Ned Gets Stood Up

Chapter Eleven

"What?" Sam raised his voice. The music wasn't just loud. It was a full force of nature, tunneling into Ned's earlobes and drilling deep inside his brain.

"I asked: how did your date go? You had one too, right?"

This was a loaded question with only one answer that wouldn't completely devastate Ned.

"Oh, uh it was just dumb and I shouldn't have agreed to it."

"Okay, um sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Sam turned like Ned just pinched him. He begged. "Let's just not talk about it and find one of the footballers."

Ned furrowed his brow. That didn't sound right, but he wanted to fight with Sam even less. He stayed close, putting a hand on Sam's back to keep up with him through the crowd. A group of people were singing karaoke on the TV, a drunken rendition of Baby It's Cold Outside while the kitchen was stacked with people stuffing their faces. All the doors and archways were lined with twinkling holly, shining down on them as they searched the house. Eventually, they discovered the basement where some guys were playing billiards. One of those players being Chad Baldwin.

"Yo! Hayes, my guy!" Chad raised his arms in cheer. "Seeing each other two times in one day? We gotta stop meeting like this."

"Hey, Chad," Sam said with a lackluster wave.

"Heard you and your friends got kicked out. Bet Mag Pie went wild."

"You know Maggie. I think she's gonna sue everyone. Even me."

Chad had a hearty laugh and then took a huge drink of his red solo cup. "Hey, you guys want a beer or something?"

"Uh, no thanks."

"No thank you," Ned said, which echoed the rest of the group.

Chad's eyes narrowed in on Ned, confusing him for a second. Ned glanced behind his shoulder just to make sure Chad was looking at him like a football. Chad motioned at him with the solo cup. "Hey, are you Flowers's little bro?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm Ned. Ned Flowers. We're actually in biology together."

The realization hit this guy like a thunderbolt. "No shit! I thought you looked familiar. My boy, Duncan-Dunkin-Donuts, copies off you during tests. Flowers, right? Okay. You related to John Flowers? How's he doing?"

"John's good. He's actually coming home tonight from college."

"That's sick, dude. So, what's up? No drinks. No Maggie. And sorry about the date, Hayes. Thomas is all prickly on the top, but he's like so soft on the inside. Like a porcupine after a rabies shot."

"Thomas?" Ned tilted his head towards Sam. That name sounded vaguely familiar. "Who-?"

"Ned has something to give you," Sam said quickly, grabbing Ned's arm and forcing him forward onto center stage. And like that, dozens of eyes were pinned on Ned and his throat went dry.

"Uh, I have The Gregor," Ned announced and the moment he revealed the gnome, the room collectively lost their mind. Thousands of brains exploded at once and Chad got so hyped, he basically splashed his beer up into the air. Another guy shoved Sam out of the way to get closer to Ned.

"Holy shit, man! How d'you do that?" Duncan-Dunkin-Donuts himself appeared, snatching The Gregor right out of Ned's hand and then making a pass to Chad, tossing The Gregor like he was a football. Ned's team gasped and Ned just didn't breathe at all.

"I gotta get the story on this, Flowers!" Chad said, his eyes sparkling as he examined the Gregor. He was tossing it around his hands, making Ned dizzy. The Gregor would get thrown in the air and Ned would hold out his hands to catch him just in case.