“I’m sure you do, and I hate you, too. So throw down, show me what you can do,” I replied while pointing to the ground in front me. I was ready, I was angry, and I was not going to take any shit from that asshole anymore.

Lewis got up and ran toward me. He threw more punches, but I dodged and threw a left hook into his stomach, and a right hook to his jaw. They were both going to leave marks. I thought I was winning, I thought I was going to kick his ass in front of everyone — then I felt his head smash against mine.

“You head-butted him!? What a prick!” someone in the crowd yelled.

Everything was spinning, and I stepped back. That wasn’t cool. Lewis charged me and threw me to the ground. He got on top of me and started punching wildly. I used my hands to cover my face, but I couldn’t block everything. He landed hit after hit. It hurt, and I was scared. Everybody was watching, and I was getting beat up. I looked weak in front of everyone again. Some of these students saw me as strong, they saw me as a motivation and an inspiration. Not Lewis. He was trying to rip that apart, he was trying to take away everything I’d done just to put himself on a higher pedestal. It was time I kicked that damn pedestal from under his feet. He tried throwing another punch, but I dodged it, kneeing him in the crotch again. He yelped like a wild animal, then I punched him in his side, again and again, until I had enough momentum to push him off of me. I got back to my feet and threw a punch for every time he’d called me a fatass. I threw another punch for all the times he’d put his hands on me. I threw another for thinking he was better than me. And I threw one more for good measure, just to let him know that I wasn’t weak. The crowd was cheering, I didn’t like it, but they did it anyways.

“Stop!” he cried. “I give up!”

“Are you done?” I yelled.

“Yes! I give up!”

“Well I’m not done.” I walked forward to him and grabbed his collar to bring him closer.

“Let go of me!” he pleaded.

“I am the bigger person,” I growled. “You, though . . . You’re weak and pathetic.”

He had to know. “You’re a shitty supervillain who can’t accept defeat, the loser who will never win. You’ll never get the better of me again, Lewis, because you can’t. Because you are weak and maybe I am, too. But you prey on weakness to help fight your own insecurity, and I’m done being your punching bag. You’re the reason why I spent so much of my life hating myself, and now I’m going to become better.”

I pushed his face into the ground, and he didn’t even bother to get up. He just stared at me, and I could see the look of defeat, fear, and anxiety forming on his face. Honestly, I didn’t care. The crowd began cheering, but it wasn’t a victory I wanted to celebrate. I was pretty upset at the whole thing, but Lewis needed to know I wouldn’t let him treat me like that anymore. I was glad that it was finally over.