Cinderfella

Chapter Nineteen

Have you ever wanted a video of the guy who inspired Ethan singing Oh Charlatan Me by Walter Mitty And His Makeshift Orchestra and playing the ukulele? Well, here you go! Enjoy!

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Ethan wasn't prepared to fight. And especially not Tyler, who towered over him and outweighed him by about fifty pounds. But he had his hands around Mikey's throat, lifting him off the ground, and both Ethan and Mikey were beginning to panic.

Mikey clawed at Tyler's hands, trying to get him to release. His legs kicked out, pushing against the wall and hitting weakly against Tyler's body. Connor had stepped away, terrified of his friend, who smiled as Mikey's face turned purple and his body twitched.

"Oh god."

"Tyler, he's not worth it."

"He'd be doing us all a favor."

"Someone get a teacher!"

"Don't kill him!"

Ethan shook as he stood by, trying to move, to go and get a teacher. But he couldn't leave Mikey alone, not when his eyes had caught his, pleading for help. So Ethan swallowed his fear, ducked low, and tackled Tyler around the waist, throwing him off balance enough to drop Mikey to the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tyler howled. "Get off of me!"

Ethan winced as Tyler's hands beat his sides and back, but he kept running, feet slipping on the floor and moving Tyler inch by inch, until Tyler tripped over a backpack and sent both of them crashing to the ground.

"Get off of me!" Tyler yelled, throwing punches at Ethan.

Ethan threw his hands up, blocking the punches blindly, closing his eyes and bracing against the pain. He could feel one of Tyler's hands reach around his neck, fingers tightening.

Ethan screamed, no words, just a blood curdling sound that made everyone in the class take a step back, and threw Tyler's hand off. He balled his hands into fists, beating at Tyler's face and chest under him. He kept swinging, even as someone dragged him off of Tyler.

"What is going on in here!"

Ethan let his arms fall to his sides, exhausted and bruised. His body throbbed from Tyler's beatings. Three teachers stood in the doorway, and soon, whoever had pulled him off of Tyler suddenly dropped him, sending him to the ground with a thud.

Too many people were talking at once. Tyler was yelling, girls in the class were crying, two seniors were standing over a trash can, throwing up breakfast. One kid was shaking in his desk as Tyler used his chair to stand.

Ethan stood up, wincing at a pain in his lower side. Someone rushed towards him, making him flinch. They set a piece of wet paper towel to his lips, which had spilt open in the assault.

"Everyone! Quiet!" A loud male voice bellowed.

Ethan blinked away the black dots in his vision and looked up. The principle was standing in the doorway, watching the class with hands on his hips. "School hasn't even started yet, and I already have a fight to deal with. I'm disappointed, and if anyone here thinks now is the time to goof off, they will find themselves in detention, am I understood?"

Everyone nodded. Ethan snuck a look over at Tyler, who was nursing a bloody nose, and a black eye. He felt a surge of pride at the sight, until he remembered Mikey in the corner.

He stumbled over to his friend, who had curled himself into a ball in the corner. Mikey covered his head with his arms, his head tucked to his chest between his legs. He was wheezing, and shaking, and blood trickled into the floor.