Starting New: Returning Home

Chapter 8: Highs and Lows

Gumball woke up slowly at his alarm, before sitting up, wiping his face and remembering the thoughts flowing through his head last night. Bringing a hand up to his cheek again and gently stroking it with his thumb, he felt a sense of comfort before taking a deep breath and getting up for the day. He was one of the first of his siblings to get up, so he decided to use the bathroom before they did.

Walking groggily towards the bathroom, he entered it before shutting the door. After doing his daily routine inside, he was about to leave, when he looked in the mirror. He had bags under his eyes a bit. It seemed he had another somewhat restless night.

'Maybe I need to go to bed earlier...' He thought.

As Gumball was about to turn away however, he thought he briefly saw Nicole in the mirror, causing him to shake his head before doing a double take of it.

Nothing.

Gumball sighed again before opening the bathroom door and walking out.

——

After everyone else woke up and ate breakfast, they all said goodbye before hopping on the bus. To Gumball this time, knowing what to expect from the other students, he kept to himself and simply ignored them as some wanted a selfie from him. Darwin, being the good brother he was, also helped swat away any "obsessive" fans that dared get too close to them.

After they reached school, Darwin requested that the bus driver let them off early, as to quietly avoid the crowd. After getting the 'okay' from him, the driver opened the doors and Gumball, Anais and Darwin got off.

"Come on, this way." Anais said, leading the trio around towards the backside of the school.
"This should help us get away from the main hallways to our classes."

As they arrived at the back doors, they went inside and cautiously looked around before going their separate ways.

"See you two later!" Anais said, trotting off towards her class as Darwin and Gumball waved back.

"That was a smart move to lead us this way." Gumball said, causing Darwin to giggle.

"Come on man, are you really that surprised, considering that came from HER?" He replied, gesturing towards Anais as she walked away.
"She's basically Einstein dude, you can count on her to figure out a way for things like this."

"That's true...sorry I forgot."

"No worries Gumball, I wouldn't blame you. You have gone through a lot. It's okay to forget a few times from time to time. Now come ON! We need to get to class!"

Darwin pulled Gumball along through the barren hallways. As they rounded a corner towards the classroom, they both saw a locker open with someone putting stuff in it.

"Oh crap, what do we do?" Darwin said, stopping them dead in their tracks.

Just as they were thinking of turning back, the locker closed and the figure looked at them.

Gumball couldn't believe his eyes. There, now staring at them both, was none other than Penny Fitzgerald.

"Penny?" Gumball asked softly towards her, causing her to sheepishly wave back.

"H-hey Gumball..."

Darwin looked at Gumball, before at Penny, than back at Gumball before clearing his throat.

"I uh...I'll see you in class Gumball. Try not to stay too long..." he awkwardly mentioned, before patting Gumball on the back and walking briskly past them both.

After he was gone, Penny returned her glance towards Gumball.

"S-so, um, I heard you got kidnapped and stuff..."