"Okay class," Mrs. Chambers announced. "Today begins our big environmental project, where you and an 8th grader will be pairing up to create something that will help the environment. You both will have three weeks to come up with an idea and execute it, and then give a presentation on what you did. You will also have to write a paper on your project and how you both worked together to bring it together. While you can do anything that's beneficial to the environment, it would be nice to see you put some original thought into your project. I hope you and your partner will work hard and take this seriously, because the grade you both get will be what your science grade is on your third quarter report card for each of you.

"Now, we will be working with students from Mr. Furlong's 8th grade class. I have envelopes containing the names of each of the students of his class. I'll pass them out and whoever you get will be your partner. Then after lunch you're to go to Mr. Furlong's class so you each can meet your partners and set up times to work together, since you will need time after class to complete the assignment. Though from now until the day it's due you will both meet during every other class period, so you'll also have time to work on it during class hours."

With that Mrs. Chambers began passing out the envelops. Jeff waited for his, hoping it was a hot girl who liked doing the majority of the work. When he got his envelope he opened it and looked at the name on the paper, then blinked as he looked at it again. This has to be a joke or a very sick dream, he thought, for the name of the 8th grader he would be working with was none other than Shirley Bennett.

"Mrs. Chambers!" he called out.

"Yes Jeff?"

Jeff franticly got up and walked/jogged over to her. "I can't work with my partner."

"Why not?" she asked.

"I just can't," he said, not willing at all to go into the whole 'tinkle town' fiasco with his teacher. "Because…I'm…racist."

"You're racist?" his teacher deadpanned. "The boy who's friends with Abed Nadir."

"I mean…I hate women and can't work with them."

Mrs. Chambers glanced over at Annie before looking back at Jeff. "I've been teaching for eleven years and that's the worse excuse I've might have heard. Maybe someday you'll become a teacher and will hear a worse one. Or you'll become a lawyer and have to listen to what people come up with to try and get out of jury duty." She sighed at the desperate look on Jeff's face. "If you can find someone to switch with you before lunch is over, then you can work with someone else."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Come on, work with Shirley. I'm sure she'll be good. Please," Jeff begged Ty Bronson. He groaned as the kid frantically shook his head and walked away. Jeff walked over to his lunch table and slumped down. "This is a nightmare," he exclaimed as his head sunk to the table.

"Hey," Britta called out as she joined Jeff, Abed and Annie. "I heard your science class is starting their 7th grade 8th grade environmental team-up project. Do you know who you're working with?"

"My partner is Ben Chang," Abed announced.

"Really?" Britta asked cautiously. "Isn't he supposed to be a real freak? I heard he once painted his dog orange with black stripes and tried to pass it off as a tiger."

"My partner's Vaughn Miller," Annie said distastefully. "He and Jeff were friends when we were in elementary school and he was kind of dim. My grade now depends on him."

"Oh, so you have to work with a dummy. Big deal. I'm working with my arch nemesis!" Jeff yelled as he lifted his head back up.

"Like on Inspector Spacetime when Constable-."

"Not now Abed!" Jeff yelled.

"Jeff! I'm sorry you have to work with Shirley, but don't take it out on us," Annie said sternly.

"Will someone please explain to me what this Shirley did that was so bad?" Britta asked.

"She was a terrible bully who picked on everyone, end of story," Jeff quickly explained tensely.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff sat at a table in the school library after school, trying not to look at Shirley. Even though he was trying to keep his eyes on the open book on compost, he kept inadvertently glancing over at her. He hated everything about her; from her big poofy hair to the cross she had around her neck. Every time he looked at her, all he could think of was her humiliating him during foosball.

When they met the day before in Mr. Furlong's class all the anger and humiliation came rushing back to him. She tried to talk to him about the project, but he did everything possible to not speak to her. He eventually agreed to meet with her the next day after school to work on the project, but that was just because he didn't want to fail science for this term. Although that was starting to seem like a reasonable sacrifice if it meant he wouldn't have to see Big Cheddar for the next three weeks.

Shirley looked over at Jeff as he kept his head buried in his library book. Ever since what had happened at the YMCA two years ago she had felt deeply ashamed over what she had done. She had always wanted to apologize and try to make amends, but the opportunity never presented itself. So when she found out Jeff Winger was to be her partner on this project she thought she was finally going to get her chance. But so far he had done everything to ignore her.

Fine, I'll just have to make this happen myself, she thought. "Jeff, can we please talk?"

"Nope. Let's keep working on this project in silence," Jeff said, not looking up from his book.

"I really want to talk about what happened that day at the YMCA."

"You mean when you picked on me until I peed myself," he stated as he finally looked at her. "Do you have any idea what that was like? Do you understand what you did to me?"

"I have an idea," she said in a small voice.

"Really? I had to change everything about me to erase what you did. I changed my hair, my clothes, my personality. And I still heard people whisper 'Tinkle Town' behind my back. Do you know what that's like, Big Cheddar?"

"Please don't call me that," she asked, ashamed to hear the nickname of her former bully self.

"Why not, that's what you are. A mean, nasty bully."

"I was twelve years old," she desperately emphasized. "I was in elementary school. I was a different person then."

"I peed myself!" he yelled before lowering his voice as he was shushed by the librarian. "You humiliated me, and countless others. And now you're trying to act like you feel bad about it, or that you understand what happened. You have no idea what it's like to be humiliated like that." With that he turned his chair away from her and went back to looking over his book.

Shirley took a deep breath as she came to a difficult decision. She very much wanted to make up for what she did. And she might be able to do that if she opened up about her own bullied past. "Jeff, do you know why I was called Big Cheddar in elementary school?"

"I don't know, you had a big hankering for cheese?" he said sarcastically.

"No Jeff, that's not it."

Jeff looked up and turned his seat back, sensing the shift in tone in her voice. She took a deep breath as she began. "When I was younger I was picked on. I didn't have an easy time making friends and that caused people to tease me. They made fun of me over my hair, and for being a bit bigger than a lot of them, and for the way I talked. It was bad in kindergarten and just got worse when I started first grade. Well one day during lunch I was sitting by myself in the middle of the cafeteria, surrounded by everyone. I got up from my table…and I farted. Loud enough so everyone could hear." She shuttered as the memory of that day came back to her. "Course everyone pointed and laughed at me. And then this one kid, Jerold McGregor, I'll never forget it. He yelled out, 'Hey everyone, Shirley just cut the cheese. Smells like Cheddar.'

"Something in me just snapped. I jumped on him and just started punching him. He was crying and I loved seeing him afraid of me. And as they pulled me off him I yelled out, 'That's what you get for messing with Big Cheddar.' So after that I decided, if people weren't going to like me, then they would fear me. I'd make fun of them before they could make fun of me. And for a long while after that I picked on people, and enjoyed it. Until the day I picked on you at the YMCA, and took it too far. After that I didn't enjoy being a bully anymore. And I've tried since then to be a better person."

She looked at Jeff, expecting him to be moved by her tale. But instead he simply said, "So what."

"So what," she whispered/yelled. "I just opened up to you and all you have to say is 'so what'?"

"Oh, so you farted when you were in first grade? Big deal. I was in fifth grade when you made me pee myself. There's a big difference. All that story says is you were pathetic even before you started picking on others."

"Watch it Winger," she said dangerously. "I don't care if I humiliated you, I will not sit here while you insult me. I will defend myself."

"Fine. I don't care if you are a girl, I'll take you on," Jeff insisted.

"Oh, we're not fighting like that. I know exactly how we're settling this."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff followed Shirley as she opened the door to the school basement. They quietly walked through the dimly lit hallway before rounding a corner into what looked like an unused lounge area. And among the dusty couch and chairs was a foosball table.

Of course it would go down like this, Jeff thought. "How did you find this?"

"Last year when I was wondering around after school," she hastily explained. She dug a foosball out from the table as she and Jeff took their places. "You ready Turkey?"

"I'm ready. Bring the Cheddar, Big Cheddar!" he yelled as his anger rushed forward.

"I'm going to put you on the express train back to Tinkle Town!"

With that she dropped the ball in the slot and the game was on. Though unlike before, this time they were more or less evenly matched. While Jeff hadn't played a lot since that terrible day, he still did at times, usually when he hung out at Pierce's. And Shirley hadn't played at all since she had humiliated Jeff two years ago. So between them they were both at the same level.

Both Jeff and Shirley twirled their sticks frantically, sending the ball flying back and forth. Shirley almost got it into Jeff's goal, only for him to block the ball at the last moment. Their eyes darted all around, neither of them even blinking as they fought to win. Shirley growled in rage, trying to throw Jeff off his game. But he has a laser like focus that could not be beat. Just then she saw an opening and went for it, whipping the ball across the table. But to her shock Jeff caught it before it could go through the goal and sent it back with such force that it hovered in the air. Before it could land Shirley twirled a stick and had a foosball player hit it, causing the ball to sail skyward off the table and land on the floor.

"Get it," she hissed at him.

"No you get it, you hit it last."

"I'm the better player here. You're the one who needs the advantage," she stated.

"You're wrong, YOU'RE WRONG!" he yelled at her. "You're not better than me at anything! You're just a scared bully who only felt good about yourself if you picked on others!"

"I had to do that!" she yelled back. "It was either be bullied or be the one bullying! No one liked me so I had to change to survive! I'm not proud of it, but it's how I handled things. You've always had friends; you don't know what it's like to be hated no matter what you do!"

As Jeff looked at her he surprisingly felt bad at her words. She might have been feared when she was a bully, but it didn't mean she had any friends because of it. And from what she said, she didn't have any before she became 'Big Cheddar' either. As humiliating as it had been to be called 'Tinkle Town', he'd at least had friends to help him through that. Shirley didn't have anyone to turn to when she was made fun of.

Jeff slumped slightly on his side of the table as Shirley looked at him. Her anger was quickly evaporating away, leaving guilt and shame in its place. "I'm sorry Jeff. For everything I've done to you."

Jeff nodded his head to show he accepted her apology. "I'm sorry too. For…everything you've apparently had to go through."

"Thank you," she softly said.

Jeff went over and got the ball before returning it to the table. "Okay, I think I'm done for one day. I'll see you tomorrow about the project." With that he walked out of the lounge area, with Shirley trailing behind him. They didn't say anything else to each other as they left school. Although Jeff did hold the door open for her as they walked out of the basement. Which as far as they were both concerned, was progress.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Over the next three weeks Jeff and Shirley worked on their project together, both during and after school. Wanting to do something more than simply start a compost heap, Shirley came up with an idea that could help speed up results. After doing research they build a specialized enclosure in Shirley's backyard and filled it with fallen leaves and grass clippings and old vegetables and fruit peelings. They then put Shirley's idea to use, which even in the relatively short time they had helped things along.

While Jeff was reluctant to admit it, working with Shirley on the project wasn't as horrible as he had feared. She was smarter than he had realized and did a lot of the work, although she refused to have him just sit back and do nothing. And she acted very pleasant during their time together. There was even one day where she brought brownies for them to share. Which while he usually tried to avoid eating unhealthy food, he couldn't deny that they were really tasty.

"I don't know if I can do this," Shirley said two days before the project was due.

"What?" Jeff asked.

"Give a presentation in front of people. When I have to talk in front of a group of people I start shaking and get the nervous sweats."

"Really? You're scared. Speaking in front of people is easy. You just plow through and keep talking." He sighed at the scared look on her face. "Look, it helps if you don't look at the people you're talking to. Focus on the back of the room or on your note cards. And use hand gestures if you're really nervous. That will distract yourself and those you're speaking to."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Finally the day of their presentation arrived. Both their classes gathered in Mrs. Chambers classroom to present their ideas for helping the environment. The two of them waited in anticipation for their turn to go.

"And so," Vicki said, "By placing fine close knit netting over your garden plants and flowers, rain water is stored and able to keep plant life hydrated for longer periods then they would without it."

She looked over at Troy and hit his arm so he could go next. "And that keeps plants from drying out if it doesn't rain," he read very stiffly from his cue cards. "Which is good for all. Thank you. Hold for applause."

"You weren't supposed to read that," Vicki hissed as everyone laughed/clapped.

"Thank you, that was very informative and creative," Mr. Furlong stated.

"Yes, well done you two," Mrs. Chambers said as they sat back down. "Okay, we have time for one more presentation and then we're finish up the rest tomorrow. Next up is Shirley Bennett and Jeff Winger."

The two of them went up to the front of the class. They set up a few large cardboard posters they had made before beginning with their presentation. Shirley took a deep breath before beginning. "For our project we decided to make a compost heap. With winter ending there's a lot of dead organic material on the ground, which with proper management can be turned into usable compost for the summer."

"But while there is good material to use right now, there's still less time to make a good compost heap for the summer now then there would be if we had started it in the fall. So we came up with an idea to try and speed things along." Jeff reached into his bag and pulled out a small silver canister. "Since oxygen causes organic material to break down and rot faster, we thought it would help if we put co2 cartridges in the compost heap to speed the process up."

"When we built the enclosure we made several holes at the bottom of the walls," Shirley said as she pointed to the pictures on the posters of the two of them constructing the enclosure. "Then after we filled it with the raw materials we opened several canisters of co2 and stuck them under the pile so the oxygen would rise up throughout the heap. We stirred the compost and repeated the co2 process every other day so there was a steady supply of oxygen in the pile."

"At the end of three weeks we checked the bottom of the pile, and we had a bit of compost." Jeff took a small container of light brown compost and passed it around for all to see. "While there wasn't as much as there would be after leaving it for months, there is still more than if we had simply not used the co2 cartridges. We're going to keep the compost pile going and still use the co2 to see how much progress occurs after a couple of months."

"By doing this we figured out a faster way to make compost, which would help people not wanting to wait months to get good nutrient rich dirt for gardening. This could cause more people to want to make natural nutrient rich soil instead of store bought soil. Thank you," Shirley finished.

They both sat back down as everyone clapped and their teachers congratulated them on their project.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"You definitely had the best project," Annie said at lunchtime.

"Thanks," Jeff said.

"I'm serious. It was better than mine. Vaughn played the guitar and sang about flowers while I tried to tell everyone that UV lights could be used on plants if we have a long stretch of overcast days. I did practically all the work. And originally he wanted me to wear a flower costumer while he played."

"That's why he called you mountain flower during your presentation," Abed said. Annie cringed at that as Jeff and Britta snickered at that revelation. "Mine went okay. Though even I didn't expect Ben to dress up like a tiger."

"That guy's a freak," Britta stated.

"Jeff." The four of them looked over as Shirley came over to them. "I just wanted you to know that Mr. Furlong said he loved our project and that I got an A on it. So I'm sure your teacher gave you an A too."

"Wow, that's great."

"Yeah…Well, see you." With that she went back to her table.

"She's certainly different from when we were in elementary school," Annie exclaimed.

"Yeah, she is," Jeff responded thoughtfully.