“Well, well, well, look who we have here. If it isn’t the prince and the pauper. I thought I could smell you all the way back here.” His voice boomed to the two other students flanking his side, garnering the attention of the surrounding students in the process. His smirk which was plastered onto his face growing wider as he did so.

“Piss off Matthew. Do you really have nothing better to do with your fucking time!” Sam swore angrily. Something that due to his family he rarely did.

“Come now Samael” Matthew responded, knowing just how much Sam hated his full name. “Is that any way for a posh boy like you to speak? Better be careful, wouldn’t want to get any blood on your designer clothes now would you?”

At this point, thanks to the volume at which Matthew spoke, the majority of the people in the cafeteria had now shifted their attention towards us. Something which only seemed to spur Matthew's actions further. Showcased in how he slammed his palm down hard against the metal table, worsening my headache and making me wince in pain. Something that wasn’t hidden from Matthews' narrowed eyes.

“What's the matter? Is little Adam not feeling too well? Does the lil baby need a nap?“ The condescension dripped from each word he spoke, trying to rile me up and doing a damn good job in doing so.

At this point, everyone in the cafeteria was looking this way. Looking on in amusement at what was taking place with many openly laughing along with Matthew. I felt my face begin to heat up, which if not for the embarrassment and anger surging within me would have been a welcome change to the freezing cold I had felt all day.

I stared towards him in rage, seeing his solid frame leaning down from above my seated position, looking down on me in mockery with that smug smile on his lips. My height being one of my biggest insecurities was something Matthew knew all too well and something he mocked me for at any chance he got. Just like Sam, I had known Matthew since we were young back at the nursery, with him being just as much of a prick back then as he was now, bullying and tormenting Sam at every chance he got. Back then Matthew and I would fight almost every day, finding any excuse possible to do so. Sometimes we would not even bother to do that. 

Unfortunately, as we got older the difference in our sizes and strength became more and more apparent. Until it got to a point where I was no longer able to even put up a decent fight against him, let alone win. Since then I had tried my best to avoid Matthew as much as possible, which seemed to have only made him even more insufferable as the years went on.

“Fuck off Matt, don’t you have anything better to do? Like I don’t know, trying to pass a single fucking subject, you dense piece of shit!” I said in anger, clenching my teeth agonisingly hard as my migraine doubled in strength from the volume of my voice.

To everyone else, Matthew seemed unaffected by my retort, bored even. However, if you looked closely you would notice the way his eyes narrowed even further or the way his veins along his neck seemed to pulse in intensity. After all, just like he knew my weaknesses, I knew his. For instance, his insecurities over his failing grades.

“Of course, you would respond with such vulgarity. Although I don’t know what I expected from filthy street trash like you. Street trash just like your father.” Mathew loudly spoke, knowing the perfect way to further anger me.

“Shut the fuck up you prick!” I raged, feeling the veins in my face pulse with heat as I slammed against the table. Too angry to notice the mountain of pain that extended from my hand and up my arm. An action that, while made a few students jump in shock, left Matthew completely unbothered.

“Look at that temper. I mean it makes sense you've got such a temper. After all, if I grew up with that drunk you call a father I would be pissed at the world as well. Honestly, your mother got lucky. At least in death she managed to get away.”

A pin drop could be heard in the silence that followed his vicious mocking. Yet only after a few moments sniggers and quiet laughter could be heard from all around, with more and more joining in each second before a dam seemed to have been broken and the room burst in noise. The majority of which was a symphony of laughs directed at me with Matthew and his gang of followers at the forefront.

All I wanted to do at that moment was throw myself at Matthew. To swing and thrash as hard as I could and wipe that sneer from across his face. Yet I didn’t. While I’ve always had a temper I was never dumb. Even as a kid I always knew what the consequences of my actions were going to be. It was just at the time I simply did not bother to care. Not this time, I knew what would happen if we fought, what with Matthew standing almost a foot taller with at least twenty kilograms on me. Most of which was hard, dense muscle, one of the benefits of being on the football team. So I just sat there, seething as the surrounding students all looked on in excitement at Matthews’s cruel remarks, enjoying the entertainment before them. 

‘Coward.’ A voice inside my head spat in disgust, 'Don’t pretend you're being smart. You're just scared. Afraid of getting hurt and being embarrassed.' The voice remarked with vitriol.

I tried to deny it, to block out that inner voice. But in truth, I knew it was right. I was scared. For a second I wondered when it happened. When I had stopped fighting back, allowing pricks like Matthew to insult my father and simply accept it without complaint.

It was at that moment, as I looked around the cafeteria and the many faces that encircled me, all reflecting a mixture of mirth and cruel amusement, that I saw her. Helen. Near the edge of the circling crowd along with her friends. Standing out from the sea of excited faces with a blank expression, her eyes boring towards me with unbridled focus, as if burning a hole straight through me. Seeing that my crush was witnessing this entire humiliation display, my embarrassment, which I thought couldn’t get any higher, seemed to skyrocket. 

I felt sick to my stomach and not just because of the illness. It was at that moment that the embarrassment I felt seemed to overtake my fear, causing me to make a rash decision. To decide to fight back, regardless of the consequences. 

Just as the laughter soon died down and Matthew seemed prepared to insult me further, never one to miss a chance to kick someone when they’re down, I slammed my palms against the table. I rose to a sudden stand, using my hands to help keep my balance from the onrush of vertigo I received from such an action. Everyone froze in shock, the onlookers in the crowd, Sam who had been preparing to jump to my defence, and of course Matthew. Who’s expression was warped into one of bewilderment, clearly not having expected such a move. 

As I stood to my full height my migraine only increased in intensity, forcing me to stifle a groan and almost collapse back down in pain. Along with that, my vision began to blur and shake, with everything I saw covered in moving dots of black and grey. I ignored it all. Too lost in my rage. Instead, I directed my attention back towards Matthew, the smirk back on his face.

‘Not for long.’ I thought maliciously.

“It’s funny that you would want to talk about parents,” I suddenly said, grabbing everyone's attention. “I mean, how many men has your whore of a mother slept with now? Sixteen? Seventeen? It’s almost impressive how big of a slut she is. She must have fucked at least half the blokes in town. Although it’s not like your dad’s any better. Didn't he get arrested by the police for causing a disturbance at that brothel in the town centre only a couple of months ago?”

Immediately the laughter of everyone around us that had just begun to die down came back with a vengeance. Only this time it was no longer directed towards me. Matthew’s face froze in surprise once more before realisation set in over what I said. Instantly his face turned a bright red as his body began to shake and he had his fists clenched by his side, as if ready to attack at any moment.

“You son of a bitch!” He yelled, his voice no longer containing any signs of mockery or cruel enjoyment. “Let's fucking go! Unless you're too much of a pussy to actually fight me” 

He backed away from the table and moved towards the open area a couple of metres away. The surrounding students shuffling away while still keeping an enclosed circle around us. “Come on then! It’s too late to back out now!” He impatiently yelled.

Knowing there was no way out, at least not without destroying any semblance of pride I still possessed, I meandered away from the bench, doing my best to stay steady on my feet. While I did so Sam came up beside me. Able to get out of his seat at a much quicker pace than I did. 

“Don’t do this Adam.” He whispered urgently into my ear. “You look like shit! As if you could get knocked out by a gust of wind. If you fight him he’s going to kill you!” As I turned to face him I saw the look of panic etched on his face.

“I don't have a choice. And who knows, maybe I can get a lucky punch or something.” I whispered back, my sudden surge of confidence already starting to crumble as feelings of terror started to surface about what was to come. 

Before he could reply I walked past him towards Matthew, looking past the crowd in the hopes of finding a teacher or someone of authority to put a stop to this fight. But it seemed my luck was just as rotten as usual, seeing none in sight. Instead, my eyes were instantly drawn to where Helen stood, still along the edge of the crowd. As our eyes met I saw her flash a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. I looked back towards Matthew, doing my best to focus on anything but how I felt, how every part of my body was screaming in pain and fatigue with each step I took. As if I had already been in a fight moments prior. One I had resoundingly lost. 

“You’re going to regret talking so much shit” Matthew spat vehemently, his anger once more replaced with a sick sense of amusement and cockiness. No doubt already imagining how this fight would conclude.

 I simply shook my head, unable to even speak in fear of losing the small amount of food I had previously eaten. Seeing that nothing more was going to be said, we both raised our fists in preparation. One thing I noticed was how at ease he seemed to appear and how awkward I felt. What with it being many years since I had last gotten into a fight. The atmosphere stilled. A sense of apprehension settled over the crowd as everyone waited for the fight to start. At this point my head was screaming in pain, clouding all of my other senses with my vision fading rapidly, leaving me struggling to see even half a metre in front.

Suddenly Matthew took a quick step forward, his arm swinging towards the side of my head in what felt like an instant. In my foggy state, I attempted to step back but found my feet were far too sluggish, tangling themselves together and forcing me into a stumble. Allowing me to only barely dodge the punch Matthew threw. Seeing the first punch had missed Matthew showed no surprise, merely taking another step forward to close the distance, his arms still held high and strong in front of him. Creating an intimidating figure though I was loathed to admit it.

Realising I was screwed if I didn’t even attempt to fight back I threw my left arm out widely. No technique or style to be seen with it looking more like a mad flail than any kind of punch. However, it seemed even that was simply too much for my body to handle as not even one second later my body seemed to lose all its strength, causing me to collapse like a puppet without its strings. The last thing I saw before I fell into oblivion, through the searing pain and my blurring, twisting vision was Sam rushing towards me in panic, breaking through the row of spectators seemingly oblivious to his frantic movements. That and Matthew who dodged my pathetic attempt of a punch and closed in, swinging his arm once again towards me. Only this time I was unable to dodge. Then, just as I saw his fist get closer and closer until it overtook my entire vision, it all went black.