Gabriel was storming down the corridor with Jai-Lee in hot pursuit. When she caught up to him, she didn't say anything at first; she squinted her eyes and shook her head. But as they continued to walk on, she couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Why did you do that, Gabriel? Why give into his childish games?"
Gabriel kept ahead, making sure not to give Jai-Lee any form of eye contact. "Because I have to. I refuse to be another of his victims any longer. If I back down now, then what? What about the next new kid that comes in? I need to do something, even if I only said it on impulse at first. I need to, for myself and everyone else he bullies. If I show that you can stand up for yourself, maybe they will too and he'll leave them alone too."
"No, you don't, and that's not how this thing works," she snapped. "You have to breathe, you have to eat, you do not have to fight that big-ass dumb jock." Her voice cracked slightly, rising with each word. "Gabe, this is serious. Before you came here, Harry put a kid in the hospital. They said it was a freak accident, but everyone knows it wasn't no accident. If he wasn't captain of the football team and the school didn't need him for football, he would've been expelled a long time ago. So what do you think's going to happen to you?"
Gabriel's footsteps slowed. Her words scared him. But it was too late. He was in too deep.
"I have to," he repeated.
"No. You don't. This isn't proving anything except that he can drag you down to his level."
"I'm tired of backing down."
"You're not backing down," she said, stepping closer. "You're being the smart one."
As he got closer to his destination, the buzzing started. You could feel it in the air. Eyes followed him. Whispers trailed behind him like cigarette smoke. The news had spread faster than a fire in dry grass: Gabriel was going to fight Harry. After school. Behind the gym.
Everyone expected Harry to be involved in a fight. That was normal for him. But Gabriel? The quiet kid who kept his head down and his mouth shut? That's what got people excited. They all wanted to see if the saying was correct: the quiet ones are always the most dangerous.
The walk to the back of the gym felt longer than usual. By the time he reached it, the sun was already starting to dip behind the rooftops, casting shadows across the pavement. The area behind the gym was usually empty, used for forgotten sports equipment or as a hangout for kids who ditched detention.
But today, it was full to the brim.
Dozens of students ringed the area, some leaning against the brick wall, others perched on crates or standing on their tiptoes to get a better view. Phones were already out. People were laughing, shouting, and hyping it up like it was some underground event. And in the middle of the circle, Harry waited, standing barefoot like a cage fighter. He was calm, smirking; he enjoyed violence just as much as he did football.
When Gabriel reached the edge of the circle, the hairs on his arms began to stand up. His mouth went dry and his heart thumped against his ribs. He went to turn around, but before he got the chance, the kids on the outskirts grabbed him and pushed him into the center. Gabriel stood there watching Harry bounce up and down and stretching his neck to the left, then the right.
"Oh, Gabriel, you've made my day. You don't understand. You've got bigger balls than I thought. I owe my guys a hundred dollars; I bet them you wouldn't come. Now let's put on a show for the masses gathered!"
Gabriel knew he could either stand there and get beaten or fight and see what he could do. He stepped forward and Jai-Lee tried to get into the circle, but the wall of people that it was made up of wouldn't let her in.
"Stay back, Jai! This is between me and him."
"Don't do this, Gabe! You have no idea how stupid this is. You're only going to get yourself hurt. Please, turn around and leave! Gabe!"
Nothing came back but silence. Gabriel threw down his bag and put his hands up, ready to fight.
The crowd began to chant, "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Then the boys in the middle came together and the crowd started to cheer like they were spectators in a gladiator's arena.
"You sure about this?" Harry asked, bouncing on his heels with a cocky grin.
Gabriel said nothing. He just charged forward and threw a punch. Gabriel smiled, thinking it was going to land, but Harry moved like a predator. He dodged the blow with ease then shot a jab back, snapping Gabriel's head back. Gabriel began to see stars. His vision was blurry and when he touched his nose, he saw blood drip out of it for the first time and began to panic.
Gabriel, you okay? He heard his hearing muffled from the punch. He raised his hands again, but this time like he'd seen in the old action movies, trying to protect his face.
Protect your head, Gabriel told himself. Keep moving and don't freeze. He took a deep breath then threw a punch. Harry slipped it easily, but behind that punch came a left uppercut from Gabriel, landing squarely under Harry's chin. Harry's mouth snapped shut and he staggered back.
The crowd went silent. Nobody had ever seen anyone hit Harry before. Harry raised his hand toward his mouth and touched his tongue with the tip of his finger. The inside of his mouth was bleeding.
"Nice shot, Gabriel," he said with a vindictive grin plastered across his face. "Now it's my turn."
Harry came charging at Gabriel, and he raised his hands to protect his face, leaving his body open to be attacked. Right hook to the ribs—Gabriel stumbled back. Left hook to the kidney—Gabriel folded slightly and winced in pain.
He could see that Harry was smiling with every venomous punch he threw. Harry went to throw the left again, and Gabriel dropped his arms down to protect his body, but Harry knew he would do that and faked downstairs and went upstairs with a straight right, then a left hook to the jaw, and followed it up with a right.
Gabriel dropped back, hitting the floor with a loud thud. He lay there, eyes closed, not moving.
"Gabriel! Gabriel!" Jai-Lee shouted, tears flooding down her cheeks as she tried to scratch and claw to get into the circle.
"That's all she wrote, folks. Private school just got taken to school. What a waste of my time," Harry spat.
But as Harry turned to walk towards the edge of the circle and Jai-Lee was finally allowed in, Gabriel began to roll over slowly and the crowd began to cheer. Harry, wondering what they were cheering about, turned around and noticed Gabriel on his hands and knees, his head swaying loosely. He looked to his team and they nodded. As Gabriel rose a little bit more, Harry charged at him and sent a flying knee to his jaw.
Gabriel's head snapped to the side and blood shot out from the corner of his mouth as he dropped to the ground and lay face down. Jai-Lee rushed over screaming and crying, picked up Gabriel and held him in her arms as Harry looked down at them laughing.
Then—like a lightning bolt—Vice Principal Ramirez's voice sliced through the noise.
"Break it up! NOW!"
Chaos followed. The crowd scattered like cockroaches. Phones disappeared. Students vanished into the halls. Ramirez knelt beside Gabriel, who was barely responsive.
"Jai, I need you to tell me what happened here," Vice Principal Ramirez asked. "I saw Harry in the middle. Was it him that did this?"
Jai-Lee's mouth opened; she was just about to tell the principal everything, but Gabriel answered for her.
"It wasn't Harry," Gabriel said, as he slowly rose to his feet.
"Who was it?" the principal asked.
"I don't know. It all happened so fast," Gabriel said. "Then the next thing I know, I'm on the ground in Jai-Lee's arms."
Harry didn't say a word. He just stood there, eyes cold, as Ramirez pointed at him.
"My office. Now. Someone is going to tell me what happened here. I will find out. So if you're scared, Gabriel, you don't need to worry."
"I know, sir. I know."
Vice Principal Ramirez headed towards his office with Harry in tow, and Gabriel leaned against Jai-Lee until the dizziness passed. Together, they walked toward the parking lot. He tried to smile but it hurt too much, so he gave a thumbs up instead.
"You idiot," she whispered, her voice shaking. "That has to be the dumbest thing you've ever done."
"I had to, but it's done now. I survived at least."
"But nothing changed, Gabe. You didn't win. He didn't stop. And look at you—you're a mess. Plus, you didn't tell Principal Ramirez, so he's just going to think he can keep on doing this to you. So you accomplished nothing more than getting an ass-whooping and showing all those that are scared of him that they are right to be scared of him."
"Let's get you home before you get in any more trouble, and good luck with your mom when she sees your face," Jai-Lee continued.
"I know. Cue the entire intro in three. Two. One," Gabriel said as he began to walk home.
By the time Gabriel arrived outside his house, the bruising had gotten worse and he was now limping. Each step burned. Every bruise pulsed like it had a heartbeat of its own. He barely got the front door open before he heard his mom's voice.
"Young man, not so fast. Where were you? Your brother had to walk home alone—"
She stopped cold. Her mouth was wide open, shocked at how disfigured Gabriel's face looked.
"Gabriel..." Her voice dropped. "What happened? And don't lie to me."
He didn't answer. He walked into the living room and collapsed onto the couch with a grunt, his body screaming in protest. Nicole followed him, standing in front of him with arms folded.
"Who did this to you?"
"Mom, I don't wanna talk about it," he muttered.
"Why not?"
"I don't know."
He held his ribs and avoided her gaze. He was in that much pain he just wanted to rest and forget about what happened, but that wasn't going to happen. Gabriel's phone began to vibrate violently, over and over. As he leant over to get his phone, his eyes squinted as he winced in pain.
What's with all the messages? he thought to himself. If it's to check if I'm still alive, then unfortunately for all the bullies at Jesovalt High, I'm still here.
But when he pulled out his phone, his gaze was met with a hundred WhatsApp messages. He clicked on them quickly, all to find out they were all videos. Daniel came rushing into the living room.
"You seen this, bro?" Daniel said.
"Seen what, Daniel?" Nicole asked. But Daniel's eyes wandered like he couldn't hear what she was saying, and when Gabriel looked down at his phone he saw it for himself: the video of him getting his butt kicked.
"I know that look, Daniel. So it was a fight then, Gabriel. You should've just walked away. I taught you better than to fight other kids at school."
"I know," Gabriel whispered as he winced in pain. "Trust me, I know."
Nicole didn't yell. She didn't scold. She just placed a gentle hand on his knee. "You don't have to prove anything to anyone."
"I wasn't trying to," he said. "I just wanted it to stop."
"It will," she said softly. "But not like this. Some battles aren't yours to fight. And some people... they're not worth the bruises."
The next day at school felt... off. Students didn't meet his eyes. Some smirked. A few muttered things under their breath. But it wasn't respect. It wasn't fear. It was amusement.
The fight hadn't made him stronger. It hadn't changed anyone's mind. It just gave them a story to talk about. A meme to share. A moment to laugh at. On the morning announcements, Harry's punishment was listed: a three-day suspension.
That was it.
Gabriel barely heard the rest. During lunch, he skipped the cafeteria again and sat beneath the old oak behind the track. Jai-Lee found him there. She didn't say anything at first. Just sat beside him, cross-legged in the grass.
After a moment, she asked quietly, "You okay?"
He stared at the ground. "Yeah... I guess."
"You'll be alright. This will all blow over," she said, then gave him a huge smile.
And the pair just sat there, together, but silent, trying to breathe through the weight of it all.