As Chomper trudged up the stairs to his locker to put away some of his stuff before his first class he noticed that some of the other monsters were giving him strange looks, and when he got to is locker he realized why; written on it in spray paint was the word freak in huge red letters. Chomper struggled to breathe as he read what had been scrawled in black marker under the huge word; this monster is an idiot who probably can't even red this. I'm warning you for your sake, stay away from him. Chomper fought back tears. Pansy had warned him that he would strike again, and he had. It didn't matter that none of this was true, it didn't matter that Pansy had spelled read wrong, and it didn't matter that the school janitor would wash this away in 5 seconds. What mattered was that everyone was standing there laughing at him and he could barely breathe. He felt like the world was closing in on him. Without a second thought he ran for the bathroom.

Chomper cried for about 5 minutes. Then he realized that no matter how much he cried he would still be just as miserable, but he would miss class. And he would have a headache. He rinsed his face off with water and glanced at the clock on the green tiled wall; it was 8:40, if he hurried he could make it to class. Chomper walked down the empty grey halls, and heard the bleak tip-tap of his feet on the hard tile flooring. When he got to class he did his best to focus, but couldn't help but detect the whispers floating around the classroom. At first he thought it was just from the locker thing, but as it continued on to lunch and he was given increasingly disgusted stares, he realized it was something more.

Chomper arrived at the silent library to see Lisa and Larry sitting at the library table. As he approached the library, he quickly stopped. And then Lisa turned and took a breath. "What is it?" He asked. "Chomper, we were wondering if.......that is.......-" "Is it true?!" Larry interjected. "Is what true?" Chomper asked, distressed. "After you ran to the bathroom, me and Larry were going to follow you," she said, "but then we heard Pansy say your name, and we figured we'd better check out what he was saying." "And what was he saying?" Chomper asked.

Lisa opened her mouth to answer and then Larry blurted, "He said you got kicked out of your old school for eating someone, like your parents did, and he showed us this whole file about your parents, and how they destroyed cities, and how they were in jail for 5 years before they had you." "WHAT!!" Chomper screamed. "We didn't believe him, but we had to ask just in case! Please understand!" Lisa yelled. With a shock he realized that she and Larry looked afraid of him. Suddenly he didn't feel angry anymore, just sick. "No," he muttered, "It's fine." Then he stumbled into the hallway, and to the nurse's office.

Chomper was sent home immediately after the nurse took one look at him. He spent the rest of the day laying in his room, thinking about himself. He couldn't believe that everybody thought he had eaten someone, and what Pansy had said was ridiculous, this was the first real school he had ever been to, he had been homeschooled before that. Maybe he could just tell his parents he wanted to homeschooled again. Only one problem with that, he would have to get out of bed. Chomper groaned and rolled over. He was going to have to at least finish this year anyway. His parents wouldn't let him switch before that. Chomper just decided to sleep. He didn't wake up until the next morning.

In the morning, Chomper quickly packed and got to school early, much earlier than the rest of the kids, though he was still allowed to be there. He quickly stowed his stuff in his locker and almost didn't notice the little note that floated out: "Meet us in the library at 3:10. Please come! We're so sorry!!! Lisa and Larry". He stuffed the note in his pocket and headed down the hall to the library. Suddenly the tap of his shoes on the floor didn't sound as dismal, but more prominent, and the walls seemed more like a washed out white than a dismal gray. Perhaps things were going to get better after all.

"WE ARE SO SORRY CHOMPER!! PLEASE FORGIVE US!!!" Lisa and Larry shouted. Chomper grinned from ear to ear, his heart soaring on the inside. "Shhhhhhhhh!" scolded the librarian, giving them a peeved look. Lisa and Larry ignore her. "It's fine, guys," Chomper said. "I wasn't mad at you. I was just sad and nauseous because I couldn't believe that Pansy was spreading such awful, untrue rumors about me." "So you're not mad at us? You're fine now?" Larry asked tentatively. Chomper nodded. "Good, 'cause imagine the look on Pansy's face when he sees you're here being strong and not crying your eyes out at home!" Lisa joked. All of them cracked up and didn't stop laughing until the bell rang. Then they exchanged knowing glances, grabbed their bags, and headed for the door; they were ready to face the school, and Pansy, too. And for the first time in forever, Chomper finally felt like he had made some real friends.

Four months later, Chomper's POV*

I plopped my lunch tray down at my table in the cafeteria and said a hello to my friends, Lisa, Larry and Coralline (who we call Cora - she is actually a doll with button eyes, so she's blind, but she has like a sixth sense). "Hey Chomper!" My friends replied. It's been about two months since Pansy stopped being a jerk to me. He doesn't bully me and Larry and Lisa anymore, but he still gives us dirty looks every time he sees us. Cora joined our school a month ago and we welcomed her into our group. She's really funny and, if it wasn't for the fact that she has button eyes, you wouldn't even guess that she's blind. We sit in the cafeteria now instead of the library but that's because we got kicked out of the library for being too loud, not because we wanted to. Besides that, nothing much has changed.

Mr. Brickman is still boring. Pansy's head still looks like a rotten cantaloupe. And the Principal still likes to give out detentions. Maybe sometimes it's a little boring but it's peaceful, and personally, I like it that way!