"Your move, Scott."

Zachary felt as if time was standing still. Like a dream. Was this really happening? Was he really there, about to face CJ in front of all the school? Why were the teachers just watching? Was that Carl's voice he heard?

Zachary broke his own thoughts. "Focus. Just focus. Go for the head. A knockout will prove enough. You can do this. You can do-"

"Having second thoughts, Scott? Make your move!"

Zachary stared at him, and the fire rose in his eyes once more. He took a couple steps backward, still refusing to break eye contact.

Then he knew what he would do. He needed a kick that no one would see coming. One that was fast enough to knock someone out before they knew what hit them. The butterfly kick.

"Where you going, Scott?"

Zachary burst into motion instantly. So fast that everyone around him stepped back in fear, not knowing what he was doing. A short spin to gain momentum, a jump towards CJ, then he crouched low to the ground, not ceasing motion once. Then like lightning, he shot up from the ground in a wild spin, almost upside-down as his feet launched towards CJ's head faster than the eye could follow.

Carl's jaw dropped as he saw the spectacular sight. But then everyone's jaw dropped as CJ's hand shot out, grabbing Zachary's ankle and holding him in the air. Then, in one smooth motion, using Zachary's momentum, he threw Zachary sideways to the cold, hard tile on the ground.

Zachary clutched his shoulder, obviously in a lot of pain. Carl looked away and silently broke out of the crowd, heading for the door.

CJ stood over Zachary. "You challenged me, Scott. And you've lost already. Now do you see who's in charge here?"

Zachary's hands went down to the floor as he pushed himself up. CJ Shook his head and his fist went crashing down into Zachary's back, laying him flat on the floor.

"Stay down, Scott. You've lost."

Zachary groaned and coughed, but still stared at CJ with that rebellious fire in his eyes.

In a hoarse, choking voice he replied, "I will keep on getting up until the day I die."

CJ chuckled. "That may be sooner than you think."

The last thing Zachary saw before the darkness was another fist flying towards his head.

***

He awoke with a start. Where was he? What was going on?

A person dressed like a nurse noticed his movement and visible confusion and walked over to him.

"You finally woke up, Hon. They told me you tripped and knocked your head on a table. You've been out cold for a while. It'll be a little longer before I can let you resume your classes. I just need to make sure it's not severe, alright?"

"What...how...where am I?"

"You're in the nurse's station. You were brought here by a kid named Carl. Friend of yours'?"

"Yeah...a friend of mine."

"Well, just relax. I'll be back in a sec to check on you."

***

After another hour, the nurse was finally convinced he was well enough to continue the day. Or...what was left of it. It was his final hour and he was directed to the counselor's office to take his Math placement test. He wasn't ready for math of any kind. He thought to himself that he'd probably test into second grade, but he didn't really get a choice, so he entered the office ready to fail.

"Zachary! Welcome, I'm Mr. Hartford, the school counselor. Nice to finally meet you." He reached out his hand.

Mr. Hartford looked familiar. Too familiar. But Zachary accepted his handshake.

"Now, I know today has been a hard day, so I will take that into account when I compile your score. But just do the best you can here, okay? If needed, we can always take a re-test."

It was then it clicked.

"Wait...Mr. Hartford...you were at the fight at lunch, right. I saw you there."

Mr. Hartford adjusted his coat awkwardly. "Well, yes, you did."

"Why didn't you do something? And why isn't CJ in trouble for what he did?"

Mr. Hartford looked serious. "What do you mean? You started the fight. You should be in trouble. Not sure why you aren't. And what could I have done? You asked for a beating and got it. I believe in learning from mistakes. Let's call that incident a mistake that you needed to make, alright, Zach? Now, take a seat and you may begin the test."

Zachary sat down in disbelief. What on earth was going on? Were all the teachers like this? Then he remembered CJ's dad. And his eyes closed in defeat as he grabbed the pencil to begin the test.

"I'll be sitting over here, just let me know if you need anything or if you're finished."

Mr. Hartford didn't hear it. But Zachary mumbled under his breath, "I'm sooo finished, Mr. Hartford. Sooooooo finished."