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Shadow sat at his desk, head propped up by his fist, only half paying attention to the lecture. Professor Robotnik, not so fondly called Eggman by his students, tended to be rather boring. Especially when his students would rather be sleeping. Particularly during review week and everyone was ready for mid terms to be over. He’d completed all the paperwork already, compared his answers to the answer key, figured out what he did wrong and fixed it, and he’d been studying his flashcards for hours beforehand. He was tired, irritated, needed a shower and a solid twenty four hours of sleep. Shadow sipped his coffee again, the strength of the bitterness just barely keeping him awake. Fortunately for him, he had other things to help his eyes stay focused.
The pencil scratched across the lined notebook paper, molding lines and shapes into images. He was sure his doodles weren’t very good, but they kept him awake and he enjoyed them, so he did it anyway. Shadow sketched in the lines of the rose Sonic was holding. He scratched his face, groaning. Sonic’s irritating face had been pressing through his mind for months. He chalked it up to overexposure, because he refused to acknowledge how his eyes were such a pretty green, like stained glass. Or how pink his tongue was in between his sparkling fangs. Or how his ears flicked and wiggled when he got excited or silly.
Shadow jumped out of his thoughts when a ruler slapped against his desk, startling him and several other students around him.
“What’s this?” Professor Robotnik said, unamused, “doodling in my class? I suppose you’re just so smart you don’t need to study, hm?”
“No sir.” Shadow said calmly. “I’ve been studying for hours now, so I was taking a break.
"A break?” Prof. Robotnik fiddled with the end of his ruler in one hand. “Of course. Because you’re just so smart, sitting pretty with your B minus grades. You must think you’re some real hot shot huh?” Eggman adjusted his glasses trying to imitate Shadow but just sounding like a whiny school girl. “Oh- I’m tired, I work so hard, everyone should stop for me and listen to my problems so I can goof off two weeks before midterms.”
“No sir, I-”
“Shut up!” The professor slammed his hands on the desk, but Shadow would not flinch. “I’m tired of your excuses! You come to my class late, you rush your assignments, and you never give me a straight answer! You even have the gall to mess around while everyone else is working ten times harder than you are!” Professor Robotnik snatched his notebook, tearing the drawing and several notes to shreds, shouting in frustration. Students watched in horror as the professor showered the paper over Shadow, grayish white pulp falling in his quills. He leaned in close, and Shadow could smell the smoke in his breath, nasty yellow teeth glistening like maggots. Shadow grit his teeth for fear of saying something he might regret.
“So since you’re so clearly prepared for the exam, you can take it next week!”
Shadow’s face went pale, “but weren’t we supposed to learn chapter twenty next week?”
Robotnik sneered at him. “You’re the smart-ass, you can learn it all before next Friday.” He ran his hands through his messy mustache. “Maybe then you’ll learn a thing or two about responsibility and time management.”
The Professor stormed back to his desk, sitting and continuing his paperwork with a huff. Shadow glared down at shredded paper on his desk. The room was silent, and he knew all their eyes were on him. He would not cry. He would not fail. He had studied so hard, working all day to support his schooling, sacrificed so much, and he was so tired. He glared up at Eggman, fire red eyes burning with hate and rage. He was going to show his arrogant professor just how much of a smart-ass he really could be.