[M e w]

He was going to refuse, but ended up doing what she asked, opening his mouth wide.
"Ah don nee uh lahaw, ah cah deu wi doe gahs ahsef," he gargled out at her, his mouth still open.
If he went around telling adults about what was happening to him it would only make the situation worse. He was a guy, and guys couldn't go around crying about getting beat up. It was the rules... of life or something, the way things were. For the time he had been going to public school he had been teased, and a coward. But now that he had gone through that hellish night, he felt as though he could finally stand up for himself, as if it had injected the courage he was missing all his life. He thought suddenly about the Wizard of Oz, like he was the cowardly lion and had just received his courage from the leader of the magical city. Or some of it at least, the thought of returning to that shadow world tonight frightened him to the point of feeling sick.

- - -

Foot beginning to tap again, she merely nodded at the question. The news that she probably need to buy a new bike didn't make her happy. She would probably end up doing so, perhaps take out a small loan to help pay for it, but she wanted to hear the cost of the damages before she made a decision.

"You think you can give me an estimate of the costs? Maybe we could sit down and discuss it..." she said to Patrick. She glanced down at her bracelet that couldn't be removed and thought about thanking him for last night. She wasn't the type of person who ever thanked anyone, but he DID save her ass. It was quite the coincidence that she ran into him again today, she hadn't expected to see him again.