Gym class, what a bore!

^{"Yeah Lance." She took hold of his foot and tugged on him playfully, not enough to drag him into the water but enough to be a bother. She really didn't want her friend to fail the class because of something so stupid. She understood if he was afraid of water or something, they just wouldn't go very deep. Or maybe they would work their way deeper as it all went on. "Get in here. We can start easy and stay shallow." Ellie released his foot and flipped so she was laying on her back, floating in the water too look up at him. There wasn't anything that he should hate about the water.}

^{The girl ducked under the water and swam over to where Lance was standing. Her eyes wide open in the chlorinated pool, which stung at them slightly. She reached out and touched the wall while she emerged beside him. Ellie shook her head slightly to clear a bit of water from her ears and to loosen a bit of hair that was sticking to her face. "Congratulations," she laughed and stood right next to him against the wall. "It gets a lot better once you get the rest of your body wet. The water doesn't feel as cold. And once you get moving you don't notice anything anymore."}

^{"For getting in the water?" she offered slowly. He was starting to seem a bit irritated so Ellie gave him a little bit of space. "Is everything alright?" she asked him. He looked cold and he probably was, but there was something a little bit more to that. She took a few steps closer to him and had to really strain herself in order to get up high enough so she could whisper into his ear. "Do you not know how to swim?"}

^{Ellie offered her small hand out to Lance. She didn't notice it at first, but compared to the water that stopped right below her chest, the three feet of water barely came up to his waist. A lot more of his body was exposed to the cool air around the pool. "What if we sit on the steps?" They would still be in the water, but it wasn't as deep and he could sit on it and probably get up to his chest emerged.}

^{Ellie looked over to the students that were playing the game. It was tempting. She wanted to play it, but the thought of her shouting out to other students didn't appeal much to her either. Ellie had her hands rested on the step beside Lance. She floated on her stomach and kicked some water out behind her. A few times she dunked her head under trying to think of some way to entertain herself before she gave a grumble and gave up. Having Lance as a friend could actually be boring sometimes and Ellie didn't want to force him to do something he didn't want to do. She sighed and knelt on the steps beside him to keep her head out of the water. "You know Lance," she stated. "You're really big. You're probably the largest one in the class." And the two of them probably looked funny sitting next to each other as they did.}

<sup>"Yeah like.." she waved her arms in the air to indicate the size of the male. "You're really tall. Taller than the rest of my family." Ellie shrugged her shoulders and backed away from him. "If you're so sure though, I won't be far. If you decide to come off the steps, let me be the first to kn-" Her words were cut short when another student ran at her from behind trying to avoid the student that was yelling 'Marco'. Ellie was pushed forward and onto Lance. Her body pressed lightly against his while her hands settled onto his lap for support so she didn't go crashing into the concrete of the stairs or the side of the pool.

((let me know if that's okay >C))</sup>

^{"Oh my gosh Lance!" she turned around and looked at the student that had run into her. He seemed to have gone back to playing the game, not minding the girl that he pushed or the male who had bumped his head. Ellie adjusted herself so she was in a comfortable positon while Lance's arms were wrapped around her. She lifted her hand and touched the back of Lance's head lightly. "Are you alright? Don't think I didn't hear that. That sounded like it hurt."}

^{Ellie scrambled off of him and got the attention of the teacher who ran forward and helped to get Lance out of the pool. "Stay awake Lance," Ellie called to him, she pat him on the face lightly trying to get his attention in any way that she could while the teacher went out for help. The pool time was canceled for the rest of the students who instead were sent back to get dressed and use the rest of the gym period for a study hall while this was taken care of. Ellie stayed close. It was frightening. Nothing like this had ever happened to a friend. She shouldn't have convinced him to come in the water. She should have just gone and swam like the rest of the class. She should have just left Lance alone.}

<sup>"Ellie, Ellie, it's okay," she muttered to herself. Good of her to get a friend only to lose him a few days later. Ellie had such horrid luck with friends. It'd be better if she just stayed away from people. She took a deep breath and shook Lance. Called his name. She had to keep herself together. It was her job to look over Lance right up until the ambulance came to take him away.

Ellie pulled a shirt on over her swimsuit and stayed with him when they took him to the hospital. Maybe because she had just gotten a friend. Or she considered him as her friend. They never really said much outside of the gym class. She supposed that it was more because she was there when it happened. She could answer any questions that came up with what happened. But that still didn't give her much of a use. There were bound to be a multitude of girls that showed up when they found out that Lance was hurt. Ellie would just have the time she could.</sup>