Chapter Text
Flickies chirp in the morning, as the golden rays of the sun, hit Nicky’s eyes. He’s groggy, last night's activities keeping him up far later than he would have liked. Resulting in him crashing for the night to sweet slumber to wash away the pain. Fighting badniks all night was hard not to mention the loads of summer work he had to finish afterward.
His eyes begin to open when they close shut from the light. The radiance burned his eyes, waking up was already hard enough. Especially with the light crust that had formed on his eyes throughout his sleep.
Yep it’s morning
And with that thought, Nicky lazily grabs his phone and checks the time. Monday 9:45.
Nicky stared at his phone, surely he had set his alarms to 8 AM, right? He quickly scrolls to the app.
…
He didn’t, he was going to be late. Damn it
Nicky jumps from his bed, putting on his simple oversized shirt and glasses, and gathering all of his necessary items: Backpack, Violin Case, and phone. He dashes out the door of his apartment passing the elevator for the stairs. At times like this, he really wishes he could use his speed.
Rushing down the stairs, he gets outside to his bike. If it’s a ten-minute bike from this apartment he could theoretically make it before everyone is done setting up. Then he could easily slip in without anyone noticing him. He always sat in one particular seat so no one would bother him, surely no one had stolen his seat.
Nicky pelted as fast as he could without going at super speeds, he blew past people and buildings with only one thought on his mind.
“No one steals my seat, dear Gaia. Please.” He thought. After locking his bike and running past classmates and staff alike he finally makes it. 10:05
And there's someone in his seat. A red echidna, to be honest, Nicky didn’t think that any lived in the city, but he was sitting in his seat.
To be fair it was a small Music Theory class, so everyone knew each other. But this man was a stranger to Nicky and when they locked eyes. The dread poured in.
“Need somethin’,” the red echidna said, as he looked up to Nicky. He was moving what seemed to be a Saxophone Case out of the way.
Nicky stared at him, wanting to say something but being much too startled to say anything worthwhile. “Um… You’re… You... I..” Nicky began to mentally pace. This was too much for him.
“Never mind… Yeah… Never mind, don’t worry about it.” Nicky avoided making contact with the echidna. The echidna stared at him in boredom with a hint of confusion.
Nicky withdrew and found a seat in the back of the class hall far away from the echidna. … Nicky wanted to throw up, it was too much eye contact. That man probably thought he was insane; what was he thinking trying to talk with him? He should have just gone to the back when he saw him, everyone had stared at them while they talked. Nicky wanted to crawl in a hole and shrivel up.
Beep
His phone. A message from Amy, one of his friends. She had just started University this year and was getting used to everything.
Amy: Hey Nicky, how's class?
Nicky: Going great, Ames. Did you find your class alright? Sorry I could help you. I had important summer work to polish.
Amy: It was okay. I had a pretty girl help me. You should have seen her because she was so pretty.
Amy: Oh I’m getting off task :P
Amy: Nicky I heard that there’s this really cute cafe nearby. You know I heard Sonic The Hedgehog got a chili dog there once. We def have to go. After all, what if he comes back. I can’t let my future husband run off like that.
Nicky: Of course Ames, I’ll see you at 12:00
Nicky felt the pit in his stomach return. Amy was obsessed with “Sonic” after his debut last year. Reading all the articles on him and all the unofficial merchandise that existed. Of course, she didn’t know that Nicky was Sonic; almost no one did. And he didn’t plan on her ever knowing.
Nicky didn’t plan on becoming “Sonic”. He just wanted to protect people and be free to use his power of speed. Never did he think that Sonic would be a countrywide sensation. With multiple news outlets working to figure out who he was.
Sonic the Hedgehog. A hedgehog with royal blue spines and radiant green eyes shone with all the confidence of the world. In the contrast, Nicky was a dull blue and did have a darkish green that leaned more black than green. His eyes were nervous and always looking towards the corner. But luckily for him, there were also hundreds of hedgehogs with blue spines and green eyes.
Even if Nicky wanted to come out as Sonic it’s not like anyone would believe him. Not without a demonstration at least. There had been many hedgehogs that claimed to be Sonic or said that they were related to him. Which was fine with Nicky, the lesser eyes on him the better.
Nicky refocused, class was about halfway over. He should take notes for the rest of the class. He sighed pulled out his notebook and began writing notes for class. To say the least, it was a boring class.
After class Nicky began to get up when the red Echidna got in his way. This echidna was at least a whole two inches taller than him. Which was a lot at their height, Nicky nervously glanced up at him. The echidna was staring down at Nicky. Nicky could not decipher the echidna’s expression, he couldn’t tell if he was mad or thinking.
“Hey.” The echidna said as Nicky jumped in place.
He was so dead. He made this guy mad. He was going to beat up behind a dumpster he was-
“Sorry, I was told that you usually sit there.” The echidna rubbed the back of his head as he sighed.
“What?” Nicky’s expression was of pure confusion.
“I said, Sorry. I’m new to this school. Transferred this semester.” The echidna looked back at Nicky. “If I woulda known you sat there I wouldn’t have stolen your seat.”
“Oh… That’s okay it really is. After all, it’s a new school semester and I mean seats aren’t assigned. It's not like it’s my seat…” Nicky rambled on with apologies.
The echidna looked over to the clock above the teacher’s podium. “Look kid, at least let me make this up to you. It’s around lunchtime, I’ll treat you.”
“Oh um… I made plans with a friend but if you want to come we are going over to Rabbit Cafe. You don’t need to pay for my lunch, trust me I have enough. I’m perfectly fine.” Nicky rubbed the of his head as he began gathering his things.
“Knuckles” The echidna introduced himself and held out a hand, he was wearing a white glove and he had spikes.
“Ni- Nicky.” Nicky happily shook Knuckle's hand.
“Um… My friend is at the plaza, we shouldn’t have her keep waiting.”
The two got their things as they went to go find Amy.