Thank you keiman and kei and daisygirl101 for beta reading and helping me improve!

I do not own Chicken Little. Chicken Little is owned by Disney. I only lay claim to Chauncey Cheetah.

Chapter 14

"Hey Chauncey! May we sit with you and your buddies at your table today?" One of Foxy's friends asked, much to the surprise of Chicken Little and his friends.

The cheetah smiled and nodded. "Of course!"

Beaming, Foxy's friends, including Goosey Loosey, took a seat with Chauncey and his buddies and started eating their lunches.

The regular season had just concluded for the boys' basketball team. Behind the backs of the stellar play of Chauncey and his trusty sidekick Ryan Rabbit, the team finished the season with a perfect 20-0 record.

Over the course of the season, Foxy's friends eventually grew to respect the cheetah for his leadership, humbleness, and selflessness. In fact, even the older students began to admire the tallest student in their school. Everyone would ask him and his buddies if they could sit with them at lunch. Due to the number of students in Oakey Oaks Middle School, Chauncey came up with a genius plan that would allow everyone to sit at their table by having every group of students take turns sitting with them.

Newspapers around town had the cheetah on the front page, labeling him the "Humble Hero of Oakey Oaks."

The only one who seemed not to gain any respect for Chauncey was Foxy Loxy. She was now sitting all alone at her table, glaring at the cheetah.

"One of these days, I will make you pay," the vixen thought as she chowed down her meal.

Chicken Little and his friends ate their lunches as they watched everyone in the cafeteria, except them and Foxy, gather around Chauncey's table and talk to him as they had their lunch.

"Chauncey has sure gotten a lot of attention lately. Even from the seventh and eighth graders," Chicken Little noted.

"Well, with how well he and the team have played so far this year, I'm not surprised," Abby remarked.

"Yeah, me neither. They have not lost a game. Plus, they have dominated every game, even on the road. It's been very fun to watch them play, despite winning each game by at least forty points," Chicken Little said.

"The playoffs are approaching. Do you think we'll be ready for them?" Runt asked.

"I think so. At the same time though, I am a little worried," the chicken replied.

Fish tried to say something like, "Why are you worried?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Remember what happened last year in the championship game?" the chicken stated.

Fish nodded.

"It seemed like we had it in the bag. Unfortunately, Brett Bear was injured, and it led to our downfall. While I am confident about Chauncey and Ryan leading the team this year, I am nonetheless concerned one of them might get hurt at a critical time in the playoffs," Chicken Little explained.

"You do have a point Chicken Little. We'll just have to wait and see what happens," Abby tried to assure him.

"What about Foxy? Will she be a distraction for Chauncey?" Runt asked, concern in his eyes.

Chicken Little hesitated for a moment. He was tempted to just speak gibberish like he did with Abby and the announcers at the old oak tree. After the whole "sky is falling" incident however, he realized speaking gibberish would not do any good at all.

"Uh…I hope not. With her though, you just never know. After Goosey Loosey and the rest of her friends started hanging out with Chauncey and his buddies, I thought Foxy might gain at least some admiration for the cheetah because of his great basketball skill and humbleness. Turns out I was wrong. She's the only one who still has a grudge towards him, even though he's been very nice to everyone," the chicken stated.

"You can't please everyone Chicken Little. With how many people there are on the planet, odds are you will have someone not like you," Abby pointed out.

"I guess that's true Abby, but this isn't the whole planet we're talking about here. It's everyone at Oakey Oaks Middle School," Chicken Little said.

Fish tapped Chicken Little on the shoulder.

"Yeah Fish?" Chicken Little asked.

The fish tried to say something like, "Maybe Chauncey could try to do something nice for Foxy?"

Flabbergasted, the chicken's eyes widened. "I don't know about that, Fish. The only people I have seen do something nice to her are her friends, mostly Goosey Loosey."

"I've seen that too. Nonetheless, I think it might be worth a shot. If it does not work, then we will just have to convince Chauncey that Foxy does not like him," Fish tried to explain.

"Alright. We will try. How are we going to do it, though? We cannot just tell Foxy about Chauncey doing something nice for her. She'll just laugh at us and pick on us like she always does," Chicken Little said.

Before Fish could say more, Abby chimed in, "Maybe we should talk to Chauncey about it?"

"I think that's a good idea Abby. That way Foxy will not know about us even mentioning it," the chicken agreed.

"The real question is when do we do it?" Runt wondered.

"Obviously, it would be unwise to do it right now. I mean, all she is doing right now is glaring at the cheetah. Foxy is definitely not in the mood for that. Combine that with the fact the playoffs start soon, the team, especially Chauncey, will need as few distractions as possible," the chicken explained.

All his friends agreed.

"I think should we manage to reach the championship game; we should tell him before then, but after the semi-final game, right?" Chicken Little asked.

They all nodded in agreement.

Shortly after finishing their conversation, Chauncey walked up to their table, having bid everyone at his table farewell.

"Hey guys? How are you doing?" he greeted.

"We're doing good. How about yourself?" Chicken Little greeted back.

"I'm doing great. Thank you for asking," the cheetah smiled.

"Anytime," Chicken Little smiled back.

The cheetah sat down after glancing at the clock on the cafeteria wall. Lunch would be over in fifteen minutes.

"What have you guys been up to lately?" Chauncey asked.

"Just talking about the playoffs. I'm sure everyone is excited for them," the chicken said.

"Yeah. After I finished eating and started to head over here, everyone was saying goodbye to me and wishing me and the team luck," Chauncey explained.

"That was nice of them," Chicken Little said.

"I agree. Everyone here seems very nice. Even the older students were talking to me and my buddies about school and they were looking forward to seeing how we perform in the playoffs," the cheetah stated.

"Speaking of the playoffs, are you ready for what challenges lie ahead?" Chicken Little asked.

The cheetah gave a determined smile. "Ready as I'll ever be."