1.3

**"601 – Juvenile Fight."**

The police radio crackled to life. Officer Harris gripped his shirt collar, pressing it close to his mouth. "Roger, I'm on my way."

The schoolyard was a storm of shouts and gasps. Neil straddled Bjorn, his fists slamming into the older boy's face with ragged breaths. "Don't you ever dare talk about my sister like that again!"

Bjorn, the hulking bully, spat blood through a mangled grin. His long brown hair clung to his forehead, slick with sweat. "I'll fuck her cunt bloody in front of you," he sneered, bucking his hips to flip Neil onto the asphalt.

The crowd recoiled as Bjorn's elbow smashed into Neil's cheekbone—a sickening *crunch* echoed, followed by a spray of blood.

**"Neil!"**

Elsa's bloodcurdling scream pierced the chaos. She'd sprinted from the chemistry lab the moment someone muttered her brother's name, but nothing prepared her for this. Her brother lay pinned beneath Bjorn, his left eye swollen shut beneath disheveled blond hair.

"Get off him, you brute!" She clawed at Bjorn's shoulders, nails raking his neck. When he shoved her, she lunged again, teeth sinking into his forearm.

Bjorn howled. The sound jolted Neil back to life. With a guttural roar, he twisted free and drove his fist into Bjorn's jaw—a perfect, brutal strike where the jaw bones fused.

The bully staggered. Students held their breath, willing him to collapse, to end his tyranny, hoping he won't fall on top of Neil. But Bjorn lurched forward, fingers closing around Neil's throat, refusing to be knocked out.

**"Enough!"**

A cop's bark froze the crowd. Officers wrenched Bjorn backward, peeling him off Neil with ease.

"Looks like they saved *you* from me," Neil croaked, blood bubbling at his lips as he slumped to the ground.

Bjorn thrashed against the officers. "You're dead, you little—"

The officer took Bjorn to the police car, securing him in the back of the car.

Elsa dropped to her knees beside Neil, cradling his face.

"Are you ok?!" She asked, her voice trembling. His right eye was already purpling darker, but he managed a lopsided smile.

"Never better," he wheezed. "You should've seen his—*ow*!"

She swatted his shoulder, tears streaking her cheeks. "You idiot! What if he'd hurt you worse?"

"He called you a—"

"I don't *care* what he said!" Her voice broke as she yelled. "Bjorn's a Neanderthal who can't even spell respect!. You're valedictorian, Neil. You don't throw that away *for me*, I don't want that!"

Neil gripped her wrist, his grin fading. "He doesn't get to talk about you. Not ever."

Around them, whispers swirled. *Did you see Neil's punch?* *Bjorn's bullied the wrong kid.* *I didn't know he had it in him.*

A group of girls hovered nearby, all smiles and eyes wide with admiration, but Neil saw only Elsa—her fear, her madness, the way her hands still shook.

"I'm sorry," Neil whispered, burning tears blurring his vision as he stared at the pavement. His throat tightened. "I didn't mean to disappoint you. I was just… protecting you."

Elsa cupped his face, wiping his cheek with her thumb. "*I'm* supposed to protect *you*," she said, her voice fraying at the edges. The scar behind her eyebrow—a memory from the day she'd shoved Neil out of the path of a passing car—twitched as she frowned. "That's what older sisters do."

"Step aside, young woman." The officer's gloved hand clamped onto Neil's shoulder. "Kid, you're coming with us."

Fear twisted Neil's features. *College applications. Scholarships. The future he'd studied so hard to reach since their father's passing, just so he could offer his family a better life—gone.* His lungs constricted. "Please, I didn't—"

**"What did he *do*!?"** Elsa interrupted, stepping between Neil and the officer, her sweater sleeves swallowing Neil's face between her trembling hands. "Bjorn started it! My brother was defending *me*!"

"Your brother broke a boy's tooth in front of the entire school." The officer's radio crackled static. "We're just going to ask him questions."

"No!" Elsa shoved Neil behind her, her arms spread to shield him from the officer's grip. The jasmine scent of her perfume—the same expensive bottle he gifted her for her birthday—floated back to him.

"You'll *not* drag him to some cell. He's first of his class! He's captain of the chess team—he's *everything* good in the world!" Her voice splintered, raw in a way Neil hadn't heard before.

The officer sighed. "Step aside, please."

"Take me instead!" She insisted. "Bjorn threatened me first! Said he'd make me pay for humiliating him after he harassed me at the café last week. This is *my* fault!"

A hush fell over the schoolyard.

** "M-Mr. Officer?" ** A small voice piped up.

The crowd of students moved as a sixth-grader wobbled forward, making her way to the stern man. "Neil helped me up when Bjorn knocked me down this morning." She admitted while lifting her school skirt slightly to reveal her bruised leg.

"Bjorn flicked spitballs into my hair during math!" someone shouted from the crowd.

"Burned my birthday bike!"

"Locked me in the abandoned gym for the weekend!"

Tony, cupping his hands to his mouth, shouted. "He took my lunch!" Melania elbowed him, her face confused and slightly amused. "What?" he whispered. "I didn't want to feel left out. It helps Neil's case."

The officer pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing.

The little girl continued. "Is it not what policemen do? Protect people from bad men?" Her chin quivered. "Neil's the only one who *did*."

A murmur swelled. Elsa's breath hitched as Tony suddenly hoisted Neil onto his shoulders. " Our Hero!" he bellowed.

The word rippled outward. A clap rang out—Elsa, her palms red from the force. Another followed. Then a dozen. Soon, the courtyard thundered with applause, students joining in with cheers and whistles. Neil swayed against Tony's elbows, watching as the students celebrated him. Teachers began to emerge from their classrooms, starting to take notice of the commotion.

The officer raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, enough!" He turned to Neil. "One more stunt like this, and you'll be in a world of trouble, young man. Understood?"

**"Understood, sir."** Neil nodded, his relief bitter with guilt that he put his family's future at risk with his impulsivity.

"As for the rest of you," the officer barked, though his sternness wavered, "bullying will not be tolerated. Treat each other with respect, the prisons are already full."

He scribbled a number on a card and handed it to Elsa. "My phone number. I'll have a chat with Bjorn at the station, call me if he ever tries to get revenge."

As the crowd dispersed to head to classes, Neil winced as Elsa grabbed him into a rib-crushing hug. "No halloween party for you tonight. Go home and tell Mom everything that happened. You'll be in so much trouble," she mumbled into his hair, tears mixing with his meshes.

He smiled for the first time that day. "That sounds like a win."