"Ah, Watterson. Ms. Simian called ahead and said you'd be coming. Please, sit."
Gumball silently sat at Principal Brown's desk, paws/fingers nervously fidgeting underneath.
"So, Ms Simian tells me you were caught cheating on your test. You know how serious an offense this is, correct?"
"Yes sir, I know, but-"
"No buts Watterson, I don't want to hear your excuses. You cheated and were caught red-handed, simple as that."
"But that's not true! I didn't-"
"SILENCE!" Nigel bellowed.
The young feline scowled, angrily fighting the air for a few seconds before regaining his composure with a frustrated sigh. "...Whatever, just tell me how long I have detention for..."
"About that...given that this is the second time you've cheated on a test, it's obvious that not even an entire spring break's worth of detention was enough. Which is why I'm going to have to do something a little more serious than just a detention this time."
"...What? W-W-What do you mean?" Gumball asked nervously, as he had never received anything more serious than detention before.
"...I'm afraid you're being suspended for the rest of the week, starting from tomorrow."
"SU-SUSPENDED!? But...but I've never been suspended before!" The young kitten exclaimed horrified.
"I know, and I'm sorry, but you leave me no other choice. Clearly, regular detentions aren't enough anymore."
The feline teared up, beginning to panic. Oh god, oh god. Getting detention was one thing, but being suspended!? He had never been suspended before! If his Mom wasn't mad enough with him already, now she was going to be absolutely livid! He wasn't going to see the sun again for months!
"But P-Principal Brown, please, I swear, I-I-I didn't-"
Nigel held out his hand, gesturing for Gumball to stop. The kitten reluctantly obeyed.
The principal hesitated, before sighing. He spoke again, this time in a gentle, much more understanding tone. "Look, I'm sorry Gumball, honestly I am. You're a good kid, and I don't want to have do this. Honestly, I don't. But as I said, you really leave me no other option. There's nothing else I can do."
Gumball hesitated before sighing in defeat. "...I understand..."
"I'll be calling your mother to let her know. You will finish off the rest of today, and then spend the rest of the week at home. I'll get Ms Simian to send you home with some work to complete tomorrow, and one of your siblings will be given work to bring home to you tomorrow and every subsequent day. You are to complete every task set, completely on your own, and then hand it to one of your siblings to hand back to Ms Simian the next day. Am I understood?"
The young kitten silently nodded, struggling to hold back tears.
"Good. You are dismissed."
Gumball quietly nodded again, before slowly heading toward the door. He opened it and was about to leave when the Principal stopped him.
"Oh, and one more thing! Don't think this means you're pardoned from any detentions you still have to serve. They will simply be postponed until after the suspension."
The feline sighed in frustration, before walking out and shutting the door.
Gumball stormed down the corridor, fists clenched, body trembling. He was in so much pain. He'd never felt like this before. He didn't even know how he felt, he was just so angry, so upset, so tired.
As he continued walking he had to stop and lean against a wall, feeling a sudden bout of dizziness.
"Ugh, my head...I need some fresh air..."
The feline quickly headed outside to the courtyard, heading straight for the benches at the very back, far away from anyone else. He really didn't want to have to deal with anyone annoying him at the moment.
He sat down on the bench, ignoring the fact it was still wet. He shakily raised his paw to his head, rubbing his temple. If things weren't already bad enough, now he had a headache for some reason. Just what he needed...
Before Gumball could even begin to think about what might have brought on his head his stomach grumbled hungrily, as if to answer his question for him. Oh yeah...he had been in such a rush he hadn't had any breakfast. That would explain it...
The kitten sighed, resting his paws in his face. He was angry, upset, tired, hungry...his will was really being put to the test. And he didn't know how much longer he could last.
(If you can play "Broken-Hearted Girl" by Beyoncé please do so now)
"Gumball?" He suddenly heard a familiar voice call out, as he heard her footsteps approach him. On any other day he would be delighted to see her. Right now, however, he wanted nothing more than for her to go away and leave him alone.
He looked up at Penny, at her smile. And for the first time ever he felt nothing but annoyance upon seeing it.
"...Hi." The young feline replied bluntly, looking away.
Penny frowned, realizing how upset he was, and sat down next to him, holding his paw. "Are you okay? I saw what happened in class, with the picture and Tobias annoying you. it wasn't your fault."
"Oh, I'm just peachy! Couldn't be better! OF COURSE I'M NOT OKAY!" He raised his voice at her unintentionally.
The fairy hesitated, considering her next move. Gumball was angry, angrier than she'd ever seen him. There was no way this was just over what happened in class. Something else must have happened outside of it. If she could work out what that was and get to the cause of his pain, maybe she'd be able to help him.
She gently gave his paw a squeeze"Did...something else happen? O-O-Outside of class I mean?"
"Did something else happen?" The young kitten mocked her question with a scoff, before turning to her annoyed. "Nah, I'm always this angry over Tobias annoying me. YES, OF COURSE SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENED! A LOT OF THINGS!"
Trying to stay patient with him she placed a hand on his leg. "Gumball, please, I'm trying my best here. Just take a deep breath and tell me what happened, okay?." She asked, now genuinely concerned.
He hesitated, before exhaling frustratedly. "Fine, you wanna know what happened? First I missed the bus, then my Mom got mad at me for it and we argued, then she made me walk to school and in the heat of the moment i forgot my bag, then of course it rained so I got wet, and I couldn't dry my clothes properly because the dryer was broken, i ended up embarrassing myself over it, and then everything else in class happened and now I'm suspended for the rest of the week!"
Penny hesitated, unsure what to say. "W-Wow, I...Gumball that's...god you must feel awful..."
Gumball scoffed again, rolling his eyes at her as if she were an idiot. "Noooooo, you don't say!"
"Okay, can you stop scoffing at me and treating me like an idiot? I'm trying to help you here and I don't appreciate your constant ridiculing of me." The fairy frowned, feeling insulted.
"Well, when you keep stating the flipping obvious and asking stupid questions it's hard not to!" He snapped at her, his bad mood getting the better of him
She sighed, resting her hand on his paw. "Look, I get that you're in a bad mood Gumball, really I do, but that doesn't give you the right to take it out on me! Especially when I'm only trying to help!"
"You call asking me the stupidest questions I've ever heard 'helping'? I've had Sussie say more helpful things than you are right now!" The feline raised his voice, beginning to get increasingly irritated by her.
"I'm trying my best Gumball!"
"Well you're best isn't good enough!" He yelled.
She too begun raising her voice, beginning to lose her cool. "Well what do you expect me to do!? Wave my hand and make everything better!? That's not how it works Gumball!"
"No, I expect you to do actually do something worth a damn, not just sit here telling me how bad I must feel!"
The fairy paused and took a deep breath in an attempt to maintain her composure. She placed a paw on his shoulder, giving him a stern but concerned look. "Gumball, please, just calm down! This is completely unlike you!"
"Oh, just stop being angry? Why didn't I think of that? You got any more great words of wisdom all mighty sage?!"
With this Penny had finally had enough. She stood up, glaring at him furiously as her entire body turned red with anger. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? I'M OUT HERE GOING OUT OF MY WAY TO HELP YOU AND ALL I'M GETTING IN RETURN IS YOU RIDDCULING AND BERATING ME! I DON'T CARE HOW ANGRY OR UPSET YOU ARE GUMBALL, YOU DO NOT GET TO TREAT ME LIKE THAT!" The fairy stomped her foot in anger.
"Going out of your way!?" He stood up and shoved her, glaring at her with genuine anger. "YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING EXCEPT ASK STUPID QUESTIONS, STATE INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS FACTS AND GIVE ADVICE EVEN STUPIDER THAN MR SMALL'S! HOW IS ANY OF THAT SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING ME!?"
At this point their argument had gotten so loud everyone in the courtyard had stopped and turned to see what was going on.
"IF YOU DON'T LIKE HOW I'M HANDLING THE SITUATION THEN JUST TELL ME THAT! TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO INSTEAD INSTEAD OF BEING A COMPLETE JERK ABOUT IT!
"I'M THE JERK?! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CAME OVER HERE AND MADE EVERYTHING WORSE! I WAS FINE BEFORE YOU CAME OVER! I DIDN'T WANT YOUR HELP! I DIDN'T NEED IT! I WAS FINE AS I WAS! BUT NO, YOU HAD TO COME AND RUIN EVERYTHING AND MAKE ME FEEL EVEN MORE AWFUL THAN I ALREADY DO!"
Penny was barely managing to hold back her dragon form at this point, but still, she continued. "THAT DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO TREAT ME LIKE THIS! I WAS JUST TRYING TO HELP GUMBALL! I SAW A FRIEND IN NEED AND CAME TO THEIR AID! I'M SORRY IF THAT ISN'T WHAT YOU WANTED BUT THAT'S JUST WHO I AM! I KNOW IT MAY BE A FOREIGN CONCEPT TO YOU, BUT WHEN I SEE A FRIEND IN NEED, I ACTUALLY HELP THEM! I LOOK AFTER THEM! THAT'S WHAT A GOOD FRIEND IS SUPPOSED TO DO! BUT WE BOTH KNOW YOU'RE FAR TOO BUSY INFLATING YOUR OWN STUPID EGO TO EVER GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ANYONE ELSE!"
SMACK!
" SHUT UP! JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND GO BACK INTO YOUR STUPID SHELL LIKE YOU BELONG AND LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" The feline screamed.
Everything became quiet as time seemed to slow down. Penny gasped and stumbled backward in surprise, a sharp pain hitting her cheek. This pain flared into an intense sting as she slowly raised her hand to touch it.
She looked over at Gumball as she began to tremble, eyes tearing up. The feline's arm was now raised, a furious glare plastered on his face. He...h-h-he had struck her...he had actually hit her...
As he watched her the young kitten's expression began to soften, before slowly turning to that of horror as he realized what he had just done.
The fairy began to cry softly, beginning to rapidly shift between all of her forms as a mix of emotions flooded her mind. Anger, heartbreak, fear, hatred, confusion, betrayal.
Gumball's paws shakily raised to cover his mouth as he began to shake, horrified, tears streaming down his face. "O-O-Oh my god...P-Penny, I-I-I...I'm s-s-so sorry! I didn't mean to...I-I-I didn't mean what I..."
He went to touch her shoulder but suddenly jolted his arm back as she finally settled on a specific form. Her Medusa form. She hissed at him, glaring at the feline with genuine anger and hatred. Angrier than he had ever seen her before. For the first time ever he was genuinely frightened of her.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU ANYMORE YOU...YOU ARROGANT, SELFISH, EGOTISTICAL JERK! AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, WE'RE OVER! WE'RE DONE!"
The entire world froze for Gumball as everything began to fall apart around him. His heart shattered into a million pieces, before turning around and stabbing into him like sharp knives. This...this couldn't be happening...this couldn't be real! She'd...she'd just said the two words he'd hoped he'd never ever have to hear her say...the words he'd feared more than anything else in the world...
...s-she'd broken up with him...
The fairy turned and began to storm away inside. Gumball, seeing this, ran after her as pained tears streamed down his face. "N-NO, PENNY, WAIT! PLEASE!"
She completely ignored him, slapping away his paw as he tried to hold her hand.
"PLEASE! PENNY, D-DON'T DO THIS! I DIDN'T MEAN WHAT I SAID! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! I WOULD N-NEVER MEAN THAT! PLEEEEEASE!"
She went inside, slamming the door shut behind her.
The kitten fell to his knees, sobbing painfully into his paws. The love of his life, the girl who he so deeply cared about, loved, more than anything else in the world...had just left him.
Why? Why was the universe so cruel to him? What had he done to deserve this? For his entire life to be destroyed in a matter of hours! And why did anything he tried to do only seem to make things worse!
The feline remained there, sobbing his heart out, for what seemed like hours. Eventually, the bell for the end of recess finally rang.
Completely out of tears and wanting nothing more than for this day to be over Gumball quietly and reluctantly got up, struggling to hold back yet more sobs.
He wiped his eyes with his sleeves, trying to get rid of some of the stinging, but it did nothing to help. Accepting that there was nothing else he could do he quietly headed inside, holding his forehead again as his headache had significantly worsened. A single thought crossed his mind as he closed the door behind him.
Penny was right asking what was wrong with him...