Tesla was sitting at his desk, pondering on the new information Bad Boy provided for him. "Hmm... Hypnotism. Is such a thing even possible?" He tapped his pencil on his notebook for a moment, then he got an idea. He drew rough sketches of the three and started thinking about their personalities. He looked at the drawing of Sonata first. "Sonata... Probably not the brains of the trio, but... She does have some charm..." He moved onto Adagio. "Adagio, a prime example of the deadly brains-and-beauty combination. She could be a potential threat, though I caught a hint of arrogance from our conversation earlier..." Lastly, he moved onto Aria. "Aria... Honestly I can't say anything about her, all I know is she likes picking on me... She does remind me of Anarchy a little, but that's all I can work with for now..."

"...H-hello?" A girl peaked her head into the classroom. It was Sonata, but she looked bothered by something. "Is this Mr. Whoove's class?"

"Yes, it is." Mr. Whoove got up from his desk and walked over to her. "Is there a problem?"

"I'm a new student, this is my class for this period." She informed.

"Oh? Well, care to explain why you were late?"

Sonata showed him her hands, they were burned to a slightly darker shade of blue compared to the rest of her skin.

"Ooh... You were in the art room?"

She nodded.

"I see... Do you, um, need some ice?"

She nodded again.

"Right... Hmm." He looked around the classroom, observing his students at work on a short worksheet. All except for one. "Tesla?"

Tesla looked up from his drawing and saw Sonata. For a split second he saw Sonata in sorrow, then her frown grew into a big smile and she waved at him.

"Could you escort this poor girl to the infirmary? You're not doing anything at the moment so you don't mind, right?"

"Um... Alright, I'll take her down." Tesla got up and walked to Sonata, who was lightly bouncing in place out of joy. "Uh, I guess you're happy to see me?" He looked at her hands and his eyes widened. "Oh... Um... Are you in pain?"

She nodded with much more vigor than before, despite her burned hands.

"... Okay? Well let's go to the nurse's office so we can treat those burns." Tesla and Sonata left the classroom and began walking down the hallway. "Were you in the art room last period?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Who started the fire?"

This question seemed to throw Sonata off, she stopped and looked down. "...Tesla? Can you keep a secret?"

"Yeah." He answered.

"You promise not to tell anyone? Including my sisters?"

"...Yeah, I may be a Rat but I'm not a snitch." He answered again, then he put his hand to his heart. "I promise, I won't tell a soul."

"Okay... I know who started the fire..."

"Who was it?"

"It... It was me. I accidentally started the fire." She admitted, looking down in shame.

"...How on Earth did you start a fire in the art room?"

"We were finger-painting, and my partner Ditzy wanted to do an oil canvas..."

(Art room, first period)

"Let's do an oil canvas!" Ditzy exclaimed.

"Oil?" Sonata turned her head questioningly. "How's oil used for painting?"

"I heard about it on the Internet, you use oil to smudge the painting to make it look more realistic." Ditzy explained.

"Hmm... I dunno, what if the oil starts a fire?"

"Ahaha, my dear Sonata." Mr. Biceps interrupted. "You don't use real oil in a canvas. You use oils from poppy seeds or walnuts as a binder and smear it to form a picture."

"Ohhh, so we can't do that?"

"For now, stick to simply making a picture with regular paint." He said, then went back to his papers.

"...Wanna paint a kitty?" Sonata asked.

"I like kitties." Ditzy answered, so they began to paint a kitty.

(15 minutes of painting later)

"There, perfect!"

The two painted a picture of a pink, fluffy kitty cat playing with a ball of yarn. Although the quality of the picture was comparable to a two-year old's level it was still very cute.

"We finished our painting, Mr. Biceps!"

Ditzy walked up with Sonata, the painting within her grasp. "We painted a kitty!"

"Excellent work you two, it's a lovely painting! Now, go wash up, the bell will ring any minute now." Mr. Biceps advised.

Sonata went too the sink and turned the knob, letting her hands soak under the scalding-hot water. "...Eh...Owww!" She turned the wrong knob and ended up scalding her hands, making them darken in color. "Owowowow!" She was splashing hot water everywhere, and some was caught by an electrical socket. Sparks flew and a loud bang was heard, then a fire formed causing the students to fly into panic.

"WHAT THE-FIRE! SOMEBODY PULL THE FIRE ALARM!"

'Riiiiiiinnnnnnnnggggg!'

"SONATA!" Mr. Biceps swooped in and plucked the injured Sonata off her feet and made a mad dash for the fire exit. "EVERYBODY INTO THE FIRE EXIT, QUICKLY!"

(Present time)

"He got everyone outside before somebody got hurt... He said it wasn't my fault but..."

Tesla smiled and slowly shook his head. "Oh, Sonata... What am I gonna do with you..." Tesla took her hand and looked at it, it was red but the flesh wasn't damaged. "Of course you weren't burned by the fire, you'd be in the hospital if that happened."

Sonata looked down with a frown. "Sigh... Why am I so stupid?"

"Hey... C'mon, you're not stupid." He said in a comforting tone.

"Yes I am!" She stated. "I'm a big dummy because I always end up hurting either myself... Or others..." She looked at her hands and sighed. "I've always been this way, you know... I heard Aria talking to you about my tootsie-pop incident that put me in the hospital, that wasn't my biggest screw-up but it's up there..."

"That put you in the hospital?"

"They tried giving me the Heimlich-maneuver... Let's just say that it didn't go so well..."

"Well regardless, you're not an idiot Sonata." Tesla got an idea, he motioned her to follow and guided her to a classroom. "Look in that window for me."

"Um, okay?" She looked in the window and saw a few students inside. One was dead asleep in his desk, he had white skin and beautiful golden blonde hair. He wore a... Very expensive-looking tux? There was another student as well, she had peach skin (Same color as a white American in our world) and short white hair that was lightly tipped with purple, it reminded her of feathers for an odd reason. She wore a brown leather jacket and skinny jeans. She gave off a bad-girl vibe similar to Bad Boy's. "Um... What am I looking at?"

"Detention." He stated. "And the two in the room are Gilda and 'The Esteemed' Blue Blood. Now, Gilda can be a smart girl when she wants to be. But she suffers from an Anarchist bug, never listening to anyone but herself. Blue Blood is a whiny little prick who's spoiled like rotten milk, I'm honestly surprised he's made it this far without failing... My point is, these students, but more specifically Blue Blood, are true examples of idiots." Tesla took a short pause, thinking about something. "On second thought, I'm gonna take Gilda out of that list. It's just Blue Blood who's the idiot."

"But how are they any different from me? I'm not smart like Adagio or Aria or... Well, you!"

"Because you're not in there." He answered, pushing his glasses up with his finger. "In my opinion, lacking knowledge doesn't make you an idiot. Now being a complete jerk, that's a different story."

"Than what am I to you?"

"A klutz, which means you're accident-prone." He answered. "You're not stupid, you're just clumsy. Now let's go get those hands healed."

".....Thanks, Bestie." She said in a sheepish tone.

"Anytime, Bestie." He responded.

The two started walking down the hallway again, Sonata staying close to Tesla. He didn't seem to mind, though he acted a little awkward from it. "Um, am I bothering you?"

"Huh?... Oh no, I'm just not used to girls walking with me like this." He answered.

"But you were just fine a moment ago, what happened?"

"I was distracted from the fact that you were a girl... Now that I realize it I'm starting to slip-up." He said, looking downward.

"So you've never been with a girl before?"

"Sadly no... Brains seems to always fall to ego in the 'coolness' range for guys. Us nerds are usually loners or have a small circle of friends." He explained, still shying from her but not as much.

"Why?"

"Well for a number of reasons, awkwardness, lack of appeal, fear of women, I could go on... But I won't." This seemed to break Tesla out of his awkward phase.

"Well... I'm your friend, right?"

"Of course." He answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Just making sure..." Sonata noticed Tesla start to shy away from her again, he probably realized where he was again. "You're still scared of me?"

"Yeah... S-sorry..." He muttered. "I don't hate you or anything, I just... Well, you know..."

"Aww, it's okay." She chirped. "It's kinda cute in a way, like a full-grown dog being afraid of a kitten."

"Uh, Y-yeah... I guess." He rubbed the back of his head in nervousness. "Ah, the nurse's office!"

"I hope the nurse can heal my hands, I can't even hold a pencil with these!"

"Don't worry, all you need is some aloe and you'll be right as rain." His timid side left him once more. He opened the door for Sonata because she couldn't open it without hurting herself. However, nobody was inside. "Crap, Redheart isn't in today... Well, I guess I could try and heal you. It shouldn't be too hard, right?"

"Will nurse Redheart get angry?"

"I doubt it, we just need some aloe or something." Tesla searched the various cabinets for a bottle of aloe. "No, no, no, no, no... Ah-ha!" He grabbed the bottle and popped the cap. "Alright, hold out your hands."

She did as told and the greenish liquid dripped onto her hands, it's coldness making her shudder.

"Now rub your hands together." He ordered.

"Alright." She closed her hands and let the liquid smear in her closed palms, then she opened them and pressed her hands together. She rubbed slowly and carefully at first in fear of pain, but the stinging soon diminished. "Ooooh, much better..."

"Now just let it dry and you should be fine." Tesla informed, he was awarded a hug for his effort.

"Thanks, Bestie!"

Tesla shuttered from her cold, wet hands dampening his back. But he hugged her back regardless. "Uh, Y-yeah, no problem... Um, your hands are still wet..."

"Oh, whoops!" Sonata released him, looking away in embarrassment. "Ehehe, sorry about that... Guess I'm still a klutz!"

"An adorable klutz, too." He said to himself.

"Huh?" Sonata looked at him with suspicion in her eyes. "An adorable klutz?"

Tesla's face reddened and he froze for a moment. "U-Um... Y-you heard that...?"

"So you DID call me adorable!"

Tesla blushed even harder. "W-well, yeah... Do you not like being called that or something?"

"Wow, you are, like, really red right now." She commented. "It's like you're a chameleon or something!"

"Uh... It's like I said, I'm not used to girls... I must look like a weirdo right now, huh?" He joked.

"Yeah, you do... Well, you sorta did from the start." She informed. "Those clothes don't really look good on you, weirdo."

"Oh..." Tesla said in a disappointed tone. "It's the red shirt, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's the shirt. If it were blue than you'd look a lot better." She said. "But that's enough of your poor fashion sense. What you said was really sweet, so... Thanks." She hugged him again. "You big weirdo."

".....Uh... Yeah, you're welcome I guess." He muttered.

Sonata chuckled. "Smooth." There was a short pause. "... Aren't ya gonna hug me back?"

"Huh? Oh, r-right." He hugged her back and after a few seconds they released each other.

"Alright, let's get back to class Bestie." They exited the nurse's office. Tesla seemed to look downward as they walked, it was cute to Sonata how awkward he really was. But she didn't mind his terrible social skills, he was nice to her. "...Hey, Tesla. Do you have a brother or sister?"

"A brother." He answered. "Erm... Older brother."

"Well, did you like him?"

"Like him?" He answered in his non-timid tone. This seemed to distract him from who he was really talking to. "Oh, I hated him."

"Really?"

"He's a bully, a show-off, and he picked on me because of my condition." He ranted. "Of course he was a Jock with a dumb bitch for a girlfriend, only reason she was with him was to steal from him. I didn't care though, I let her even when I saw it happen."

".....Well, how'd you... You know, survive?"

"I always out-smarted him like the dumb ape he was, and if I couldn't do that I'd just ignore him and he would go away. A bully thrives on attention, so if I ignore him he'll get frustrated and leave me alone." His blush was completely gone by now. "Why do you ask?... Do you... Hate your sisters or something...?"

"Well, Aria says I'm 'The Worst' and... Other things when we're not in public..."

"Oh... Is that why you believed you were ignorant?"

"...I guess..."

Tesla saddened and he began to comfort her. "Oh, Sonata... Don't believe anything like that, you're not 'The Worst'."

"I know, but..." She looked at him with glistening eyes. "Sometimes I... I just don't know..."

"..... When my brother still lived at my house, he made my life a living hell. For a while he had me convinced that I was a pathetic little runt.... But then I met the Rats, and with them, I met Anarchy. When we first met he saw the pathetic look in my eyes, he said it reminded him of someone he once knew."

"What did he do?"

"He told me I wasn't a weakling, far from it! He said that the person he knew had suffered worst than I did, and that the abuse made him strong. Not strong by muscle, but by heart... This person told him that things like strength, skill, and smarts aren't determined by how much of it you have... You're only as strong or as smart as you believed you were..."

"Wow... Anarchy said that? I thought he was a cold, muscle-headed thug, but he sounds really wise!"

"He hides a lot under his hood, he's not just a brute on the inside... But Sonata, don't believe what Aria says you are. You're a smart girl, smarter than you think." He adjusted his glasses. "Another thing Anarchy told me... If you believe long enough, eventually you'll become what you believe you are... Even if it's far from the truth..."

"... So if I keep believing I'm smart, I'll become smart?"

"Yeah, exactly." He confirmed. "But don't let your sisters make you think otherwise, you aren't an idiot and you aren't 'The Worst'... You're Sonata."

"...Thanks, Bestie... You know, you always make me feel like a smarty-pants." She informed.

He responded by blushing and shying away, as he's done so many times before. "Oh... Well, I...Um, y-you're welcome... Bestie."

Sonata giggled a little. "You're so adorable Tesla! One moment you can talk to me like I was a close friend, the next you can barely get a sentence out without stuttering." She poked his cheek and his blush darkened a little. "You really are a chameleon, aren't you!"

"Sonata!" A new voice called out. The two turned around to find Adagio waving at them with her hall pass. She caught up to the two and smiled to Tesla. "And Tesla, what are you two doing?"

"We came to the nurse's office to heal Sonata, she... Well, hurt herself." Tesla explained.

"How?"

"Well, um... She injured her hands... She was in the art room when an outlet short-circuited, one thing led to another and she ended up burning her hands with a heated pipe..."

"Hmm..." She eyed Tesla up and down, then smirked. "Tesla, you naughty boy..." Oh... Well that came out of nowhere. She approached him with a seductive, almost hypnotic sway. "Are you hiding something from me?"

".......Um...Wait, what was that first thing you said?"

"You heard me... " She was closing in on him, and he was too afraid to do something. "You naughty boy..."

"Back-off, Adagio!" Sonata put Tesla in a possessive hug. "He's with me!"

"Hm?..." Adagio looked surprised, but after a moment realization came to her. "Ah, that's right. You two are 'Besties' as Sonata calls it." Adagio looked at Sonata's hands, they were indeed burned by the slightly darker shade of blue. "And it looks like you weren't lying, judging from those burns..." She held out her hand to Tesla. "Do forgive me for that, the way you acted I thought you were lying to me."

"Uh... Yeah, I understand." He took her hand and they shook. "I'm just awkward in front of girls."

"Hm, I had you figured as the awkward little brainiac." Her grip on his hand tightened. "Yes, and again I'm sorry for acting like I did. You see, when I suspect something I... Act rather rash at times." She gave him a seductive gaze and giggled. "Especially when I want something that I can't have..."

"Y-you're doing it again..." Tesla's face was as red as a tomato. Sonata looked at her sister with a threatening glare. "You're making me... Really uncomfortable..."

"Ahaha!" Adagio laughed and let go of his hand. "Oh I'm sorry Tesla, I simply couldn't help myself... Well, it's nice to see that Sonata has made a friend, I'll be leaving now." She turned around, but she did not move. ".....By the way, Tesla boy... You mentioned you had a condition, yes?"

"Um... Yeah?"

"Well, I'm curious. What is it that you have?"

"Autism." He stated. "Well, high-functioning anyways... I take medicine and I had help in the past for controlling it."

"Hmm... Care to explain it to me further?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Oh geez, where do I start?"

"Isn't it a condition to where the brain is wired differently?" Sonata questioned. "Like, there isn't anything wrong with you, it's just that you think differently, right?"

".......... I... Y-yes, that's the basis of it." Tesla said in a surprised tone.

Adagio blinked a few times in surprise. "I... Sonata, is that you?"

"Yep!"

"I... How?"

Sonata simply shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno! I just feel like a smarty-pants when I'm with Tesla!"

"You mean an intellectual being?"

Sonata tilted her head in confusion. "A what?"

Adagio stood dumb-struck.

"Well, Intectual Beans or not, we gotta go. See ya later Dagi!" Sonata pulled Tesla away as Adagio gave him a questioning look. The two reached Mr. Whooves class, he was handing out papers.

"Ah, you two made it back." He said. "Well, I'm passing out graded papers. Now Sonata, you may sit... Yes, your seat will be the empty one next to Tesla, since you two have already been acquainted with each other."

"Thank you Mr. Whooves!"

"You're very welcome, Miss Sonata. Please, take your seat." He said.

Sonata skipped to to the desk next to Tesla's and sat down.

"Tesla, why don't you show her how to do the problems?"

"Can do." He went to his desk, where Sonata was examining her problems with a furrowed brow. "Are they difficult?"

"Hmm... Maybe..." She was confused, but it was algebra so he didn't blame her.

"Here, I'll demonstrate the first one for you." He scooted his desk next to hers. "Now, Math is all about finding a common pattern that all the problems share, a pattern that you simply repeat with each problem to solve them." Tesla slowly guided her through the first three problems, making sure she understood the steps. Sure it was a bit much but he wanted to make sure she understood. "Got it?"

"Yup!" Sonata chirped.

"Alright, let me know if you need any help." Tesla pulled out a small device. "Mr. Whooves, do you mind?"

"Not at all, just keep the volume low." He said.

The small device wasn't a phone or an MP3 player, it was a GameColt Advance with the game Pokemon FireRed Version. "Alright Koga, let's get this over with." To those of you who don't play Pokemon, Koga's a bitch. He focuses on making all your attacks miss and slowly killing off your team with over-time damage and strong poison-type attacks. He's not difficult, just very frustrating to deal with unless you have a Nidoking or a Pidgeot with Aerial Ace. Of course, Tesla didn't have those Pokemon on his team. So this could be a long and tedious fight.

"Psst! Tesla!" Sonata whispered. "I need help!"

Tesla looked over and she was on problem five, the first one with fractions. "Oh, I see. Here's what you do." He explained and guided her through the problem. "There, you got it?"

"Yeah, thanks!"

Tesla nodded and resumed his fight.

(Sonata's POV)

"(Let's see... Um...)" She was stuck on problem six, another one that had stupid fractions. She leaned in to ask for help, but hesitated. "(...Should I?)" She thought about it, then looked at the problem. "(No, I wanna do it on my own... I won't learn without doing it myself.)" She looked over the problem carefully, remembering bits and pieces of what Tesla explained. "(Maybe.....)" She looked at the problem she did before this one, hoping to remember something. "(....... Oh, I can't do it! I only feel smart when Tesla's supporting me... Maybe I really am stupid...)"

"Sonata, if you need help you can ask." Tesla said. "You don't need to push yourself."

"I know, but... You say that I'm smart. But how am I smart if I don't know how to solve a single problem?"

"Sonata, true knowledge isn't how much you know, it's how you apply what you already know." Tesla said. "Sure, having a lot of information makes the solution easier to find, but lacking the information doesn't mean it can't be solved!"

".....Than how do I solve something without knowing how to solve it?"

"Simple, just break the mold." Tesla answered.

"Break... The mold?"

"It means to do something out of tradition, approach it from a different direction." He explained to her. "For instance, ask for help instead of struggle by yourself."

"But isn't that being lazy?"

"Yes, but it's also working smarter instead of harder. You may not know how to solve it, but I do." Tesla explained. "If there's an easy way, don't hesitate to take it."

"Right... I understand." She said in a sad tone.

"It's okay, Sonata. Nobody's perfect." Tesla said, trying to cheer her up. "Everyone has their flaws, for instance, I'm really bad at interacting with girls and I struggle with History class. You are bad at Math, which isn't uncommon."

".....What about people who believe they're perfect? No matter what they say or do?"

"They're the most imperfect of us all, blinded by arrogance to realize their flaws..." Tesla shook his head at the thought. "Almost sad, really."

"... What about things that don't exist?"

He raised a brow. "Like?"

".....Sirens?"

"Sirens?... Hmm, oddly specific." He adjusted his glasses a bit. "Well, I can't really say much about Sirens, I've never met one before... But if anything, I'd say that they have flaws like all living things do." He stated. "Any more questions?"

Sonata had sat in silence for a moment. ".........No, that's all I needed to know...Thanks."

"Alright, now let's do this last question-"

"Wait." She interrupted. "I wanna try this one on my own."

Tesla's face changed into one of surprise. "Well, be my guest." He sat back and observed her work.

"(Alright... Fractions again.)" She looked at the problem carefully, a look of worry started to form when she couldn't figure out what to do.

"It's okay Sonata, no need to rush..."

Sonata nodded and looked at the problem again, a look of determination on her face. "(Alright, I can do this...)" The gears in her mind started turning. "(I'm smart... I believe I'm smart...)" She looked back at Tesla who was observing her with a curious look. "(He believes I'm smart...)" Sonata looked at the problem, and in her mind the problem unfolded. The steps appeared in her head, and her pencil was scribbling them down at a constant pace. "(Add that... Divide by this... Carry the three.....)" She put down the pencil, and exhaled. "Eighteen."

"Eighteen?" He repeated. "Is that your final answer?"

"Yes... The answer is eighteen..." She slouched back in her seat, a fatigued smile on her face. "I actually did it..."

"Hmm..... You're correct." Tesla patted her back. "Nice work, Sonata."

"Thanks... I couldn't have done it without you, Tesla..." She got up and turned in her paper, Mr. Whooves took it and looked it over.

"Hmm... Very good, Miss. Sonata. Not a single miss." He informed with a pleased smile. "Now, the bell will be ringing soon so I suggest you start packing-up."

"Thank you, Mr. Whooves." Sonata went back to her seat and waited for the bell to ring. She didn't really have anything to pack up so she just waited...... She turned to her new friend. "Tesla, I-"

'riiiiiinnnnnnnngggg!'

The bell sounded and everyone left the room, she saw that Tesla didn't hear her and he went out the door. "W-wait, Tesla!" She caught up to him and flagged him down. "Hey, I wanted to say something..."

"What's up?"

"Um... I wanted to thank you again for believing in me..." Sonata hugged him, causing him to blush and lose his cool. "If you hadn't, then... I never would've believed in myself."

"Uh... W-well, it was nothing. I'm sure you would've done fine even without my help." Tesla argued.

"..... No, I wouldn't have. I don't know why but when you're with me I... I feel so much smarter than normal... I really couldn't have done it without your help." Sonata's hug tightened a little. "So... Thank you, Bestie."

Tesla was at a loss for words. He was too nervous to speak and Sonata's little speech pretty much made sure he wouldn't talk. So, he didn't talk, and instead he hugged her back. They stayed like that for a few moments, Tesla's nervousness and his blush slowly fading as he got used to the hug. "Hey, Sonata?"

"Yes?"

"Could you let me go soon? I have to go to class..." He requested.

"Hmm..... Under one condition..." She let him go and turned her cheek to him. "Gimme a kiss goodbye?"

Tesla went from green to red like a traffic-light. Her request practically sucker-punched him, and he just stood there in astonishment.

"...Pffhahahaha! Oh my god, your face! Y-you look like you ate a really hot pepper right now!"

"Eh-! T-That wasn't funny!"

"Was so~!" She sing-songed. "Bye, Bestie!" Sonata skipped off to her next class, being as happy and care-free as she normally was.

".......Um....Huh..." Tesla was at a loss for words, but the fact that he still hadn't made it to his class occurred to him "Oh crap." He took off as fast as he could go, unaware of the fact that he was being watched...

Author's Note

Hey guys, I finally finished the new chapter. I have to admit, I didn't plan on it being so long. Oh well, I'm not complaining, this was a fun chapter to write. I'll start working on the next chapter sometime after Christmas break. So until then, happy holidays!