Seth sat alone at lunch, enjoying the moment of temporary solitude. He liked eating alone. It gave him time to think and relax his brain after lectures and studying. His lunch was utilitarian. Some chicken, an orange, rice, and two sliced bell peppers. He inhaled it in a matter of minutes, then sat deep in thought, drumming his fingers on the table.

The void Madeline had left behind was in the background, for now. He had to ignore it if he wanted to study worth a damn. But as he watched across the cafeteria at the group of guys and girls starting to set up decorations for homecoming, it came back to the forefront of his mind. The void stared at him, swirling and uncertain, threatening to swallow him whole. Seth stared back, not knowing what to make of it or how to get it to go away. Emma helped. Some. But she wasn't it. Or maybe Seth just wasn't letting her be.

Or maybe it was just too soon. Maybe grief was supposed to last a while, and right now he didn't even feel grief. Maybe this was just denial. Seth drummed his fingers on the table.

"You get around fast."

Seth slowly looked over to see Sarah sitting down the table from him. She didn't have a lunch, so this was purely social. He narrowed his eyes and started packing up his lunch containers.

"Already with some slut? Jesus, Seth. Have some decency."

Seth bit back the urge to say something. If he could control himself around Jayson, he could handle Sarah's taunts.

"Rumor has it you left Madeline for Emma. How could you? While you were railing out that whore all summer, Madeline was all alone with her family, missing yo-"

"Shut up," growled Seth as he stood up.

Sarah stood up with him, her eyes glowing. But Seth knew her well enough, he knew the mask, he saw the drama she was about to cause and he tried to make a quick exit.

"You shouldn't have cheated on Madeline, Seth! She was the best you'll ever have," she shouted.

Seth looked at the ceiling as the cafeteria fell silent. Just walk away, he told himself. Everything will sort itself out. He looked over to see the theater kids staring at him. Emma wasn't with them for some reason. His knuckles tight around the handle of his lunch bag, he turned on a heel to face Sarah. "Listen here-"

"No, you listen!" She shouted. She was basking in the attention. "Madeline loved you, and you gave it up for some blond bitch."

"If you were a guy, I'd fucking hit you," said Seth.

Sarah put her hands on her hips. "Don't you threaten me!"

"Yeah, buddy," came a voice from behind Seth. "Don't threaten her."

The void stirred inside him.

Seth turned to see what must have been Sarah's latest boy toy, Zach Olmstead, a cornfed sonofabitch and a linebacker for the varsity football team. He had at least a hundred pounds on Seth.

The void pulsed.

Seth let the lunch bag drop to the floor. "Zach. This isn't your business."

"You threaten my girlfriend, it sure as hell is."

So this was how it was gonna be. Seth knew he could either diffuse the situation or throw gasoline on the fire. He knew exactly how to do both. He chose the latter.

Seth raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Girlfriend? You comfortable being Eskimo brothers with half the school?"

Zach let out a wordless roar and charged Seth, one hand forward, one hand pulled back in a fist. He was fast, he was big. But Seth was a lot faster, and he could put his shin at head height.

Seth's shin slammed through Zach's jaw at the speed of sound, knocking the football player off course and into a table. The blow was too fast to be a knockout for such a large individual, but it disoriented him. As Zach shook the stars out of his head, Seth lunged forward with a kick from his other leg that sank his shin deep into the meaty portion of Zach's thigh.

Zach's leg buckled and he toppled over to the ground. Seth danced backwards on the balls of his feet, his hands half up. He looked around the cafeteria as it burst into an uproar, the chants for fighting rising and filling the building. It was intoxicating, more than having a bunch of fellow martial artists cheer him on. Seth spotted Anthony with his phone held high, recording the whole thing. Fuck.

Seth settled into a slightly bladed fighting stance, hands more forward than up, and watched as Zach struggled to his feet.

"I'm gonna wreck you, Blackwell," he growled. He charged again with a powerful tackle. Seth knew if he sprawled against the attack, he would just be bull-rushed forward and slammed to the ground where Zach would have all the advantage. Seth lashed out with a slapping hook as he pivoted to the side. His knuckles landed only a glancing blow to Zach's shoulder, but it kept Seth out of reach. He fired off another low kick into Zach's leg from the outside, this one a fast stinger. Zach stumbled and struggled to keep balance.

The two circled. Seth glanced around, looking for teachers coming to break up the fight. He spotted none. Northwest High didn't have many fights, and he supposed Anthony and David's fight club might have something to do with that. Plenty of beef was settled there, and it rarely made its way to the halls of the school. Maybe that's why no one tried to shut it down. It gave Seth vague vibes of the movie The Purge and he didn't like that.

Zach took advantage of Seth's distraction and snatched Seth's wrist with surprising speed. Zach hauled back for a punch. Seth stepped around to the outside, then smashed the blade of his forearm down through the crook of Zach's elbow, ripping the grab away. Seth then slipped under the wild haymaker, circling to the opposite side and ripping the strongest hook he could muster into Zach's belly.

A tough mixture of fat and muscle absorbed the blow, but Zach stumbled. Seth cursed himself for missing a wide-open liver shot, then followed the strike with a second hook into Zach's hip, hoping to further hinder his mobility. Zach took the shot with ease, then landed a clean elbow to the side of Seth's head.

Stars filled Seth's vision and he stumbled away, arms up in a defensive posture. He felt a hand grab his wrist, then a fist pummel his belly with force that should have only belonged to a kick. Before his vision cleared, Zach hoisted him up and launched him through the air. Seth flipped once and crashed down onto his upper back onto a surface that looked and sounded like a cafeteria table. More stars filled his vision and he rolled off the table away from Zach.

Seth staggered to his feet and shook his head hard. His vision cleared in time to see Zach reaching striking distance. Lights out.

A streak of gray came out of nowhere and spear-tackled Zach wide of Seth. The person circled behind Zach before Seth could register who it was, grabbed Zach by the waist, put their hips below his, and threw everything they had backwards.

When you weigh two hundred and seventy pounds, you don't fall light.

Zach smashed into the ground and rolled away. The look on his face said he was used to taking impact, but that that was an exceptional one. Seth resumed his fighting stance alongside Andrew.

Andrew grinned. "Can't let you have all the fun, bro."

Zach lumbered forward, sizing them up.

Seth leaned over to Andrew slightly and said as low as could be heard over the crowd. "I just need one clean shot at his face."

"You got it."

Andrew rushed in for a double-leg takedown, which Zach easily stuffed and sent Andrew rolling away. But to stuff a takedown, you need both arms, which left Zach's face wide-open as Seth came sailing through the air with a flying roundhouse kick.

Shin connected with Neanderthal jaw and Zach dropped like a rock. The cafeteria somehow got even louder.

Of course, it was only then, with Andrew and Seth standing over an unconscious varsity linebacker who had the homecoming game coming up soon, that the principal of Northwest High and two teachers burst into the cafeteria to instill order and discipline.

***

Seth and Andrew sat in front of Principal Dean, an enormous man of six feet and six inches, and probably about two hundred and forty pounds of what could only be described as 'farmer strong'. He had dark, coarse hair, wild eyes, and an intensity about him Seth had never seen turned down. The man was powered by the Energizer Bunny.

"Social media did something good for once," he commented, holding up his iPhone, open to Youtube, which already had a video of the fight... from an account called 'd&asundergroundfightz'. The video was titled 'Next Underground Fightz Champion Knocks Out Linebacker'. Of course. Why wouldn't those douchebags spell it with a 'Z'?

Seth had to admit. The flying head kick looked impressive. The video made it look like he'd gotten a solid three feet of air. Maybe he should go out for the high jump this year. Principal Dean set his iPhone face down on the desk and steepled his fingers. "Now. It is obvious he started the fight. You are fortunate your friend had the foresight to begin recording moments before the fight started. I think he might have been recording a video of our cheerleading squad, though... Hm. Anyway. Neither of you did anything wrong in my book, however..." He sighed. "Zach is on varsity, we rely on him in our games, and homecoming game is coming up soon, barely two months away. His parents are going to want you punished, the coach is going to want you punished... Pretty much I'm the only one who doesn't."

Principal Dean looked from Andrew to Seth then back again, then back once more. "One detention will cover my rear end, and if an hour out of your day is a problem for you... Well, there are serious underlying matters to address. But please. I know both of you engage in combat sports. Don't bring it into the hallways again. Honestly, both of you are too good at it. Now go. Detention today and that's that."

Seth and Andrew hesitated, looked at each other, and quickly vacated their seats. As they headed towards the door, Principal Dean spoke. "Oh, one more thing. His teammates are going to want revenge, so... watch out." He gave what Seth thought was supposed to be a friendly smile but was altogether too intense to be anything other than terrifying. They exited the room in a rush.

They exited the offices of the school just as the bell rang for the next period. Andrew looked down the hallway. "Hey, I've got to run. I don't think I'll be able to make it to CFA during the week this year because of varsity wrestling practices, but I'll be swinging by on weekends. Just don't be busy with Emma too much, I want to train with my best friend."

"For sure," said Seth. "I need some good training to clear my head anyway."

"Awesome. See you at detention." They bumped fists and headed in separate directions.