“He's going to regret doing this to me.” Brad said when he waddled out of the emergency room with an ice bag held to his crotch. Half of his face was bandaged as well and his hair was stuck up in the back.

“I think you should leave him alone.” His friend said as they walked to his car.

“He stepped on my balls like he was crushing a cockroach!” Brad said loudly. “I'm going to pay him back for that, Eric!”

“Brad.” Eric said and put a hand on his arm. “You saw his eyes, didn't you?”

Brad huffed. “The smug bastard can't talk down to me like I'm nothing.”

“That's just it.” Eric said as he remembered the ice cold eyes that had looked at him. “I'm sure that's what he thinks.”

“He won't be thinking that for long.” Brad said and carefully climbed into the back seat of the car. “As soon as the swelling goes down...”

Eric sighed. “Brad, are you even listening? He'll kill you if you go after him.”

“I don't think so.” Brad said and waited until Eric sat in the driver's seat before speaking again. “I've never lost a fight in my life.”

“You just lost one.” Eric said and started the car.

“He sucker punched me!”

“Actually, he only used his feet, except when he pushed you.” Eric pulled out of the parking lot.

“The point was that he jumped me.” Brad said. “Soon, we'll see how much he likes it.”

Eric shook his head and drove his friend home. It was going to take about three weeks for Brad's broken nose and the bruises on his abdomen and crotch to heal completely.

He got all of that in only a few seconds and Arnold wasn't even trying. Eric thought. If I hadn't stepped in when I did... He looked at his friend in the rear view mirror and shook his head. I better stay as close as I can to keep Brad safe from his own ego.

*

Arnold finished lunch in the lab and met Heather at their next class. The rest of the day passed by and then it was time to go home. Arnold stopped at his locker and changed everything out for the next day and to do his homework that night, then he met Heather and Kelly at their lockers and walked with them out to the parking lot. The group of guys were there and gave Arnold some unfriendly looks, and he completely ignored them like he usually did and walked the two girls to Heather's mother's car.

“Goodbye.” Heather said and Arnold took the cue and kissed her. “You're getting better at it.”

Arnold let a small smile out and she climbed into the backseat. Kelly was tempted to say something, then changed her mind and climbed into the car and shut the door.

“Goodbye, Arnold.” Heather's mother said as she leaned towards the passenger side to test him. If he failed, Heather would be upset about it; but, it had to be done if he couldn't follow a simple direction. Arnold remembered the woman's words and only nodded, so she gave him a huge smile and waved. “See you tomorrow!” She said and the car drove off.

“You hurt our friend.” A voice said from behind him.

Arnold turned to look and the group of guys were a few feet away from him. He didn't respond because it was a statement and not a question. Several people that were standing around moved back, so they wouldn't be involved and would also stay close by to see what happened.

“You must think you're so tough.” The guy said and reached out to poke Arnold's shoulder.

Quick as a flash, Arnold grabbed the wrist and held on as he jumped a foot into the air and kicked out with both feet. His heels dug into the guy's stomach and knocked the wind out of him. It was a move that Arnold had seen squirrels do a bunch of times when fighting over the nuts he was trying to entice them with. He learned a lot from those squirrels.

Both of them dropped to the ground on their backs and Arnold rolled over onto his belly and hopped up into a crouch, then jumped onto the guy and sat on his chest as he rained punches down onto his face. Since the guy still hadn't caught his breath yet, Arnold's weight stopped him from expanding his lungs and he had no energy to try and defend himself.

Once again, the people around were too stunned by what was happening to help.

“Hey! HEY!” A woman's voice yelled from across the parking lot and the boys heard running footsteps. “What are you DOING?!?”

“Oh, shit! It's the vice-principal!” One of them said. “Go! Go!”

They didn't even glance down to look at their friend and abandoned him as they took off, as did the partially gathered crowd.

“ARNOLD! STOP!” The vice-principal yelled and Arnold stopped immediately. “What did you do?”

“I defended myself.” Arnold said and looked down at the bloodied and mangled face of the boy.

“Why were you fighting?” She asked.

“Brad made a comment about my girlfriend this morning and she slapped him. When he tried to punch her, I pushed him down and stomped and kicked him to stop him.” Arnold said calmly. “These guys kept yelling 'fight', until I won and they stopped.”

“So, it was retaliation against them for goading you?” The vice-principal asked.

“What's goading mean?” Arnold asked.

“They tease and bully you to force you to react.”

“Then no. I ignore stuff like that all the time.” Arnold said, to her surprise. “When he tried to grab me, I grabbed him instead and kicked him, then punched him in the face until you said to stop.”

The vice-principal looked at the bloody young man on the pavement. She knelt and checked that he was breathing and had a pulse, then she took out her cell phone and called 911. They sent out an ambulance right away.

“You're going to have to stay here while I get all of this sorted out.” She said.

“Can you call my mother?” Arnold asked. “She said to call if I wasn't coming home right after school.”

The vice-principal gave him an odd look for a second, then nodded and asked for his phone number. When his mother stopped yelling, she agreed to come to the school to be there with him. After about twenty minutes, the ambulance and a police car arrived in the parking lot. The EMTs ran over to check on the severely beaten young man and the single police officer talked to the vice-principal. Besides a lot of surface damage, nothing was broken or life threatening.

One of the EMTs glared at Arnold for doing it, then saw his blood-covered hands. “I hope your satisfied.”

“I broke one of my fingers and didn't break anything on him.” Arnold said. “So, no. I'm not satisfied.”

“One of your fingers is broken?” The other EMT asked, because the first was too stunned to speak.

Arnold held up his fists and opened them to only have seven fingers and two thumbs move. The ring finger on his right hand stayed bent.

“I'll check it when we're done here.” The EMT said and went back to work.

A car sped into the school's parking lot, slammed on its brakes, and came to a stop about fifty feet away. Arnold's mother got out of the driver's side and ran over to him.

“I want you to tell me exactly what happened!” His mother exclaimed and the police officer paused in talking to listen. Arnold told her everything that happened and didn't leave anything out.

“I want to talk to this Brad character.” The police officer said.

“He wasn't in school today.” The vice-principal said.

“Eric took him to the hospital because his nose was broken.” A guy's voice came from the returned crowd. “It looks like he's going to have company.”

“He's going to be fine.” One of the EMTs said as they put the unconscious young man onto a stretcher. “He's just passed out from repeated blows to the head.”

“No concussion?” The police officer asked and the EMT shook his head. “It's still assault, regardless of the circumstances.” He said and took out a set of handcuffs.

“He's still on school property!” Arnold's mother said loudly. “This is a school matter!”

“He committed a crime...” The police officer started to say.

“No one called the police or reported a crime.” The vice-principal said and he turned to look at her in surprise. “I asked for an ambulance and you just showed up with it.”

The police officer wasn't sure what to say to that.

“This is a school matter and we will take care of it.” The vice-principal said.

“Are you sure?” The police officer asked and rattled the cuffs. “It might teach him a lesson about committing crimes in the future.”

“I don't think giving him a criminal record that he will have for the rest of his life is a 'good lesson' for him to have for being involved in a schoolyard fight.” Arnold's mother said in a severe voice.

The police officer actually winced from the venom he heard in her voice.

“Let me see your hands.” The EMT said to Arnold and he held them out. The man rinsed his hands with distilled water and then inspected the ring finger. “You're lucky, I think. It's just dislocated.”

Arnold's mother gasped, because she knew what that meant. “Give him something for the pain.”

“The longer it's out of joint, the more it's going to hurt.” The EMT said and looked at Arnold. “I'm going to pull it straight and it's going to hurt. A lot.”

Arnold nodded and the EMT didn't even count as he grabbed the middle of the finger and yanked on it. A sickening pop was heard by all those around.

“ARGH!” Arnold yelled in pain for a moment, then it died down.

“It's going to be sore for a while.” The EMT said and put a light wrap around it. “I suggest making an appointment with a doctor to get it checked out properly.”

Arnold's mother nodded and the EMT went to the ambulance and climbed in, then it drove way.

“Miss, are you sure...” The police officer tried to plead for the case to take Arnold.

“We have dealt with fights before.” The vice-principal said and dismissed the man.

The police officer gave a last look to Arnold and got in his car and drove away.

The vice-principal sighed. “God, what a headache I have.” She said and looked at Arnold and his mother. “Until I can corroborate Arnold's story with Brad, I have no choice but to suspend Arnold.”

“What?” Arnold's mother looked at the vice-principal like she had lost her reasoning. “Arnold was the victim and you're suspending HIM?!?”

“He doesn't look like a victim!” Someone from the crowd shouted.

“Who said that?!?” The vice-principal turned to the crowd and no one moved or spoke.

“I can't believe this is happening.” Arnold's mother said.

“I'm sorry.” The vice-principal said. “He's here and he claimed responsibility for fighting.”

“He did no such thing!”

“He admitted to it, so I have to take that as an admission of guilt.” The vice-principal said.

“If you suspend him, you are going to ruin his academic record.” Arnold's mother said.

“He's going to lose the bursary prize for perfect attendance as well.”

Arnold's mother scowled at her.

“I don't have a choice here. He's suspended.”

“For how long?”

“Two weeks, effective immediately.”

“WHAT?!?”

“It's a one week suspension for each fight.” The vice-principal said. “I'm taking it easy on him, too.”

Arnold's mother clamped her mouth shut and didn't say what she wanted to say.

“I need to get the rest of my books.” Arnold said.

“I'll escort you back inside.” The vice-principal said and all eyes were on them as they went back into the school. Arnold loaded up his backpack and cleared out his locker completely. “Arnold, I'm not kicking you out of school. You're just being suspended.”

“Is there a difference?” Arnold asked. “I won't be allowed back until you say I can come back.”

The vice-principal sighed and didn't respond, so he shut his locker and she escorted him out of the school and back over to his mother.

“The parent-teacher association is going to hear about this.” Arnold's mother said.

“I suggest not doing that.” The vice-principal warned. “If they learn that he's not getting the full punishment, they may insist that he does.”

Arnold's mother was surprised by this. “But... but he...”

“To be honest, no one cares about his academic record when violence is involved.” The vice-principal said and looked at Arnold. “Except me.” She said. “It's still going to be a mark on your record; but, it's not going to be as bad as it could have been.”

“Why?” Arnold asked.

“It could invalidate university scholarship applications and even future job prospects if you're perceived as a nuisance.”

“I don't care about that.” Arnold said. “Why are you helping me?”

“You're a good kid.” The vice-principal said. “You never caused problems and you kept to yourself... until now.” She reached out and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Go home and think about what happened. When you come back in two weeks, I want you to write a paper about your experience.”

“You suspended him and you're still giving him homework?” Someone in the crowd asked.

“Whoever said that is going to get the same thing!” The vice-principal said loudly as she turned to the crowd and let Arnold's shoulder go.

“Arnold.” His mother said and motioned to the car parked fifty feet away with the driver side door still open. Arnold walked towards it and put his backpack into the back seat and climbed into the passenger side. His mother got in and shut her door, then reversed and turned the car around and drove out of the parking lot.

“Arnold, I'm not angry at you for this.” His mother said through clenched teeth.

Arnold looked at her with a blank face and she glanced at him briefly to see his reaction.

“I believed everything you said and I know you didn't lie.” His mother continued as she drove. “There's only one thing about it that I want to question you about.”

Arnold didn't respond and she didn't expect him to, since she hadn't asked him a question.

“Why didn't you tell me that you have a girlfriend?” She asked calmly, even though in her head she wanted to berate him for getting into the situation he was in. It's her fault it happened. She thought.

“Heather said she wanted to be my girlfriend yesterday.” Arnold said, without the normal excitement and enthusiasm that having a girlfriend would usually instill in a normal teenager. “I said okay.”

“Arnold.” His mother said with a sigh. “Do you know what having a girlfriend means?”

“No, but she's teaching me.” Arnold said and his mother caught her breath.

What is she teaching my son? His mother asked herself, full of worry, then her thoughts went right to that morning and Arnold risking his life to run across a busy street to kiss her and say goodbye. What do I say? What can I say? Can I tell him to not have a girlfriend? Can I warn him how dangerous it is to have a girl teaching him god-knows-what?

His mother asked herself many, many questions along those lines as they drove home in silence.