A/N I don't know if this is going to go anywhere or if it's going to be a oneshot but I had an urge to write it to step away from some angst in my other fics; so here we go and it'll be what it is. Rather like Calvin himself. By the way, apologies if I get any details of American Schools wrong. I'll also try to remember to spell in yankee. No promises on that front. Calvin wouldn't care anyway so long as his art is appreciated.

1. First day in High School

Going to big school was always going to be a bit nervous; but now Calvin was fourteen having a mascot was just fine so Hobbes could go with him.

And most of the kids would be the same so at least he would know them….

Oh wait, that was not necessarily an advantage. Moe would be there too. But at least Moe was scared of Hobbes.

Or was he? When they had been six Calvin had assumed that Moe could see Hobbes threaten him; but he had learned – painfully – in the meantime that most people, even Susie Derkins, could not see Hobbes change from a stuffed tiger into a real tiger. And he was finding it harder himself; growing up was not good.

"I love you Hobbes" he said before they went downstairs "I don't want to grow up if it means losing you."

"I love me too" said Hobbes. "I guess the secret is not to grow up where your thoughts and beliefs are. So long as you keep believing I'm special it'll be okay. It was pretty bad when you were nine and thought you were too old for a stuffed toy."

"I must have been nuts" said Calvin "I stopped making up stories too….. It was terrifying when Mom had to have her appendix out but y'know in a way it was the best thing that could have happened; because you were the only person I could talk to and you never laughed at me for crying."

"Even your dad talked to me then" said Hobbes "Well if you can call it talking to me when all he did was address a monologue to me about the statistics of death on the operating table."

"That's dad though" shrugged Calvin. "Uh oh, mom's calling; we have to go."

oOoOo

"You brought Hobbes" said Susie as Calvin sat down on the bus.

"Why not? He's my mascot" said Calvin. "The superstitious awe of mankind leads to anthropomorphising objects in a probably vain expectation that some form of animate spirit of object, as typified by the animist religion of Shinto, will lend some kind of divine aid. Live with it."

"If you wrote essays with as much research in as the rubbish you spout about irrelevancies you might get higher marks" said Susie.

"Getting high grades is an illusion" said Calvin loftily "Striving for high position is a sign of an empty mind."

"No you pea brain it's the sign of someone who likes the idea of being well off when they leave school" said Susie "And I'm not impressed with all that Zen rubbish. Even Hobbes looks disapproving" she tried to joke; one had to live with the zany little nutter after all.

"It's you he's scowling at" said Calvin.

"No I'm not" murmured Hobbes "I saw a dog outside; I wasn't actually listening. You and Susie have had variations on this conversation for the last eight years and it's boring. Please don't marry her; I'd have to live with it all day then."

Calvin now knew better than to answer Hobbes when someone who could not see his other form was present. He turned pointedly away from both of them for the rest of the journey.

oOoOo

The new girl was gorgeous. She had frizzy ginger hair and green eyes and a three cornered smile that made Calvin's spine feel crinkly.

"YOW! Gorgeous babe!" said Hobbes.

"Yeah" said Calvin "Oh boy! Moe's seen her; I suppose we'd better go and help. I'm going to get ploughed into the ground again."

Moe was busy explaining in his limited vocabulary that he was the top dog here and she better give him a kiss.

"Or what, dogbreath?" said the girl.

"Or I take one and as much more as I feel like" said Moe.

"Leave her alone Moe!" said Calvin.

"Oh hi Twinky; what, you gonna set your toy tiger on me? I ain't fallin' for the booby-trapped toy trick again" said Moe.

"I – I'll fight you!" Calvin went white.

"Hey, Twinky, I'll deal with you later" said Moe "I got a hot date with this chick first."

"In your DREAMS you underbred Neanderthal" said the girl.

"Hey she has a nice line of insults" said Hobbes.

"Thank you" said the girl.

Calvin started. Had she just answered HOBBES?

Moe went to pull her to him; he had kissed most of the pretty girls in the top year of middle school and though he had received a caution from the headmaster it had not seemed to make any difference. Calvin privately doubted that Moe had any idea that his concept of getting his own way was called extortion, grievous bodily harm or – as it would doubtless end up – rape in the grown up world and would be surprised and grieved when he ended up in prison. He gritted his teeth and went forward to try to pull Moe away.

He did not need to.

There was a flurry of limbs and ginger hair and Moe went down.

Calvin stood with his mouth open.

"RrrAARRR, cool babe!" said Hobbes.

"Stop purring you" said the girl; but she was smiling. "The class bully I take it. My name's Jessica; and my dad's a Gunny."

"Crumbs!" said Calvin "will you teach ME that? It's just so cool…. I'm Calvin by the way and the mouthy one is Hobbes. He's my uh, mascot."

"Hi Calvin; hi Hobbes" said Jessica linking an arm into each. "I suppose you already have friends with a cool friend like Hobbes? Or can't the dorks see him?"

"They can't see him; and they think I'm a dork who doesn't live in the real world" blurted Calvin.

"Oh boy! Their loss and my gain!" said Jessica "If we can be friends?"

"I – yeah. Why not?" said Calvin trying for nonchalant.

Jessica grinned at him.

"Well as my mom is busy shopping fit to drop to sort out the new house now we've been posted here and dad's on duty, I can come by yours after school and start those lessons; and maybe Hobbes might let me do his tummy in private."

"For a lady" said Hobbes "Anything."

"You never let me" said Calvin resentfully.

"Well I never noticed YOU were a lady" said Hobbes "I can't help being a babe magnet!"

"Gentlemen! Don't quarrel over me!" laughed Jessica. "Oh, I was DREADING being in a new school; but I think it's going to be rather good fun!"

It may be said that Susie and the others watched in bafflement that the pretty new girl had both flattened Moe and then walked off with one arm round Calvin's arm and his mascot tiger tucked under her other arm.

"She doesn't know him like we do" said Susie ominously.