The Quadrants

Chapter 4

The next morning, Rohan sat on the edge of his bed chewing at his lip, pondering his fate. He considered not going to school, just like he had considered not going up the hill to meet Titus the previous day. He had thought through a hundred excuses the night before to put it off, but he knew he would have to face Titus sooner or later. Rohan was strong now, and getting stronger by the week, but still... fighting?

He pulled his bike out of the garage where it had sat for weeks, and after dusting it off, rode to school. When he arrived, he steered the familiar path into the bike shelter. He quickly hid the thing up the back, chained it, then hesitated, surveying the lawns that stood between himself and the school buildings.

No Titus.

Rohan started nervously out across the grass. He was alert and the adrenaline was already pumping through him, preparing his body for what his mind had resolved for it to do. There were dozens of other kids there, milling about the doorways waiting for the bell to sound, but none of them were Titus.

As Rohan drew nearer to one of the outer classrooms, he went over in his mind what he would say and do when Titus, and possibly his friends, finally sprung out at him. Then all at once, Rohan saw movement from the corner of his eye. His heart skipped a beat as he spun his head. There was a bench seat there, tucked away in the shadows to the side of an empty classroom, and on it sat Titus. The head of the muscle-bound boy was bowed and he didn't look up even when Rohan approached, though he was sure Titus would have noticed him there by now. He moved cautiously closer, expecting at any moment for him to jump up and attack, but Titus seemed almost to turn away, pretending not to have seen him. Rohan had spent half the night and most of the morning hyping himself up for this, and now here it was, and it seemed as though it was Titus who was trying to avoid the encounter.

Rohan continued on up to the bench, not feeling very smart for doing so, but projecting all the confidence he could fake. The anxiety of his impending doom had been killing him, but if this thing didn't happen now, then when? He didn't want to spend the next few weeks until the end of semester skulking around like a rat in the shadows. He was sick of it—he had to put an end to it. Now he could put an end to it—technically.

"Aren't you dying to beat me up? Well... here I am," declared Rohan all at once. "Let's get this over with." He slung off his bag, then stood up straight and puffed out his chest, as he'd seen men on TV do.

"Piss off!" Titus grumbled, still not raising his eyes.

Next, in a moment of insanity, Rohan kicked some dirt at him, and imitating Titus's voice he said, "Come on, not scared, are you?" Rohan's heart was racing.

"I said, piss off!" he growled, louder.

Rohan had gotten himself so revved up that he almost felt disappointed that Titus was letting him off the hook. "I guess it's you who's the sissy-boy now," he muttered.

But before he could turn away, Titus moved quickly.

He jumped up from the bench and grabbed Rohan by the front of his shirt. "Watch your mouth, Fraser," he spat, his face now only inches from Rohan's.

Although Titus tried to keep his hair over his face, Rohan could see that there was a dark shadow around his left eye socket.

"Someone beat me to it, did they?" Rohan squeaked, nodding to indicate the bruise on the other boy's face. He wondered who could possibly have done that to the brute.

The boy clenched his teeth, then shoved Rohan with force, sending him stumbling backwards onto his buttocks, in the dirt. Rohan thought back to the encounter on the hill, and how nervous Titus had seemed around the older man, and the way the man had hit him so easily. "Daddy kicked your arse, did he?" Rohan blurted out, hardly believing his own gall, but as soon as it was said, he saw the look in Titus's eye and realised he had struck a nerve. The man probably was his father.

There was no more time to ponder it however, because all at once Titus launched himself at Rohan, who remained on the ground. He only just managed to bring one knee up between them before the larger boy sprawled on top. Titus immediately began landing punches anywhere and everywhere while Rohan fumbled about, attempting to cover his head with his arms as best he could. The attack was savage. He endured dozens of powerful blows until he was able to gather his thoughts together. Then finally, in an act of pure self-preservation, he focused his mind and shoved his attacker off with both hands and a knee.

Titus went flying.

Groaning with pain, his face and body throbbing, Rohan sat up stiffly, tasting blood in his mouth. He saw that the other boy now lay ten yards away, floundering on his back. Rohan clambered to his feet, shaking—it just occurred to him that he could have killed Titus. What if his head had struck a tree, or the side of the classroom? He didn't want that. All he wanted was for him to stop doing this, and maybe to teach him a lesson, that was all. He had to be more careful, Rohan chided himself.

Before another moment passed and before Titus had time to get to his feet, Rohan ran forwards, at great speed, coming down on top of the bully. With a look of fury on his face, Titus immediately struck out. A fist slammed into Rohan's forearm as he defended himself from the blow, but then, this time, Rohan struck back, landing some punches of his own. Rohan's fists awkwardly found Titus's face and then his ribs and stomach, all the while he tried to be as gentle as he could, attempting to find a balance between killing the boy and doing nothing at all. As they continued to struggle on the ground, Titus managed to get in a few more hits, landing them on the side of Rohan's face. Although he was now incredibly strong, it still hurt to be struck in the soft tissue, and it was as if Titus knew just where to find those places that hurt the most—probably from years of experience.

Titus's fist flew again, but this time his knuckles found the corner of Rohan's chin, sending a searing pain along his jaw and through his head. Without thinking, Rohan lashed out, and he landed a not-so-careful punch to Titus's mouth. The boy's head flew to the side and blood came from the cut it opened up on his lip. With his fist poised in the air for a second strike, Rohan suddenly came to his senses.

He looked down, panting, horrified—Titus had gone limp.

Fear grabbed at his insides when he gazed upon the blank, staring eyes. Oh my god... he's dead, the thought ripped through his mind.

"Titus!" Rohan quickly lifted his weight off his opponent's body, and to his great relief, he soon began gasping for breath below him. Still on his knees, straddling Titus's torso, Rohan leaned over to examine him further. He said his name again. Titus seemed dazed but he continued to breathe. Relief washed over Rohan, though it was short lived, because without warning, a knee came up with great force between his legs, driving into his crotch from behind. Rohan lurched forwards. The pain was all encompassing and wiped his mind clean of all other thoughts. He curled into a foetal position, his face planting into Titus's chest as a guttural groan emanated from his throat.

Titus shoved him off into the dirt beside him.

The fight was over.

**Authors note- So do you think Rohan will find the courage to get revenge? Let me know what you think in the comments.