Chapter Four: Ironic Apologies

~Amy~

"So are there any other people I just have to meet?"

"Hmmm, oh," Rouge says while pointing a finger in the air, "you haven't met Maria and Shadow yet!"

I remembered the familiar looking hedgehogs I saw yesterday and say, "I think I saw them playing tag when I got to the apartment."

"Hahaha! Thats them! Playing all sorts of games," Tails laughs.

"That and taking each others stuff...," Knuckles adds while chuckling.

"Well, you should meet them properly this time," Cream says.

Suddenly a Maria walks up to the table saying, "Hey you guys!"

"Hey Maria! Where's Shadow?" Blaze asks.

"I'm right here," Shadow says, stepping out from behind Maria.

"Have you two met Amy yet?" Sally asks.

"Amy? Hmmm," Maria says as she taps her chin, "do you mean the new girl?"

"Yes, that's me, the 'New Girl'..." I say with a little wave.

"Well, I'm Maria," she folds one of my hands in between the two of hers, and motions to Shadow, "and that's Shadow."

I smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you two." Maria beams. Shadow gives me a slight nod.

Maria leans into me and whispers, "He's nicer than he looks."

"Thank you for the tip."

I remember them from the kingdom. They used to live in a little cottage owned by Maria's parents. Shadow had always grown up around Maria, even though they weren't even related. When they were little, he would always call her his sister.

Then Shadow's parents died. I don't remember how, and Shadow was just five at the time. He wasn't even home when it happened. He was with Maria.

After Shadow's parents died, Maria pleaded with hers to take him in. He was her best friend and she didn't want to see him go away to the orphanage. She was two years older than him , but they were still friends.

So they adopted him. And they've been inseparable since. My mother had told me all of this when I was eight. She thought I should know why Shadow didn't like talking to anyone but his sister.

I wonder if they remember me. I mean, everyone knew about the princesses, and we used to have lessons together inside the castle. Well, at least Maria and I did. We were great friends, so she should remember me.

There were a couple of other kids taking lessons with me, but they talked to Amelia, and I can't recall what they looked like. She was always more popular than me.

When I was ten, Maria and her family moved away, out of the kingdom. The only reason the parents would give was for a change of scenery. I didn't really understand because the land in the Rose Kingdom is beautiful.

Mountain peaks with a forest of green folding itself on the sides. Valleys and fields riddled with flowers of all kind. Streams and rivers running along hills, and cutting cracks into stone. Once, we held quite famous landscape paintings. We still have some, but most were sold at high prices.

It was always a question of mine to where Maria and Shadow ended up, and now I know. I wonder where their parents are, and why Maria is acting like she doesn't know me. I'll just play along for now then.

The bell's sharp ring cut through my thoughts. Reminding me that the day was so close to being over with. The sound of papers shifting and chairs being pulled back mingled with all of the chatter.

Maria lets go of my hand and says, "Bye-bye Amy! It was great meeting you!" She gives me a little wink and disappeared into the crowd.

Maybe she hasn't forgotten me after all?

~Sonic~

I walk into the Orchestra Room and there she is! Amy Rose. She hit me again today, when I was trying to get off of the bleachers. But this time, it was my arm that got hit. Lucky me... She still thinks I'm a jerk though, because I almost made her fall. Whoops. . . I need to get her to go to my party Friday. . . Ahhh! I was such a jerk earlier! I didn't even mean to run into her! I think to myself, I guess I should apologize then? But she's talking to Blaze.

I sigh and take out my notebook.

When I glance back at them, I see Amy staring at me, annoyance clear on her face. I was about to walk over there, but Miss Emerald started talking.

"Hello class. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Miss Emerald, and I'll be teaching the orchestra again this year. I would also like to point out that we don't have to play this week, but you can if you want.

"Now, if you need me, I'll be in my office, so you have permission to talk, pass notes, or do whatever for this week. And you can get on your phones as long as I don't see them." She then walked into her office and closed the door.

That's when Shadow walked into the room late, as usual. He went straight for the shelf that held his violin. What a show-off. I shook my head and turned back to Amy and Blaze. They kept talking and sneaking glances my way.

That's it, I decided, I'm going over there. And that's what I did. I also got a bit nervous. You see, I get nervous when I need to do something important, or big. And sometimes when I'm nervous, I forget what to do for a second, and I blank out. And that when I say or do stupid things. So of course, the first noise that pops out of my mouth is, "Uhhh..."

Amy gave me a weird look, and Blaze was trying to hold back her laughter. I didn't know what was funny. I mentally shook myself and focused on Amy.

"Hey Amy!" Her weird look turned into one of confusion.

"Hello... Is there something that you want?" I noticed that Blaze had slipped away and was now talking to Shadow.

"Well, actually, I came to apologize for bumping into you earlier." She crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow.

"Why didn't you say sorry when it happened?" She's pretty cute when she's mad.

"Well... I kinda got nervous..."

"Nervous? Really?"

I remembered the time when I first met Blaze and said, "I was afraid you would hit me or something..."

"Hit you? I wouldn't unless you really deserved it!"

"The last new student we had, that was Blaze, had slapped me so hard, that she left a huge red mark on my face!" Amy laughed then, it sounded nice. I smiled.

"Why did she hit you?" Amy asks.

"Apparently I looked at her the wrong way, or something..." She laughed again, sending a warm feeling through me.

Man, she may be cute when she's mad, but she's prettier when she smiles. It took me a minute to figure out that Amy had asked me something.

"Huh?"

"Hello?" She said as she waved her hand in front of my face. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah... I just didn't catch your last question."

"I asked if you wanted to start over."

"Start over?"

"Exactly, like this." she said and held out her hand, " Hello I'm Amy, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

I smiled and sipped my hand into hers.

"Hey the name's Sonic. Its great to meet you too."

She smiles back, "Now that wasn't too hard, was it?"

"Of course not! So Amy," now's my chance to ask her about the party, "I'm throwing a party Friday in honor of the new school year, you wanna come?"

"Well, I'll go... If my schedule is clear Friday..."

"If you're able to, then feel free to stop by building A, room 21."

"We'll see... So you live in building A too? I've got room 14 with Blaze and Cream."

"So I heard. They wouldn't stop talking about you. Almost like the time Cream couldn't shut up because Blaze was going to be her roommate."

Amy turned a little pink when I said that. Then she smiled again. But this time it was sad.

"They're very sweet. Especially Cream. They've been so kind to me."

"Yup, that's them. Blaze seems mean, but she's got a pretty soft heart. And Cream, well, she's always been kind. It's just how they are."

Just then the final bell rang, causing everyone to gather their things and leave.

"Bye Ames!" I say with a quick wave. I grab my backpack and shove my notebook into it. I want to be the first on the training field today. Then I can test myself.

I walk to the library and push open the doors. The Librarian waves to me. I walk over to her and smile.

"Am I first today?"

"Not quite Sonic... Shadow beat you by about a minute and a half, I already let him through."

"Uhhh! I would be here way before anyone if we could just use our gifts elsewhere."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I've told you already," the Librarian says while walking down the middle row of bookshelves, "if everyone saw what you kids could do, it would only scare them. Plus, I don't see why you're trying to make this a race."

"Come on! It is! Nobody would even see me! I'd move before they could blink!"

"But somebody could see you one second and not the next. It's just too risky. That's why we give you guys a place to let go and do whatever. It helps you, and the Keepers. We've go to get you kids in shape for whats to come."

"Oh please! That crap again! It hasn't happened in decades, and it's not going to happen any time soon. So I don't know why you guys are so obsessed with those stupid riddles."

"They're not stupid riddles," the Librarian snaps as we reach the end of the row. She carefully pulls out a book, The Gifts of Chaos: Strengths and Weaknesses, and locates the keyhole behind it. She inserts the key she keeps around her neck into the keyhole and turn it till it makes a click.

A piece of the floor opens up and reveals steps leading down into a dimly lit hallway.

"You first, Sonic." She makes a gesture with her key.

"Alright then," I say and descend the stairs.

There are torches decorating each side of the hallway, I think they use real torches to make the place seem cooler. Or maybe to keep the hallway warm, they don't have vents down here. Whatever the reason though, I find it really cool. The Librarian follows behind me until we reach a set of wide wooden doors.

The key needed is way bigger than the key the Librarian used earlier. She takes a bigger key from her skirt pocket and inserts it into the keyhole, giving it a hard twist to the right.

The door opens with a creak and the Librarian motions for me to go in. She locks the door behind me, and I can hear her muffled footsteps on the stairs as she leaves to relock the place.

Time to get to work.