Ned was walking down the hallway by himself. This reminded him of how things were last year. For some reason, girls did not mess with him. He was not stereotypically cute enough to get randomly noticed, nor was he foul enough that his actions needed to be ‘punished’. Matt was a good friend, but he was always busy either talking to someone or following one of his ‘leads’. While he was thinking about this, he did not realize the stomping noises coming his way. He did realize the giant shadow that loomed over him. He looked up to see a bare foot coming down on him. The foot was strong enough that Ned instantly fell to the ground. He felt the pressure of the foot’s warm but a little dirty skin pushing down on his entire body. Luckily, the foot was on him for a very short time, and he was left on the ground more surprised than physically impaired.

Ella stopped when she felt something under her foot. She looked back to see a boy lying on the ground. She covered her mouth with her free hand.

“Oh my God,” she said out loud, “Are you okay?” She walked back to the boy, and kneeled down next to him. Ned slowly stood up and brushed dust off his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he slowly nodded, “I think I’m fine.” He looked up to see Ella Ester looking down at him in concern. Suddenly his face turned red.

“Ella…” he said.

“You…know my name?” Ella asked, tilting her head.

“I’ve just uh…heard about you…that’s all,” Ned looked away. He then saw a body in Ella’s hand. One that was bruised and bleeding from the face.

“Holy shit is that Matt?” Ned asked, taking a step back. He looked up at Ella’s face.

“What did you do to him?” he asked, a little scared.

“He’s not breathing,” Ella said, remembering the critical situation she was in, “I’ve got to get him to my room.”
“What what what what what is happening?” Ned said as his eyes widened.

“He’s not breathing, is he your friend?”
“Yes! What happened to him?”
“That’s not important. Here, you want to help me?” Ella reached out her palm at Ned. Ned gulped.

“S-sure,” he nodded, “Yes I’ll help.”

“Great.” Ella snatched Ned up and put him in her shirt pocket. He realized that he was on her left breast. He could feel his penis getting a little hard. He hoped and prayed that Ella did not notice. Ella ran off to her room.

“Okay we have to do this quickly,” Ella said as she entered her room. She gently set Matt on the table, grabbed Ned out of her shirt pocket, and put him next to Matt.

“I need you to perform CPR on him,” Ella demanded. Ned looked at her in confusion.

“I don’t know how to do CPR,” Ned admitted. Ella sighed.

“It’s your day to learn my friend,” she said, “I need you to do this because if I CPR him his body will shatter.”
“Fine,” Ned sighed, “What do I do?”

“Put your hands together and put it on his chest.” Ned followed Ella’s instructions.

“Now,” she said, “Press down as hare as you can thirty times to the beat of ‘Staying Alive’ by Bee Gees.”

“Excuse me what?” Ned asked.

“Just do what I say,” Ella pleaded. Ned imagined the song ‘Staying Alive’ in his head. He had not thought about that song for a very long time. He started pushing Matt’s chest to the song’s rhythm. Suddenly, Matt’s eyes sprung open, and he started gasping for air. He breathed harshly for a second, and his breathing started to relax. He looked around to see he was back in Ella’s room, but this time Ned was looking over him.

“Holy shit it worked,” Ned sighed in relief. Ella took a much bigger sigh and shook her head.

“That was too much stress for one afternoon,” she said, taking out a first aid kid from her desk drawer.

“What…happened?” Matt asked, slowly sitting up.

“You did something stupid Matt,” Ella said with a disappointed expression.

“He always does,” Ned chimed in.

“I remember talking to Josh Cleaves,” Matt admitted.

“No, not talking,” Ella shook her head, “You went to threaten him. I don’t know why. What if he killed you?!”

“Well then you would get to see that miserable bastard go to jail.”
“Oh my god,” Ella said, taking out a bandage wrap from the first aid kid. She ripped off a tiny sliver.

“Wrap this around your friend’s head,” she said as she handed the sliver to Ned. Ned nodded and took it.

“Tell me,” Matt said while Ned did what he was told, “How do you two know each other?”
“We…don’t,” Ned said.

“Well,” Ella pondered, “You knew my name.”

“You’re important in the history of this school,” Ned defended, his face turning red. Matt smirked.

“W-what’s your name?” Ella asked, becoming a little awkward.

“Ned.”
“Great. I’m Ella.”
“I know.”

“Mr. Hoffman,” Matt said, “I’ve been meaning to ask you to help me out with something.”
“Help you?” Ned asked as he finished the bandage wrap, “What, to do some crazy shit again?”
“No no no, I don’t need your help to do that. I just want you to confirm a theory for me.” Ella tilted her head, confused.

“What theory?” she asked.

“Mr. Hoffman, do you think Ms. Ester here is attractive?” Matt asked. Both Ned and Ella widened their eyes and turned red.

“What do you mean…attractive?” Ned asked nervously, trying not to look at Ella, “You mean like as a person or…”
“I’m speaking solely about appearance Mr. Hoffman.” Ned looked up at Ella, who was trying her best not to look at either of them. Admittedly she looked cute, a giantess so much bigger than them all red and embarrassed. He looked back at Matt.

“I mean, yeah, she’s okay…” he stammered.

“On a scale of one to ten,” Matt continued, “How attractive do you think she is?” Ned’s lips quivered, not knowing how to feel about this sudden situation.

“Uh like nine?” he shrugged.

“Good answer Mr. Hoffman,” Matt smiled, looking over at Ella, “You see Ms. Ester, my theories about your physical appearance were not mine alone. Although we may have some skewed results, since Ned’s opinions may be subjective-“
“What are you doing Matt,” Ned said, standing up a little frustrated.

“Just confirming a theory,” Matt nodded, standing up himself.

“Ms. Ester, can you let me down please?” he asked, “I would like to go to my room.” Ella looked at Matt, still not knowing what to say.

“Uh okay,” she said, picking Matt up and putting him down on the floor.

“Thank you Ms. Ester,” Matt said, turning on his roller blades, “And Mr. Hoffman, best of luck.” He then zoomed out of the room, leaving the two in an uncomfortable silence. Ned sighed.

“Stupid bastard,” Ned and Ella said at the same time. The two looked at each other, still a little red, then they both burst out laughing.

Matt returned to his room. His body was hurting a lot more than he had let on, but nothing was damaged. He ripped off the handmade bandage Ella had provided him, now covered in his blood, and put it in the trash can. He look out a couple bandages his own size.

“God dammit,” he said as he put some on his face where he was bleeding. The bleeding had slowed down, and should stop overnight. He took off his bloody shirt and threw it in his laundry basket. He looked at his shirtless self in the mirror.

“Everything goes down,” he told his reflection, “Tomorrow.”