Surprise! Toldja it wouldn't take long! Sonic and co belong to SEGA, and just so you know, this is a continuation of my other story, A Boy in Need. If you haven't read that first, you wouldn't get it, srry!

now, without further ado...

A Boy In Need: I'm Still Out There

A light pink hedgehog, named Amy Rose, walked into the school building. She wore a short, red, sleeveless dress and a pair of blue jeans underneath it. Amy walked into Mobius County Middle and High school that Monday, and she let out an aggravated sigh, re-positioning her backpack on her shoulders. She just did not want to go through another grueling week of high school, but it's not like she had a choice.

She walked into first hour's room and sat down next to a friend of hers, a white wolf girl with blue eyes named Rachel, and she began to talk with her.

"Hey Rachel! Have you finished your biology homework yet?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, how about you?" Rachel replied. Amy shrugged.

"Meh, I've got time. It's not due till tomorrow," she replied. Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You're never going to graduate if you keep procrastinating!" she said to her.

"Rachel... you're such a ruiner!" Amy said, playfully slapping her on the arm with a book. "We're only freshmen, I don't want to think about graduating already!"

"But that's what I live for; to ruin other people's days!" Rachel joked. The two of them started laughing quietly.

The classroom door opened again, and in walked a tall, red echidna boy with violet eyes, named Knuckles.

"Oh, hey, it's that kid with the one arm; he's Sonic's brother, right?" Amy pointed out, jabbing Rachel in the stomach. Rachel made a slight "oof" sound, then looked up as the one-armed echidna walked past them, to the back of the classroom. He didn't look at anyone in particular, nor did he sit next to anyone. He just took a desk away from everyone and pulled out a book to read.

"Gee, he looks depressed," Rachel whispered quietly. "I feel bad." Amy took a harder look at him. All he did was look at the book he was reading; he never looked up, and he kept the same, solemn expression on his face. Amy heard the guys sitting near her whispering crude words about Knuckles.

"You're right... The guys are such jerks to him..." Amy agreed.

Knuckles looked down at his book, though he wasn't really reading it. He was just trying to make himself appear occupied, so he didn't become the face of mockery again. He could see groups of guys and girls whispering... probably about him no doubt. Knuckles' heard re-shattered once again, as he overheard the words "freak" and "Weirdo." One boy got up and headed to the back of the class, where the pencil sharpener was. As he passed Knuckles' desk, he bent down by his face.

"Hey faggot," he whispered to Knuckles, as he walked by. Knuckles said nothing and just stared forward, not looking the boy in the eyes.

"Alright class, take your textbooks out!" the teacher called, as he walked into the room. Knuckles obeyed, but felt like crying on the inside... just like every day.

Later on in the day, Amy was on her way down to the lunch room, when she heard shouting, and boys chanting "Fight Fight Fight!" She saw a crowd gathering by one of the lockers, and ran over by it to see what the commotion was all about. She pushed a few boys aside, and shouted "Move!" to a few others, and saw Mike, one of the boys on the school wrestling team, slamming Knuckles into a locker repeatedly. He swung at Knuckles, just missing him each time to taunt him. Knuckles flinched and gasped, holding up his one arm in defense at each of the attempted blows. Mike was shouting things at him, like "Oh, watch out, I'm gonna hit you!" and laughing mockingly at the poor, cornered echidna. Amy felt her stomach clench as she watched him torture Knuckles, sometimes hitting him and sometimes not.

"Teacher!" one boy shouted as a warning, because there was a teacher headed down the hall. Mike slammed his fist into Knuckles' stomach, which was the first time he'd actually, forcefully, hit him, then walked away quickly so he wouldn't get in trouble. Knuckles was bent over, trying to regain his breath, as the crowd quickly dispersed. However, Amy stayed, standing across from him and leaning up against the other set of lockers, watching him try to stand back up. She wanted to go ask if he was ok, but something held her back… was it fear that he might be angry, or just fear of being made fun of herself for talking to him. "I'm so selfish, not helping someone just because of my status!" she thought, yet she remained in her spot, as she watched him. Knuckles coughed and winced, still gripping at his paining stomach. He looked up, and immediately his eyes locked right on hers. His face appeared seething and angry, but in his eyes, she saw pain and sadness. Amy gulped, as he just stared at her coldly, but then looked away. He looked down at the ground, averting her gaze from his view, grimacing. A bit startled, Amy quickly turned and walked away before something happened. As she walked down the hall, she realized that her heart was thumping extremely fast.

"What had he possibly done that caused Mike to beat him up like that?" she thought.

Knuckles saw that girl staring at him in the hall. What was her name; Amy? He looked at her, unsure of what to say. For some reason, she seemed scared of him, although he didn't know why. Fearing he may have startled her, and ashamed of himself, he looked down, to try and get away from her gaze. But he still felt her eyes boring into the back of his head, and he let a slight grimace slip onto his face. His stomach finally stopped throbbing, so he stood up. He looked back at Amy, but found that she was quickly walking down the stairs. When Amy left, she left in a hurry, and he felt like he'd startled her. But he didn't worry about it for long; at least now he was alone, and to him, being alone was his only comfort. He winced once more and walked off down the hall, hoping no one else was watching him.

Amy sat next to Rachel, still panting heavily, next to her other friends; Sasha the hedgehog and Daisy the Phoenix.

"Girl, what's got you all wound up?" Daisy asked.

Amy sighed. "Nothing," she replied. "We have Cheerleading practice tonight," Amy randomly pointed out, to change the subject.

Srry, not much to write yet... but I'll update soon. Just gotta think of some new ideas, won't take long.

Well, bai!