Forrest gulped. And gulped. And gulped.

But it didn't reach his stomach. It was stuck there, y'know? Like his breath. He couldn't breathe, gulp or free his hands. Not that the robes would fall--he'd knotted it many times--but he was afraid it would. He didn't recognise the other boy, but he knew Benzi was bad enough. The boy himself wasn't particularly bad, but he asked horrible questions. He racked his brains to come up with a good answer, but he couldn't. If he said it wasn't a skirt, he would have to explain. He didn't want to explain that!

Fern acted before him though, and he was insanely grateful for that. He LOVED her. He didn't care whether she had a boyfriend named Cutty or not, he was going to take her out to dinner TONIGHT.

He let her talk, and he didn't even notice her come-back was bad. For now, she was his hero, and he was just going to do his best not to freak out.