(A/N) yahoooo i finally updated! betcha thought i wasnt going to continue this, huh? well...technically...i wasnt. DONT HATE ME! i was having major writers block for these past couple of months, until just now :D i was inspired to write another chapter, plus, i saw all of the reviews for this dang story! and all i have to say about it is THANK YOUUUUU~
motivation is key ;)

AND so...heeeeeeeeeeeres' chapter 4!

P.S do i even have to mention updates? their totally random so dont get mad if i dont update for, like, another month -_-

"Gracias, Cream" said Mrs. Estrada after Cream finished her presentation. Students clapped when she finished, but no one really paid attention to what she had said.

"Sonic?" called out Mrs. Estrada.

Sonic stood up and pushed up his glasses as he proceeded to make his way to the front of the class. He cleared his throat and raised his paper in front of his face. Everyone faced forward, knowing that if they didn't at least look like they were paying attention, the teacher would give them hell.

Mrs. Estrada wrote a couple of things down on a piece of paper before gesturing Sonic to speak.

Sonic was doing absolutely fine, until there was an urgent knock on the door. The teacher sighed.

"Lisa, open the door" she said. The girl got up and stepped back to let the teacher next door in, Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Patterson was an old coot that was known as the strictest teacher in the entire school. He had absolutely no patience and he often gave out detentions. He stepped into the classroom with Shadow, who had the 'I couldn't care less' look on his face. Sonic felt bad for Mr. Patterson for having to deal with such a pest.

"Mrs. Estrada, can I leave him in here so he can do his work?" he asked, but it definitely did not sound like he was asking. Shadow yawned.

"Go sit back there" told Mrs. Estrada as she pointed to a desk in the very back corner. A desk that was right beside Sonic's. Mrs. Estrada tapped her pen impatiently against her desk as Shadow took his sweet time to make his way towards it.

When Shadow walked past Sonic, who was still standing in front of the room, he sneered right in his face. Sonic practically felt smoke emitting from his ears, but he stayed put and pretended that nothing happened. He didn't want to get in trouble, especially if it had to do anything with Shadow.

"I'm sorry, Sonic. Please continue" said the teacher.

Sonic cleared his throat once more and began reading from where he left off.

But there was a problem.

For some unknown reason, his tongue started to feel thicker and thicker in his mouth. His words came out all choppy and it sounded like a mess. Sonic, who had been practicing this paragraph all night, was now stuttering. People around the class tried to hide their laughter, but once the giggles started to escape, everyone broke into a roar of laughter.

Tails was the only one who didn't give into any of it. He glanced over to the side and watched Shadow snickering while glaring at Sonic. He had a feeling that Shadow had made Sonic nervous, which resulted in humiliation.

Sonic's hands began to shaking when he stopped reading. Everyone's laughter echoed through his mind, making his confidence and self-esteem go down well below zero.

"HEY!" yelled the teacher over everyone. They all were hushed in an instant. She stood up from her desk and looked down at all of the students. "I am absolutely disgusted with your behavior, niños. Is this what your maturity level should be in senior year? I certainly hope not! You are all young adults now. I certainly do not have to go over this. You have not only disrespected me, but your peer, Sonic. I want everyone to apologize to him this instant" she lectured.

"Can't do that" said a coy voice from the back of the classroom. Everyone averted their attention to the speaker. Mrs. Estrada frowned.

"And why not, Shadow?"

"Because he's not here" he casually answered.

The teacher turned to where Sonic was standing, only to find him gone.

**…**

"C'mon, girls! Ten more laps and we'll go back inside to set up the weights" called out a hedgehog instructor and blew her whistle. Groaning sounds came from the nearly exhausted girls who ran around the school track.

"Are you kidding me? Only ten more laps? Has Ms. White gone mad, or what!" complained Rouge as she ran alongside Amy.

Amy giggled as she kept a steady pace around the track. She jogged without breaking a sweat, while Rouge was wheezing and panting.

"Well, the more you talk, the harder it'll be" explained Amy. Rouge smirked.

"Me? Stay quiet? Ha. Ha ha. Not in your life, kid. And will 'ya slow down a bit? Hate to break it to you, but we're not running a marathon here!" Rouge said while looking over her shoulder. She and Amy were way ahead of the rest of the class.

"Alright, I'm done! I can't keep up with you anymore!" panted Rouge as she stopped running abruptly. She bent down and grabbed her knees for support as she tried to catch her breath.

"Keep going, Rouge!" called out Ms. White from the bleachers. Rouge grumbled under her breath and began jogging.

Amy shook her head and laughed. After another lap, she started to feel slightly parched as she ran past Ms. White.

"Can I go get a drink, please?" she asked politely as she slowed down to talk to the gym instructor.

Ms. White nodded. "Hurry up" she told her.

With a small 'thank you', she ran towards the school to go find a water fountain.

She walked down halls, not really knowing where she was headed. Amy still felt a little uncomfortable walking around the hallways all by herself. It was only her second day at a new high school, after all. She was given a map of the school, but it was useless to her. She looked down every hall, trying to find a water fountain in sight. She sighed, frustrated.

"I just want a drink. Is it so much to ask for…" she grumbled angrily as she marched up the stairs to the second floor.

While she walked around, she saw a student walking down the hall.

"Excuse me!" she called and ran toward him.

He looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?" he asked with a voice crack.

"Where can I find a water fountain?" she huffed.

"Umm…" he said and looked in the opposite direction. "I'm pretty sure there's on by the washroom over there" he told her and pointed towards it.

"Thanks" she said and ran to it. She smiled as she approached it. Her thirst had doubled from the last time she walked into the school. She bent down and drank for a good ten seconds before heading back outside.

As she walked past the washroom, her ears twitched at a faint noise. She frowned and leaned her head to the side, trying to at least identify what the noise was. Her eyes widened when she was certain she could hear someone crying.

She looked at the door and bit her lip. It was the boy's washroom.

Concern bubbled inside of her, making her uneasy. She could sense that whoever was in there was having a pretty rough time. She nervously looked down the halls, seeing if there was anyone else who could walk in and see who was in there instead of her. Her luck ran out when she saw she was completely alone in the halls.

She took a deep breath, and braced her hands on the door. With a gentle push, the door opened with ease. As soon as she opened the door, the sniffling stopped. She poked her head in.

"H-Hello?" asked Amy, her cheeks slightly flushed for entering a boy's washroom.

No answer. She was absolutely one hundred percent sure she could her someone crying a second ago. She frowned and entered the room completely, the door closing behind her.

Her frown quickly disappeared when she saw a person sitting on the ground, their back against the wall. But it wasn't just any person. It was Sonic.

His glasses were in his hand, showing his glassy red eyes. His ears were drooping as his bottom lip puckered out slightly, showing his miserable attitude. His eyes almost leapt out of their sockets when he saw Amy standing in front of him, wearing only short purple gym shorts and a green camisole.

A small gasp escaped her lips before covering her mouth with both her hands. She slowly approached the hedgehog.

"Sonic? What happened?" she said with concern and anxiety mixed in her tone. She bent down in front of the hedgehog and sat closely in front of him. She looked directly into his eyes and she could almost feel her heart breaking, although she didn't know why she was so concerned.

He looked down at his hands, avoiding her gaze. He could feel all of his emotions well up inside of him again, his eyes producing newly found tears. Amy had found him in his most vulnerable state, and it made him feel absolutely pathetic.

Amy saw this and decided to keep quiet. Without thinking, she grabbed him and pulled him into a comforting embrace. Sonic's mouth opened slightly, completely surprised. His nerves were automatically eased, all of his sadness disintegrating into nothing. His glasses fell out of his hand and fell onto the cold floor at the same time his eyes closed.

He gripped onto her tighter, his hands travelling up her back in a criss-cross formation. He pushed her against him with a new found courage that he didn't even think he had, and clutched her shoulders in a desperate sort of way. Amy's body shivered slightly as she felt his warmth course throughout her body.

This…feels…kind of nice, actually…thought Amy as she closed her eyes, savoring the moment.

Sonic was wishing time could stop so he could have this moment forever. But as he was caught up in the moment, alarm bells went off in his head as he remembered the email/threat that he had received last night. His eyes snapped open and pushed her away immediately.

Amy frowned slightly and looked up at him with her cheeks turning a burning red. He didn't look at her at all as he leaned forward and retrieved his glasses. He got up and paced a bit while running his hand through his quills. Amy watched him from the floor, still trying to process everything.

"Umm," uttered Amy.

Sonic finally looked at her with a sheepish grin. He approached her and offered her his hand. Amy blinked at it a couple of times before actually taking it. Sonic pulled Amy off of the floor but accidently pulled her a bit too hard, making her stumble into him. Using his reflexes, he caught her by the arms.

Both of them stared at each other for what seemed like a long time. Amy could have sworn that she heard Sonic murmur her name, but wasn't sure.

Sonic cleared his throat and automatically released her.

"You do realize that this is a boy's washroom, right?" asked Sonic, finally breaking the silence. He looked down at his feet, avoiding her gaze.

"Yes, I do realize that this is a boy's washroom" said Amy as she folded her arms across her chest. Her eyes softened when he looked up at her shyly.

"But I heard you crying" she spoke in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, well, I was. Let me guess. You're going to tell the entire school that you walked into the boy's washroom and found the biggest nerd in the school crying like the nerd he is. Although I should advise you that you should probably leave out the whole part about you walking into the washroom. People here are pretty cruel, so they'll twist that entire rumor up and make it into a whole new one" he said, annoyed. Not at her, but with himself. Annoyed with himself because he wasn't strong.

Amy had a look of hurt, along with a hint of anger. She put her hands on her hips and frowned right at him.

"Look, Sonic" she spat "I'm certainly not going to tell this to anyone, so you can get that thought right out of your head. Second, how could you think that I would do anything like that? After all I told you yesterday! Do you think I hate you or something?" she questioned as she took a step toward him. She was so close to him that he was staring at her cross-eyed.

"And why do you call yourself a nerd? I certainly don't think you are one!" she blurted out. Her eyes widened at the last comment she had said, her face slowly changing color.

Sonic's eyes narrowed. "You don't think I'm…nerdy?" he asked her out of curiosity.

"Well, um, no I don't" she stammered as she fiddled with her thumbs. Her heart was going at a mile a minute right now and she could feel it pounding furiously in her ribcage.

Might as well tell him what I really think she thought.

Taking a deep breath, she spoke. "Sonic, you're actually the coolest guy I've ever met" she admitted in a small tone, along with a small smile.

Sonic immediately blushed. "R-Really?"

Amy nodded and the smile stretched farther.

Sonic felt all squiggly again and he casually leaned on his arm as he braced it against the wall, but he was actually supporting his body from collapsing on the floor.

Both Sonic and Amy jumped when they heard the door open. They both looked at Tails, who stared at them in shock. His gaze shifted between the two, but it remained longer on Amy.

"Uh…Ames? The girl's washroom is next door, y'know…just 'case you didn't know" said Tails as he choked on laughter.

Amy giggled nervously but gave Tails the 'I'm so going to kill you right now" look. She walked past Sonic and Tails and headed out the door. Before leaving, she looked over her shoulder and caught Sonic's gaze.

"You gonna be okay?" she asked him in a soft voice.

Sonic nodded and smiled. "Thanks for, well, y'know" he said and blushed.

Amy returned his smile and left without another word.

**…**

"I wish I could get a girl to come into the washroom with me!" exclaimed Tails as they walked down the halls.

Sonic glared at his friend, who smirked mischievously at him. His face suddenly turned serious.

"Hey, listen. Don't worry too much about what happened back in first period. The teacher lectured them all" he told him and put his hand on his shoulder.

Sonic sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was confront his classmates. Worst of all, Shadow had witnessed this and knowing him, he wasn't going drop it that easily.

They finally came to the class. Both Tails and Sonic stood outside the door. Sonic turned to his friend with a worried look.

"Does it look like I've been crying?" he asked

Tails shook his head. "You look fine. Ready?"

Sonic nodded and knocked on the door. It was opened by the teacher, who smiled sympathetically.

"Welcome back" she said warmly and gestured into the classroom.

Sonic grinned for a brief second and walked in the room, feeling a pair of thirty curious eyes on him. He didn't glance at anyone and headed straight to his desk, pretending like nothing had happened. He sat down and let out a breath of relief when he saw that Shadow was no longer in the room.

Mrs. Estrada folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Niños?" asked the teacher.

"Sorry, Sonic" said the entire class simultaneously.

"Yes, we're very sorry for disrespecting you. I certainly hope…no, EXPECT that this will never happen again" continued the teacher. She then went on about some story involving her in university and how some kid was treated poorly, and so on.

Sonic was paying attention until something dawned on him. Could it have been Shadow that sent him the mysterious email? His fists clenched in his lap. It made so much sense. First of all, Shadow hated his guts. And second, Shadow wanted Amy. His suspicions fit perfectly.

Sonic had to confront him. He needed to prove himself. He needed to show Shadow that he wasn't going to put up with his bullying anymore.

The school nerd was going to go up against the most popular person in the school, and his stomach twisted in fear when he thought about it.

yiiikes! could it really be Shadow? or...could it be someone else? :O
stay tuned for the next chapter to find out~~