Chapter Text
‘That stupid hedgehog. It’s been 2 years since I’ve met him, and it’s been a living nightmare. He just has to be better than me at everything, even Extreme Gear! What kind of asshole just picks up gear and knows how to use it immediately? He has to have been lying, there’s no way he could’ve beaten me- The Legendary Wind Master. I mean come on! I can’t go a single day without ‘Ooo, Sonic this’ and ‘Sonic that’, I’m so tired of hearing his damn name. That’s all I hear, and that’s all I think about, just give me a break.’
“Jet? Hello! You in there bud? We’re not writing right now you know.” Jet looks up to see his teacher, Mr. Nguyen, staring at him, as well as the entire class. Dammit.
“Oh, um, s-sorry.” He mentally cursed himself trying to hold in his tics. Why did he have to call on me, the asshole knows my tics get worse when my anxiety spikes. Jet felt the urge to just flail around, but was doing his best to push down the squirming happening. He would always try and hold in his tics in public, the amount of stares would always cause was completely unwanted, it would only make them worse; plus it really brings down his ‘cool status’ (he thinks he has one).
The class continues on, and Jet begins writing again once Mr. Nguyen is looking away. ‘I don’t understand what he has that I don’t. I can race, I’m cool as shit, and I look even cooler’. The writing was beginning to get Jet worked up, and a vocal tic escaped. Luckily, it wasn’t that loud and only a few kids noticed, but one kid was still too many. ‘I just wish that everyone would stop talking about Sonic. It’s really getting on my nerves, I can’t stop thinking about him. He pisses me off so much my fucking stomach is in knots for fucks sake. All I want is to show everyone that I can be just as ‘cool’ as they think he is’. Looking across the classroom, Jet spots Sonic, sitting, well, fidgeting, not really paying attention to the lesson at all. Why does he have to sit right there? Right in my viewline. Just another time I have to have him shoved in my face. Look at his stupid quills, dumb red shoes, gross ass smile. It had been a little bit over a minute before Sonic looked over, his eyes meeting with Jet’s. Shit. Jet could hear Sonic quietly chuckle from across the room. Stupid, stupid! Now not only does everyone think he’s better than you, he is gonna make fun of you too. This is why you don’t stare at people for so long. How the hell was I supposed to know how long was too long? GAH. Jet was only becoming more and more ancy. He went into his backpack to grab one of his stim toys, but apparently made too much noise.
“Jet, is there a reason that you are doing almost everything in your power to avoid paying attention to my class? Do you not like how I teach ELA? Because feel free to come on up and teach the class yourself if that’s the case.” Mr. Nguyen loudly stated. Jet just remained in the same position. His brain was beginning to fog up, and he couldn’t put things together correctly.
“Well come on, sit up, and pay attention.” A few chuckles could be heard around the room. Quickly, Jet pulled out whichever one he grabbed, and sat up looking to Mr. Nguyen. Once more, the class resumed. Stupid koala. It was only the first month of his Junior year, and Jet could already tell it was going to suck. There’s only so much berating and harassment one person can take before it gets to be too much, and three years of it was really pushing it.
I don’t care about this stupid class. None of my classes even matter! I don’t want to do any of this college crap after, so there’s legit no need for me to be here now. Jet sighed and continued writing with his left hand and messing with his tangle in his right. ‘There has to be a way for me to gain everyone’s respect. If I could do that, then maybe that stupid hedgehog would leave my mind. No competition, no more headaches.’ Well, you’d get headaches either way, what with the tics and then meltdowns - But that’s besides the point! ‘If I could beat him in a race, in front of as many people as I could, then I would gain their respect, and he would go back to some lame track kid’. For years I’ve had these stupid knots anytime I’ve thought about him, but I might finally have a solution! Not only can I show everyone how much better than him I am, but I can also rest easy knowing that he’d be far below me, metaphorically and physically.
Seeing as he should probably at least know what the assignment was, Jet tried to pay attention for a little while.
"Now does everyone know what the assignment is?" Shit. The class all responded in unison with an unenthusiastic 'yes'.
"Oh, do we now? Jet, what is this week's assignment?" Are you fucking kidding me? Jet sat there for a second, trying to get a hint from the whiteboard, but the presentation was over.
"Um . . ." Panic started setting in. He bounced his leg as fast as he could, and was practically about to explode from holding in his tics for so long.
"An answer by today would be ideal." Mr. Nguyen smirked, knowing full well Jet wouldn't know the answer.
"Y-y-y'know my-my 5-5-50-f-f-4 plan says y-you're not sup-suppos-supposed to call-" Jet was cut off before he could finish, and he was honestly glad he was too.
"Not the answer I asked for. Blaze, could you tell me what we're doing this week?" Blaze looked back at Jet, he refused to look back.
"We're doing an 8 paragraph essay comparing and contrasting 3 different poems from the list on the board." She paused and tried to start up again.
"Mr. Nguyen, I don't think you're supposed to single out students like tha-" Same as Jet, the large koala cut off Blaze.
"Well, now that everyone knows what the assignment is, please choose a 3 poems listed on the board, and when you pick them, come up to tell me so I may write it down, and grab a copy of the poems on the way back to your seat." The class did as they were told, some almost immediately walking up to the teachers desk right after he finished speaking.
A few kids and Jet were the last ones to go up. The class had about almost 50 students in it, so even the last line was long as all hell. I can't believe you kept yaking even after stuttering that much. Some kind of idiot, honestly. Bravo, you've managed to completely embarrass yourself. No one cares about your 504 plan clearly. What's the point of having one if the teachers aren't going to respect it? 'Let's see how long it takes before I break the disabled kid, dahaha!' Fucking dickweed.
"Hey, you alright Jet?" The sound of Sonic's voice made Jet stumble slightly, catching him by surprise.
"Huh?" Jet asked looking up at the blue hedgehog.
"I asked if you were alright. Mr. Nguyen was kind of being a jerk back there, and I just wanted to make sure you're alright. He really kinda singled you out." Sonic said, rubbing the back of his head. Jet's face grew a little bit warmer at the statement, he wasn't sure why, he just knew he didn't like it.
"What's it matter to you, Hedgehog?" Jet looked away, the eye contact starting to become too much. He was never sure if he was making too little or too much.
"I mean- I just wanted to check in." Sonic chuckled kind of nervously, Jet only became increasingly more flushed. They moved slightly forward as the line progressed, and Jet continued.
"What, are you happy to once again take victory over me?" The two stood rather closely, making Jet focus more on his tangle than looking up.
"What? No, I just- um . . . Heh, you're stutter seems to have subsided for a little bit. I guess you're a little less stressed then?" Jet looked up, thinking about how his stutter did seem to stop once he started taking to Sonic, which was strange, if he's stressed, stuttering just kind of comes with it.
"I- uh . . . I guess so." Jet let out a little half laugh, still not looking at Sonic. Hearing Jet being able to let something other than anger show for once made Sonic chuckle a little bit.
"Once you two are finally done with holding up the line, Jet, would you like to tell me which poems you chose?" Mr. Nguyen said, sitting in his chair with a clipboard in front of him with everyone's name on it.
"Oh, um-" Jet walked up to the side of the desk, now fidgeting with his tangle more than before.
"So, what poems will you be choosing?" The koala stared at Jet, his glare practically burning through his skin.
"I ch-chose 'L-l-lost, On-ne-one Sssoul', 'Be-Be-f-f-ore You-" For a second time, Jet was interrupted by Mr. Nguyen.
"Alright, 'Lost, One Soul', 'Before You Came', aaand, let's just say 'From New Eyes'." A chuckle erupted from the large man. Whatever. Jet let out a sigh and nodded. He grabbed the copies of the poems and began to walk back to his seat before Mr. Nguyen stopped him.
"Oh, and Jet! I've read your 504 plan, and I'm just trying to help you feel more normal by treating you like everyone else. They create these labels for things, and then all of a sudden, it's someone's excuse to not do anything. When I was growing up, kids would just deal with it, I thought you would enjoy being treated as an equal- as normal." Both Sonic and Jet stared confused beyond belief. First few weeks of being a Junior, and their ELA teacher is ableist, isn't that just great.
Jet sat down at his seat, watching Sonic as he said his poems to the teacher, his face still warm from taking to him earlier. One thing is for certain Hedgehog, I will beat you.