Shadow slowly makes his way through the empty corridor. He was in no rush to get to where he was headed, a heavy feeling of dread was sitting on his chest. It didn't help the fact he was two hours late to school, his plan being to only show up to visit his homeroom teacher, Mr. Keller, like he said he would yesterday.
He stopped outside the door, his fist raised, ready to knock. He let out a long, dramatic sigh, knocking aggressively. He didn't wait for an indication to enter; he simply swung open the classroom door. The room was empty other than a grey wolf, who sat at his desk.
"Shadow." He sang sarcastically. His eyes were glued to the papers he was sorting through on the surface. He clicked a few keys on a keyboard, still paying no mind to at least meet Shadow's gaze for a moment of greeting.
Shadow stares blankly at the older grey wolf. He figured he was the one who needed to start the discussion off, "You wanted to see me." He states as he softly closes the door, a quiet click following after.
Mr. Keller finally looks up at Shadow. He smirks. "Sit," he says, gesturing to one of the empty seats in his classroom. Shadow complies, sitting down on the closest one to his desk.
"I'm glad you came to see me."
Shadow knew this wasn't true. Mr. Keller wanted Shadow out of this school just as much as he did himself. It was just his tone and persona being obnoxiously friendly, as per usual, with everyone he spoke to.
Shadow folds his arms. "Can we..." he waves his hand dismissively, "hurry this up?"
The older wolf looks at him, raising a questionable brow. His smile drops slightly as his eyebrows furrow, giving him a serious expression. It wasn't annoyance or anger, just concern.
"Look," he starts, clasping his hands together, "I understand how difficult it is to come back here. I know how much you hate it," he speaks with a reassuring tone, understanding the difficult position Shadow has been put in. "I'm here to help you get through this."
Shadow glares at him, leaning back in his seat. "No, thanks."
"No, thanks?" Mr. Keller repeats the question. He could easily say he'd never met anyone as stubborn as Shadow, so although a response like this was expected, he was still willing to fight him for it.
Shadow nods slowly, impatiently tapping his foot. "Can I go?"
Before he could even reply, Shadow was already making his way out the door. Mr. Keller sighed as he watched him leave. He decided not to go chasing after him out the door, causing a scene. He'd come around eventually, and he planned to keep a close eye on his progress.
After leaving, Shadow made his way to his scheduled class. He noticed the few surprised stares. Some students whispering in shock to each other. The room fell into a shocked silence. He walked past the teacher, hoping she was too busy focusing on what she was writing on the board. He rolled his eyes once hearing her speak.
"You're ten minutes late." She stated, a hint of playfulness in her tone.
Shadow looked over his shoulder at her, "I didn't notice." He almost sneered.
She turned around, smiling at him teasingly, "I've placed you at the back, that empty seat is yours." She turned back around to the chalkboard, continuing to write on it.
"Still doing assigned seating, I see... When are you gonna get over yourself?" He snaps back.
"When you graduate."
Chuckling erupted from the class, along with a few gasps. Narrowing his eyes at her, she still paid her attention to the board. He scoffed, making his way to his seat.
Almost immediately, he noticed who he had to share a desk with. His shoulders sagged, as he sat down, he glanced beside him. Looking back, very clearly trying to suppress a smile, was the new girl Amy had raved about. She looked ahead again, not interested in conversing.
Frowning, Shadow turned away from her as well. He crossed his arms, leaning back on the chair. There was a low background chatter throughout the classroom, so light whispering wouldn't have been a problem.
"What's your name?" Shadow asked quietly, still focusing his attention ahead of him. He didn't know why he asked. Amy's suggestion played at the back of his mind. Even though he wasn't planning on actually doing what she asked, he thought he'd at least make a small effort.
When he received no answer, he turned his head back to her. She continued to look out of the window,
"Hey." He grew irritated. "What's your problem?"
Shadow narrowed his eyes at her rudeness, he lightly slapped her shoulder with the back of his hand, and with a small jump, she turned around.
"Are you deaf?"
She looked at him in confusion, and then it dawned on her. She pulled out a slip of paper, scribbling something down quickly. Shadow watched her intently. When she passed the paper to him, he leaned forward to look at it.
'Yes.'
Shadow paused for a moment before looking up at her. Her expression was smug, with a small smirk appearing on her lips. A slight bit of embarrassment washed over Shadow. "Oh." Being all he could manage to say. She took the page again and wrote something else on it.
'What were you trying to say to me?' She wrote.
Shadow uncrossed his arms, going to take the pen from her hand to write something underneath. She shook her head, gently pushing his hand away. Shadow flinched slightly when her hand moved to his face, tilting his head to face hers. She gestured for him to speak, but Shadow didn't quite understand.
She took the pen in her hand once more, 'I can read your lips.'
He nodded slowly, now understanding that there was no need for him to write back. He was somewhat impressed. He questioned her again, "What's your name?"
He watched curiously as she wrote her name, "Blaze." He read it out, and she nodded, smiling. Now that Shadow had a name to put to her face, he felt content. He wasn't exactly sure why, but the patience she had shown towards him, regardless of his passive-aggressive attitude, made him feel grateful.
The rest of the period went by quickly; another few small comments were exchanged between the two, but nothing more. Shadow didn't want to question her any further about her disability, but he couldn't lie; he was extremely curious about certain aspects.
"My man!"
Shadow stumbled forward once he felt an arm being thrown aggressively over his shoulder. Catching his balance, he shot a dirty look at a blue hedgehog who hung out of him, smirking obnoxiously.
Shadow grumbled to himself, shrugging his arm off, "What?" He spoke low, almost hissing.
Sonic chuckled, "How does it feel to breathe in this fresh high school air again?"
Shadow had prayed he'd never run into this hedgehog, knowing the first thing he'd say to him was about the fact he was still attending this damn school. And considering who Sonic was, he'd never hear the end of it.
"I'm not in the mood for you right now," Shadow says bluntly.
"Are you ever?"
The two hedgehogs walked through the corridor. More specifically, Sonic was following Shadow to continue pestering him. Two other familiar faces came up behind them, and a wave of conversations began beside him. Shadow frowned, looking over at Amy and Silver.
Shadow quickly called out to Amy, an annoyed hint in his tone, "You didn't tell me the new girl was deaf." He states sternly.
Amy covered her mouth, giggling. "So you talked to her, huh?" Amy scooted past Sonic to walk next to Shadow.
Silver perked up into the conversation, "What's she like?"
"She's deaf?" Sonic butt in.
Amy shushed them, waving her hand in their faces. She looked up at Shadow, waiting for him to elaborate on their interaction. "So? Did you make a good impression?"
Shadow's face contorted in confusion. "I don't know. We didn't talk for long." He shook his head, "I'm not trying to be her friend; I was put beside her in class." He explains.
Amy claps her hands together, "That's great!"
"Nice one!" Sonic laughs. He nudges Silver beside him, "Shad's gonna bang the new girl..."
"Sonic!" Amy slaps his shoulder angrily, "Don't talk about her that way!"
Shadow groaned lightly. Getting hit in the head with a steel bat felt more inviting than the current conversation. As the three bickered, he picked up his pace, desperately trying to remove himself from them.
"Hi, Shadow."
Shadow jumps slightly, looking down. Smiling back up was Silver. Shadow looked over his shoulder to see Sonic and Amy still fighting, Silver must have slipped away last second.
"Hi, Silver." He greets in return, turning back ahead of him.
Silver looked forward as well. "I'm happy you're back." He says sweetly.
Shadow couldn't help but soften his expression. He always had a soft spot for Silver, yet he never really knew why. It just sort of happened. He was cheerful, but not to the annoying extent of Amy. He held a somewhat innocent presence, making Shadow feel entitled to have a conversation back, not wanting to hurt his feelings.
"Are you getting through everything okay?" Shadow asks.
Silver nods, "mm-hmm, everything is great."
"No one's bothering you?"
Silver looks up at him. Shadow could sense that his question made him nervous. All he replied with was a swift shake of the head. Something was wrong. He knew this when Silver froze in his tracks, and Shadow stopped also. Amy and Sonic joined once they met up with them from behind.
A small crowd circled in the corridor soon after. Two students seemed to be getting into a small tiff. One of them being very familiar; the reason Silver froze so suddenly.
A hedgehog and a hawk, both a green shade, were both glaring at each other threateningly. There seemed to be a few inaudible comments passed between the two before the hawk was aggressively shoved up against the lockers.
"You know what you owe me, birdie!" The hedgehog spat, his hand gripping his throat.
"I don't owe you shit," the hawk heaves back. A smirk played on his beak.
Before the situation could escalate, adults got involved, separating the two and dismissing the crowd of students. As the crowd spread back out to class, the four hedgehogs still stood watching
Sonic commented through the silence.
"What the fuck?"