The Opposite of Karma - Naked Ned

As they laughed and bonded over the clip where Ned was shifting from foot to foot while Ms. Johnson lectured him, Principal Jackson assured Claire that no one wanted to press charges.

"Press charges!?" Asked a suddenly sober Claire.

"Exactly," said Jackson. "Was Ned at fault? The school? Both? Probably no way to know for sure."

And here she slid a piece of paper in front of Claire.

"Listen, I want to sleep tonight, you want to sleep tonight. This is a boiler plate legal form that we keep on file. It is an agreement that neither of us will take legal action. Just like that, it will be like none of this ever happened."

"Oh that would be a shame, then I wouldn't get my CD" laughed Claire as she took the pen Principal Jackson offered and signed the form.

"One final thing," said Jackson, "there were some students who really put their necks out trying to help Ned, and well, I just think it would be nice if he would thank them for all they did."

Ned sat outside the principals office while she was in conference with Claire. Periodically he would hear bursts of laughter. This came as no surprise to Ned. "No doubt she is loving this," he thought. They seemed to be wrapping things up when the principal pressed a button on her desk and spoke into a microphone. It was strange, Ned could hear her from the other side of the glass a little bit, but could hear her loud and clear over the PA system.

"Would Moon, Shannon, and Patty McNally please report to the principal's office."

It was a strange site, but one that Ned was getting used to. The McNally clan was standing in front of him while he stood there in a towel while other adults treated it as normal(ish).

Ned thanked Moon first, playing it straight, because he figured the sanity train had left the station a long time ago.

With both Patty and Shannon he was not able to meet their eyes as he thanked them. Both girls said that they were happy to help and each gave him a little peck on the cheek.

The kisses caused a quick and sudden erection, but fortunately for Ned, no one else noticed, because, well it was still to small to disturb the towel that covered him.

Ned sat up front on the drive to Claire's, wondering what clothes if any he had over there.

His thoughts were disturbed by the buzzing of Claire's phone. The screen on the dashboard showed that it was a call from Becky.

She punched a button on the console and said "hello dear."

"Hi Mom, how's Little Ned doing?"

Claire looked over at Ned and chuckled. "He's doing fine. I'm thinking maybe we'll drive through Chick-Fil-A and get milkshakes."

Becky laughed and said, "Oh you totally should! Hey is it okay if Rachel and Lauren spend the night tonight?"

"Of course dear, I'm sure Ned would appreciate the company after all he's been through."

"Thanks Mom!" Before Becky disconnected the call, Ned could hear her say, "she said yes," and then he heard squeals of delight, no doubt from Rachel and Lauren.

God he hoped he had clothes over there!

As she was leaving school, Annie Carter had approached Jenny with a proposition. There was a party Saturday night, and she desperately wanted Ned there for a repeat performance.

Annie figured the only chance they had of getting him there was if she, Jenny, asked Ned to go to the party with her.

"All she had to do was get him there," Annie said, "she would take care of the rest."

Jenny had told her "no" of course, but Annie asked her to think about it, and now she was.

Jenny lay in bed replaying the day. While she initially felt sorry for Ned, the excitement and joy she had felt witnessing his humiliation ultimately won out. As she closed her eyes and pictured the scenes of the day, she too started to think that an encore performance might be a lot of fun.