My Heart's in Alabama

24 - Matt

Bridgette and Teddy's eyes spring open like two baby deer in front of a Ford 450 in the middle of the night. They both scramble away from each other and clumsily straighten out their clothes.
"Omg," Kiersten says under her breath.
She seems utterly shocked by this even though it's exactly what she predicted. But man, I'm right there with her. My brain doesn't want to believe what my eyes are seeing.
"Are you guys dating?" Kiersten blurts out.
Teddy and Bridgette exchange shy glances, both nervous and unsure. Neither are willing to give a straight answer.
"Well, we haven't really..." Teddy says, but is afraid to go too far.
"Nothing's, like, official-official," Bridgette says, then second guesses herself. "Unless..it is?"
"I wouldn't say, I mean, I don't know..."
Bridgette and Teddy continue to stutter over themselves and talk in circles. Seems like they're as confused about their status as we are. They keep going back and forth without ever landing on anything definite, and they both look like they would take literally any excuse to escape this uncomfortable situation. Honestly, at this point so would I. Barging in on them making out was bad enough. Listening to them stumble through a forced define-the-relationship conversation is a level of awkward I can't even begin to explain. When the noise levels rise in the gym, I waste no time using it as an excuse to get the hell out of there.
"Do you hear that?"
Teddy and Bridgette stop talking immediately, making the rumbling in the background grow louder. We strain our ears, trying to figure out what's going on. There's the stomping of hurried feet, fast-paced murmurs, and the squeaking of chairs as people quickly stand up from their seats. Then, comes the yelling.
"Omg," Bridgette says. "I think there's about to be a fight."
The four of us turn to each other with wide eyes. There's a brief pause where we all think oh damn, before we take off running towards the gym. If there's a fight, ain't no way we're gonna miss it. In our tiny little town where nothing ever happens, high school fights are like the Holy Grail of entertainment. I'm talking multiple rounds, side bets, chanting, taunting, the whole nine yards. With all the hype, you'd swear you were at a WWE match. I'm telling you it is wild. 
Like little kids on Christmas morning, we speculate excitedly as we rush towards the action. We poke our heads through the crowd that formed around the dance floor, trying to catch a peak.
"Who is it? Can you see?" Kiersten says, hopping up and down over the shoulders of the guy in front of her.
"No, I can't see anything," Bridgette grumbles.
The girls slump their shoulders and we're ready to give up when Ruthie's voice cuts through the noise, reigniting our interest.
"Hayden, relax, we were just dancing."
Hayden, I think to myself and scoff. I should have known he'd be involved in this. Jerk.
"Don't tell me to relax," he spits back. "You're my girlfriend. The only guy you should be 'just dancing' with is me."
"I'm not your property. I can dance with whoever I want."
Oh, man this is getting good. I should not be enjoying this as much as I am, but I gotta admit, there's something about Hayden being publicly shamed by his girlfriend that I find so satisfying. Maybe she'll come to her senses and break up with him.
"Is that what you think? You're allowed to crawl all over some sophomore and I'm supposed to sit back and take it?"
My smug smirk drops and my heart sinks into my stomach. Some sophomore. He's talking about Sal.
Teddy seems to have the same idea. He gives me a quick look and I know what we have to do. These things can turn ugly fast and he'll need his boys in case something goes down. It isn't easy, but we manage to elbow our way through the crowd to Sal.
"Look, it's not like that," Sal cuts in.
"Man, shut the hell up," Hayden shouts. "I know what I saw. You think I'm stupid or something?"
"Nah, man. That's not what I'm saying..."
"What are you trying to say then? Huh? You got something to say?"
Hayden steps closer to Sal, getting all in his face with the scowl of a rabid dog. My fists curl so tightly my knuckles turn white. My teeth start grinding in the back of my mouth. My muscles are shaking in anticipation. I'm itching to get at him. Ugh, Hayden makes me so mad I could spit. I swear to God, if he puts his hand on Sal, his ass is mine.
"I'm not saying nothing."
"Sure seems like it, Chelsea."
Hayden puts both hands on Sal's chest and gives him a hearty shove, causing him to stumble backward. I'm about to explode when I feel a soft touch on my arm. I turn to see Kiersten's big doe eyes pleading me to walk away and let Sal handle it. I want to, but...I can't. No one disrespects my friends like that.
"Back off, Littner," I say, my blood boiling.
Hayden turns his head towards me and smirks. He's arrogant. He thinks he can take me, but I'm not messing around.
"You gonna make me, daddy's boy?"
"I'm serious. Back. Off."
Hayden looks to his friends and they all laugh. They think I'm a joke.
"Ain't he cute when he's mad," he says and ruffles my hair like I'm a little kid.
"Matty," I hear Kiersten say behind me.
She takes my arm again and tries to lead me away from Hayden, but I can't stand it anymore. My temper gets the best of me and I lunge at him. I take him to the ground and pin him down pretty good. I get in a couple good swings before two of the teachers pull me off him. I don't go down without a fight though. I flail and kick to break free and rush back at him.
But Kiersten steps boldly in front of me and stops me. She puts her hands on my chest and our eyes lock. She looks so sad and helpless, it breaks my heart.
"Matt, please. You need to stop."
I take a few deep breaths. I'm still hot with anger, but Kiersten's pleading eyes are enough for me to take a step back and see how badly I messed up.  
"Are you okay?" She asks.
"Yeah, yeah I'm good."
My eyes scan the gym. The adrenaline wears off real quick when I realize the entire room is staring at me. My face turns a deep shade of red as the embarrassment sets in.
"I'm leaving."
I put my head down and push past the glares. I take about two steps and run straight into Olivia. The guilt hits me immediately. I should have never come tonight. I ruined everything. I couldn't have acted like more of a jerk if I tried. She deserved so much better than this.
But, I'm too much of a coward to face it. So, instead of making it up to her, I grumble a half-hearted "sorry," and disappear.