Chapter 15: Cameo
#15 of In Chaos
Upon exiting the gym, Rhonda let go of Shadow's hand. The black hedgehog turned and looked at his new girlfriend, puzzled.
"I'm sorry, Shadow," Rhonda began. "I'll see you at lunch, but I have gym now, and you have art. They say next week they're going to be combining the genders into a single gym class, but for now it's separated."
"But... uh... I don't have any clue as to where the art room is."
Rhonda giggled, then pointed down the hall. "See that lone red locker at the end of this hallway? The art room is to the left of that locker."
Shadow looked down the hall, spotting the locker. Nodding, he smiled at Rhonda. "I have a doctor's appointment at lunch, so I'll probably see you tomorrow, or maybe even after school today."
The look that Rhonda gave him could break a man's heart. Shadow's lower lip quivered slightly, even. "It's no control of mine, though... it's that damned foster parent." Shadow sighed, and the bell rang. Rhonda quickly leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then handed him a slip of paper and turned around to head back into the gym.
Shadow watched her little butt wiggle as she disappeared behind the gym door, then looked down at the slip of paper she had handed him. It had an address and a phone number on it, as well as her name. Shadow stuffed the note into his pocket, then set off quickly down the hall so he wouldn't be late for his next class.
Shadow was able to get into the classroom and find a seat before the bell rang again. He chose a table near the back of the class, in the dark so that he wouldn't be as noticed. It wouldn't matter, though, because everyone wanted to sit next to the hedgehog that warded off Jayden's advances.
The bell rang, and the teacher entered the room. Shadow couldn't see her well from his viewpoint behind a ton of male students, but what little bit he could see, he could tell she was a bear, and BIG. Not pregnancy big, but "winter's-coming-and-I-need-to-eat-a lot-so-I-don't-starve-while-I'm-hibernating" big. Shadow stifled his laughter. He'd never seen anyone so big outside of Eggman.
"Alright class, calm down and take you seats," the teacher was saying. "We've only got about twenty minutes left of class. That should be enough time to at least get started on this project."
Wait... isn't that the same thing the science teacher had told the class? Shadow, who had never been to school, was puzzled and completely floored (figuratively!) by the sheer number of things that had to be done in one day. He scratched at his head, wondering what this project would be.
"Class, the project I've got for you today will be running through the next couple of weeks, until I leave. What each of you will be doing is designing and building a paper mache' statue of a villain. I want you to write up an entire biography of this person, male or female. The statue needs to be as close to life-size as possible, but don't worry. You'll have plenty of time, and plenty of help.
"Today, you'll be drawing smaller versions of your villain ideas. I'll be passing out colored pencils and unlined paper for you, and I want you to have at least a sketch done by the end of class. Seeing as how you have twenty minutes, that shouldn't be that hard."
The teacher turned around to fiddle with supplies, taking a stack of white computer paper and some boxes of colored pencils from a closet in the front of the room that Shadow hadn't noticed before. As she handed out supplies, Shadow sat back and grinned. What villain did he know better than Dr. Eggman? Who did he know more thoroughly? Shadow knew exactly what the man looked like, what he smelled like, how tall he was, how fat he was. He even knew just how long his mustache was, and at what length the doctor considered it too long. Shadow KNEW now that he would ace this project.
Once all the supplies were passed out, the teacher turned to the class and smiled. "Class, when you've each completely written out the details about your villain, we'll be visiting the computer lab to type them out. Your homework today will be to write out at least two pages of data on your villain."
Shadow scratched his head. 'Homework?' A typical teardown of the word defined it as work done at home. 'But isn't that what school's for? To learn and do work at school?'
Shadow looked at his blank paper, then up at the clock. Fifteen minutes to draw out what the doctor looked like. Shadow sighed, taking a black colored pencil, and pressing the tip lightly to the paper in front of him. He figured he may as well attempt to draw the guy, though he considered his drawing skills... not all that good.
Shadow started with ‘ole Eggy's stomach. It extended almost cartoonishly from his main body. Actually, the more Shadow thought about it, the more Eggman looked like a cartoon. He had this small head, huge mustache, no neck, a smaller chest and scrawny arms, gigantic stomach, then smaller waist and scrawny legs, with big (but thin) feet. His figure was absolutely ridiculous.
Let me tell you something about Shadow. He was a perfectionist when it came to doing anything with his hands. So despite the fact that he didn't think he was much of an artist, he was actually very talented. He had Eggy's figure drawn out, plus the outfit he was going to have the doctor wear, and it was half colored by the time the teacher wandered over to see how he was doing.
Shadow was so into his drawing that the teacher's gasp made him jump. He dropped the colored pencil (thankfully it didn't leave any extra marks) and looked up at the teacher, who was looking down at his paper.
"Shadow, is it? This is remarkable. I've not seen a student with your art skills since... I don't know when. What name does this villain have?"
Shadow grinned. "His name is Doctor Robotnik, but he likes to go by Doctor Eggman."
The teacher smiled. "You already have a good idea about the details for him, don't you?"
Shadow nodded. "It almost like I know this villain in real life."
The statement puzzled the teacher, but at that moment the bell rang and the students started scrambling to put things away. "Pass your drawings to the front please, and don't forget about your homework! Two pages of data on your villain!"
Shadow scrambled for the door, passing his drawing to the front like everyone else had. He got out the door and into the hallway, and fished in his pocket for his schedule. He was in the process of opening the thing when he realized it was lunchtime. That meant...
"Shadow? You need to come with me, please."
That voice... Shadow looked up and spotted Jon Speedz, the foster parent he was supposed to stay with. The skunk was halfway down the hall, motioning with his hand that Shadow needed to come over to him. Feelings of anger began to bubble inside him, but for the moment he kept them under control. Shadow wouldn't be able to tell you, even now, why Jon made him angry. He just did.
Shadow went with Jon, who led him towards the Principal's office. Shadow was told to stay, and Jon went in to speak with the Principal. He wasn't in there but maybe five minutes, then he came out and motioned Shadow towards the door, which was down the hall from the Principal's office.
"I'm sorry, Shadow," Jon said. "I feel you need this mental examination, for the safety of yourself as well as everyone around you."
'Just what is this mental examination?'