Lilli of the Forest: Chapter 6

Chapter 6
Ethan

During class the next afternoon, Ethan paid hardly any attention to what the teacher was saying.  His gaze was geared outside of the window he sat next to, and his mind was filled with thoughts of Lilli, the strange tiny girl.  The more he thought about her, the more he could recall every bit of her.  Her soft, curly hair between his fingertips; her large, shimmering eyes gazing up at him with anxiety and wonder; the warmth of her tiny hand spreading through the tip of his finger; her faint, rapid heartbeat pulsing through his palm; her smile stretching from one reddened cheek to the next.

Ethan realized that the whole experience of being in his hand was probably traumatic to her, but he felt as if it were the only way for her to understand.  He remembered how, when he was younger, he had bought a book about hamsters in the hopes of getting his parents to buy him one.  Even though they refused, he read the book anyway.  He recalled how it stressed that tiny animals need to first get accustomed to their owners hands or else remain fearful.  Ethan hated the idea of Lilli being forever afraid of him; he wanted to get to know everything about her.

Although, he thought, she would probably get mad if I told her I compared her to a hamster.  The idea of her face morphing into a frustrated pout made Ethan laugh to himself.

"Mr. Walker!"  A shrill voice brought Ethan back to reality as he snapped his head forward.  The teacher, a short, bony woman by the name of Mrs. Mihata, glared at him from the front of the room.  "Is there something so amusing that you feel the need to interrupt my class?"

"Oh no, Mrs. Mihata," Ethan replied, still smiling, "I was just thinking about something."

"Well, please make your thoughts less disruptive."

"Of course."  Some kids surrounding Ethan began to snicker as Mrs. Mihata returned to her lecture.  Despite the teacher's warning, Ethan immediately began to think of whether or not Lilli truly trusted him.

****

3:00 rolled around sooner than expected, and Ethan began packing away his things.  Just as he was finishing, two figures approached his desk.

"You're never the type to just space out in class, Ethan," a male's voice said.

Ethan looked up to see a boy and a girl standing before him.  The boy was rather attractive for his age with a mop of honey hair and sharp, brown eyes.  He was taller than Ethan (only by a couple inches) and wore a dark red, long-sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans.  The girl was pretty as well, as she had long, straight, black hair, large, dark green eyes and a petite body.  She wore an ash-colored tank top and a beige, frilly skirt.

"What are you talking about, Colin?" Ethan replied with a smirk, "I always let my mind wander."

The boy scoffed.  "Yeah, and I get all As, but change them to Bs and Cs just to make you feel smart."

"Ha ha, so funny," Ethan retorted, "you believe me, right Kylie?"  The girl immediately averted Ethan's gaze when he turned to her.

"W-well, I thought it was kind of...strange...too," she mumbled.

"See?  She agrees with me.  Now spill, what's going on?" Colin demanded, gripping his hands on the edge of Ethan's desk.  He suddenly gasped as if he was struck by a brilliant idea.  "It's a girl, isn't it?!"

"Huh?" Ethan asked, more confused than anything.

Kylie turned to the taller of the two boys.  "Colin, don't just assume-"

"I knew it!" Colin cheered.  He slid around the desk and grabbed Ethan around the shoulders like a proud father taking hold of his son.  "My boy, you finally caught up to me!"  His voice sounded as if he were on the verge of tears.

"C-Colin, just because you're like that doesn't mean Ethan is," Kylie debated.

"Listen Kye, I love you like a sister, but there are just some things about us guys that you'll never understand.  Like girls."

"Excuse me, but last time I checked, I'm a girl!"

"I mean how we feel about them.  And I can tell this guy has a little lady in his life now."

"Oh please.  Ethan hasn't even said anything so you're probably wrong.  Isn't he, Ethan?"

Ethan had been staring into space the entire time his friends argued.  However, just as Kylie questioned him, he slowly raised a hand to his chin as if in deep thought.

"Little lady...yeah, that sounds about right."

"EH?!" Kylie screamed.

"I knew it!" Colin shouted, jumping into the air victoriously.  Although there weren't very many people in the room, all eyes were on the trio.  Ethan, realizing the ruckus they were making, tried to calm his friends.

"Guys, keep it down..."

"Who is she?!" they both cried simultaneously.  Colin excited and Kylie infuriated.  Ethan tensed up in their dual stares.

"Wh-who?"

"The girl!" they both shouted.

"Oh no, no, you guys don't-" Ethan was interrupted by an unwelcome sight.  Looming behind Kylie and Colin was a large figure.  A huge body, brown, buzz-cut hair and dark, bitter eyes; Ethan knew this form all too well and immediately scowled in its presence.  The look on his face made Kylie and Colin turn around, producing bitter frowns of their own.

"What are you three doing, making so much noise?" the new arrival's gruff voice asked.

"Nothing that concerns you, Steven," Kylie replied, scrunching her nose as if she just smelled something rotting.  The large boy grunted dismissively.

"Whatever.  I'm here to talk to Walker, so you two can get of here."

"Now hold it," Colin snapped, "who says you can come here and-"

"Guys, it's okay," Ethan interrupted, smiling, "you go ahead.  I'll see you tomorrow."  Both Kylie and Colin turned to stare at Ethan, then to each other.  Neither moved for a few moments, but then they both resigned and began gathering their belongings.  Colin leaned down close to Ethan as if reaching for something he'd dropped.

"Look, I know you're tutoring the guy, but are you sure you wanna be alone with him?" he whispered into Ethan's ear.

"Yeah, I'm sure."  Colin didn't move.  He stared right into Ethan's eyes until Ethan turned towards him.  "I'm serious, go on."  Colin sighed as he slowly stood up, swung his backpack over his shoulder and said goodbye to Ethan.  He glared right into Steven's eyes for as long as he could until he was out the door, Kylie following closely behind.  Once they were both gone, Steven turned back to Ethan.

"Tutoring me, huh?  That's the best you could come up with?" he questioned as he looked down at the blonde boy.  Ethan didn't look up to meet his gaze.

"What does it matter to you what I tell my friends?" Ethan responded.  Steven merely chuckled.

"Fine, have it your way."  He then lifted his large arm and slapped down a small packet onto Ethan's desk.  "Have this done by tomorrow morning, and make sure it's all right.  Got it?"  Steven's voice was demanding now.  Ethan merely looked at the papers.  He could easily figure out the problems written on them despite the fact that it was meant for the kids in the grade above him.  Ethan finally turned to look right in Steven's eyes.

"I really don't think you need to do this.  I mean, these problems are pretty simple."  Despite his encouragement, Ethan only received a hateful glower.

"What part of 'do it' do you not understand?" Steven asked as more of a threat than a question.  Even though he knew he was stepping onto a land mine, Ethan continued.

"Look, how about I tutor you for real?  Then, you'll be able to do it on your own, get the good grades you truly deserve and not have to come hunt me down all the time.  Doesn't that sound better?"  As soon as the words left his mouth, a beefy hand shot out and grasped the collar of Ethan's shirt.  He immediately reacted by grabbing the hand's wrist, but knew there was no way to loosen its grip.

"You were better off just keeping quiet," Steven growled.  He proceeded to drag Ethan along by his shirt, grabbing the packet in his free hand.  As he was being forced down the hallway, Ethan protested the entire time.  Everyone they passed merely stared.

****

"I found the last of them, Poppy."  Lilli walked through the main entrance of her home with two nails placed over each shoulder.  She threw them into the pile of what appeared to be a dozen or so nails.  Poppy wagged her tail vigorously.  "Now all we need is some string and we should be ready to go."  Lilli paused as she stared at the nails, then turned to her animal friend.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing?" she asked.  Poppy cocked her head to the side, trying to understand what Lilli meant.  But before she could answer, the sound of a door opening and closing caught their attention.  Poppy yipped as footsteps made their way up to their destination.

"Must be him..." Lilli thought aloud.  Without another second, Poppy dashed out of the hole.  Lilli all ready knew exactly where she was going, but didn't follow right behind her.  Instead, she walked slowly, almost as if she were sneaking her way there.  Soon, she was standing in the entryway of the fresh hole she made, the white surface of Ethan's desk hovering above her head.  From where she was standing, she could see Ethan's giant body sitting on the floor and Poppy standing partially on his knee, looking up at his face.  Although she could hear his voice, it sounded strange for some reason.  She took a few more steps forward until she was completely visible, but then let out a scream.

"Ethan?!  What happened to your face?!"  Both Ethan and Poppy flinched as they turned towards Lilli.  The reason for her shriek was because Ethan had a tissue covering his nose, and almost the entire thing was stained red.

"Oh, uh, hi Lilli," he greeted her, acting as if he had just been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar, "zay, wood you habben to habe any dissues?"  His voice sounded so strange as he pinched his nose that if Lilli weren't so shocked, she'd be in a fit of giggles.

"D-dissues?" she repeated confused, "oh, tissues!  Yeah, uh, hold on."  She made a mad dash back to her home, grabbed the spare tissues she used as towels in case of rainy days and brought them all the way back to Ethan.  He remained seated on the floor, his free hand gently stroking Poppy while she purred happily.

"Dank you," he said with a smile as he grabbed one out of Lilli's tiny hands.  When he removed the bloody one from his nose, Lilli's stomach lurched at the awful sight of his nose.  A large, black bruise stained the bridge of it, while the surrounding area was red.  Although it was apparent the bleeding was slowing down, Lilli could still see drops of blood peeking out of his nostrils.

"That bad, huh?"  Lilli shook out of her stupor when she heard Ethan's voice.  She looked up and was surprised to see a gentle smile on his face.

"N-no," she replied, averting his gaze, "I...didn't really notice."  Ethan snickered.

"Sorry to say it, but you're bad at lying," he teased as he covered his nose with a fresh tissue.  Lilli decided to ignore him for the moment.

"What happened to your nose?" she asked.  Ethan stared at her as if he'd completely forgotten about it.

"Oh, uh...it's noding."

"Was it Steven again?"  Ethan's eyes widened at the sound of the familiar name.

"How do you know him?"

"Well," a smirk spread across Lilli's face as if she had achieved a great accomplishment, "when you live in the walls of someone's house, you learn everything about them after a while."  Ethan chuckled at her boasting.

"Is dat right?" he asked playfully.  Lilli's face slowly turned serious again.

"Did he...do something again?" she asked, concern lacing her words.  Ethan's eyes turned to the floor, but to Lilli, it seemed as if he were staring through it.

A sickening smack echoed through the hallway, followed by a loud thud.

Ethan lay on the ground, groaning and clasping his face with one hand.  His nose throbbed with pain and he could feel something thick and warm gushing from his nostrils.  He squeezed his eyes shut to force back the onslaught of tears.  Suddenly, he felt something being thrown at him.  He covered his face instinctively with his free arm, only to see that it was merely paper.

"Maybe now you see where I'm coming from," a deep, raspy voice growled over him, "so if you know what's good for you, you'll get it done."  Ethan was left hearing Steven stomp down the hallway, the taste of blood spreading through his mouth.

"...Ethan?"  A gentle voice woke Ethan from his daydream.  He turned down to see Lilli's shimmering eyes staring up at him.  Even Poppy was gazing up at him with a cocked head.

"Ah, z-zorry," he stammered, his cheeks turning a bright shade of pink, "I'm, uh...just a liddle tired is all.  Getting bunched in the nose really dakes it out of you."

"Oh, if you need to rest, go ahead."

"Danks.  Will you come back after I wake ub?"  Lilli seemed to jump slightly at the question.

"O-okay."  Ethan smiled at her bewildered face.

"Good.  Well, night then."  He plucked Poppy off his knee, placed her on the floor and rose up to move onto his bed.  Lilli listened as he made his way under the covers, the rustling sound like a field of grain being blown in the wind.  Soon, the noise settled and all she could hear was his breathing, gentle and rhythmic.  Lilli didnÕt move from her spot until Poppy came up and nudged her.

"That wound looked pretty nasty, didn't it girl?" she said to her friend.  Poppy mewled with drooped ears.  "Maybe we can do something."  When Lilli said this, Poppy's ears perked back up instantaneously.  Lilli then led the way back to the hole, but rather than heading towards their home, the two made their way down into the depths of the house.

Taking leaps and bounds over gaps and lengthy steps, it wasn't long until the pair reached the very bottom of the house.  One gap in the boards was spewing pale light into the darkness, which gave Lilli and Poppy enough room to squeeze through and land underneath the building.  Once they made their way out of the shadows and into the warm blanket of sunlight, Lilli veered right to the great white fence.  Making her way through a sea of grass and a brush of flower stems, she found a gap between two planks of wood big enough to fit both Poppy and herself.

"It's around here somewhere," she muttered to herself.  Poppy raised her head and sniffed at the air.  Something caught her attention for she quickly hopped through the forest-like garden.  Lilli gave chase after her until she found her friend sitting up on her hind legs, nose twitching and tail wagging, underneath a group of tall, thin, purple flowers.

"This must be it," Lilli proclaimed as she stepped next to Poppy beneath the flowers.  She took a whiff herself.  A thick, yet sweet aroma filled her nostrils, and she let out a contented sigh.

"You think Ethan would like these?" she asked Poppy.  Still absorbed in the delightful scent, Poppy gave a purr-filled moan in response.  With that, Lilli proceeded to grab the stem of the flower with both hands and pull with her entire upper body.  Digging her heels into the soil, the flower seemed to give no sign of being uprooted.

"Come on!" she grunted through gritted teeth.  Finally, just when it seemed that it was going to slip from her hands, the flower roots ripped apart from the garden, causing Lilli to trip onto her back and sending the flower flying behind her.

"Ughh...one down," she groaned as she stared at the newly pulled flower.  When she turned back to the grove of flowers, Poppy was all ready pulling the next one out with her tail wrapped around the stem.  Each of them pulled two more flowers.

"That should do it, huh?" Lilli stated as she wiped her brow with her forearm.  Poppy, panting, yipped in agreement.  Lilli threw four of the flowers over her shoulder while Poppy carried one in her mouth.  The two squeezed through the fence, careful not to damage the petals and strutted back into the house.

****

Ethan's dreams turned into nightmares.  He stood trapped in the middle of a ring of large, shadowed bodies.  Whenever he tried to make an escape, the body closest to him would shove him right back into the center.  With every shove, the figures took another step closer until they leaned over him like a cage.  Closer and closer still they came, leaving no trace of light until...

Ethan's eyes flew open to the welcoming sight of light.  His breathing had increased rapidly and he was covered in a cold sweat.

Just a dream, just a dream... he repeated the sole phrase over and over in his head until he returned to a normal breathing rate.  But then something caught his attention, a new, sweet scent.  He turned his head towards the source.

Lying on his desk was a bouquet of five flowers.  Lavenders, to be exact.

Ethan rubbed his eyes, but realized the flowers were not a dream.  He plucked one up, lifted it to his nose and took in as much of the aroma as his lungs could hold.  The sweetness spread a smile across his face.  He then threw his legs over the bed, walked over to the corner of his room and crouched down next to the hole.

"Lilli?" he called as he knocked on the wall.  Within moments, two tiny forms made their way out of the hole.  Poppy bounced lightly and yipped cheerfully, while Lilli merely stared up at him with her usual baffled expression.

"Were you the one who left me these?" he asked, holding up the flower in his fingers.  Lilli seemed to shy away at first, twisting a few strands of her hair.

"Well, I just thought...those flowers smell so nice and..." Lilli continued to mumble randomly.  The more she tried to explain herself, the bigger Ethan's smile became.  Finally, he lowered his empty hand, placed a finger under Lilli's chin and gently brought her eyes back up to him.

"Thank you," he said.  Instantly, her face turned a deep shade of red.  Her only reply was a tiny nod.

"How were you able to get up onto my desk without my help?" Ethan suddenly asked, curious.  Lilli blinked several times as if waking from a trance, then finally spoke clearly.

"I-it was kind of hard.  I had to rub some sticky tack on my hands just to keep hold, and even then it was difficult to hold on."  Ethan's eyes widened with surprise.

"That's pretty resourceful though.  I never would have thought to do something like that."  A tiny smirk appeared on the little girl's face.

"Well, Poppy and I are able to make do with these skills, don't we?"  Poppy made a squeaky cry while wagging her tail.

"I see that now," Ethan replied, laughing lightly, "but you know, you have me to help you out now too."  And with that, he lay his hand out flat on the floor right in front of the pair.  Poppy immediately jumped on, ogling up at Ethan.  At first, it seemed like Lilli was going to run away as she took a couple steps back.  But then, after a couple fervent glances up at the human boy, she slowly made her way onto his palm and kneeled down.  Ethan then stood up, making sure to keep his hand steady for the tiny passengers.

"It looks like your nose stopped bleeding," Lilli commented.

"It has?"  Ethan himself hadn't noticed his nose when he woke up.  He rubbed his nose, only to be stung by a dull pain.  Thankfully, however, the blood seemed to have stopped.  "Good.  Now I just have this bruise to deal with."

"...You get a lot of bruises, huh?"  Ethan glanced down at Lilli and simply replied with a forced smile.  He placed his hand flat against the surface of his desk, allowing Lilli and Poppy to hop off.  "Ethan?"

"Hmm?"  Ethan pulled out his desk chair and sat down.

"Why does this Steven person do these things to you?"  Ethan could feel two pairs of eyes gazing up at him without even looking down.

"Well," he started, "it's pretty much because he doesn't like me."

"Have done something to make him angry?"

"Not exactly."

"Are you competing over a mate?" Ethan spun his head down at Lilli.  Her face was perfectly composed.

"Are we...what?" Ethan asked, confused.

"You know, is there a girl you both like whom you're trying to win over?"  Ethan suddenly burst out into laughter.

How can she ask that kind of question so seriously?

"What?  What's so funny?" Lilli asked with a frustrated tone.  Ethan had to let his laughter subside before he could answer.

"I...I'm sorry Lilli," he replied, a smile still plastered on his face, "but that's not it.  Humans don't really do that sort of thing."  Ethan heard Lilli humph under her breath and mutter "how was I supposed to know?"

"Sorry, that just caught me off guard," he apologized.

"Then what's the reason?"

"Well," Ethan placed his hand under his chin as if he was daydreaming, "it's more like he's jealous of me."

"Jealous?  Why?"

"I think it's because I get better grades than him.  He tries to get me to do his work for him because he doesn't feel like he can do it on his own."

"You can't just tell him no?  What about hitting back?"

"Well, I guess I could try that but...I doubt that I'll do much.  In fact, I'll probably just make things worse for myself."

"Don't you have friends that can help you?"

"I do, but I'd rather not get them involved.  I'd feel awful if they got hurt because of my problems."  Ethan waited patiently for Lilli's next question, but was greeted by silence instead.  He peeked down to see her brow furrowed.  "You okay?"

"I just don't understand.  Why is this human okay with hurting someone of his fellow kind?  It's not natural."

"Well, this kind of stuff happens often.  It's not that big of a deal," Ethan replied in an attempt to comfort her.

"No, it is a big deal!" Lilli shouted at him, anger coating her face as well as her voice, "you can't just ignore the fact that you're getting hurt!  If you don't do something about it...!"  Her anger calmed when she realized her voice was breaking and her eyes were swimming in tiny pools.  Ethan could only stare with wide eyes at the tiny girl chastising him and worrying about him to the point of tears.  Even Poppy was staring at both of them with wide eyes.  Ethan lowered his hand down and wrapped his fingers around Lilli's back, gently cradling her.

"Thank you, Lilli, for being so concerned about me," he whispered warmly, "but you don't have to work yourself up so much about it.  I'll take care of it in whatever way I can, so rest assured, okay?"  Lilli said nothing at first.  Though her eyes no longer held any tears, her lips were puckered into a pout similar to what Ethan had imagined earlier that day.  Then, she sharply turned on her heel and started walking towards the far end of the desk.

"I'm going back now," she announced.

"Wait, what?  Why?" Ethan asked, surprised.  When she didn't answer, Ethan quickly made a reach and caught her by the back of her dress.  Lilli gave a tiny scream and stared up at Ethan with terror-filled eyes.  "Sorry," he quickly muttered, "but why are you leaving?  Are you mad at me?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Lilli said with a twinge of fear on her face, "I just want to go home now."  She glanced down at Ethan's fingers clamping onto her back.  "...Could you let me go?"  Although he was still unsure whether Lilli was being honest or not, Ethan did as he was told and slowly removed his hand.  "Come on Poppy," Lilli beckoned as she dropped down over the side of the desk.  Poppy didn't chase after Lilli; rather, she stared up at Ethan with drooped ears, whimpering.

"It's okay, go ahead," Ethan told the small animal.  Steadily, Poppy rose to her feet and followed the tiny girl, stealing glances back at Ethan just before she jumped down.  Left by his lonesome, Ethan could only sigh and rub the sore spot on his nose.

****

Early the next morning, Ethan stood in the hallway near the staircase leading to the second floor where the upperclassmen went.  A square piece of cloth was taped over his nose.  As he awkwardly looked down both ways, he could see two familiar figures approaching him.

"Morning," Kylie greeted him, her smile fading when she saw Ethan's nose.

'Hey guys," Ethan replied, ignoring their concerned stares.

"Dude, what happened?" Colin asked gravely.

"Oh, this?"  Ethan placed a hand on his nose, "well, you know me.  I was spacing out and walked right into a metal pole.  Go figure."  Ethan laughed heartily at himself, but Colin stared at him with an unflinching expression.  Kylie stared between them.

"W-well," she finally stammered to break the silence, "shall we go to class?  It's almost time."

"You guys go ahead.  I have to wait for someone.  I'll be there soon," Ethan replied.  Despite his words, neither of his friends made any sign of leaving.  They stood in silence for a moment, but then Colin leaned up against the wall next to Ethan.

"Kylie, you go ahead," he told his friend, "tell the teacher we'll be a little late.  We'll catch up soon enough."

Ethan began to refute, "wait a second-"

"Got it!"  Before Ethan could finish his sentence, Kylie agreed with a grin and skipped off to class.  Ethan watched her leave, then leaned back against the wall with an exaggerated sigh.

"What are you doing?" he asked Colin without looking at him.

"Just waiting with you," his friend replied, also keeping his gaze straight forward, "it sucks when someone comes to class late all alone."

"That's not what I mean."

"I know."

"This isn't really something you need to get involved with."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, I won't get involved.  But who's to say I won't let someone else get involved in my place?"  Ethan wanted to say some sort of rebuttal, but nothing came out of lips but another sigh.

"How come I know so many stubborn people?"

"Hey, birds of a feather flock together, don't they?"  And for the first time, the two boys locked eyes and chuckled at each other.

As time passed, the two boys remained glued to their spot as more and more people emptied the halls to go to class.  Soon, they were the only two in the lonely hallway.  Just the chime ringed for the beginning of class, they both heard footsteps descending the staircase.  Soon enough, Steven came clambering around with his trademark scowl.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he growled immediately at the sight of Colin.

"I'm just an innocent bystander.  I dunno why you're so riled up.  Unless, of course, you plan on doing something you'd rather not have other people see."  Colin's tone became snarkier as he spoke.  Ethan, with his head turned towards the floor, tried his best to stifle a laugh.  Steven glared at him with a square jaw, only to scoff his words away.

"Whatever, not like I care," he grumped.  He then turned his attention to Ethan, and immediately smirked.  "What happened to you, Walker?"  Ethan's smile quickly disappeared, but he said nothing in return.

"If you were to ask me, I'd say it was an improvement," Steven continued with a deep snicker.  From the corner of his eye, Ethan could see Colin's body tense up.

"I've got what you wanted," Ethan quickly spoke.

"Good.  I'm glad you could see things properly.  Now hand it over."  Without waiting, Ethan swung his backpack off his shoulder, pulled out a packet and held it out to the older boy.  Steven snatched it and gave it a quick glance.  However, as he stared at it, his sneer faded and an angry frown took its place.

"Something wrong?" Colin asked bitterly.  Steven shot a glare at him, then returned his anger towards Ethan.

"These pages are blank," he snarled, "you did nothing."

"I know," Ethan replied matter-of-factly.  Just those two words set a spark off in Steven's eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he shouted at an audible pitch.

"Nothing.  I just think you're still able to do it on your own," Ethan continued despite the dangerous glower he was staring into, "if you want me to help you, I-" Suddenly, a hand reached out and snatched a fistful of Ethan's shirt.  The force of the grab slammed Ethan up against the wall.  Ethan's eyes clenched shut as his head banged against the hard surface, but just as they cracked open, he saw an enraged Steven pulling back a fist.  Immediately, Ethan spun his head away and braced himself.

"H-hey, let go of me!" he heard Steven shout.  Ethan snuck a quick peek to see Colin behind his attacker, holding his fist back with both hands.

"Like you're gonna-nngh-beat my best friend-grr-asshole!" Colin grunted, holding on as best as he could while Steven tried to shake him off.  While all three of them struggled against each other, kids from nearby classrooms were gawking through the windows at the sight.

"I said let...me...!" Steven began to bellow, but then he stopped, confusing both Colin and Ethan.  "What the hell is...i-is that...a rat?"  Ethan gaped at Steven in confusion until he noticed Steven's focus was on Ethan's shoulder.  He turned his head and, indeed, saw a tiny brown creature perched just beside his head.  But as he focused on it, he saw it had long, rabbit-like ears folded back against its skull, and heard what sounded like a high-pitched growl.

With a surprised gasp, Ethan cried "Poppy?!"  Before he could snatch the tiny creature, she leapt from his shoulder with a ferocious shriek.  The next thing they knew, Steven gave a high-pitched scream that echoed through the hall and scratched at his face with his hands.

"GET IT OFF!!!  GET THIS DAMN THING OFF ME!!!"  Within a matter of seconds, bodies began swarming the hall to behold a strange sight: Ethan and Colin standing off to the side, staring at Steven who was writhing on the floor with his hands pressed to his face.  The teachers, whose classes were now thoroughly disrupted, stormed out to herd their students back into class, as well as break up the commotion.  However, Steven could only shout "GET THIS DAMN RAT OFF MY FACE!!!"  Despite their best efforts to help him, the teachers were unable to get close enough to actually help him.

Finally, after what seemed like several minutes of struggling, Steven finally pried his hands from his face and, with a great grunt, seemed to throw something away.  Ethan gasped as he saw a tiny brown object slide across the floor and disappear into the space underneath the wall.

"Steven, are you all right?"  Voices chimed in as the older boy sat up, gasping.  His face was covered in tiny scratches and red marks, all of them shedding blood.  Gasping, he swung his head around until his eyes finally landed on Ethan.

"You...you..." he panted angrily, "bringing...a rat...are you insane?"  Everyone turned to Ethan, confusion written on every face.

"I didn't bring a rat," Ethan rebuked, "why would I bring a rat to school?"

"Have it attack me...give me rabies or something..."

"Oh yeah, cause that totally sounds like something Ethan would do.  Very logical," Colin replied with heavy sarcasm.

"Shut up!" Steven shouted, his voice cracking from exhaustion.

"All right, all three of you," a teacher announced, stepping into the middle of the three of them, "to the principal's office.  We'll discuss what happened there.  Everyone else, get back to your classes.  Now move!"  Slowly but surely, all of the bodies returned to their rooms, murmuring amongst themselves about what really happened.  Colin and Ethan made their way down the hall, not even glancing at the wounded Steven.  As they walked down, Ethan kept his eyes glued to the floor for any sign of movement.

Minutes later, Ethan and Colin were sitting alone in the secretary's office, waiting silently.  Next door, they could hear Steven's moans as the school nurse applied bandages to the scratches on his face.

"Hey Ethan?" Colin finally broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"That rat...was it yours?"  Ethan paused for a moment as he thought of what he should say in response.

"No."

"Did you bring it to school with you?"

"Not on purpose."

"...I see."  Silence fell again.

"...Colin?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you cover me?"

"...Anyone asks, you're in the bathroom."

"That works."  Ethan jumped out of his seat and dashed out of the office.  As he raced down the hallway, he tried to stay light on his feet until he reached the beginning of the staircase.  He immediately got on all fours and crawled around, his eyes tracing the floor rapidly.

"Poppy?" he called quietly, "Poppy?  Are you here?  It's okay, you can come out now.  It's me, Ethan."  At first, Ethan saw nothing, nor did he hear anything.  Then, just as he turned his head, a tiny blur of brown crossed his sights.  In the corner of the hallway, a tiny figure was crouched against the wall.

"There you are!  Come here, don't be scared."  Ethan tapped the ground near him as he called out to the tiny cat-like creature.  Very warily, Poppy took a couple steps out from her hiding spot, took a moment to glance around and listen for any oncoming people and then scampered to Ethan.  He laid his hand out flat just as she reached him, and she immediately jumped into his palm.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he held her up to his face.  She was panting and wagging her tail, but seemed to be all right nonetheless.  "What do you think you're doing here?"  She yipped in response, which, to Ethan, sounded like nothing more than a squeak.  "Well," he sighed, "I guess it doesn't matter.  Just stay in my backpack until we go home, okay?"  He removed his backpack from his shoulder and held Poppy up to the opening.  She crawled her way inside and plopped down to the bottom.  "Be sure to keep quiet, okay?" he told her just before swinging his backpack back on.

With that, he made his way back down to the office.  After each of the three boys explained what had happened, both Ethan and Colin were luckily released without any punishment.

****

Once school finished that day, Ethan wasted no time in dashing back home.  Along the way, he stopped only once to let Poppy out and place her on his shoulder.  The moment he arrived home and ran into his house, he called through out the entire house.

"Lilli!  Are you here?!"  He made his way into the kitchen, calling Lilli's name.  No reply came.  He dashed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his room.  The minute he opened the door, he saw a tiny figure sitting on the edge of his desk.

"Looking for me?" the tiny girl asked with a smile, her legs swinging back and forth as they dangled over the edge.  The minute she asked, Ethan suddenly felt out of energy and let out a big sigh.  He trudged his way to the desk and sat in his chair.  Once he was settled, Poppy hopped off his shoulder with a yowl and landed right next to Lilli.

"Did you have fun, Poppy?" Lilli asked her tiny friend.  Poppy meowed happily.

"Yeah, she had a little adventure," Ethan mumbled tiredly.

"And what about you?  Have a good day?" Lilli asked, her smile replaced with a confused expression.  Ethan stared right into her eyes.  At first, he wanted to moan about everything and yell a little.  Then, as he replayed the entire incident in his head, he began to snicker.  Soon, his snickers grew to chuckles and then, finally, he was laughing with a laughter straight from the bottom of his heart.  As he did so, Lilli could only stare and occasionally exchange confused glances with Poppy.  Eventually, Ethan calmed down until he was just giggling.  Once he finished, he sighed again but with contentment and turned his eyes back down to Lilli.

"Thank you," he said gratefully.  Lilli replied with a warm smile of her own.

"Oh, by the way, could you help me with this?"  Lilli rose to her feet and grabbed what appeared to be a bundle of nails tied up in string.

"What is that?" Ethan asked as he took it into his fingers.  Suddenly, as he was turning it around, it unraveled.  Each of the nails fell down in turn with plenty of space between each one.  As he stared at it, Ethan couldn't help but think it looked like a tiny ladder.

"I told you how hard it is to get up here on my own, right?" Lilli's tiny voice piped up, "well, if you could hang this up for me, it would really make things a lot easier."

"Hmm," Ethan hummed, "I think I can do that."  Soon enough, a miniature ladder was set up at the rear side of Ethan's desk.  Right next to the ladder, Ethan also prepared a small vase.  Five lavender flowers poked out of the opening, their fragrant aroma filling the room.