Title: I Can Tell We're Gonna Be Best Friends
Author: Carrehz
Rating: PG-13 for language
Character(s): Giggles and Chuckles; Allie, Cami and Chortle make cameos
Warning(s): some swearing, I guess
Notes: Backstory fic, takes place in high school (Giggles is around 13-14, Chuckles is ~17 here).
I Can Tell We're Gonna Be Best Friends
"Giggles, I'd like a word with you, please," the ferret called after his student. She stopped, looking confused.
"Me? Um.. okay..." She hung around the door of the classroom as the other students filed through it; eventually, the only ones left were Giggles and a taller pink wolf. The ferret suppressed a smile - those two were always together.
"I'd like to speak to her alone, please, Allie."
The wolf frowned. "Oh... alright... Like, I'll wait for you outside, okay?" she said, squeezing her friend's hand before leaving the room. Giggles walked over to the teacher's desk, still looking confused.
"Umm... am I in trouble?" she said, somewhat hesitantly. "'Cause if I am, I-"
"No, no... well, not exactly. Giggles, your grades recently have been... well, to be honest, it's not just 'recently'..." The teacher paused, trying to think how best to word it. He didn't want to upset her, but he also couldn't think of any other way to get her to actually pay attention to her work... perhaps a small scare would get her on track again. "Well, to put it bluntly, I've been informed that if your grades don't improve soon, the school will have no choice but to expel you."
She stared at him, her eyes wide, her ears thrown back in shock. "B-bu-but you can't throw me out! I, I-I-"
"It's not up to me," he interrupted. "I'm sorry, Giggles, but it's out of my hands."
"But.. but I..." the cat stared at the floor, biting her lip, then looked back up at her teacher. "What'll I do?"
"Well, perhaps you could ask one of your older siblings to help you with your schoolwork?" he suggested, having gathered from previous interactions that asking her parents was a lost cause. She gave him a look, and he decided not to press the point, instead changing tacks. "Alright, well, why not ask another student if they could tutor you, then?"
"...Like Allie?"
"Ah... no, I was thinking perhaps an older student." Allie's grades weren't that much better than Giggles'; besides, he knew it was unlikely the two would get much studying done together. "Hmm... How about Chuckles Foley? He's an excellent student, I'm sure he'd be willing to help you."
"Chuckles?" she repeated, her head cocked to one side. The ferret nodded, glancing at the clock.
"Yes, I believe he'll be in the science lab now... if you hurry, you may still be able to catch him. Otherwise, I'll ask him tomorrow, okay?"
"'Kay - um - I'll go look for him, then," Giggles said, before rushing out of the door. As the door slammed behind her, the ferret leaned back in his chair, sighing in relief; that had gone better than he'd expected.
~~~~
"Like, how'd it go? You're not, like, in trouble or anything, right?" Allie said, rushing over to her friend as soon as the classroom door shut. "I'm sorry he wouldn't, like, let me stay with you."
"That's okay," Giggles said, sounding distracted. "Uh, he said I need to go to the science lab... I can't explain right now, I've gotta rush over there..."
"Want me to come with you?"
"No, it's alright... I'll call you when I get home, 'kay?"
"'Kay," Allie replied; she was still somewhat worried, but Giggles didn't seem to be particularly upset, so whatever had happened couldn't have been that bad, right? "See ya later, then." She leaned down, kissing Giggles briefly, before the two parted ways.
~~~~
Giggles reached the science lab just as its doors opened. Quickly spotting a familiar face amongst the sea of students exiting the room, she rushed over.
"Hey Giggles!" her friend - Cami - said, smiling. "What're you doing here? Where's Allie?" she added, looking around for her cousin.
"She went home - look, Mr. Entwhistle sent me here - do you know Chuckles Foley? I need to ask him something."
Cami blinked, surprised. "Yeah, sort of." She glanced over her shoulder. "He's over there - the one talking to Miss Sakamoto."
Giggles looked around Cami, peering into the classroom; sure enough, she could see someone standing near the science teacher, apparently helping her clear up the lab. "Thanks!"
"You're welcome - I'll see you tomorrow, I'm gonna try and catch up with Allie," Cami said, walking away.
"'Kay, bye~!" Giggles waved briefly before leaning against the wall, watching the other students leave, until the corridor was practically empty apart from herself.
Another minute or two passed before the lab door opened again; Giggles looked up, getting a proper look at the guy she'd been sent to meet. He was a cat, like herself, although he was taller than her - well, most people were - with red fur and darker red hair. Weird that he was wearing a sweater - it wasn't a cold day, after all. Well, whatever. He walked past her, down the corridor, and Giggles realized she should do something; she rushed after him, calling. "Hey, uh - hey, wait up!"
~~~~
Chuckles stopped, looking around for whoever had called out. He doubted they were talking to him, but given that there was no one else around - no one that he could see, anyway - he figured he should probably stop just in case. Much to his surprise, the footsteps he heard got closer; he turned fully and flinched - standing right in front of him was a short cat girl, staring up at him with wide, bright red eyes. "Y-yes?" he said hesitantly, still sure she must have mistaken him for someone else.
"Are you Chuckles Foley?" she asked.
He blinked. "Yes-"
The word had barely escaped his mouth before she'd started talking again, her voice getting higher and faster as she continued.
"Mr. Entwhistle told me my grades are bad and he's gonna kick me out if they don't pick up but I don't know what to do and he said I should get someone to help me and he said you would help me so I came here to find you and I don't wanna get kicked out so please help me!!" she finished eventually, her words coming out in a desperate rush.
Chuckles blinked again, processing what she'd just said. "I- I'm sure they wouldn't really-" he started, haltingly, unsure of what to say, before he realized what else she'd said. "He sent you to me?"
"Yeah!" the girl said, nodding rapidly. "He said maybe you could, uhhh..." she clicked her fingers together a few times, apparently trying to remember something. "Tutor me, that's it!"
"Oh... Y-yeah, I guess I could do tha-" he cut off, surprised; the girl had just rushed forward, flinging her arms around him.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyouuuu!!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly.
"Uhhh... you're welcome," he said awkwardly, unsure of how to react. "I, er, um... I really need to get home before my parents start worrying..."
The girl pulled away, cocking her head to one side. "Why?"
"I- well- you know, they'll be wondering where I am, and..." he rambled, again unsure of what to say. This girl, whoever she was, seemed to be better at talking to strangers than he was.
"Oh, weird," she commented. "Well anyway, we can still talk while you get your stuff, right?" She threaded her arm through his, looking up at him as she waited for a reply.
"Um, yeah, sure," he said, somewhat disconcerted. Why did she keep touching him? What was he supposed to do? "I'll just.. go this way.." he mumbled, turning around and starting to walk down the corridor; she continued to cling onto him, falling in step beside him easily.
~~~~
As they walked down the halls together, the girl chattered away about this and that; Chuckles found it difficult to keep up with everything she was saying. He still couldn't believe she was asking him for help. Yeah, it was because she'd been told to, but he was surprised by that, too; he would've expected Mr. Entwhistle to suggest she ask someone else. One of the more popular students, perhaps. He didn't mind being asked, he was just thrown off-guard - both by the question, and her general... forwardness. They reached the lockers after a couple of minutes; the girl continued to talk as he collected his things, including a long, mint green scarf, which he quickly wrapped around his neck.
"...and y'know he said I should ask my siblings, but Kaboom'd never do it, not that I'd WANT her to tutor me anyways, and 420's always kinda holed up in his room and, I dunno, I didn't wanna ask him."
"Four...?" Chuckles trailed off; he felt like he'd heard that somewhere, once, though he wasn't sure where. Either way, it seemed like an odd moniker.
"Oh, he's my older brother. Weird name, right?"
"Well..." he started, before realizing something. "Hey, you never introduced yourself."
"Oh yeah, right! I'm Giggles!"
He stopped and turned, looking at her properly. "Giggles?"
"Yeah!" she giggled slightly - apparently she lived up to her name. "We have the same name! ...Kinda."
"That's a funny coincidence." Chuckles smiled, swinging his locker shut as he talked. "Look, I- I don't want to sound rude, but I really do need to go. Meet me here tomorrow lunchtime and we can talk about tutoring, alright?"
"Okay, see ya then!" Giggles skipped away - to her own locker, Chuckles assumed. He watched her for a second, then turned and left in the opposite direction.
~~~
"Why were you so late home today, sweetie?"
"Oh, um..." He put down his fork, trying to think how to explain what had happened. "Well, first science ran over a bit, and then this girl called Giggles asked me to be her tutor."
"Oh?" His mother seemed to sit up a little straighter when he said "girl". "Giggles? You've never mentioned her before."
"W-well, I-"
"A girl?" his older brother cut across him. "You? Seriously?! Hell must have frozen over!"
"Chortle!" his mother exclaimed, shooting him a warning look before looking back at her youngest son, smiling encouragingly. Chuckles blinked, trying to regain his train of thought.
"Er, um, I think she's in a different grade. She said she needed a tutor and one of the teachers suggested she ask me," he explained, staring down at the table. "And I thought... w-well, she seemed nice, so I..."
"They suggested you? Oh, I'm so proud of you! Isn't that nice, dear?" she said, addressing her husband for the last part.
"It certainly is. What are you tutoring her in, son?"
"We haven't really talked about that yet..."
"Well, whatever it is, you're welcome to invite her over any time," his mother continued, still smiling. "After all, I'm sure it would be easier for the two of you to study here, instead of trying to find a quiet spot at school."
"Um.. yeah..." he mumbled, glancing at Chortle. He doubted very much that it'd be at all quiet with him around.
"Hey, aren't'cha gonna ask me what I did today?"
Their mother rolled her eyes. "Chortle, we know what you did, you were here the entire time."
"Now, what you didn't do is look for a job. If you're not going to go to college, you really need to find something to do with yourself."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll do it later..."
Chuckles zoned out, wondering what he would do after he graduated. College, he supposed, but he really didn't know where to go after that. Well, he'd figure it out eventually.
~~~~
After dinner, Chuckles settled down with a book, and had actually managed to get five minutes of peace before a shadow fell across the page.
"Sooooo... is she hot?"
"W-what?" He looked up; Chortle was leaning over him, smirking. "W-who are you-"
"The girl you're tutoring, of course!" He snickered. "Tutoring. Wish I'd thought'a using that line. Maybe it only works for nerds, though," he added, nudging Chuckles, who flicked his ears back, embarrassed.
"It's not a... I don't even really know her," he mumbled, avoiding the older cat's gaze.
"Oh yeah, sure."
"Chortle, please, I'm trying to read."
"So when are you gonna introduce me to her?" Chortle continued, ignoring him.
Chuckles sighed. "Why are you so interested? What about your girlfriend?" He'd never understand how it was that Chortle actually had a girlfriend, let alone how he'd managed to stay with her for longer than a few days.
"What? I just wanna make sure this girl's right for my baby brother~" Chortle said in a sing-song voice, nudging him again. "After all, she's the first girl that's ever shown interest in you."
"I-it's not like that! She just needs some help in school, that's all."
"Right, right... hey, y'think she needs another tutor? 'Cause I can think of a few things I'd like to-"
"Chortle! You leave your brother alone!" their mother called from the other room. "You said you were going to do the dishes!"
"Yeah, yeah," he replied irritably, straightening up. "See ya later, Chucklefuck."
"Language!"
~~~~
The next morning passed fairly uneventfully. Lunchtime arrived quickly, and as Chuckles approached his locker, he was surprised to see Giggles already standing there, waiting for him. A couple of the other students milling around the lockers kept glancing at her, clearly wondering why she was there.
"Oh, hello," he said, surprised. "Um.. just let me get my stuff..."
"'Kay~!"
She moved aside, watching as he exchanged some books for his lunch. As soon as he shut the locker, Giggles reached out and grabbed his hand, smiling at him. "So where're we gonna go?"
Chuckles blushed, uncomfortably aware of the fact that they were surrounded by people, some of whom were now whispering to each other. "W-why do you keep doing that?" he asked, trying to keep his voice low. He half-wanted to pull away from her, but she was looking at him with such adoration that he didn't really have the heart to.
"Doing what?" she asked, sounding sincerely confused.
"...Never mind. Um, I usually eat outside..."
"Okay then, lead the way~!"
Her enthusiasm was infectious; he couldn't help but smile as they walked outside together. He led her over to a tree, away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the school. Giggles sat next to him, digging through her backpack. "Allie made me lunch today," she commented, apparently more to herself than anything. Chuckles was trying to think of a polite way of asking who this 'Allie' was, when his thoughts were interrupted by a loud squeal.
"Eeeeee, look at this!" On her lap was a half-unwrapped parcel of food, with a little square of pink paper sitting in the center. "She's the best girlfriend ever!"
Before Chuckles could respond, she passed the note over to him; he read it:
"Giggles,
I love you!!!
♥♥♥ xoxoxoxo -Allie"
Chuckles blinked. He knew some girls called their friends "girlfriend", but this didn't really seem platonic. So did that mean Giggles was... Well, it wasn't really any of his business, he supposed. He passed the note back silently, unsure of how to respond.
"Usually I just get something from the cafeteria, 'cause I never have time to make anything myself," Giggles continued, as if there had been no interruption.
"W-well, what about your parents?" he said, grateful for the change in conversation, but still confused.
She shrugged. "They walked out on us ages ago."
"......What?"
"They left a few years ago and said 420's in charge now. They weren't around much anyways." She picked up a sandwich and started eating it, apparently unaware that she had said anything unusual. Chuckles was speechless; after a few seconds, she glanced over at him. "What?"
He spluttered, thrown by both what she had just said, and the casual way she had said it. "Wh- you-" He intended to ask her for more details, but somehow, what came out instead was "Y-you shouldn't tell complete strangers things like that..."
"You're not a stranger, you're my friend," she said, leaning against him. "You're really soft," she added.
"Hm." He didn't really know how to reply to that, either. "...Well, you should still be careful. If the wrong person heard you were living alone, then you'd be in trouble!"
"I don't live alone! I told you, I've got 420 - okay, he's kinda weird, but still - and I guess Kaboom. That's my older sister. She's so annoying!" Giggles rolled her eyes. "She's always bitching at me. Ugh, let's talk about something else. Oh, like tutoring! We should prolly talk about that, huh?"
Chuckles still couldn't understand how she could be so cavalier about her parents apparently abandoning her... but he didn't want to badger her about it and annoy her, especially since she'd just changed the subject. It wasn't his place to interfere, and she did seem to be genuinely fine with the whole set-up. Anyway, she'd said her older brother looked after her, so it was probably alright.
"Er... yes, we should. Um... So what exactly do you need help with?"
"Ummm.... everything?" She laughed nervously.
Again, he couldn't help but smile. "Okay, well, what was your last class? Let's start with that and work from there."
"Uhh... Oh, it was Geometry. Which I totally don't understand at all..."
"Let's see... Maybe if we started by going over the basic laws together..."
Even at that point, he knew this was going to be more than just a simple tutorship.