Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ella really didn't like a lot of the boys in her school. She didn't like that so many of them were loud and gross and rude and mean. She didn't like when they'd take away her drawings and laugh at her, or when they'd steal her glasses when she had to wear them, or the time she and Katie had brought in their princess dolls and they'd taken those, too. Lucky for her, Kurt was really smart, so he was able to get her dollie's dress clean without even messing up her hair. He even polished her little tiara, and suddenly she looked better than when she'd first gotten her from her parents.

Still, the boys in Ella's class weren't very nice. She did her best to not let it bother her.

Because Katie was mostly right. Boys were just kind of stupid.

Except her Uncle Blaine, and Kurt, and Aiden.

And Mikey. Mikey wasn't stupid, either. But, well, Mikey was just Mikey.

She couldn't really explain it, so she didn't try.

"You coming, Ella?"

The girl looked up to see Katie, waiting patiently for her, wrapped up in her coat and scarf. It took Ella a moment to realize that the bell must have rung and it was time for recess. She nodded quickly, smiling at her friend, and ran to the back to grab her jacket.

Unfortunately, the swings were all taken by the time Ella and Katie reached the playground. They considered their options for a few moments. Four square was really a game that the boys liked to play, and the sandbox was usually for the younger students.

"We could play jump rope," Ella suggested, but Katie shook her head.

"I left mine at home," she said, frowning. "Do you think we could borrow the hulahoops from the gym?"

Ella shrugged half-heartedly. "What about hopscotch?" she suggested.

Katie clapped her hands together excitedly. "Oooh, yes!" she said, jumping up and down slightly. Ella grinned at her best friend, running over to the play equipment and snatching up a piece of chalk. She hurried back to Katie, and the two linked arms and made their way to an empty part of the blacktop, outlining boxes and drawing numbers inside.

"You can go first," she told her friend, pressing a flat stone into Katie's gloved hands. The girl tossed the stone, which landed on the seven, and carefully skipped through the squares. She picked up the stone and made her way back, handing the rock to Ella.

Then, out of nowhere, Katie was being shoved to the ground.

Ella turned and glared at the boy, a year older than her and Katie. He was a bit taller, too, and laughing meanly with his friends. She was pretty sure that his name was Taylor something, but she wasn't in his class, so she couldn't be sure. She balled her hands into fists.

"Leave her alone!" she shouted at the boy, hearing Katie sniffling slightly behind her. "Just go away!" This only caused the boy to laugh harder. "I said go away!"

At this, the boy pushed Ella to the ground too. Her elbow collided painfully with the gravel and she hissed in pain.

"Aww, you gonna cry to mommy, too?" the boy asked, and she glared at him.

"She can't, Taylor," one of the other boys said. "That's Ella Anderson. She don't got a mom no more."

The boys laughed at this, and Ella felt as though she couldn't breathe anymore. The words were stinging more than the pain in her elbow, reaching her heart and making her entire chest ache. Don't cry, she told herself, just don't cry. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that it might prevent the tears. Just don't cry in front of them.

"What's your problem?" came an angry voice. Ella's eyes popped open and she saw Mikey coming over, his cheeks red with fury. "Leave them alone, Adams!"

The older boy sneered at him. "Protecting your girlfriend?" he asked.

"They didn't do anything to you, just go away," Mikey continued furiously.

"Maybe I won't," Taylor said "What you gonna do about it, Chang?"

Mikey pushed the taller boy's shoulders and he stumbled slightly, the smile falling off of his face. He shoved Mikey back with all of his might so that he fell to the ground roughly. Then Mikey was on him, pushing him to the ground and pinning his arms to his side.

"Say you're sorry!" he shouted at Taylor. But Taylor pulled his arms free and rolled them over so he was on top of Mikey, holding his first above the younger boy.

"Enough!"

The children looked up as one of the teachers from an older grade rushed over. Immediately she pulled the two apart.

"Taylor," she snapped, "to the front office now." She looked at Mikey instead, noticing the few spots of blood staining his jeans. "You, to the nurse."

The boys nodded, both still looking furious, but two teacher's assistants were approaching now. One was taking Taylor by the arm, the other was placing a gentle hand on Mikey's back and directing him back to the building.

There was a strange feeling in the pit of Ella's stomach as she watched them both go. But she couldn't explain it, so again, she didn't mention it.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Ella looked up at the teacher, who was addressing Katie, now. The girl nodded.

"I-I'm okay," she said, still sniffling. Ella quickly got to her feet, offering a hand to Katie, and she pulled her up. "Can we just go sit until we go in?" she asked Ella, and the girl nodded at her best friend.

"Of course," she said. "I don't really wanna play any more, either." She took Katie's hand in hers and they walked off to the edge of the playground, sitting with their backs up against the chain link fence. They didn't really talk, Katie still upset. Ella didn't complain. It gave her time to think.

Once the children were called in from recess, Ella had developed her plan.

"Miss Brady?" she said, addressing the teacher's aid while everyone was putting away their coats. "My tummy hurts. Can I go to the nurse?"

"Of course, sweetheart," the woman said kindly. "Here's a pass." She quickly scribbled Ella's name and destination onto the piece of paper, handing it to the girl. "Feel better, all right?"

"Thank you," Ella said, taking the slip of paper and moving slowly out of the classroom. After all, she had to at least appear to be sick. Once she was in the hall, however, she shoved the pass in her pocket and her pace quickened.

She reached the nurse's office, only the nurse wasn't there. Shrugging slightly to herself, Ella proceeded to the back where there were a few beds. She quickly spotted Mikey on one of the beds, swinging his feet that were hanging off over the side. She walked over to the bed and climbed up on it, sitting next to him.

"Hi," she said, and he glanced up, smiling at her.

"Hi," he responded. He furrowed his brow. "Are you sick?"

She shook her head. "I wanted to come see you," she told him.

"Why?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"To thank you," she said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Mikey blushed slightly, looking back down at his feet. "I didn't do nothin'," he told her.

"You saved me!" she told him.

"It was just Taylor Adams," he said dismissively, but he still looked rather pleased with himself. "He's not that big of a deal."

"Well, I wouldn't have been able to do anything without you," she said. "They were talking... they said stuff about me not having a mom anymore."

"I'm sorry," Mikey said, and he really did sound like he was. Ella liked that about him.

"You stood up for me," she said. "It really means a lot to me."

"Really?" he asked, a little sheepishly, and she nodded, cupping their hands together. "Well, I'm really glad I could help." He grinned widely at her.

Ella took a moment to look at Mikey. She'd seen him countless times, of course, but she didn't often just really look at him. But she liked it. She liked the way he smiled, all of his adult teeth in up front, so it looked extra nice when he smiled. His dark hair was a little messy, falling into his eyes, which were a really pretty chocolatey color.

There was this swooping, fluttery feeling inside Ella's stomach whenever she got the chance to look at Mikey like this. It made her feel a little nervous, but mostly just kind of light and happy and excited. She figured that this must be how Kurt and Uncle Blaine felt around each other.

Without another moment's thought, Ella leaned in, giving a quick peck to Mikey's cheek. She blushed furiously as she pulled away again, noticing that Mikey's cheeks were similarly rosy.

"W-what was that for?" he stammered, though he didn't look displeased. Ella's cheeks burned anyway, looking down at her lap.

"Nothing," she told him quickly. "I just... I'm really thankful for what you did for me is all."

"Oh," Mikey said lamely, as though he was almost a little disappointed. He shifted in his seat slightly.

"You're not hurt too bad, are you?" she asked him quietly, and he shook his head.

"Nah, just my knee and elbow are pretty scraped up, but it isn't too bad," he assured her. "I'm just glad he didn't really get to hurt you."

Ella smiled shyly, looking back up at him. "I was wondering..." she said slowly, biting her lip nervously for a moment. "Well, I wanted to know if you wanted to go trick-or-treating with me."

"Really?" he asked.

She nodded. "I thought... I mean, you don't have to, but I know that Aladdin's your favorite Disney movie, and if you wanted to, maybe you could dress up like Aladdin and... I could be Jasmine." She took her bottom lip between her teeth again, biting on it as her cheeks flamed red. "Kurt's really good at making costumes, and he said I could be anything I wanted this year, so..."

"Yeah," Mikey said immediately. "I'd really like that."

"Really?" she asked, disbelievingly.

He grinned broadly and nodded. He quickly leaned over to Ella, brushing his lips on her cheekbone much like she'd done moment before. She felt her heart thumping painfully in her chest, but she knew it was a good feeling. A really good feeling.

And the way he was smiling, how could it not be a good feeling? "Really really."