Mama Said Knock You Out

Thursday was slow, slow and uneventful. They had no luck with the background checks, nothing that would indicate criminal activity but Nell still had a feeling about Ed. He was Jordan's right hand man and always acted strangely around her. At the very least he would have information on what Jordan was up to. On the up side Nell had been easily accepted into the schools music group, no questions asked. Having failed so miserably with the Drama club and athletics she thought it best to pull out all stops and dropped jaws with her near perfect recital of Ravel's 'Le Tombeau de Couperin-6 Toccata' on the old baby grand neglected in the corner. She was an exceptionally talented musician, not just on the Piano but any instrument she choose to pick up. Back in OSP Eric who was a proficient musician also had just stared at her shaking his head in amazement unaware of her hidden talent.

Working full days at the school then coming back to the mission to work most of the night would have taken an incredible toll on the young analyst if she were not a relentless insomniac. None the less she was more than overjoyed when Friday came. She not only had a partial weekend to look forward to, besides work and Pippen's birthday party, but as she was able to ditch the horrible uniform that currently occupied her nightmares and instead walk into school with her much more comfortable jeans and blue hoodie for free dress day.

Moving towards the home room she saw Jordan now, he was clearly upset. Speaking in a hushed tone he tried to move away from the girl in the designer jeans. Ed walked up to the two and Nell noticed how animated the boy was. He had not acted like this around her. Jordan took this opportunity to get away from the girl and she stormed off in a huff. On questioning Jordan about this girl both boys just rolled there eye's making nasty comments at her expense.

Later that day Nell walked into the crowded bathroom discreetly turning off comms as she opened the door. Eric didn't need to come to the toilet with her. Instantly she noticed 'Designer Jeans', with her posse of designer clothes, monopolising the bench and mirror to apply even more makeup to there already crumbling faces. She knew there type well, stuck up princesses with athletic boyfriends and more money than sense. She watched as a small red head in a muddy soccer jersey and jeans, reminding Nell of herself 13 years earlier, moved towards the row of sinks and asked politely if she 'may wash her hands?'. Designer Jeans looked a judging look, followed by a quick scoff and an abrupt laugh before re-attending to what she, no doubt, thought was a masterpiece. Nell felt the cold sting of the girl's actions pierce a small part of her deep inside. A part that she thought had been left behind with her high school graduation, but she wasn't a teenager anymore, regardless of what these self obsessed girls may believe, and she wasn't going to let herself be pushed around like she did back then. In a barely audible voice Nell addressed the horribly tanned teens.

"She just needs to wash her hands there's plenty of room." The words had left her mouth before she had even thought about the consequences; however all she received in response was another scoff. The cold sting began to heat up.

"Seriously? You really need all five sinks to do your makeup?" This received a death stare along with a 'get lost, nobody asked your opinion'. The heat stared a flame.

"You know what? You're probably right... You really do need four and a half meters of bench space for all those cake containers you need to cover up that fugly face your hiding". A collective gasp rang out before a deathly silence fell over the room. The young onlookers were pale as they held their breath preparing for the onslaught that would surely follow this bold outburst.

A sea of cake turned in unison. What had she been thinking? Fugly? She'd never used that term before in her life...ever! She was just glad that the others couldn't hear this right now for fear of their taunting.

The group of girls stood at least a foot taller than she with deathly stares striking mental daggers into her soul.

"What did you say?" Designer Jeans finally piped up. "Did you just call us fugly? You? YOU?..." It was like watching a giant wave coming towards you, knowing it's too big to jump over but too late to dive, with all that remains is the knowledge of your impending doom and the hope that the pain won't last too long.

"...YOU, !" a sea of horrible words flowed from the young girls mouth. Some which were quite creative, but Nell only managed to pick up on the weaker points of the slaughter which she actually found quite amusing "F- LITTLE RANGA, WITH YOUR CHEAP CLOTHS... YOU ARE SCUM!..." the sentences became shorter as she struggled to think of more words to describe her antagonist."...AN UGLY,... SMALL,...FAT,...FARM TRASH,... VIRGIN! THAT WOULD BE LUCKY TO EVER HAVE SEX WITH A SHEEP LET ALONE A MAN!"

Nell let out a laugh. This girl was pathetic, however her words still brought on horrible memories. Every word felt like an old can of petrol smashing on the tiny flame inside of her. On their own they created small explosions but together they contributed to a much larger fire that raged inside of her. Despite this she managed to control her voice as she retorted;

"Oh, what? And I suppose you think having your steroid junky boyfriend's one inch dick rubbing around your pelvis for a couple of minute's counts?" Again shocking herself with her own choice of words. This thought was short lived; however, as she was quickly reminded instead of the time her brother Patrick pushed her out of their large oak tree.

He had seen the whole thing...well fifty three percent. He had watched Nell walk into the bathroom. Then nothing for 10 minutes before a group of what could only be described as teenage royalty strutted out of the room followed thirty seconds later by a small red head looking around franticly. Although the monitor's didn't have sound Eric could clearly hear the young girl's voice calling out.

"Help! Someone get a teacher!" and he realised she wasn't far away. Hoping this had nothing to do with Nell, he leaped out of his swivel chair, charged through the small black door, hitting his head on the door frame once again, and ran over to the small girl.

"What's...happened?" he managed to ask between breaths. If he had of known he was going to exercise today he would have brought his inhaler.

"A girl's past out on the floor. There's blood!"

Eric hesitated for a moment. Blood... Maybe I should leave this to the teachers he thought, but instead came out with.

"arrr...this is a girls bathroom" which earnt him a strange look from the teen before she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside and pushed them both through the crowd.

So there he was charting unfamiliar waters. Answering every mans question of 'what is it like in the ladies restroom'. The first thing he noticed was how much cleaner it was, it spelt better to. There was a large mirror and a nice potted plant in one corner. There was also lots of graffiti on the stalls making statements such as 'Ange totes loves Brad' and 'Zac .E. is Hot!' as opposed to man graffiti which was more likely to be a crude drawing or a statement like 'Eric's a coxsuker'. Yep, that was a common one. Regardless both sexes really needed to work on their spelling.

His thoughts were interrupted as the young girl pulled him down to the ground and for the first time Eric assessed the situation and realised it was, in fact, Nell lying on the flaw unconscious with blood oozing from her head. Dear god, blood. He took a deep breath in...blood would NOT stop him from helping, because this was Nell, and if the roles were reversed she wouldn't even be thinking twice about the copious amounts of bright red liquid pooling around her head. Oh God, he felt queasy. At that moment he noticed the small rose quarts in the palm of her flaccid hand. No, no, no! He haD to help Nell!

"Hey, ...Arwen?..." the voice drifted into her mind "Hey, can you hear me?"

Nell felt herself being rolled onto her back and slowly her blurred vision cleared allowing her to focus on a male figure and the young red head hunched over her as well as multiple eyes watching from behind with matching looks of worry. She gave a groan and tried to stand up but her eyes seemed to have taken on large black spots and she felt nauseas as she noticed the floor increasing in proximity yet again. Just as she was sure the floor was going to hurt she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and lift her up close to their owner's chest. She felt the sensation of movement, but new that she was safe in these arms. They were warm and gentle and enclosed her like a cocoon. Yes, she would really like to stay in this cocoon.

"I like my cocoon" she stated unaware of the curious looks she received before muttering in an English accent "if you want me come and claim me!" Eric had to hold back the urge to laugh as he carried her limp body down the path toward the nurse's office unaware that the sea of curious, young girls following closely behind were not the only ones to witness this scene.

Firstly, sorry to those who don't like the minor language used, but let's be realistic it's a high school and this is exceptionally mild considering.

Secondly, If you haven't heard Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin-6 Toccata you should defiantly look it up its amazing and an incredibly difficult piece, but honestly it wouldn't surprise me if Nell really was a musician it seems to fit with her character.

In relation to the last chapter I was unfortunate enough to have a school dress that was almost completly cream, so it did'nt matter if you were wet or not, but rainy days were the worst or even really hot days when people decided to have water fights. arrhh! so glad that part of my life is over!

Please Review! PM's welcome also!

=CJ=