Wake Up Sonic

Chapter 3

The way to get close to Shadow was actually very simple, very obvious, and potentially beneficial.
Tutoring.
Sonic made sure to get up early the next morning.
He packed his stuff up neatly and set it by the door, and had breakfast ready for himself and his friends by the time the other woke up.
Tails and Knuckles noticed this sudden change in behavior but they shrugged it off as a good thing; maybe that test had made Sonic turn his focus to the right things.
As Sonic and Tails got into the classroom Tails noted how Sonic had copied him by actually getting ready to take noted before class started.
"So Sonic what's going on?"
"Eh? Nothing much buddy."
"Feeling studious today?" He asked.
"Hmm You could say that."
"Okay class settle down." Shadow said as he walked in barley glancing a t his students. "Roll call; Alice"
"here"
"Austin"
"Here"
"Jeffery"
"Present"
"Sonic"
"Here"
Shadow glanced up as he checked off his name; so he was going to be serious today!
He continued down the list until everyone was accounted for and continued straight to the lesson.
Throughout the lesson Shadow couldn't figure out what exactly what was so interesting about Sonic's new attitude towards learning, but he supposed he had simply became used to getting annoyed at his arrogant indifferent way of acting in class.
His eyes would linger on the blue hedgehog, waiting for him to slip up.
But it never happened.
He simply took notes and listened.
It was almost boring.
Finally the bell for lunch rung and the class was dismissed.
"Hey Tails, I'll be there in a minute" Sonic called to his friend who shrugged and went out to meet a certain Cream.
Silently Sonic was having an argument in his head.
Feeling particularly sour he slowly walked up to Shadow's desk and waited for his teacher to stop writing on the board in silence.
Eventually Sonic cleared his throat and Shadow frowned over his shoulder.
He hadn't noticed him standing there.
"Yes?"
"Okay so On your first day here you said that you would do anything you could to help a student pass if they really want to learn correct?"
Shadow slowly sat down behind his desk.
"Yes, I did say that. Why?" He asked tentatively as he quirked a brow.
"Well then, I need your help"
"oh?"
He crossed his hands in front of his face as he registered Sonic.
"And what makes you think that I'll help you?"
"Look if you're not going to then I wont waste my time begging for your help. I'm simply asking as a student to a teacher."
"Oh calm down; I never said I wouldn't help you. I simply asked what makes you think that I should."
"Well, for one thing as I'm sure you've gathered, I'm not exactly... bright"
Sonic folded his arms and bristled as he said it.
Shadow raised an eyebrow and hesitated.
"Not.. Necessarily; the fact you're recognizing that you need help says other wise. You might just need a bit of extra help."
"So you'll do it?"
Shadow sighed. And looked at the clock.
"I suppose I have to seeing as I promised I would... Fine then; come back to my room after school tomorrow and we shall get started."
"Okay!"
Sonic turned towards the door and was on his way out when Shadow called after him.
"And Sonic,"
"Yes?"
"If I find out that you are up to something, I will personally make you pay for it. Got it?"
Sonic rolled his eyes.
"I got it."
"Good"
"What are you so happy about?" Knuckles asked as Sonic sat down at their usual spot for lunch.
"Oh nothing. What's for lunch?"
"What they always have for lunch Sonic"
"What did you stay after class for Sonic?" Tails asked.
"Eh? I was just asking him something. Don't worry about it"
Knuckles and Tails looked at each other, concern etched on their faces.
Sonic caught the look and rolled his eyes.
"Look guys I'm fine! I really don't know what you're worried about"
"What are they worried about?"
Sonic looked up.
"hey Rouge. Knuckles and Tails are acting really paranoid."
"How come?"
Sonic shrugged and Knuckles glared at him as he went to the lunch line for food.
"he's up to something..."
"yea, but what?"
"I don't know, but knowing Sonic it really cant be good."
After school Sonic walked down the hallway hesitantly and was surprised to see Shadow standing outside his door with his coat, scarf and briefcase.
"You're late. Do you want my help or not?"
"Hmph! Obviously I do if I came here at all."
Shadow grunted and started walking in the direction opposite of where Sonic just came from.
"Umm, where are we going?"
"To the campus library"
"Oh. Why?"
Shadow frowned in his direction.
"Obviously because the library has more resources should we need them."
"How can a bunch of old books help me?"
Shadow pinched his eyebrow in frustration.
"What! Books get boring after a while"
"Hmph"
They walked out of the building and into the cold fall air.
Halfway to the library Sonic started to kick up leaves to Shadow's annoyance, but Shadow was soon laughing evilly as Sonic accidentally ended up kicking a hidden concrete pipe for the underground sewage system.
"Ow!"
Eventually they got to the white stoned building, and Sonic whistled as he looked up at it. It was obviously based on a Greek temple; it had the triangular mural on the front over the 4 pillars that kept the roof up.
"Come on Sonic." Shadow called as he reached the door. Quickly Sonic ran up after him.
If the outside was impressive, so was the inside.
There were hundreds of thousands of selves in every direction and Sonic wondered how people could possibly find their way around in here.
He followed Shadow to the sitting area where there were two free couches on either side of a small coffee table.
"Now then" Shadow said as Sonic sat down and, he set down his stuff and took off his scarf and coat.
"The first order of business when it comes to tutoring is figuring out the best method to teach. So first I shall ask you questions related to your learning style."
"Okay..."
"First of all, when you remember something, what do you think of when you think about it; for example; if I were to say the word apple, what would you think of: a picture of an apple, an apples scent, or the word apple itself?"
"Err the picture of an apple comes to mind."
'And now I'm hungry' He thought.
"Okay. That would probably indicate that you're more of a visual learner, but just to make sure."
He unclipped his briefcase and pulled out two different pieces of paper.
The first was a picture of two atoms sharing a valence electron; the other had a formula that really meant nothing to Sonic.
He set the two picture down on table facing Sonic.
"Now, I want you to try and memorize what you see in the two pictures as I explain what they are about."
Sonic nodded and stared at the picture of the two atoms.
"Number 1, when two or more atoms form a covalent bond they are sharing a pair of valence electrons."
Sonic nodded once as he stared at the picture and Shadow continued.
"Number 2, AgNO3 + HCl - HNO3 + AgCl"
"Whoa... what?"
"I'm not going to repeat myself just try to remember it"
He took away both of the papers and asked Sonic to quote one of the things he'd said.
"Umm, you said when two or more atoms form a covalent bond that means they share valence electrons?"
"Humph; very good. So it's obvious that you learn better when you actually see what's in front of you, rather when you hear about it. Hmm"
Shadow looked away thoughtfully before standing up and walking over to one of the library shelves. Sonic hesitated and followed as Shadow browsed, wondering what he was looking for.
He would pick up a book, skim through a few pages and the majority of the time would say something like "Nope" and set to down turning to the next one. What Sonic couldn't understand is how come he didn't need to look through all the books on the shelves, but he guessed he was looking for a certain book in particular.
Shadow reached the end of the shelves and looked both ways before choosing to go right, and finally he found the book he was looking for.
"Ah here it is; 'Chemical Bonds: An Introduction to Atomic and Molecular Structure'"
He handed the book to Sonic.
"Now, I want you to read at least 3 Chapters each night until you are finished reading it. Taking notes would also be a good idea. After you have finished reading this we shall start to practice applying all the knowledge you've gained to the work we might do in class."
"Oh So I just have to read?"
"Pretty much"
"Okay then, Thanks"
Shadow nodded and Sonic was dismissed.
He ran back over to get his stuff, and was out the door in a sonic second.
Back at home Knuckles and Tails were playing video games while Sonic was chilling in his room currently yelling at the people on the MMORPG he was playing.
"NO HEAL! HEAL! YOU STUPID DOCTOR! NO! DARN IT! Aww man..."
He winced as the screen turned red and his character feel the ground with bulging eyes, and typed in the little text box "Rez please".
While he would wait for the doctor to rez him he grabbed the little Chinese take out box on his desk and taking his chop sticks attempted to get at the shrimp and noodles at the bottom.
"BLEH! stupid fake chop sticks..."
He jumped up and went to the kitchen for a fork and was back in a blink of an eye. He flopped on his bed and stared at the ceiling.
Boredom~
He rolled on his side and that's when he spotted the small book, whose corner was protruding from his backpack.
He sat up and crossed his legs holding his ankles as he started at it.
'You really should start reading that book..' Said a voice in his head.
'But I don't want to!'
'But it's the right thing to do...'
'I do the right thing all the time...'
He went over and picked it up, turning it over and over in his hands.
He sighed.
It couldn't hurt.
Sitting on his bed he leaned back against the futon and started to read.
"Chapter 1..."
"Hey Sonic; what's that you're reading?"
Sonic looked up from his book and looked around at Tails and Knuckles who were both looking over his shoulders to look at the book in his hands.
"Hey, Hey, Hey! It's rude to read over someone's shoulder," Sonic said as he turned around, walking backwards and walked in front of his friends, snapping the book shut and folding it under his arm.
"You do it to us all the time!"
Sonic scratched his head.
"So~"
"Just show us the book Sonic!"
"No!"
Knuckles attempted to grab the book from him and Sonic put an arm between them, pushing Knuckles back so he couldn't reach.
"Just let me see! It's not one of those dirty novels of yours is it?"
"SHUDDUP KNCUKLES! And No it's not."
"I wanna see!" Piped up Tails
The two boys tried to grab it from Sonic as he tried to keep it away but then he felt it being snatched out of his hand and he turned around angrily, stopping when he figured out who it was.
Professor Shadow.
Tails and Knuckles got up from where they'd fallen and adopted shameful expressions.
Sonic just made a face and crossed his arms tapping his foot.
"Look; if you all are going to continue your childish squabble, kindly do it off of school property and after school has ended. Sonic and Tail's if you are late to my class I will be deducting 10 points off our next test."
He handed Sonic back the book.
"Now get to class all of you."
Shadow rolled his eyes as the students past; Tails encouraging Sonic to go faster.
"You almost got us in trouble you jerk!" Knuckles exclaimed when they were out of ear shot.
"ME! It wouldn't have happened if you two would have just left me alone!"
"You should have just given us the book!"
"I didn't have to if I didn't want to."
Sonic stomped ahead of Tails and Knuckles.
They couldn't blame him for keeping some things secret.
When he got to the class room he sat down at his normal desk and stared out the window until class started.
He hadn't want Shadow to know that he actually found that stupid book interesting.
He glanced at it where it lay on top of his notebook under his hand, and he frowned.
It was stupid.
But he was actually learning something from it.
He could remember how to balance equations, how to classify them, how to tell when a chemical reaction had reached equilibrium...
He knew it!
But he was too prideful to admit that Shadow had been correct.
Sourly he tapped on his desk with his pencil, unaware that Tails was watching him anxiously.
"Hey Sonic?"
"Huh?" Sonic asked glancing over.
He stopped tapping momentarily.
"Are you mad at us?"
Sonic looked surprised and suddenly felt guilty.
It was their fault: they had just been playing around.
"No! Of course not!"
"You aren't?"
"No, I'm not; I'm sorry buddy."
Tails smiled brightly and he turned his attention to the front as Shadow walked in.
"Good Morning class. Today we shall be going over the material covered last class, by conducting a lab. Kindly pair up with two extra people and send one up to my desk for your materials."
With the scuffling of chairs and movement of books the students went to group up.
Tails and Sonic looked up as a green hedgehog with scratched on his chest, wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket with flames on the sleeves sat down in the chair next to Tails and put his feet up.
"Yo! You need a partner right?"
"Apparently not now," Sonic said friendly
"Sonic's the name, And He's Tails."
"The name's Scourge. It's your pleasure."
The green hedgehog lowered his glasses from his light blue eyes and he smirked cockily.
When Tail's was back with the lab materials everyone was working on their lab project nicely and equally... Except for Scourge.
As Tails and Sonic worked on measuring, weighing and combining the different chemicals as it said on their lab report, Scourge was going on about the people he'd beaten up, the stores he'd robbed, and he latest escape from the police.
"....Heh! The never saw it coming"
"I'm sure they didn't" Sonic said politely but absentmindedly.
"Can you pass the sulfate Tails?"
Scourge looked down at the small beakers.
"Hey wanna see something cool?"
He grabbed the beaker containing hydroxide and poured it indo the beaker with the sulfur in it and immediately out of the beaker shot a large amount of foam.
"WOAH!"
"Dude! What the hell?"
Scourge laughed evilly as Shadow came over to see what was going on.
"Since you all want to act like idiots, the three of you will be receiving a failing grade for the day and you all shall stay in here during your lunch time to clean up both this mess, and the other lab stations in this class room. The bell shall be ringing in 10 minutes so I suggest you get busy."
For the rest of the class period Sonic and Tails were throwing mutinous looks towards Scourge as they got rid of the foamy stuff that covered spot on the desk, as he sat back in his chair picking at his teeth. Tails' ears were dropping disappointedly as he wondered how he was going to make up for the missing grade.
Idly Sonic thought at least his stuff hadn't been ruined: he was sure that old librarian he got the book from would be after him if he returned it in a condition similar to how Tail's notebook looked.
After the lunch bell the boys gathered up the beakers from the other tables and brought them to the sink to be washed, while Shadow sat at his desk grading papers.
As Sonic and Tails washed up the beakers Scourge amused himself by playing with the thermometers until eh saw the looks on their faces.
"Aww don't worry about that old grade it wasn't like a test or anything."
Sonic and Tails met each other's eyes as Scourged glanced over at Shadow and leaned his head in to whisper to them.
"Hey, wanna hear something about Mr. Emo pants over there?"
Before the others could refuse he continued.
"Okay, so my friends and I were talking the other day right? And I told em we had this new teacher. And when I told them it was Shadow they all told me some things~"
He glanced over again making sure he couldn't be over heard, and although he tried to ignore what Scourge was saying, Sonic found himself intensely interested.
"Okay, so my homes Rodger told me about how a couple of years ago, he used to work at a high school. And that's when it happened. Apparently he was harassing some girl; a student of his. It was really creepy; you know like pictures over the internet and crap, and the girl's mother found out and informed the authorities; so he got fired! Heh! But I guess that's what you get for being a child molester."
With a smirk Scourge turned around on his stool and headed to the door.
"I'm off Professor!"
"Whatever"
Sonic and Tail's looked at each other as they wondered the same thing.
Was it true?
"So what do you think of Scourge's story Sonic?"
Tails asked quietly as they walked down the hall to the cafeteria.
"Hmph! I wouldn't believe anything that Scourge says; that dudes a royal pain in ass. He's probably just making that stuff up!"
Tails nodded and grinned at his 'Older brother'
"If you say so Sonic"
Sonic grinned back at him but in his mind he wasn't so confident.
Even if Scourge was a jerk, they really didn't know much about the Professor.
What is he really was some sort of pedo?
Sonic shivered and he sat down at the table with the others.
Did this mean he should stop going to tutoring with him?
'Not really; he wouldn't dare to do anything at a library' the voice in the back of his mind said.
And secretly he really didn't think Shadow could be that bad...
After all wasn't he the one who was running away from the fan girls that stalked him around the school?
Either way he really hoped that Scourge was just making it up...