Rip grumbled as he trudged down the lunch line, letting out a sigh as he grabbed a box of juice and a Moon Pie. Rip flashed the lunch lady a smile as he paid for his snacks before trotting to the far end of the lunch room and taking a seat at a table tucked away in the corner. Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out a square-shaped Tupperware container with a pastrami sandwich on sourdough bread.

Rip licked his upper beak as he pulled the lid off of the container, smiling eagerly as he stabbed the juice box with the straw and took a quick sip before reaching back into his bag and pulling out a prescription bottle. As he went to open the bottle he heard snickering behind him.

"Hey, Riphon." Rip turned and saw a couple of his classmates, a greater roadrunner like himself and his magpie crony. "Oh, hey Damien." Rip droned, "What do you want? Hey!" Rip let out a squawk as the magpie nabbed his medicine out of his hand.

"What kind of drug is this?" the magpie crooned, "L-Le-Levodopa? What the heck is that supposed to be?" "Probably some kind of medicinal cannabis," Damien snorted, "I mean, 'dope' is in the name." Rip let out a hiss as he snagged the bottle back, popping off the cap and tossing a single tablet down his throat before screwing the cap back on and putting the bottle away in his bag. Rip took a long sip from the juice box, picking up his sandwich and grumbled "Grow up," before taking a big bite.

Damien made a scowl and snapped his fingers; at that, the magpie smirked as he reached around and snagged the sandwich from Rip's hands. "What the Meep, Joshua!?" Rip snapped, "Give me back my lunch!"

"Sure, we'll give it back," Damien sassed, "If you trade us your Moon Pie." Rip just gave them the most unamused glare he could as he took a deep breath and said, "You want me to give you my Moon Pie – which I paid for – in exchange for my own sandwich… which I've already taken a bite out of? Tell me, just how hard did you fall on your head when you rolled out of your egg?"

Damien's comb flared up as he raised his fist, ready to take a swing, when a hand reached up and grabbed his wrist, squeezing it hard and making the young cock squawk in pain. Rip managed to will his body to move as quick as he could go to grab his sandwich as Damien let it go, grabbing his wrist in pain. "Ow! What the… oh, it's you."

Looking up, Rip felt a smile stretch across his beak as he looked upon the face of his hero. She was a short, curvy female greater roadrunner with fuchsia-colored body feathers and hot pink head feathers with a few streaks having been dyed a royal blue and magenta hue. Her beak was a light orange and her eyes was a lovely shade of purple. She wore a dark, cranberry colored long-sleeved top and bright red skirt, black leggings and boots.

"Hey, Chez," Rip smiled, "Long time, no see." Cheza chuckled as she shouldered her way past Damien and Joshua, taking a seat next to Rip and giving him a soft peck on the cheek. The two looked up at Joshua as the magpie let out a teasing laugh, chanting "Rip's got a girlfriend, Rip's got a girlfriend."

"At least I can get a girlfriend," Rip clicked, "When's the last time either of you had a date?" Damien and Joshua let out a fake offended scoff, recoiling in feigned disgust before Damien came back with, "As if it's any of your business, Runner. Plus, it's no surprise someone like her would be drawn to a guy like you." Cheza's face scrunched up into an unamused glare as she stood up and got right up in Damien's face and asked, "What do you mean someone like me? And what exactly is wrong with Rip that should make me not want to be with him?"

"Oh please," Joshua scoffed, "The whole school already knows the real reason you're retaking your senior year. And pretty much all hens nowadays have it bad for, you know, the bad boys. Dude smashed up half of Acmetropolis and got away with it with a smack on the wrist because his uncle's part of the APD; he's the ultimate bad boy."

"Shows what you know," Rip snorted, "I got community service for the rest of my Summer vacation, a year of court-ordered therapy, and the courts won't expunge my record until six months after my 18th birthday. Believe me, I did not just get a 'slap on the wrist'."

"W-well," Damien stammered, "At the very least there are better guys in the school that don't have a record and who aren't crippled." "I have bradykinesia," Rip said in as deep and menacing a voice as he could muster, "It makes doing things a bit difficult, but I'm not a cripple!"

"Not yet," Damien said with a cruel smile. "But eventually it will get worse."

"He doesn't have Parkinson's, you idiot!" Cheza snapped, "And even if he did, I'd still date him long before I'd even consider giving a jackass like you the time of day. Now why don't you do us all a favor and go away. Lunch is almost over and we have a Moon Pie to finish." Cheza sat back down as Rip quickly scarfed down the rest of his sandwich and juice before breaking the Moon Pie in half, handing one half to Cheza with a smile.

Damien let out a huff and turned around, grabbing Joshua by the arm and said, "Come one Josh, we don't have to put up with this. Oh, and by the way, Runner," Rip sighed and turned to Damien as the taller cock took a second to lean in and said, "I heard about your big brother. I also know that he's back in town," Damien paused, took a deep breath and shouted, "And he brought his mangy pet along with him. You know? The coyote!?"

"Sha, what are you doing?" Rip hissed, "Are you trying to start a riot or something?" Damien let out a chuckle and shrugged as the sounds of concerned chatter arose from the other kids in the lunch hall. "I think our work here is done. Come, Joshua." And with that, the two birds spun around on their heels and walked off.

"Oh great," Rip groaned, "Now the whole school's going to be bugging me for days about this." Cheza gently placed a hand on Rip's shoulder and said with a sigh, "Just ignore them, Rip. Believe me, you'll live longer."

"Yeah, I guess," Rip grumbled, "Pa's not going to be happy, though. I know Rev's going to freak out; as if he doesn't have enough going on right now." Cheza smiled and pulled Rip in for a hug, making Rip blush a bit as a smile stretched across his beak. Rip gave Cheza a flirty smile as he held up his half of Moon Pie, winking as he took a quick bite. Cheza chuckled as she grabbed her half and mimicked Rip's nibbling away at her half of Moon Pie.