Tuesday, September 11th, 1994

The next day at school, I kept my head down to the best of my ability, but it still wasn't enough to keep Ethan away from me.

At lunch, he found me on my bench. He sat next to me, and wouldn't leave me alone.

"Come on, you know I didn't mean it yesterday." He mumbled, leaning closer to me. "Let me tell you, that Chris is bad news. I wouldn't trust him if I were you."

I tried to scoot away, but he came closer.

"Come on, the party's tonight." He said. "Be my date, I swear I'll make it worth your while."

I vigorously shook my head.

"Come on, my friends will love you."

"Ethan." I heard, and looked up.

Chris was standing there, his bruised face looking worse than yesterday.

"Oh man, I knew I got you, but I didn't know I did it that hard." Ethan chuckled.

"Leave her alone, man." Chris Said, not breaking eye contact with him. "She said no."

"She didn't say anything."

I looked down shamefully, tears beginning to fill my eyes. Why was this guy so determined to make me feel worthless?

Chris stepped closer, and Ethan stood. "What're you gonna do, punch me?" He Asked Chris. "We both know that didn't work out yesterday."

"Ella, do you want to come with me?" Chris turned to me.

I wiped my eyes, looking up at him questioningly.

He held out his hand, and I stood, setting my tray down on the bench.

Ethan grabbed at my arm. "Come on, you don't wanna go with that bloke."

I nodded, pulling my arm away roughly before running over to Chris.

He grabbed my hand, and we both started running, Ethan chasing after us.

As we ran, Chris pulled me along, laughing hysterically as we ran across the schoolyard. As we approached the edge, he climbed the Fence, jumping to the other side.

"Come on, I'll lift you over!"

I turned, seeing that Ethan was catching up to us. I turned back to Chris, who was reaching his arms out for me.

I swallowed, before nodding. I climbed the fence a bit, and Chris took my arms, pulling me over.

He took my hand again as we continued to run, both looking back to see Ethan in front of the fence, yelling at us.

Chris laughed. "Woohoo!" He exclaimed. "We did it!"

I was smiling, but no sound came out. If I was able to, I would've been laughing just as hard as he was.

Except, I began to feel a familiar sensation in my lungs.

I stopped running, and Chris looked at me in confusion before stopping as well.

"Hey...are you okay?"

I began gasping for breath, and his eyes widened.

I fell to my knees, and he knelt beside me.

"Ella? What do I do?" He asked frantically, looking me over.

My hands were far too shaky to reach into my hoodie pocket, so I shakily pointed to it.

He reached his hand into my pocket, pulling out my inhaler.

"Oh!" He Said. "Here."

He held it up, and I took a deep breath of it.

It took a bit, but I got my breathing under control enough to actually get some air in. I laid back in the grass, and Chris did as well.

He looked over at me, his blue eyes searching mine. "Are you okay?"

I looked over, smiling a little and nodding.

We both looked back up at the sky, and he started laughing a little.

I looked at him questioningly, and he smiled at me.

"That was amazing!" He exclaimed. "The way we ran away from him! We outran him!"

I smiled at him, before he sighed a little.

"You know, I've never done that before." He said quietly. "Typically they get me before I can get away. This time, I outran a bully.." He looked at me. "I mean, we."

I smiled a little, just looking at him.

"What?" He giggled.

I reached over, using my finger to brush off a bit of dirt on his nose. He laughed a little, scrunching it up.

"I guess I got a little dirty."

I smiled, showing him my hands, which were also covered in dirt.

He laughed. "We can't go back to school like this!"

I held up my finger, and he looked at me curiously.

I shook my head, and he furrowed his eyebrows.

"No?" He asked.

I shook my head again, before pointing in the direction of the school. I then pointed in the opposite direction, which led into the woods.

"You...want to go in there?" He asked, his eyes lighting up.

I nodded vigorously, and he smiled.

"Yeah! Lets go!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "I love the woods!"

He grabbed my hand, and we began to run towards the wooded area.