Best Friends Since Kindergarten

The Fight

AMY

“No,” Andres said clearly. “My final words are: f**k Yo-“ Before Andres could finish, Ryan’s fist slammed into his nose. There was a sickening crack. Andres barely flinched. He just stood up slowly. He and Ryan were about the same height. They were able to stare eye-to-eye. Andres’s nose was bent and bleeding. He wiped away some of the blood on the back of his hand. “You can throw a decent punch, I’ll give you that,” he said snarkily. Ryan bristled and took a step forward. I quickly jumped up, pushing myself between the two.

“That’s enough, okay? This isn’t worth it for either of you.”

“Stay out of this, Amy,” Andres said.

Ryan shot him a nasty look. “Don’t you dare talk to her like that,” he growled.

“Or what?” Andres taunted. “You’ll punch me? I bet you couldn’t land another hit on me.” Ryan growled. I could see the bloodlust in his eyes. I pushed them apart again.

“Stop!” I shouted. “You both need to calm the f**k down. This isn’t the time or place.” I scanned the room desperately. Where was Rob when you needed him?

“What is Amy saying right now?” Andres asked Ryan. “Either she thinks you’ll lose and get hurt or she doesn’t want you to lay a hand on me. Which is better?”

“Alternatively,” Ryan snarled. “She doesn’t want me to get in trouble for murder.”

“You sure? I think she just might want me safe,” Andres hooked an arm around my shoulders and tugged me against him. Ryan’s eyes visibly darkened. He reached out and caught hold of my arm, yanking me out of Andres’s hold. I stumbled to his side.

“Keep your hands off of her, you disgusting leech.”

Andres raised his eyebrow. “’Disgusting leech’? Is that really the best you could come up with?”

“How else should I describe the way you cling to her and sap her energy?” Ryan spat. “You assaulted her. You ARE a disgusting leech. Sometimes there’s no two ways around it.” I cringed as everyone took in what Ryan had said. Andres’s eyes flashed.

“’Assaulted’? Just because you don’t like something doesn’t make it an assault, Ryan.”

“She didn’t consent to being touched by you,” Ryan hissed. “And her not liking it DOES make it an assault, actually. And don’t even get me started on that stupid challenge. If she wanted to go out with you, she would have. Instead you tried to force her into it by manipulating me. Amy’s her own person.”

“How would you know if she consented?” Andres growled. “Are you in her head? Why would she tell if you if she enjoyed something that would make you mad? Besides, you accepted the challenge.” I paled. The last thing I wanted was Ryan being mad at me.

“Because I heard what she was saying to her friend after you walked away. I believe her exact words were ‘it wasn’t cute, it was shitty and gross’.” I winced. I hadn’t realized how much he’d heard. Andres’s glare was directed at me now.  

“You’re not going to argue with any of this?” he seethed. “He’s just making s**t up.”

“He’s not, actually,” Giselle said from behind us. Andres’s head swiveled in her direction. “I’m the friend Amy was talking to.” His withering glare returned to me now.

“You didn’t exactly resist.”

“I tried to!” I said weakly. “You didn’t let me say ‘no’.”

At the same time, Ryan growled, “Don’t you dare turn this on your victim. f*****g gaslighting creep.” Andres had officially hit his breaking point. You could see it in his eyes.

“SHUT THE f**k UP,” Andres roared. Ryan quickly pushed me behind him and caught Andres’s fist as it flew towards us. I’m not really sure who he intended to hit, but I knew if I’d stayed there I’d be out cold. Susan caught me as I stumbled back.

“Where the f**k is Rob?” I whispered to Susan anxiously.

“I don’t know- I texted him and Andres’s sister Halia.”

“Andres has a sister?”

“She’s the year above us- a senior. I met her at the party. She used to box too.”

Frozen, I watched in horror as Andres threw hit after hit at Ryan. He was able to dodge or block most of them, but at least one punch landed hard on Ryan’s gut. Ryan growled and kicked Andres hard in the stomach. Andres stumbled backwards, panting. They stood glaring at each other for a moment before Ryan started his attack. His punches flew fast, but Andres was just as good at blocking. Andres caught both of Ryan’s fists and headbutted Ryan in the face. It was Ryan’s turn to stumble back now. His nose was bleeding too, though I didn’t hear it break the way Andres’s nose had. They went back and forth a few more times, more wary of each other now. People in the cafeteria were loudly cheering for each side. Where the f**k was school security?

“ANDRES!” A girl’s voice called out. I could see someone pushing her way through the crowd aggressively. Andres froze, head turned in that direction. The second he was distracted, Ryan landed a hard punch on the side of Andres’s head. Andres stumbled away, holding a hand over his bleeding ear. Ryan must’ve popped his eardrum. Andres snarled and tackled Ryan to the ground, trying to straddle him and punch Ryan’s face in. Ryan blocked with crossed arms and punched Andres in the chest whenever possible. Ryan finally landed a blow on Andres’s neck. Andres fell back, coughing.

“STOP!” I heard Rob’s voice from the other side of the cafeteria as the girl. I could see him working his way through the crowd on that side with Lucy following close behind. Ryan didn’t fall into the same trap that Andres had though. He barely paid Rob’s voice any heed, instead shoving Andres to the ground and kicking him in the stomach. Andres suddenly grabbed hold of Ryan’s leg and yanked, pulling him down to the ground. There was a nasty thud as Ryan’s head hit the ground. He lay there, dazed, as Andres climbed back on top of him. Ryan managed to roll to the side, avoiding Andres’s attempt to crush his head in, then grabbed hold of Andres’s shoulder and bit down hard. Andres cried out and tore himself out of Ryan’s teeth. There was a clear bite mark on Andres’s shoulder as he jumped back from Ryan. Blood was starting to ooze up from the wound. Ryan lurched forward and punched Andres in the side of the head again, knocking him to the ground.

“You f*****g cowardly little-“ Andres hissed through his teeth, trying to sit back up and failing.  

“Stop!” an ash-blonde girl hissed angrily, running up to sit next to him, pushing him back to the ground. “You got what you f*****g deserved, you idiot.” Andres groaned.

Rob got through the crowd at about the same time. He ran to Ryan, who was still lying on the ground, visibly reeling. Seeing Andres was thoroughly occupied with getting scolded by his sister, I ran to Ryan too and crouched down next to him. “Jesus, Ryan!” Rob hissed. “I f*****g told you to leave it alone.”

Ryan grinned up at him stupidly, revealing the blood on his teeth from biting Andres. “That was f*****g great though.”

“Ryan, you’re an i***t,” I whispered as I ran my hands through his hair. I felt something damp and pulled my hand away, covered in red. There was blood on the back of his head. My heart pounded loudly in my ears. I felt unsteady.

“s**t,” Rob growled. He pulled off his varsity jacket and folded it up like a pillow to put under Ryan’s head. I felt sick. I’d never liked blood, but I liked Ryan’s blood even less. And it was all over my hand. That wasn’t a small bump.

“I’m fine,” Ryan said, waving us away.

“Then why are you still on the ground?” Rob asked through gritted teeth.

“Surprisingly nice view down here,” Ryan joked. Rob grimaced. My heart pounded in my ears.

“I’d hit you if you weren’t already injured.”

“What’s one more bruise?” Ryan shrugged.

“Stop! Stop okay!” I hissed through sudden tears. I sobbed into my hands. It was finally sinking in that Andres had almost killed him. If Ryan had hit his head any harder, he wouldn’t be talking right now. But he was sitting here cracking jokes. Ryan looked at me with concern.

“I’ve definitely had worse, Ames. Remember that time I -“

“Shut up, Ryan,” Rob said coldly. “That is not helpful right now.” Ryan went silent, but took hold of one my bloody hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

School security finally showed up with EMT’s and stretchers. Rob promised to keep me updated and went with Ryan, while Halia (the ash-blonde) went with Andres. I talked with school security and the police who showed up later and skipped the rest of class that day. I went home early with Lucy.