Spooky

Chapter 16

{Author's Note: Hi, everyone. Sorry this update's been so long in the making. The good news is, the next chapter is already ready to go because I got ahead of myself and wrote some real nice stuff. The bad news is... I'm a little rusty, so this chapter isn't stellar.
So, sorry for a filler chapter, but I think I'm gonna kick the pace into gear soon and speed up a bit. I know people are looking forward to the fluffy cute shit, but I gotta build up their friendship just a little bit first...
Trust me. It'll be great.}

-Shadow's POV-

Staying awake during detention is one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. Scourge, Rouge and I were moved to polar opposite corners, facing the wall, without even paper or a pen after spending the first hour trying to get each other to laugh. The teacher eventually caught on, around the third time Scourge "remembered something funny that happened yesterday" and started cracking up. There's only another hour left to go—I've been keeping a careful eye on the clock—and then we'll be free to go. The only sound is the ticking clock, Scourge sniffling, and Rouge tapping her foot. Without anything to do, my mind wanders, thinking about nothing and everything all at once. I take to planning out every part of my day, starting when I leave here. The moment my feet hit the pavement outside, the three of us will dash to the parking lot. Steel is waiting to pick up Rouge—Scourge texted him before we got here, where all our phones are forfeit—while Scourge and I will take his motorcycle. The four of us will head to the ice cream parlor, sit and enjoy ourselves, then Rouge and Steel will go back. Scourge has offered to drive me to my house to pick up what I need... but I haven't really told him any of the details. We'd had a brief conversation this morning, getting ready to go to breakfast and whatnot, but I didn't tell him much...

•~
[8:15 AM]

A yawn splits my face for the fifth time this morning, and Scourge snorts. "Sorry for keepin' you up so late," he comments. The two of us walk side-by-side down the sidewalk, headed for the cafeterias for some mediocre breakfast. I'm absolutely starving.

I shake my head, waving him off, "Ah, it's fine. I'll catch up on my sleep tonight." Readjusting my hoodie, I tug on one of the strings to try and even it up with the other.

"How's the face?" The green hedgehog leans a bit closer, looking concerned. He takes a hand out of his jacket pocket, reaching towards me almost involuntarily.

"It's fine," I gingerly touch my cheek. "Bruised a bit, but fine. How are you feeling?" Looking up, I preemptively quicken my pace ever so slightly; we're drawing close to the main building, and I swear to God, if I don't get to eat at least one bagel I will drop dead.

"Less tired, but still not great," he admits with a shrug, letting his hand drop a bit sheepishly. His body language has been... off lately. Maybe it's just the sickness, I don't know. "Hopefully I'll be good by Monday."

"Hopefully, " I echo, pulling open the door. Scourge ducks inside, and I follow suit; we trot through the rather empty hallways to find a quiet mess hall. They serve breakfast until ten, but obviously there's not a ton of people here. Rouge waves to us from a table near the end of the line—she clearly got her food, then immediately sat down. The two of us hustle on over to the start of the line, surveying our options.

"...What are you gonna get?" Scourge mutters to me, picking up a tray.

My eyes drift across the buffet. There really isn't much here—bagels, muffins, eggs, yogurt and milk are our options. But there really isn't much of any of them out right now, so really it's just bagels, one muffin, a single cup of yogurt, some scraps of scrambled egg and maybe five cartons of milk. "Probably a bagel," I reply evenly. We step forward, and he nods. I don't really know why he felt the need to ask me, but it is weirdly quiet in here, so maybe he just wanted to fill the silence. I grab a bagel and move on; Scourge goes for the one muffin. Somehow, I figured he would—it did look pretty nice, but I feel more like eating something plain today.