One of the other students stepped in, called out. ‘He’s had enough, leave him now before you do him in. Donny, I said leave it. You’ve proved your point, let him go.’

Donny stepped back, almost in a trance, though his legs buckled as he stopped and looked at the eyes staring back at him. There was blood on his hands, his shirt was ripped, but he was alive, still breathing. There was an eerie silence, like someone had turned the volume down, but slowly, slowly, the noise started to get louder and louder. He was back in the moment. Had this really happened? Had he just kicked ten tons of shit out of the school bully? It was Bethany who gripped Donny by the arm of his coat and dragged him away. The teachers were on the prowl and there was no way she wanted him getting his collar felt for this. Trevor got what was coming to him, it was long overdue. Every dog had its day and today it was Donny’s day. He was a gladiator, the hero of the hour. David and Goliath rolled into one.

It was clearly not what Bethany had expected. She seemed impressed that an average Joe had stood up for himself and chuckled as she twisted her head back to him. ‘Oh my God, you done it. I never knew you had it in you, I’m shocked.’

Donny didn’t reply. It felt like his windpipe was closing up, like he was going to pass out. He was still white as a sheet and a large salty ball of sweat ran slowly down the side of his forehead. Bethany led him away from the crowds and took him to an empty classroom near the main hall. She sat him down and reached for a box of tissues from the teacher’s desk. Her eyes never left him as she wiped the blood away. When she’d cleaned him up, she passed him a bottle of water out of her school bag. His hands trembled as he took small sips. His breathing was returning to normal and reality was setting in. He dropped his head between his legs trying to get rid of the sickly feeling rooted in the pit of his stomach. Bethany just sat staring at him, with a big soppy grin on her face. She reached over and kissed him on his cheek – seemingly oblivious to the sheen of sweat. She was so confident, knew exactly what she wanted. Donny barely registered what was happening as she slowly moved her warm full lips to his, parted them and went for the full wet, tongue-in-mouth kind of kiss – something teenage-Donny had never experienced before. He’d never had a girlfriend, had only ever seen this kind of kissing on TV. Bethany chuckled, grinned at him as she picked up her red schoolbag and threw it over her shoulder.