• It was lunchtime at Fulkton High – students scurried through the hallways of the building, some toward the cafeteria, others toward the school yard, and others still toward their cars sitting in the parking lot; teachers moved stealthily through the mass toward the break room or the rooms of other teachers – meanwhile the lunch bell chimed and three cheerful rings flew across the campus.

    “Finally!” Brooke exclaimed as she walked into the restroom, “I didn’t think geometry was ever going to end.”

    “Why?” You’re really good at geometry,” Jackie asked.

    “Normally, but J.R. pulled the ribbon out of my hair at the start of class and I can’t do math when I look like this” she said as she motioned toward the mirror.

    “You don’t look that bad. What’s J.R.’s problem today anyway? He’s being a real d**k.”

    “I don’t know, but I will get him back for this. Will you come help me with this bow? I can never get it to look right.”

    “Sure,” Jackie said as she took the ribbon from Brooke’s hand. Brooke leaned forward as Jackie lifted her hair from her shoulders and brought it back into one solid, brunette ponytail that reached just past her shoulders. As Jackie tied the ribbon Brooke began to examine her makeup in the mirror, the dark mascara around her hazel eyes hadn’t smudged any and she continued to apply another layer of lip gloss. She noticed in their reflection how much darker her bronzed skin was than that of Jackie’s. She put the lip gloss back in her purse as Jackie finished tying up the bow and the two girls walked out of the restroom and headed toward the school yard.

    As they walked outside they were met immediately by the scorching, humid late-summer air. A warm breeze brushed their bangs out of their eyes and pelted them with dust and grass clippings. They both shook their heads and smacked their lips trying to get the taste of dust to go away.

    Jackie froze mid-shake and asked, “Brooke, do you hear that?”

    Brooke halted as well and replied, “All the shouting? Yeah, it sounds like a fight. Is it coming from the basketball courts?”

    “I think so,” Jackie confirmed and the two of them darted toward the source of the noise.

    They rounded the corner of the school building and saw a large group of people had already gathered and circled the two combatants. Two equally proportioned guys stood in the center of the ring and exchanged blows.

    “Can you see who it is?” Jackie asked.

    “As if I need to, it's bound to be Rick and Terry.”

    “Again? It seems like they end up getting in a fight at least once a week.”

    “It doesn't just seem that way... Mom was furious when Terry got suspended last week. That was the third time this year and this is their first day back.”

    “I don't understand, why do they always hang around each other if they hate each other so much?”

    Brooke giggled, “They don't hate each other Jackie, in fact, Terry always talks about what good friends he and Rick are. They've been friends since we moved in next door to Rick when I was four.”

    “Then why are they always fighting?”

    “I don't know, I asked Terry that once and he couldn't explain it to me. He just said it was their way of showing each other they care. I'm happy they do though, do you have any idea how big Terry's ego would be if Rick weren't there to keep him in check?”

    Jackie began to let out a laugh, but her amusement was cut short. The two girls had made their way to the center of the circle just in time to see Terry release a massive right hook that connected with Rick's jaw and his body went limp.

    Brooke heard Jackie gasp as Rick’s body collided with the concrete. She watched as Jackie, wide-eyed, placed her hands firmly across her mouth as though she were trying to suppress a scream. Brooke’s head swiveled back toward Terry who was standing over Rick’s body, fists still clenched, staring at the unconscious mass lying below him as if he were daring it to get back up.

    “That was too far, Terry,” Brooke said. Terry raised his head and their eyes met.


    The lunch bell rang.


    “Shot!” Terry shouted as Rick jumped in the air and arced a shot toward the hoop. Terry turned quickly and followed the ball toward the bright orange rim and collided with a couple of the other guys they were playing with. He placed his hand on J.R.’s back, keeping his eyes focused on the orange sphere that was floating through the air, determined to get the rebound.

    The ball sprung off the front of the rim and began to fall in Terry’s direction. He pushed off of J.R. and jumped into the air as two guys from the opposite team went up with him. Fortunately for Terry, there weren’t many kids in the school that could challenge his vertical jump and the ball landed safely in his palm.

    He fell back to the ground and began to dribble out of the clutter of bodies that had gathered below the hoop. He passed the three point line and moved toward center court, shadowed by Rick the entire time. About midway between the three point line and center court he spun around and faced Rick, who spread his feet and assumed a defensive stance a few steps from Terry. The two of them had been in this position many times before; they were very evenly matched in both size and skill, and as such were often pitted against each other by their teammates.

    “So, ready to lose again?” Terry asked. “This is game point.”

    “Are you kidding? When have I ever lost to you?”

    “Oh, I don’t know, how about last week when I put you in a head lock? Or the week before that when I threw you into the side of the school? Or in sixth grade when you got pinned to the table next to the frog we were dissecting?”

    Rick faked a quick laugh, “Are you going to go somewhere with that ball or just stand at point and play pretend all afternoon? I didn’t skip fourth period to listen to your life’s story.”

    With that Terry took off past Rick, flashed a quick smile in his direction, and asked, “Oh, I’m sorry, were you not ready?”

    Terry rushed toward the basket once again, but this time he was on the offensive and there was no way Rick would catch him. He dribbled around the screen his teammate had set for him, spun around the next defender who had left his man to help stop the assault, then crossed behind his back and stepped past J.R.

    This was it, there wasn’t anyone else who could stop him, the game point was his. He leapt into the air toward the basket and extended his arm as far as it would reach. He could see the rim getting closer, feel the excitement of his entire team as they watched him soar through the air, there was no way he could miss this shot and then something happened. He felt a hand grab his ankle and all of his momentum was lost, he tossed the ball out of play and tried to catch himself before he hit the concrete.

    “Really Rick?” Terry shouted as he jumped back to his feet. “You’ve pulled some stupid stuff before, but that was just low.”

    Terry heard Rick try to say something, but it he wasn’t listening. He charged toward Rick in a fit of rage and began throwing blow after blow wildly in Rick’s direction.

    Before Terry realized it the entire school yard had surrounded the two of them and he realized that there was no backing down. He regained his head and began taking controlled punches at Rick, who had given up pleading whatever case he had tried to piece together and was dodging Terry’s blows as best he could while connecting with a few of his own.

    The noise of the crowd around them continued to grow as more students came down to witness from inside the school building. The spotlight was turned on the two of them and the heat of it was almost unbearable. Terry continued to dance around the basketball court, but he noticed something strange as the fight dragged on. Rick’s punches weren’t landing as hard as they normally were, was Rick taking it easy on him?

    “You think you can toy with me punk? Here, toy with this!” Terry said as he pulled his right fist back. He took aim at Rick’s jaw and released his blow before he realized that something really wasn’t right. Rick was breathing too heavily, he wouldn’t be this winded from a couple hours of basketball and there’s no way the little bit of a fight they had had would have fatigued him this badly. Terry tried to pull his punch, but he couldn’t stop it in time. The punch landed, but not with the full force that Terry would have normally put into it.

    Regardless of the force of the punch Rick fell to the ground immediately after it connected. Terry was at a loss, he just stood above Rick, fists still clenched, and wondered what had just happened.

    From in front of his he heard Brooke’s voice, “That was too far Terry.” He raised his head and his confused look met her judgmental gaze, which quickly shifted to a look of concern. Brooke rushed toward the two of them and they both dropped to their knees and tried to revive Rick.


    The lunch bell rang.


    “Are you going to go somewhere with that ball or just stand at point and play pretend all afternoon? I didn’t skip fourth period to listen to your life’s story,” Rick antagonized Terry, who had been taking his precious time at point. He was still exceptionally proud of himself for winning the fight that they had had the previous week. Rick remembered how infuriating it was to be put in a head lock by Terry in front of half of the school during the dodge ball game at P.E.

    Before he realized it Terry had bolted past him. He heard Terry mutter something as he passed by, but he was too concerned with catching up to him to notice what it was. Unfortunately, Terry seemed determined to end this game. He slid past the next defender and faked out J.R. without even a hint of effort. There was no way that Rick was going to be able to catch him, the game was lost. Terry went up for the final point, but J.R. reached up, grabbed him by the ankle, and threw him to the concrete.

    Rick finished jogging up to the basket as Terry jumped back onto his feet. Terry was staring directly at him and shouted something incoherent before charging at Rick, who dodged the blind charge with ease.

    Terry’s rage made him a really easy fight for Rick; he was just swinging wildly, with absolutely no thought put into his attacks. All Rick had to do was stay out of the way of his fists and throw in a quick jab here and there until Terry regained his composure. It was remarkably easy for the first couple swings, but then Rick began to feel a little light-headed.

    As Rick continued to dodge Terry’s barrage of punches his breathing increased rapidly, much faster than normal and he could feel his heartbeat start to pick up; a little faster at first, then a bit faster, faster still, faster. His heart began throbbing so quickly and so hard that it felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. His breathing quickened to match his new heart rate and as Terry started to snap out of his fit of anger it was all that Rick could do to stay on his feet.

    That was it, he couldn’t do it anymore, his body gave out on him and just before he fell to the ground he heard Terry shout, “Here, toy with this!”

    Terry and Brooke both knelt down beside Rick and tried to revive him. He was extremely warm to the touch and his skin was dry, which struck Terry as odd since he was drenched in sweat from the long game of basketball. The two of them stayed there on the concrete, fanning their hands quickly in front of Rick’s face in an attempt to cool him down.

    It was lunchtime at Fulkton High – students clamored through the hallways of the building, some to the Nurse’s Office, others toward the break room and classrooms to find teachers, and others still toward the office of the administration; teachers and administrators moved hurriedly through the mass toward the basketball courts – meanwhile the lunch bell tolled and three grim tones descended upon the campus.