The next day, when Shadow's alarm clock woke him up with "Aces High" by Iron Maiden, he was feeling higher than any of the aces that Bruce Dickinson sang about. Granted, he still didn't want to go to school, but considering he was dating the most beautiful girl ever, he figured he'd let it slide, so he headed on to school, and just as he'd expected…

"Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

Amy came charging at Shadow as soon as she saw him, and as soon as he heard her, he happily opened his arms wide for her, and then she tackled him into a kiss, at which point he swung her around a little. After setting her down, he took in her sweet passion for a moment more before she let go.

"Good morning to you too, Amy."

Amy smiled. "Very good, indeed! My self-esteem is better than it ever has been, and it's all thanks to you!"

Shadow smiled. "You're welcome. By the way, do you mind if I ask you something?"

Amy's Hedgehog Sense tingled, but she accepted the question nevertheless: "Go ahead."

"I don't usually do stuff like this, but do you want to go to the Winter Ball with me this Friday?"

Amy let out a happy gasp and put her hands on her cheeks. "OH MY DAMN CHERRY BLOSSOMS!* I wanted to go, but I had nobody to go with! OF COURSE I'll go with you, especially because I can try this new dress I bought!"

Shadow smiled. "Then it's settled."

Upon entering the school, Shadow and Amy made no bones about holding hands with each other. Granted, there were quite a few people who stared at them, mainly because he was going out with a fat girl, but he shot evil death glares at them and they turned away. Still, there were more than a few whisperings and gossip going about because the biggest rebel in Bob Papenbrook High was going out with a fat girl, but Shadow and Amy ignored it and continued on to Shadow's locker. Still, she couldn't help but mention this:

"Shadow, do you notice people seem to be paying more attention to us?"

Shadow unlocked his locker. "I do, and I don't care. They can go screw themselves for all I…"

"SHADOW, BEHIND YOU!"

No sooner had his Hedgehog Sense alerted him to this had he turned around just in time for Drago Wolf – perhaps the only bully in school as bad as Scourge – to lift him up by the collar and slam him back against the lockers.

"Hello…Shadow."

"Put me down…Drago."

"Listen, you son of a bitch: I don't care if you're dating an ugly fat chick. However, no one – and I mean NO ONE – messes with my buddy Scourge and gets away with it."

"You don't scare me, asshole."

Drago balled up his fist and drew it back. "I will when I pound your face in."

"No you won't."

Shadow squeezed Drago's wrist – the one that had him pinned against the locker – until he heard a bone snap, at which point Drago screamed and dropped him.

"JESUS, ASSHOLE! You broke my wrist!" Drago clutched his arm.

"Yeah, and I'll break your skull if you don't leave me alone!"

"OK! OK!"

Whimpering, Drago ran away, leaving Shadow and an amazed Amy in their wake:

"Shadow…just how did you take on a guy much bigger than you? No seriously, I wanna know!"

Shadow smiled. "Well, being the Ultimate Life Form, I have unparalleled strength. Now come on; we don't want to be late for class, my dear Rose."

At lunch, Shadow and Amy were joined by an unexpected face:

"Hey Shadow, I heard ya busted up Drago!" said Knuckles the Echidna. "I dunno what he did to earn your wrath, but that's awesome!"

Shadow smiled. "Ordinarily, I wouldn't want to talk to you, but since I'm in a good mood today, I'll allow it."

"Wow, you're in a way better mood than usual! Is it because you're going out with Amy?"

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Wait…since when do you know Amy?"

"I've known Sonic, Tails and Knuckles since elementary school!" said Amy. "Of course, they all moved away at different times, but still, seeing them – not to mention you – makes me feel better about myself!"

Shadow smiled. "Well, I'm glad."

"Hey Shaddy!" Rouge sat down. "Oh…hello Knuckie!"

Knuckles groaned. "Rouge…what do you want?"

"What? Is it wrong for a girl to want to hang out with her besties?"

"Bat Girl, you're not one of my 'besties'." Knuckles made air quotes when saying "besties". "Please go away."

Rouge giggled. "Oh, you're so silly, Knuckie! That's hot."

Knuckles growled. "What the crap, Rouge? Aren't you already going out with Sonic?"

Amy gasped. "Rouge, you never told me you were dating Sonic!"

Rouge giggled. "You never asked, honey. By the way, how are you and Shaddy doing?"

Amy smiled. "Oh, we're great! Really, Shadow is the sweetest, most handsome guy I've ever met! He makes me feel so special!"

Rouge smiled. "Shaddy, I'm so happy for you! Really, you're such a good friend!"

Shadow smiled nervously. "Oh, thanks Rouge!"

Amy giggled again. Suddenly, this so-called outcast was looking like he fit right in.

At gym class, there was a basketball game going on. Shadow, Rouge, Amy, Espio and Honey were on a team against Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Silver and Blaze. It was a really frantic game, with neither team being particularly willing to give up. By the time of the final minute, the game was in a dead tie, and neither side could quite get the upper edge on the other. Then, in the last 15 seconds, Shadow got the ball from Rouge, and he saw a potential opening:

"Amy, CATCH!"

Shadow threw the ball to Amy, who caught it, only to be double-teamed by a finessed defense of Sonic and Tails. Thinking quickly, she jumped and attempted to dunk it, and fortunately, she sunk it like Jordan, thus earning a win for her team. It was also a good thing the backboards were made of Plexiglas, otherwise she would've pulled a real Chuck Connors. Regardless, her game-winning dunk got admiration from both sides:

"Nice shot, Amy!" said Rouge. "I had no idea you could jump like that!"

Amy smiled. "Well, just because I'm overweight doesn't mean I'm not good at sports!"

"I never said you weren't, but that was incredible!"

"Awww, thanks!"

"Ames, how'd ya manage to juke Tails and I?" asked Sonic. "No seriously, I wanna know!"

"Well, I am pretty light on my feet…"

Tails smiled. "I'll say! You played great out there!"

"Indeed, that was a well-executed shot," said Espio.

"Oh, you guys! But seriously, you can thank Shadow, too! He was the one who passed the ball to me!"

"You did?" said Blaze. "That was a very risky maneuver. Why would you even attempt that, Shadow?"

"It's a matter of trust, Blaze. Sports isn't all about how well you play the game or how good your teammates are. If you trust your teammates to do their jobs, then everything else will fall into place."

Blaze nodded. "I see. I shall try to remember that."

Amy smiled. "Shadow, that was really sweet of you to trust me like that!"

"Isn't that part of what love is about?"

Amy giggled. Life was getting better.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.