Everyone else had left the classroom, leaving Jai-Lee and Gabriel alone.
"Why did you do that?"
"I have to."
"No, you don't. You have to breathe, you have to eat, you DON'T have to fight that big ass guy. Gabe, this is serious. Before you started coming to this school, Harry put a kid in the hospital. They said it was an accident, but I don't think it was at all, if the school didn't need him for football, he'd have gotten expelled a long time ago," her words scared him, but he had gone too far to back down now.
"I have to," Gabriel repeated himself.
"No, you don't. This isn't proving anything except that he can drag you down."
"I'm tired of backing down."
"You're not backing down. You're being smart," Jai-Lee tried her best to get to him, but he'd already zipped his bag and slung it over his shoulder before heading out.
The halls were buzzing now. He could see people looking at him and talking about him with every step he took. Word spread fast. A fight after school. It had been a while since they had a fight in school. Gabriel versus Harry. One of the fighters was unsurprising, but it was Gabriel's name that really gave everyone pause. They only knew him as the quiet guy who hung out with Jai-Lee and avoided Harry like the plague.
The lot behind the gym wasn't used much except for football team equipment and forgotten crates. The teachers barely went there, but it was a safe place for truants and fighting. At 4:17 PM, it was full of students. Dozens of them, leaning against the wall, phones in hand, shouting, laughing, and jostling for space.
In the center of it all stood Harry, he had ditched his shoes and stood barefoot waiting. Gabriel paused for a moment before he stepped into the ring of bodies. Jai-Lee followed behind him, but he turned before they reached the center.
"Stay back," he said.
"Don't do this. You have no idea how stupid this is," she grabbed his arm to stop him. However, he simply pulled his arm out of her grip.
"Gabe!" She yelled his name.
He didn't answer. Instead, he stepped into the circle. Harry was already there, bouncing on his heels, his backpack was long gone. Probably sitting in a corner somewhere.
"You sure about this?" Harry asked, with a vicious grin on his face.
Gabriel simply took off his backpack and set it aside. The crowd went wild at the sight, screaming the word "fight" over and over again. In that moment, they felt more like a bloodthirsty mob than a group of his classmates.
The first punch came fast. Harry was a big guy. He was taller than Gabriel and more muscular too, from his football training. However, to Gabriel's shock, despite Harry's bulky frame, he was really fast. His fist connected with Gabriel's cheek, snapping his head sideways. The crowd roared at the sight of the first hit.
Gabriel stumbled back but didn't fall despite the wave of light-headedness that came over him. He brought his hands up like he had seen in movies. He had never really been in a fight, but he knew enough to protect his head and try his best to not let him land another punch on him. He decided to go on the offensive and aimed a punch at Harry's chin.
However, Harry was faster. To the already dizzy Gabriel, it looked like he was a blur. His next punch drove into Gabriel's ribs, knocking the air out of him. Then another, and another. Until it felt like Harry was raining punches down on him from above. In the distance he could hear someone scream. He knew it was Jai-Lee.
Gabriel swung back, landing a punch on Harry's throat. The impact hit the boy hard. He stumbled backwards, clutching at his throat as he tried to breathe again. Gabriel stumbled to his feet, but he still felt dizzy. He felt something warm flow from his nose to his lips, when he touched it and looked down, he realized it was blood.
Before he could get his bearings, he felt pain as something hit him from the side. It was Harry, and he looked pissed.
"Is that all the private school money bought you?" he mocked him. His words made Gabriel see red.
Gabriel lunged forward, but Harry sidestepped and kicked his leg out from under him. Gabriel hit the pavement hard. He tasted blood.
He could hear someone screaming in the background.
"Stop it! That's enough!"
But the crowd was too far gone to care, they continued cheering.
Harry knelt beside Gabriel and hissed in disdain.
"Youre weak. Just like I thought," Gabriel heard those words vaguely through the haze of pain that had blanketed his body.
Then came another punch, this time to Gabriel's stomach. He curled in on himself, coughing. However, Harry did not stop. A deeper hatred was fueling his movements.
Finally, someone stepped in, Vice Principal Ramirez, furious and red-faced.
"Break it up! Now!" He said before asking Gabriel if he was okay. When he got a nod in response, he called Harry to his office.
Students scattered, their phones disappeared into their pockets. However, it was certain that videos of the fight would be everywhere in less than a few hours.
Jai-Lee was beside Gabriel in an instant, kneeling and trying to lift his head.
"You idiot, that has to be the dumbest thing you've ever done. And for what?"
"I had to."
"No," she said, her voice breaking. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. You didn't. Nothing has changed."
"What do you think would have happened if I hadn't gone to get Mr Ramirez? Harry would have kept going until he had broken at least one of your bones.
When she saw that he was still silent, she helped him up. He sat still until the dizziness faded and he was well enough to get on his bike and make his way home.
That evening, once he parked his bike, Gabriel limped into his home. Every single bruise on his body seemed to pulse with each step, as if reminding him of the bad decision he had made.He quickly opened the door and made his way upstairs.
"Young man, not so fast. Where were you? Your brother had to make his way home alone…" Nicole's voice cut short when he turned around and she saw his condition.
"Gabriel… What happened?" Her voice sounded frantic, but there was an undercurrent of worry.
He said nothing at first. He just walked into the living room and collapsed onto the couch, wincing as his body screamed in protest.
His mom followed him, standing in front of him with her arms crossed. "Who did this?"
"Mom, I don't wanna talk about it," he muttered.
"Why?"
"I don't know," he said, rubbing his sore jaw.
"Can we talk about it later, mom? I promise I'm okay."
Her expression softened, but there was disappointment in her eyes.
"Was it a fight or a beating?" she asked, and Gabriel paused for a few moments before responding.
"It was a fight."
"You should know better, Gabriel. You should have walked away."
"Trust me, mom, if I could have, I would have done that."
She sighed, sitting beside him. She didn't yell. She didn't lecture. She just placed a hand on his knee. "You don't have to prove anything to anyone."
"I wasn't trying to," he said, staring down at his hands. "I just wanted it to stop."
"It will," she said, her voice gentle. "But you can't fight every battle. You're not strong enough. Even if you were, some battles aren't worth fighting."
Gabriel didn't answer. He just nodded and closed his eyes, letting the silence fill the room.
At school the next day, things didn't feel much different. The students who had witnessed the fight still avoided Gabriel's gaze. Some smirked at him, but it wasn't out of respect. It was because they knew he'd failed. That he'd been beaten in front of everyone. He could still hear them laughing at him in the background. Like they could have done any better up against Harry.
Harry walked the halls like nothing had happened, his smug expression barely hiding the pride in his eyes. His punishment was announced with the morning announcements. A three-day suspension. It hardly felt fair, but the fact that it was football season probably had something to do with the school's reluctance to punish him.
Gabriel stayed away from him, but he couldn't help feeling the weight in his chest, like it was hard for him to breathe. Jai-Lee was right. It was a lose-lose situation, and surprisingly, he had lost on both ends.
The fight hadn't earned him any respect. It hadn't made anyone stop and rethink their view of him. It had only made him more of an outsider.
Jai-Lee found him at lunch sitting alone under the oak tree again. She didn't say anything. She just sat beside him, letting the silence stretch between them.
"You okay?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah," he replied, his voice distant. "I guess."
She smiled softly. "You'll be alright."
After that, they sat in silence as they began to recover from the futility of it all.