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FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!...
The roar of the crowd was all I could hear in that moment, drowning out all of my instincts that said, "Don't do this Terr. Take the high road. Walk away. Find someway out." But I couldn't. The crowd kept nudging me towards the behemoth football player, the one I hated my entire high school career, who weighed in somewhere around 230 pounds and was six feet tall- Ben.

My eyes swept the circle of adolescent boys and girls that surrounded us, looking, for the fifth time, for any way of escape. I wasn't going to run away, but I hoped at least for some way to casually walk out; to play it off as if I wasn't interested. But the honest truth was, I was terrified. For both of us.
I guess I should give you some backstory.

My name is Terry Clouse, but everyone knows me as Terr, (pronounced like "Tare") since, in my mind, Terry is a girl's name. I go to Denver High School in Colorado, which, to me, was the most generic of all states. There aren't any major cities, no one comes here except to ski, and, I mean, the state is freaking square!

So anyway, Ben, the football player from earlier, has a locker about ten feet away from mine, which is the biggest inconvenience  for me since I hate everything about him. His cocky attitude, his varsity team jacket, even the way he flips his hair to style it (and even though it looks strikingly similar to the Bieber flip, no one ever says a word to him about it since, well, he's Ben). But above all else, I hate how he talks about girls.

Now, you can call me "old fashioned" or "conservative" (which isn't even remotely true) or whatever, but it's kind of a sore spot for me. Both my girlfriend and my mom were rape victims in the same year. Neither of them were the same afterwards. My mom won't even accept a hug from anyone anymore, and she was the biggest hugger I knew before the incident. My girlfriend, Chell, took it a little better and did her best to emotionally recover, but she still gives a little scream if you ever say "hi" when she didn't see you.

With that in mind, lets get back to the story at hand. Fourth period ended, sending all the students to lunch, and I remembered that I had to make a trip to my locker before eating. I usually avoided going to my locker at lunch because Ben always stopped by his around then, so I'd usually finish lunch early and stop by afterwards, but today I didn't have a choice. Chell and I were going to cram during lunch for our chemistry mid term that came next period, and the book was still in my locker.

Sure enough, there he was. Ben and his friends were doing their usual spiel, talking about football, cars, and which girl they banged last weekend. It was a different girl almost every week, not all of them were from town. I couldn't stand hearing another word, I just have to get my chem book, and get out. Get the book, get out. Get the- CRAP! Why won't my locker open?! I slammed my fist into my locker in frustration and I noticed quickly that the talking behind me had ceased.

"Whoa, chill karate kid," said Ben tauntingly. He called me karate kid whenever he decided to send a word my way, since I had been taking martial arts classes for the last five years.  "You know, slamming your fist into your locker doesn't count as 'banging'." he and his guys laughed at that. They had one track minds and decided I was a lesser being than them because I'd never slept around with anyone. It was my choice though. I wasn't going to do that to Chell, who was still trying to recover from the incident last year, and I sure as hell wasn't going there with someone I didn't care about. Honestly, I wasn't even in a rush.
Don't work yourself up, Terr. I told myself. Deep breaths. In, and out. In, and out... "Hey, you hear me Virge?" he called me by my other nickname, I'll give you three guesses for that one.

I took one last breath, "Yeah, I heard you Ben. But honestly, I don't look at my locker that way. We're just friends."
He rolled his eyes. "So when are you getting with Chell?" I tensed up. I didn't want to have this discussion with him. I didn't care, the thought didn't cross my mind. I know it seems strange, but if you knew how Chell looked the day after the incident...
"Dunno." I said, trying to end the conversation there. I finally managed to open my locker.
"Well, do you have a plan Virge?"
I found and removed my chemistry book from my locker, " Dunno." I said again, really not wanting to talk.
"So... What? You just going to leave all that to the rapists?"
My hand froze on my locker, my blood boiled.
Close the locker. Walk away. Close the locker. Walk away. Close the locker. Walk away.
I slammed my locker and took a quick step towards him. How could he ever say that? The little piece of-
"Ooh, Karate Kid's angry now." he and his guys laughed again.
I swore at him, got his attention since I was known as the goody two shoes for some reason. "You ever make a comment about Chell getting raped and I swear I'll make sure you never walk again. Then your dad won't have any reason to love you, once his son can't play football anymore." Wow. Those were bigger words then I meant to say.

Ben started towards me, his guys holding him back, "Whatchu say to me!?" he bellowed, his face, visibly red and bulging.
His guys tried to calm him down, told him to laugh it off, but he was not going to let this go. "You see me after school gets out! At the football field! I'll rip your head off!" Ben stormed off in a rage, his guys tailing about seven feet behind him. What have I done?

I walked the short distance from my locker to the table where Chell was seated, obviously waiting for me. "Hey, what took you so long?" She asked.
"Well," I responded, "I either signed my death warrant, or Ben's."
_____________________________________________________________________________________

For and a half hours later, Chell and I were sitting on the bleachers, waiting for Ben to show up. We waited for five minutes in complete silence, neither of us speaking a word. Every minute seemed longer. The first passed quickly, the second a little slower. The third seemed like two minutes, the fourth felt like an hour, and the fifth felt like an eternity, before Chell broke the silence.

"You don't have to do this, you know." I looked at her, and she looked at me simultaneously.
"Yeah I do," I said, "He won't leave me alone if I don't face him now. It's bound to happen eventually."
"Please don't feel like you have to do this for me!" she cried, "I don't care what he said, I really don't, Terr!" Tears formed in the pit of her eyes. I reached out and stroked her hand, and then held it in my own.
"I'll be fine," I promised, "Honestly."
Chell muttered something under her breath.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Nothing." she said with her special kind of finality that let me knew she wasn't going to tell me.

I wrapped my arms around her and she did the same. Her embrace comforted me, and gave me the strength I needed to look up. When I did, I saw Ben and a large group of students migrating from the school break room.
So that's what took him so long, I thought to myself. He had gathered a crowd to watch him "pummel me", as he probably thought would happen. But I was no weakling. Sure I only weighed around 150 pounds and came up three inches shorter than Ben, but, after all, I was Karate Kid. Though everyone teased me with that nickname, I was actually pretty good, and taking on Ben wouldn't really be a problem, now that I think about it. A slightly sociopathic grin spread across my face. Once I thought about it, I knew that this would actually be a lot of fun. I had taken three steps down the bleachers, ready to face the world, when suddenly, Chell blurted out what she muttered earlier.
"I just don't want you to end up like Joe!"

I froze in my tracks. Joe… I hadn't even thought about that.

Joe was Chell older brother, and one of the assistant instructors at my martial arts class. He was like my own big brother, and he's actually how I met Chell in the first place.
Joe was an amazingly skilled martial artist. One of the best in my opinion. A few years after he earned his blackbelt, he fought competitively, and was great at it. He would win four out of every five matches he fought, and he did occasionally return from the fight with a broken arm or a missing tooth, but he loved what he did.
More than anything, he had a great heart. He was my biggest role model. I wanted to be Joe more than anything! I wanted to fight like him, act like him, do everything like him! He taught me more than anyone else ever had. But as great as Joe was, he wasn't knife proof.
See, Joe worked a crappy job in downtown Denver. He was a busboy for a mediocre restaurant, but he never complained. He was taking the trash out into the alleyway behind the restraint, but he wasn't alone.
Joe saw him almost immediately, a masked man with a knife demanding all of Joe's money. Joe would usually have enough sense to just give a man with a knife whatever he wanted, but Joe was pretty pissed that day and needed a legitimate excuse to blow off some steam, so he attacked the guy.
He did okay at first, landing a punch here and there, only occasionally getting cut, but then the guy decided to play dirty. He got some distance and picked up a handful of dirt from the ground and threw it in Joe's face. Joe panicked- he kicked in every direction, tried to keep his guard up, but in the confusion, the man stabbed Joe right in the back.
Luckily, an ambulance was called soon enough and the man missed all vital organs, so Joe was okay, but he'd never be able to fight again, and he lost his job for putting the company in danger. I visited Joe on his hospital bed while he was recovering, and he gave me a piece of advice I never would forget again.
"Terr," he said, "Don't you ever dare be as stupid as me. If you ever get into a fight and can avoid fighting in any way at all, take the high road. If your mind doesn't know to fight or let it go, take the high road. Terr, if it's a matter of pride versus a matter of safety, take the high road."

I was such an idiot! I'd gotten into a fight I didn't need to get into, after I promised Joe, and Chell…

Take the high road. I said in my mind again.

I didn't know what to do. It was too late to just run away- I'd just end up getting chased down! It was too late to avoid fighting, so what's the high road in this case? Well whatever it is, find it! I told myself.
No words were spoken when I walked onto the field. The crowd immediately surrounded us, leaving me no room to run. I was about to speak up, to say I couldn't fight, but before I could even say the words, the chant broke out so hard I couldn't even hear myself think.

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!...
The roar of the crowd was all I could hear in that moment, drowning out all of my instincts that said, "Don't do this Terr. Take the high road. Walk away. Find someway out." But I couldn't. The crowd kept nudging me towards the behemoth football player, the one I hated my entire high school career, who weighed in somewhere around 230 pounds and was six feet tall- Ben.

Now I had no idea what I was going to do. I couldn't run, I couldn't speak, what was I supposed to do? Just then, Ben ran towards me at full speed and threw a right hook, which I parried away and stepped to the side, leaving him behind me and completely open.
Take the high road.
Then he got mad and started throwing wild punches left and right that we easy enough to block. The entire time, his torso was inviting a knee or a kick.
Take the high road, Terr.
I shoved him away and we both caught our breath for a second before he threw another punch at me, though all I had to do was step back a little and he missed by a mile.
"What's the matter Karate Kid?" said Ben while he was panting, "You scared, Virge? Huh? Come on! Fight back!" And he threw another set of punches, harder this time. A few of them actually made contact and I had to shoulder roll to get some distance from him. The crowd gave an "ooh" to that, but it honestly wasn't that impressive.
I stroked the side of my face where one of his punches landed. It hurt, but I was okay. I looked out into the crowd and saw Chell's beautiful dark brown hair, reminding me again: Take the high road.

What was I supposed to do though? Wait until he tired himself out?
Ben threw a wild, formless kick at my leg, which was easy enough to block. As big as he was, Ben wasn't a great fighter. I had already analyzed several breaks in Ben's guard and stance that I could use to my advantage and win this thing and get out, but I couldn't just hurt him.  Could I? Why not? I had no reason to keep him safe. This going through my head, I blocked his next hook on the inside and struck his temple with a backfist, just to show some dominance. Ben backed off a little. And he got mad.
"Virge, you little punk!" Ben yelled over the ongoing roar of the crowd, "I swear…" he didn't know what to swear, but he caught me looking at Chell again, and a grin crept over his face, "You know, to be honest Virge, I don't know what your deal is." he had my attention, " I mean, I see what that guy saw in her."
  Take the high road-Take the high road-Take the high road…
"I mean, I'd go there."
  Take the high road-Take the high road-Take the high road…
"In fact, if you don't… I might have to."
SCREW THE HIGH ROAD!
I ran towards him and tried to hook his jaw, he blocked the hook, but I was capable of more than just throwing punches. I threw an uppercut to his stomach to position his body, then I unloaded a front kick to his chest, knocking him back five feet flat onto his back.
CRACK!
My grin came back when I heard his ribs crack. The crowd fell silent as Ben was on the ground, clutching his chest for a few seconds. Then he ran at me again. Rage consumed me as I blocked his punches like I had before, but this time, I threw a bottom fist right to his newly injured ribcage.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
My grin grew wider as more of his ribs broke, using the leverage I had, I twisted my body for one final attack, and I launched a back kick with all of my strength into his ribs.
SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!
I was manically happy. Seeing him on the ground. I won. I wasn't hurt. Chell was safe. It was all good… Right?
"Ben!? Can you hear me? Ben!?" One of his friends rushed to his side.
My grin wavered for a second. Surely he was just knocked out, right?
"Oh God, he's not breathing! Quick! Someone call 911!"
_____________________________________________________________________________________

What have I done?

I asked myself that over and over as I sat in the hospital waiting room. Ben's entire ribcage was broken, parts of his ribs had punctured his lungs, and he had gone into cardiac arrest. The doctors were able to fix him up enough so he was alive, but Ben was in a deep coma, and the doctors said that he may never be able to walk again… Never walk again…
…and I swear I'll make sure you never walk again…
No! I didn't mean that though!  I was angry! Irrational! I didn't mean to- I didn't want to- God, NO!
I was going to be put on trial whenever Ben got out of his coma. There was no way I was going to get off without any penalty. I mean, maybe it'll help my case that I tried not to fight, but…
Shoulda taken the high road, Terr. I thought to myself. I lost myself in one moment of anger, I took the low road and it brought me to Hell. Joe was right! He was so right! How could I have been so stupid? How could I have done that!? I don't even know anymore…
Then Chell ran in the room, and threw herself onto me, crying. She was scared. That I was going to have to be taken from her, that she would be alone, never to see me again. I clenched my fist in her shirt, realizing that I ended up hurting everyone! I wasn't keeping anyone safe, I just hurt everyone! How could I be so stupid?
I tore myself from her embrace so I could look her in her brown eyes. I had to make sure she never made the same mistake as I did.
"Chell," I said, my voice heavy with the importance of the words I would say, "Listen to me: Please always take the high road. No matter what the cost, the temptation, the struggle, the pain, promise me! Promise me you'll always take the high road!"
Chell nodded softly and broke down, weeping into my chest.

Description
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!...
The roar of the crowd was all I could hear in that moment, drowning out all of my instincts that said, "Don't do this Terr. Take the high road. Walk away. Find someway out." But I couldn't. The crowd kept nudging me towards the behemoth football player, the one I hated my entire high school career, who weighed in somewhere around 230 pounds and was six feet tall- Ben.

My eyes swept the circle of adolescent boys and girls that surrounded us, looking, for the fifth time, for any way of escape. I wasn't going to run away, but I hoped at least for some way to casually walk out; to play it off as if I wasn't interested. But the honest truth was, I was terrified. For both of us.
I guess I should give you some backstory.

My name is Terry Clouse, but everyone knows me as Terr, (pronounced like "Tare") since, in my mind, Terry is a girl's name. I go to Denver High School in Colorado, which, to me, was the most generic of all states. There aren't any major cities, no one comes here except to ski, and, I mean, the state is freaking square!

So anyway, Ben, the football player from earlier, has a locker about ten feet away from mine, which is the biggest inconvenience  for me since I hate everything about him. His cocky attitude, his varsity team jacket, even the way he flips his hair to style it (and even though it looks strikingly similar to the Bieber flip, no one ever says a word to him about it since, well, he's Ben). But above all else, I hate how he talks about girls.

Now, you can call me "old fashioned" or "conservative" (which isn't even remotely true) or whatever, but it's kind of a sore spot for me. Both my girlfriend and my mom were rape victims in the same year. Neither of them were the same afterwards. My mom won't even accept a hug from anyone anymore, and she was the biggest hugger I knew before the incident. My girlfriend, Chell, took it a little better and did her best to emotionally recover, but she still gives a little scream if you ever say "hi" when she didn't see you.

With that in mind, lets get back to the story at hand. Fourth period ended, sending all the students to lunch, and I remembered that I had to make a trip to my locker before eating. I usually avoided going to my locker at lunch because Ben always stopped by his around then, so I'd usually finish lunch early and stop by afterwards, but today I didn't have a choice. Chell and I were going to cram during lunch for our chemistry mid term that came next period, and the book was still in my locker.

Sure enough, there he was. Ben and his friends were doing their usual spiel, talking about football, cars, and which girl they banged last weekend. It was a different girl almost every week, not all of them were from town. I couldn't stand hearing another word, I just have to get my chem book, and get out. Get the book, get out. Get the- CRAP! Why won't my locker open?! I slammed my fist into my locker in frustration and I noticed quickly that the talking behind me had ceased.

"Whoa, chill karate kid," said Ben tauntingly. He called me karate kid whenever he decided to send a word my way, since I had been taking martial arts classes for the last five years.  "You know, slamming your fist into your locker doesn't count as 'banging'." he and his guys laughed at that. They had one track minds and decided I was a lesser being than them because I'd never slept around with anyone. It was my choice though. I wasn't going to do that to Chell, who was still trying to recover from the incident last year, and I sure as hell wasn't going there with someone I didn't care about. Honestly, I wasn't even in a rush.
Don't work yourself up, Terr. I told myself. Deep breaths. In, and out. In, and out... "Hey, you hear me Virge?" he called me by my other nickname, I'll give you three guesses for that one.

I took one last breath, "Yeah, I heard you Ben. But honestly, I don't look at my locker that way. We're just friends."
He rolled his eyes. "So when are you getting with Chell?" I tensed up. I didn't want to have this discussion with him. I didn't care, the thought didn't cross my mind. I know it seems strange, but if you knew how Chell looked the day after the incident...
"Dunno." I said, trying to end the conversation there. I finally managed to open my locker.
"Well, do you have a plan Virge?"
I found and removed my chemistry book from my locker, " Dunno." I said again, really not wanting to talk.
"So... What? You just going to leave all that to the rapists?"
My hand froze on my locker, my blood boiled.
Close the locker. Walk away. Close the locker. Walk away. Close the locker. Walk away.
I slammed my locker and took a quick step towards him. How could he ever say that? The little piece of-
"Ooh, Karate Kid's angry now." he and his guys laughed again.
I swore at him, got his attention since I was known as the goody two shoes for some reason. "You ever make a comment about Chell getting raped and I swear I'll make sure you never walk again. Then your dad won't have any reason to love you, once his son can't play football anymore." Wow. Those were bigger words then I meant to say.

Ben started towards me, his guys holding him back, "Whatchu say to me!?" he bellowed, his face, visibly red and bulging.
His guys tried to calm him down, told him to laugh it off, but he was not going to let this go. "You see me after school gets out! At the football field! I'll rip your head off!" Ben stormed off in a rage, his guys tailing about seven feet behind him. What have I done?

I walked the short distance from my locker to the table where Chell was seated, obviously waiting for me. "Hey, what took you so long?" She asked.
"Well," I responded, "I either signed my death warrant, or Ben's."
_____________________________________________________________________________________

For and a half hours later, Chell and I were sitting on the bleachers, waiting for Ben to show up. We waited for five minutes in complete silence, neither of us speaking a word. Every minute seemed longer. The first passed quickly, the second a little slower. The third seemed like two minutes, the fourth felt like an hour, and the fifth felt like an eternity, before Chell broke the silence.

"You don't have to do this, you know." I looked at her, and she looked at me simultaneously.
"Yeah I do," I said, "He won't leave me alone if I don't face him now. It's bound to happen eventually."
"Please don't feel like you have to do this for me!" she cried, "I don't care what he said, I really don't, Terr!" Tears formed in the pit of her eyes. I reached out and stroked her hand, and then held it in my own.
"I'll be fine," I promised, "Honestly."
Chell muttered something under her breath.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Nothing." she said with her special kind of finality that let me knew she wasn't going to tell me.

I wrapped my arms around her and she did the same. Her embrace comforted me, and gave me the strength I needed to look up. When I did, I saw Ben and a large group of students migrating from the school break room.
So that's what took him so long, I thought to myself. He had gathered a crowd to watch him "pummel me", as he probably thought would happen. But I was no weakling. Sure I only weighed around 150 pounds and came up three inches shorter than Ben, but, after all, I was Karate Kid. Though everyone teased me with that nickname, I was actually pretty good, and taking on Ben wouldn't really be a problem, now that I think about it. A slightly sociopathic grin spread across my face. Once I thought about it, I knew that this would actually be a lot of fun. I had taken three steps down the bleachers, ready to face the world, when suddenly, Chell blurted out what she muttered earlier.
"I just don't want you to end up like Joe!"

I froze in my tracks. Joe… I hadn't even thought about that.

Joe was Chell older brother, and one of the assistant instructors at my martial arts class. He was like my own big brother, and he's actually how I met Chell in the first place.
Joe was an amazingly skilled martial artist. One of the best in my opinion. A few years after he earned his blackbelt, he fought competitively, and was great at it. He would win four out of every five matches he fought, and he did occasionally return from the fight with a broken arm or a missing tooth, but he loved what he did.
More than anything, he had a great heart. He was my biggest role model. I wanted to be Joe more than anything! I wanted to fight like him, act like him, do everything like him! He taught me more than anyone else ever had. But as great as Joe was, he wasn't knife proof.
See, Joe worked a crappy job in downtown Denver. He was a busboy for a mediocre restaurant, but he never complained. He was taking the trash out into the alleyway behind the restraint, but he wasn't alone.
Joe saw him almost immediately, a masked man with a knife demanding all of Joe's money. Joe would usually have enough sense to just give a man with a knife whatever he wanted, but Joe was pretty pissed that day and needed a legitimate excuse to blow off some steam, so he attacked the guy.
He did okay at first, landing a punch here and there, only occasionally getting cut, but then the guy decided to play dirty. He got some distance and picked up a handful of dirt from the ground and threw it in Joe's face. Joe panicked- he kicked in every direction, tried to keep his guard up, but in the confusion, the man stabbed Joe right in the back.
Luckily, an ambulance was called soon enough and the man missed all vital organs, so Joe was okay, but he'd never be able to fight again, and he lost his job for putting the company in danger. I visited Joe on his hospital bed while he was recovering, and he gave me a piece of advice I never would forget again.
"Terr," he said, "Don't you ever dare be as stupid as me. If you ever get into a fight and can avoid fighting in any way at all, take the high road. If your mind doesn't know to fight or let it go, take the high road. Terr, if it's a matter of pride versus a matter of safety, take the high road."

I was such an idiot! I'd gotten into a fight I didn't need to get into, after I promised Joe, and Chell…

Take the high road. I said in my mind again.

I didn't know what to do. It was too late to just run away- I'd just end up getting chased down! It was too late to avoid fighting, so what's the high road in this case? Well whatever it is, find it! I told myself.
No words were spoken when I walked onto the field. The crowd immediately surrounded us, leaving me no room to run. I was about to speak up, to say I couldn't fight, but before I could even say the words, the chant broke out so hard I couldn't even hear myself think.

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!...
The roar of the crowd was all I could hear in that moment, drowning out all of my instincts that said, "Don't do this Terr. Take the high road. Walk away. Find someway out." But I couldn't. The crowd kept nudging me towards the behemoth football player, the one I hated my entire high school career, who weighed in somewhere around 230 pounds and was six feet tall- Ben.

Now I had no idea what I was going to do. I couldn't run, I couldn't speak, what was I supposed to do? Just then, Ben ran towards me at full speed and threw a right hook, which I parried away and stepped to the side, leaving him behind me and completely open.
Take the high road.
Then he got mad and started throwing wild punches left and right that we easy enough to block. The entire time, his torso was inviting a knee or a kick.
Take the high road, Terr.
I shoved him away and we both caught our breath for a second before he threw another punch at me, though all I had to do was step back a little and he missed by a mile.
"What's the matter Karate Kid?" said Ben while he was panting, "You scared, Virge? Huh? Come on! Fight back!" And he threw another set of punches, harder this time. A few of them actually made contact and I had to shoulder roll to get some distance from him. The crowd gave an "ooh" to that, but it honestly wasn't that impressive.
I stroked the side of my face where one of his punches landed. It hurt, but I was okay. I looked out into the crowd and saw Chell's beautiful dark brown hair, reminding me again: Take the high road.

What was I supposed to do though? Wait until he tired himself out?
Ben threw a wild, formless kick at my leg, which was easy enough to block. As big as he was, Ben wasn't a great fighter. I had already analyzed several breaks in Ben's guard and stance that I could use to my advantage and win this thing and get out, but I couldn't just hurt him.  Could I? Why not? I had no reason to keep him safe. This going through my head, I blocked his next hook on the inside and struck his temple with a backfist, just to show some dominance. Ben backed off a little. And he got mad.
"Virge, you little punk!" Ben yelled over the ongoing roar of the crowd, "I swear…" he didn't know what to swear, but he caught me looking at Chell again, and a grin crept over his face, "You know, to be honest Virge, I don't know what your deal is." he had my attention, " I mean, I see what that guy saw in her."
  Take the high road-Take the high road-Take the high road…
"I mean, I'd go there."
  Take the high road-Take the high road-Take the high road…
"In fact, if you don't… I might have to."
SCREW THE HIGH ROAD!
I ran towards him and tried to hook his jaw, he blocked the hook, but I was capable of more than just throwing punches. I threw an uppercut to his stomach to position his body, then I unloaded a front kick to his chest, knocking him back five feet flat onto his back.
CRACK!
My grin came back when I heard his ribs crack. The crowd fell silent as Ben was on the ground, clutching his chest for a few seconds. Then he ran at me again. Rage consumed me as I blocked his punches like I had before, but this time, I threw a bottom fist right to his newly injured ribcage.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
My grin grew wider as more of his ribs broke, using the leverage I had, I twisted my body for one final attack, and I launched a back kick with all of my strength into his ribs.
SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!
I was manically happy. Seeing him on the ground. I won. I wasn't hurt. Chell was safe. It was all good… Right?
"Ben!? Can you hear me? Ben!?" One of his friends rushed to his side.
My grin wavered for a second. Surely he was just knocked out, right?
"Oh God, he's not breathing! Quick! Someone call 911!"
_____________________________________________________________________________________

What have I done?

I asked myself that over and over as I sat in the hospital waiting room. Ben's entire ribcage was broken, parts of his ribs had punctured his lungs, and he had gone into cardiac arrest. The doctors were able to fix him up enough so he was alive, but Ben was in a deep coma, and the doctors said that he may never be able to walk again… Never walk again…
…and I swear I'll make sure you never walk again…
No! I didn't mean that though!  I was angry! Irrational! I didn't mean to- I didn't want to- God, NO!
I was going to be put on trial whenever Ben got out of his coma. There was no way I was going to get off without any penalty. I mean, maybe it'll help my case that I tried not to fight, but…
Shoulda taken the high road, Terr. I thought to myself. I lost myself in one moment of anger, I took the low road and it brought me to Hell. Joe was right! He was so right! How could I have been so stupid? How could I have done that!? I don't even know anymore…
Then Chell ran in the room, and threw herself onto me, crying. She was scared. That I was going to have to be taken from her, that she would be alone, never to see me again. I clenched my fist in her shirt, realizing that I ended up hurting everyone! I wasn't keeping anyone safe, I just hurt everyone! How could I be so stupid?
I tore myself from her embrace so I could look her in her brown eyes. I had to make sure she never made the same mistake as I did.
"Chell," I said, my voice heavy with the importance of the words I would say, "Listen to me: Please always take the high road. No matter what the cost, the temptation, the struggle, the pain, promise me! Promise me you'll always take the high road!"
Chell nodded softly and broke down, weeping into my chest.