SonAdow - Romance in Highschool?

Sonic: Strange Things About Shadow

~~~~~~~~~Sonic: Where's Shadow?~~~~~~~~~

I chew my burger, trying not to think about how little food is in it. Despite the fact it looks disgusting, the taste isn't atrocious. It's just not...good. Putting it down, I take a sip from my milk carton and look around at the other tables. All of the cliques sitting at their own tables, just like in the city.

"So," I say, trying to start a conversation, "I notice that everyone is sitting in their own group. Tell me, what are the different groups known for?" Rouge grins at me, and answers before anyone else.

"Well," she begins, "that group over there was once called The Chaotix." I follow her gaze to see a chameleon and crocodile sitting at a six-person table. I recognize them from earlier as being called Espio and Vector, and wonder why there's only two of them. Rouge continues, and seems to have anticipated my internal question. "Yeah, there's only two now, but they used to have an armadillo named Mighty sit with them. Knuckles used to sit with them, too, but stopped when Mighty moved away two years ago. Julie-Su came over from the 'co-ed' table to sit with him. That's the same time Amy moved into this group from the 'girl' table."

"I can see why they're called the 'girl' table," I grin, observing the obvious lack of males present at the large table. "What about that one?" I ask, looking over at the three birds from earlier.

"Jet's table?" Amy asks, cutting in to the conversation. "That's the 'rogue' table, and everyone there isn't trustworthy."

"Not as untrustworthy as Scourge's," Julie-Su points out, gesturing to a table with the fox Fiona, and a bunch of other people. I notice a lynx, a frog, a large gorilla, and another hawk right away; they look like trouble. "Even they call themselves the Destructix, and they earned the name for a reason; they're dangerous to mess with."

"Yeah, staying away from them would be best in the interest of physical well-being," agrees Knuckles, and I'm glad for the warning. Mom and Dad did warn me to stay out of trouble, so I'll want to avoid them. Nodding my understanding, I continue to listen to my friends as they explain the nature of the different cliques. Throughout the conversation, I notice one person is missing from the lunch room.

"Where's Shadow?" I ask when the last table is explained. Everyone at the table except for Rouge seems to cringe, and I immediately regret asking.

"Shadow doesn't come to lunch," Rouge shrugs, acting considerably nonchalant compared to everyone else. "He goes to guidance."

"Why?" I ask, and kick myself as I see everyone become more uncomfortable.

"They don't trust him to not get into trouble," Rouge smirks, and I'm amazed at how little she appears to care about the topic. Shooting a glance at everyone else, I ask one more question.

"Why do they not trust him?" I question, assuming "they" means the school's administration. Rouge's smirk deepens, and Amy sighs.

"Well," Rouge says, "they haven't trusted him since he beat the ever-living shit out of Scourge." My eyes widen, and I gulp as she continues. "Shadow transferred to this school two years ago, and was seen as cowardly instead of reserved. Scourge was the king of the school--still is, really--and started harassing Shadow about being scared one day. It was in the middle of the lunch room, and pretty much everyone stopped to watch; things like that usually end up with someone either getting beaten up by Scourge or the insultee running off. A few people even started filming in case a fight broke out."

"Did a fight break out?" I ask, my eyes wide.

"Not exactly," she grins, and something tells me she liked what happened next. "Unless you call a one-sided beat down a 'fight.' Nope, Shadow stood with his back to Scourge and took the first few insults, but then he raised his head. He was close to snapping, but then Scourge put the candle on the cake when he said, 'And who's this Maria girl? Your girlfriend that dumped you and you just can't get over her?' Haha, that was the trigger! You see, Sonic," Rouge gestures with her hand as though presenting something, "never insult Maria. Or Shadow's relationship with Maria. Or how much he cares about and talks about Maria. Or anything to do with Maria."