He ran a hand through his hair. It was getting a bit long, tickling his neck. It was a good thing their school wasn't very strict with the hair regulations. Prestige International School was pretty laid-back since most of the students came from rich families. Most of the students wouldn't be accepted into ordinary schools. Most of them were rebellious problem children. And some of them came from rich separated parents who couldn't care less about their only child... like Rex.

He sighed while he walked to the parking lot. They had a long test in Calculus, and he had to do a presentation in English. It was supposed to be a team effort, but he didn't want to deal with anyone's input, so he told his teacher he would do it on his own. He loosened his necktie and started thinking about the show he was going to watch on Netflix tonight and what Manang Nes was going to cook for dinner. He was craving some carbonara tonight.

He rounded a corner and stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened at the scene before him.

Rex spotted two students wearing the PIS uniform. One of them was on the ground, cowering. The other had scratches on his face. His navy blue blazer was on the ground, and his white polo shirt had blood on the collars and tears on the shoulder and elbow. He was facing three other guys who had their fists up. Two of them had bloodied mouths. The third one had a fresh bruise under his left eye.

The one with a bloodied white polo saw Rex. The other three guys noticed where he was looking and glanced in the same direction.

The one with the bruise took a step in Rex's direction. "Beat it, kid," he barked.

Rex should beat it. This didn't involve him. He could just leave.

One of the guys with a bloodied mouth, the one with a shaved head, approached Rex, cracking his knuckles. "You want a piece, too?"

"Hey!" They turned towards the guy with the white polo. Hair had fallen over his eyes, and he swept it away with his right hand. His knuckles were red. He grinned. "I haven't finished beating your asses yet."

The three guys stepped towards him, arms raised.

Now was the time to leave, Rex thought. He could just ignore this incident. Anyway, it seemed like the guy in the polo shirt could handle himself. But then the guy with the bruise under one eye put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a Swiss knife. One of his companions pulled out a set of brass knuckles. The third one pulled out a cutter.

Rex gripped the strap on his messenger bag. He couldn't leave. Not now. White Polo Guy wouldn't survive three armed attackers.

As if reading his mind, White Polo Guy glanced at Rex and yelled, "Get out of here!"

Rex took deep breaths. He had a goal to achieve this year. He didn't want any trouble. He wasn't part of this. This wasn't his problem. He took another deep breath and turned around. He closed his eyes, pulled off his necktie, and dropped his messenger bag behind the bushes next to the wall.

"You think you're tough shit, Perez?" The one with the Swiss knife said. He rushed White Polo Guy, but before he could stab him, he was pulled back and thrown into the guy with brass knuckles. They fell to the ground.

"Hey--!" the one with the cutter yelled, but before he could even take one step, Rex punched him in the face. He had wrapped his necktie around his fist. He stumbled backwards but remained standing. He yelled in pain, holding his nose.

Something moved to Rex's right. He put up his right hand, blocking the punch. He grabbed the arm and twisted it around. The guy with the brass knuckles screamed.

"Leave," Rex said through his teeth. "Get out of here before the guards arrive!" Rex hadn't actually called the guards, and he wasn't even sure how these people got in, but he wasn't going to dive into that. All he cared about was preventing murder in his school!

But the other guy only continued screaming, holding his twisted arm. Suddenly, someone kicked Rex in the back. He crashed into the ground, his arms coming up at the last second to protect his face. He turned around, ready to fight -- only to see White Polo Guy delivering a roundhouse kick to Swiss Knife Guy's head. The latter fell and groaned. His other companions stared at White Polo Guy. The one with the cutter yelled in defiance and rushed at White Polo Guy, who pulled back his right arm and punched the other in the nose. All three guys groaned in unison. The one with the Swiss Knife kicked his companions and screamed at them to start running away. They left with curses and swear words on their lips.

White Polo Guy walked over to Rex and helped him up. "You okay?" he asked.

Rex nodded, a bit speechless. That roundhouse kick was beautifully executed. Now that they weren't in immediate danger, Rex realized that the other guy was very familiar. White Polo Guy pushed his sweat-slicked hair back. His face breaks into a bright smile. His eyes twinkled.

"You didn't leave," he said. "You helped me."

The man's eyes were a bit mesmerizing. Rex also realized the other guy was taller than him. Rex mentally shook his head. "Uh," began, "it wasn't a fair fight."

White Polo Guy opened his mouth, but he was distracted by someone pulling on his shirt. Rex remembered the other guy who was cowering on the ground. Rex's jaw dropped when he realized who it was.

"Jason Smith?" he asked, frowning.

Jason Smith was their class president. He was a thin boy with brown-gray hair, shoulders usually hunched in an effort not to be noticed. He was assigned class president by the teacher because he always took notes in class, and his father was the school principal. He was constantly bullied, but he never told anyone. When asked, he would just say he fell down the stairs.

"Who were those people?" Rex asked. "What happened?"

Jason's eyes were wet and red. He had been crying. "Just some gang members trying to extort money from me. Leo was on his way to his car when he saw them kicking me." He sniffed. "Thank you for helping me, both of you." While he snivelled, Leo rubbed his back.

Rex's eyes narrowed as he pieced together the name and why the other guy was very familiar. Leonardo Perez. No wonder he seemed familiar. It wasn't just that they were in the same year. The guy was the school's star athlete in taekwondo! He won a national competition last year. And more than that, Leo Perez's father sat on the school's board of directors.

Rex turned around and took back his messenger bag. Before he could walk away, Leo called after him.

"Hey! You didn't tell me your name!"

Rex stopped, and, for a second, considered introducing himself.

Rex closed his eyes, opened them again, and sprinted towards the parking lot, ignoring Leo's calls. It's okay, Rex told himself. Even though he and Leo were in the same year, they weren't classmates. They didn't join the same clubs. They didn't run in the same circles. There was nothing to worry about. It wasn't like they were going to see each other again tomorrow anyway.

The next day, Rex woke up cranky and sore. His knuckles were red, and he had some small bruises and scratches on his arms and legs. His shoulders felt heavy. Ugh. When was the last time he did anything athletic?

Last night, he tried to watch the latest action flick on Netflix, but he kept thinking about Leo Perez instead. Rex trudged into their classroom, his head feeling heavy from the lack of sleep. He had woken up late and didn't even have time for breakfast. He rubbed his face, only partly listening to his classmates' gossip.

"What happened to William?" someone asked loudly.

"He got transferred to another section," someone answered.

"What? The school year just started. Why?"

"Who knows. Maybe someone bullied him here."

"Who on earth would bully him? Isn't his mom the vice principal --"

"Shhh!"

Their homeroom teacher, Ms. Felicity, walked into the room. She was a sprightly thirty-something who was used to all kinds of students, so almost nothing fazed her. She cleared her throat, but most of the class ignored her. She rolled her eyes and raised her voice, saying, "You're probably wondering where William is."

That got everyone's attention.

She smiled at the class. "There's been an exchange of students. He's been transferred to section A for the rest of the school year. And now, we will welcome a student to section C." She looked at the door. "I don't think there's any need to introduce him though. You all know him."

And then he stepped into the classroom.

Leo Perez grinned as everyone's jaw dropped. He looked around the classroom until his eyes found Rex, who was staring at him in shock. Leo's lips curled into a full smile. "Hey."