Partners

"Art is an expression of the soul, your innermost feelings put into physical form, your secret thoughts revealed before the very eyes of the watching world."

Inwardly, many of the students groaned. They were all used to the poetic speeches of their art teacher, Lois Leonardo, but that didn't mean they grew to like them. Amy Rose, however, listened to the lion with wide and sparkling emerald green eyes, her ears soaking up every word he spoke.

"Your art is all about your personal perspective. It shows how you interpret the things and people of the world surrounding you. That is why two artists can see the same thing, yet construct two completely different pieces inspired by what they saw. And this," he paused, smiling his awkward, lopsided smile and straightening his black rimmed glasses. "brings us to our new project. What happens when you put two vastly different minds together to create one work of art? Beauty or absolute chaos? We will discover the answer to this by the end of two weeks."

"Two weeks?" someone exclaimed.

"Why yes. You can't rush brilliance, my dears. Now, as you have probably already guessed, this assignment will have you working in pairs to create a work of art inspired by something of your choosing. You must complete your pieces together, but you will be required to tell me your own individual part in your collective projects. Understand?"

Cream the Rabbit hesitantly raised her hand and Lois smiled kindly at her. "You have a question, Ms. Cream?"

"I was just wondering if we get to choose our own partners."

"Actually, I already picked out everyone's partner. April you will be paired with Fern, Oscar will be with Crystal-"

"Whew! Destiny strikes again!" the brown mouse burst out, throwing a fist into the air. A couple desks away, Crystal, a white wolf with startlingly beautiful turquoise orbs, sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Why is it always him..." she muttered.

Lois just smiled and continued. "Dusk will be with Sandra, Isaac will be with Titus, Cream will be with Miles..."

The cream and orange colored rabbit smiled shyly at the yellow-orange, two-tailed fox. He blushed and returned the smile.

"And lastly, Amy will be paired with Shadow."

A low chorus of gasps arose and whatever else Lois had to say went ignored as the teenagers began trading whispers back and forth. Her expression filled with concern, Cream looked back at her best friend only to find the pink hedgehog lost within a happy daydream.

"Amy?" she called. "Amy, did you hear?"

When Amy didn't respond, someone took it upon themselves to throw an eraser at her head. The action promptly got her attention.

"Ow, hey! Stop doing that, April!" Amy snapped.

The black cat dressed in gothic attire shrugged and smirked to herself.

"Um, Amy, did you hear what Mr. Lois said?" Cream inquired.

Pouting, the hedgehog rubbed the place where the eraser had hit her, upset at having been torn away from the wonderful daydream which had her paired up with Sonic. "No, what is it?"

"Well, he said-he said you're being paired with Shadow."

Her anger was suddenly forgotten. "What?"

At first she thought she had heard Cream wrong, but the way the floppy-eared rabbit was nervously chewing her lip told Amy otherwise.

The bell rang and most of the students were on their feet not a second later. Amy was left sitting speechless, though, her disbelieving eyes wide. Lois couldn't have been serious. He couldn't honestly pair her and Shadow together. That was a fate worse than death!

Slowly, she turned her head to the darkest corner of the classroom. There she found him, an ebony hedgehog cloaked entirely in black, his face hidden within the shadow of his hood as always. He was an outcast amongst outcasts, an enigma no-one wanted to figure out. Even the teachers didn't bother him, never addressing the student who carried such an ominous air about himself. His nickname was Kid Reaper because many believed he was the son of the murderous leader in charge of the city's biggest and baddest gang. Some even thought he might be the leader of that gang. And now...he was Amy's partner...

...

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