public E get(int i, int j){
            /*
             * I'm assuming that this XMatrix has the following:
             * size: how big the matrix is
             * top: array containing the elements at the top of the matrix
             * diagonals: array containing the diagonal elements
             * bottom: array containing the elements at the bottom of the matrix
             *
             * Also assuming row-major mapping for the diagonal elements.
             */

            /* the return value */
            E ret = null;

            /* make sure we're not given a 0 or something too big (no 0s because matrices start at 1) */
            if(1 <= i && i <= size){
                if(1 <= j && j <= size){
                    if(i == 1){
                        /* on the top row */
                        ret = top[j - 1];
                    } else if(i == size){
                        /* on the bottom row */
                        ret = bottom[j - 1];
                    } else{
                        /* check to see if it's on the X */
                        if((i == j) || (i * 2 == j)){
                            /*
                             * The diagonals matrix has matrix.size rows
                             * and matrix.size - 2 columns. Each row has 2 elements,
                             * except for the middle row which only has 1.
                             * If an element is in the middle of the matrix,
                             * then it is in the middle of the diagonals array.
                             * Else it's on a diagonal. Since there are 2 elements in each row,
                             * minus one for the middle row
                             */
                            int middle = (size + 1) / 2;
                            if(i == middle && j == middle)
                                ret = diagonals[middle];
                            /*
                             * I know these next four lines aren't correct,
                             * but I spent way to long thinking about them
                             */
                            else if(j < middle)
                                ret = diagonals[middle - ((i * 2) + (j - 1))];
                            else if(j > middle)
                                ret = diagonals[((i * 2) + j - 1) - middle];
                        }
                    }
                }
            }

            return ret;
        }