. Your thoughts were moving a million miles per second. You couldn't believe you had just done that. You hated her. Yakko hated you for christ sake.

But he had helped you. He hadn't hesitated to help you. You held your breath.

You turn your head back. You could see through the crowd that Yakko was standing with Delphine, facing her, his arms wrapped around her and holding her close to him. Delphine then leans in and pecks him on the lips. The sickening feeling returns to your stomach. You turn away.

Who am I kidding? You thought to yourself. He's with her. There's no changing that.

With ugly pit stuck in your gut, you march forward. You had no real idea of where you were going and just kept moving. Eventually, you landed yourself in the girl's bathroom. A duo of girls were leaving just as you entered. You kept your eyes on the floor, hoping they didn't see the tears brimming in your eyes.

You leaned both hands against the bathroom sink, staring at yourself in the mirror. Instantly, distracting you from the sick feeling in your heart, you saw the large bruise on your forehead. You blink away the tears and almost laugh.

Yakko was right. It was the size of Texas.

You touch it, grimacing at the throbbing pain that had begun to settle in. Unfortunately for you, you had no coverage for this. No make up. No headband. Your hair wasn't even enough to cover the damn thing. You blew out a frustrated sigh.

It's the first day of school and you're already going to make a fool of yourself. That's just lovely.

With no real way of covering up the stupid bruise, you turn to leave. But before you could, another student walked right in, almost crashing into you. You both freeze before anything can happen.

"Ah! I'm sorry. I wasn't looking." You quickly apologize. The other student simply laughs and shakes her head.

"No, I'm sorry." She says. "First day on the job, and I'm already turning into a huge clutz."

"Uh…" At first you weren't sure how to respond, but then you took in the student's wardrobe. She was wearing one of those hall monitor sashes over her clothes, bright orange in color with a golden badge displaying her name. Sandra Welsh.

"I'm Sandra. I'm the hall monitor." Sandra says, putting a hand out. You shake it. "I was just checking the bathroom for students. The teachers are already handing out the schedules and student IDs. I have to make sure everyone gets one."

Sandra takes her hand back and jabs a thumb out the bathroom. "You better hurry if you want to get your schedule and ID. I know how teachers can be about tardiness on the first day."

"Thank you." You say, grateful. "Have a great day."

As you leave you catch Sandra waving goodbye. You then rush off. You didn't want to be late.

Just as you reach the main hall, the place was a disorganized mess as students struggled to follow teacher instructions and perform the perfect line they were commanding. You managed to single out the sophomores and joined in. After a few minutes you had been given your locker number, schedule and student ID.

"Five minutes until the first period!" One of the teacher helpers calls out.

You rushed away from the line with your things and checked out your schedule. You had math first. That was on the upper levels of the school building! You'll barely make it.

Already many other students were rushing through the halls, an haste effort to make it to class on time. You joined them, running up the stairs. The minute you reached the floor your math class was on, you bolted down the halls. You can always find your locker afterwards.

You spotted the door to your class. The teacher was closing it! You ran faster.

"Wait! Hold the door!" You shout.

The teacher stops what they're doing to snap their head up at you. At that moment you stopped before the door.

"I'm here!" You say, panting.

"Oh! How pleasant you've decided to join us." The teacher laughs. She opens the door for you and you slip right inside. "Take your seat and we'll get started."

"Thank you, miss." You say and turn to face the classroom.

As the teacher locked the door behind you, you found a very full classroom. All the students were chatting amongst themselves. You began to scan the classroom for empty seats. Your eyes reach the back of the classroom.

There were two open seats! Success!

You smile and walk towards the end of the classroom, but as you did you hear knocking at the class door.

"I'm here! Can someone open up the door?"

You freeze. You knew that voice.

You slowly turn around and your suspicions are confirmed. A furry white and black face was staring through the door window. His shining black eyes meet your own.

Yakko Warner was at the door.