Spooky

Chapter 1

-Shadow's POV-

"So, who do you think you'll get for a roommate?" The black-clad bat asks me, tipping her head to one side as she looks up at the sky. It's the first day of school, and the two of us are walking from the main building to the new dormitories.

"I dunno," I reply quietly, furrowing an eyebrow. "I don't have any friends who are guys, so I didn't put down any requests."

"What about Silver?" Rouge nudges me, lowering her gaze back to Earth. I shrug, flicking an ear. My skull earrings glitter in the sunlight, two little silver orbs nestled on the inside corner of my ear.

"Eh, we aren't really that close. I don't think I'd want to share a room with him, he's too weird." I zip up my hoodie, shivering in the cold autumn air. The leaves are a deep reddish gold, falling from the trees as we walk along. It's getting cold enough that I've been considering wearing pants for once—unusual for a hedgehog, but if I wore them I'd be a bit warmer. Winter is on the horizon, after all, and they've been saying it's gonna be a wicked one.

"He's the weird one?" The snowy bat giggles. "Pretty funny thing for you to say, 'Spooky'!" She punches me in the arm, her bracelets jangling nosily. I glare at her. She's wearing a plain black t-shirt with a dark leather jacket and dark purple skinny jeans matching her eyeshadow. Her wrists glitter with golden bangles, and a necklace rests on her collarbone, half a heart glinting in the sunlight. It matches the one I wear, but I've always had mine on a longer silver chain than her gold one. The two are matching "Best Friends Forever" pendants that we bought during a school trip. The memory brings a smile to my face, which is quite the rare occurrence.

"Yeah, yeah," I snort good-naturedly. "We're two different sorts of weird, you know? And they don't mix." Rolling my shoulders, I stretch, still feeling a bit sleepy—I'd slept like a corpse this morning, straight through my alarm. Luckily for me, Rouge always stops by in the morning to make sure I get up. We've been best friends most of our lives, growing up alongside each other. We share everything—there's nothing about me that she doesn't know.

Well...maybe one little thing. But that's not necessarily important.

"Yeah, I get it." She nods as we draw ever closer to the dorms. "Hey, check it out, they already moved everyone's stuff here!" Pointing, she hops up and down, excitement pouring from her. The dorm buildings are a stately white, elegant and old-fashioned despite having been built only a few weeks ago. In front, between the male and female houses, a cobblestone courtyard bearing a circular fountain, benches and potted plants of varying colors holds our classmates and trucks carrying luggage. "Ooooh, Shadow, I can't wait—this is gonna be so much fun!" Some of her energy rubs off on me, and I find myself feeling a little enthused too. My only issue is that she and I are going to be separated for the rest of the day, which will make this dreary. She's really the only person I talk to—I don't do well in crowds. They make me nervous. "Hey, it looks like there's our other dorm-mates hanging out over there!"

"Rouge, wait—!" I begin, but before I can finish she dashes off, yelling cheerfully. "Ah, geez," I grumble, yanking my hood up over my head and pulling it taut. "I know she's a bat, but must she be so flighty?" Sighing, I trot over to the luggage pile and begin to delicately poke around, handling others' baggage with care. Beside me, a bright blue hedgehog rummages around; it's Sonic, the class clown, most likable and yet least likable at the same time.

"Hey, Spooky!" He crows, and I narrow my eyes, pretending not to hear him. Behind him, his friend Knuckles snickers.

"What're you doin', Spooky? Looking for your brain?" The red echidna laughs hoarsely. I roll my eyes, pushing a suitcase aside and spotting my own bag; grabbing it, I pull, trying to dislodge it from the rest of the crap.

A foot mashes down on it, almost crushing my hand; I flinch, looking up into Sonic's green eyes glinting down at me mockingly. I stifle a growl, knowing that he's merely messing around with me. He's truly annoying. "Oops, sorry, Spooky, did I crush your hands? Don't worry, you can just dig some up from a nearby cemetery, right?"

"Hahaha! He's Frankenstein!" The dumb echidna jeers. "But more like FREAK-enstein!" He sticks out his tongue as both fools laugh at me.

I turn to look at him, feigning nonchalance despite the fact that my stomach feels like it's doing trapeze acts. "Sorry, are you making a face at me, or are you just naturally ugly?" Picking up my suitcase, I shove Sonic off it roughly, trudging past them and into the clean-looking dormitory. Indoors, there's wood flooring, white walls, and a painting of our founder on the wall to my right. The staircase to the left leads to the second floor; peering down the hall, I see a kitchen. The second floor must hold all the rooms, I realize, so I start up the stairs. At the top of the steps, I see a piece of paper tacked on the wall that reads, "Your room will have your name as well as your roommate's name on a flyer hanging from the door-knocker." Hm, makes sense, I muse to myself, looking left and right. The only issue is, which direction do I go in?

Behind me, I hear more people walking up the stairs; I glance over my shoulder to see that obnoxious blue hedgehog approaching. Panic flashes through me, and I abruptly whirl around and start walking rapidly to my left, hurrying as fast as I can when loaded down by my luggage. As I trot past the doors, I scan the paper taped to each one, trying to catch a glimpse of my name. For quite a while, I don't see anything, but finally at the penultimate door on the right I notice a "Sh" typed on a paper. Skidding to a stop, I scramble backwards, grabbing the paper as if it's my only hope for surviving this. I was right, this paper does have my name on it, but below my name...

My heart freezes, and my grip on the paper tightens suddenly. "N-No way..." I choke out, trembling slightly. Below my name reads 'Scourge the Hedgehog.' I step back, eyes wide with disbelief. That Scourge? Sonic's twin? The bully who's reputed for picking on weaker, lesser people? The one who's never had a relationship last longer than a month, famed for using and abusing people, then leaving them in the dust? That Scourge is my roommate?!

"Oh, no," I groan, thumping my head against the dark wooden door in despair, "this isn't going to end well..."