Melissa was so focused on getting Liam away from everyone that she ignored all the people she bumped into whilst she was leading them both away from Alex. She thought that it would be the safest thing for all of them because she didn't want her best friend to end up with a black eye.

"Why are we running away?" Liam asked as he let Melissa drag him away.

"Because we don't need the whole school turning on you," Melissa explained. "They'll all bend over backward and do Alex's dirty work if they think that he'll like them for that."

There was a large distance between them and the cafeteria, which made Melissa think that it was safe for them to talk more in private. They were standing beside a bunch of lockers as Melissa then handed Liam his bag.

"Didn't you notice all those people wearing that same stupid letterman's jacket that Alex always wears? And what about all those glares from everyone that was directed at you when you attacked him first?" After seeing Liam shrug his shoulders, Melissa continued elaborating, "Alex is like Bill Gates in this school. People either love him because he's so influential and powerful. Or people hate him because they're jealous of everything Alex and his family have."

"More like Regina George before she gets hit by a bus," Liam laughed to himself. "In the film, there were some people that didn't give a shit about her reputation, and I'm one of those people who don't give a shit about what Alex can do."

"But you should!" Melissa was worried about all the pettiness and childish games Alex could bring out on him. "I know you're fairly new to this school and everything, but Alex Holloway has had his slimy tentacles wrapped around this school for years now. Everything's going to be even worse for you since you attacked him like that, even if you were defending me."

Liam replayed the incident in his mind, about how he managed to knock down a guy that was bigger and more threatening than himself. At the time Liam couldn't handle his own emotions, because he loathed those people who were extremely arrogant and self-righteous.

Liam then thought about how Alex could make his life a misery. If all the rumors Melissa told him about Alex were true, then Liam knew that he had one last rough year of high school.

"But it was an accident!" Liam held his hands up to express how innocent his intentions were. "I didn't mean for him to fall like a sack of potatoes! That was just a coincidence... or fate... one of those two."

Melissa let out a little giggle as she thought about how someone as big and scary as Alex could tumble down like that so easily. It felt like a relief knowing that the big scary dragon could be slain by a gentle wallflower. All of this showed Melissa that she found a good friend in Liam, someone that had her back without even taking a second to think about his own repercussions.

"Thank you for standing up to Alex back there." Melissa smiled at her best friend that was so willing to protect her in front of everyone. "At least there are some decent people in this school."

Liam's eyes shifted towards the sound of the canteen double doors that were loudly opened and slammed shut. He saw Alex staring at him from a distance with a deadly look in his eyes, not even blinking as he clenched his fists tightly.

"So much for me laying low this year," Liam whispered to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~

Liam's hopes of wishing everything would blow over completely disintegrated when he walked into the school building the next day. Liam wanted to keep his head down and peacefully swap some things between his locker and his bag. But he had nowhere to hide as his locker was inconveniently blocked by the flock of students that were shamelessly gossiping about him.

"Can you move please?" Liam asked politely.

Liam saw the dirty looks that they gave him before moving away. As he unlocked the combination to his locker, Melissa walked up to Liam and held her phone out to his face. "Have you seen this?"

Liam's daydreaming caused him to ignore what Melissa was showing him. Instead, he just hummed along as he spoke whilst facing his locker. "I don't know."

Melissa looked around the hallway and pointed out the elephant in the room. "You're still a hot topic since your fight with Alex was recorded."

"What?" Liam shut his locker after he zipped up his bag. He then looked at the video Melissa was replaying when he asked, "How did they capture the whole thing?"

"Kimmy Giovana was live-streaming to her followers when she caught you both in the background. Her friend then edited it into a loop, added a bunch of other stuff to it, and made it look entertaining." Melissa explained.

Liam listened closely to how there was a laughing track added to the video. He watched how the zoomed-in video showed him attacking another student on school premises, and Liam was certain that this was going to be put him on the school map negatively.

"I'm going to be in so much shit for this," Liam mumbled.

Melissa tucked away her phone as she remained optimistic. "I doubt it? Even though it looks like you instigated the fight in the video, the school's unlikely to do anything because then Alex would have to be punished too. There's no right or wrong side according to our principal, so she won't risk tarnishing Alex and his family because of this very small incident."

Liam was learning more about how Alex had managed to embed his way through people without even talking to them. This made Liam think about what Alex would retaliate with next because the embarrassing video of Alex being knocked down was circulating the entire school.

"So now I just have to worry about what Alex will do," Liam concluded.

Melissa nodded her head as a vendetta was on the horizon. "Maybe if we crawl on our knees and apologize, he won't make our last year awful."

"No fucking way!" Liam immediately yelled back. He wasn't going to back down from his own principals when Alex was the one that should have been apologizing for his behavior. "From the sounds of it, that jerk deserves so much more than a little tumble on the floor."

Melissa agreed because she knew that Alex needed to be knocked down from his pedestal. However, that didn't change the fact that they were most likely going to be on the receiving end of Alex's warpath.

"We're not going to win this battle against someone like Alex," Melissa told Liam.

Liam felt assured that he had justice and ethics on his side. He smiled brightly at Melissa because he felt positive knowing that he was on the right side of history, taking down an egomaniac that thought he had power over every single person in the school.

"So we'll win the war." Liam declared with confidence.

~~~~~~~~~~

Alex deliberately skipped the first class of the day so that he could slip into gym class next period. The reason for him being discreet was because of the viral video that he was sent multiple times. The video made him look like a weakling because of the new kid, and that both embarrassed and infuriated Alex.

Alex did one of the worst things a person could do online, and that was to read the comments that were about him. Whilst some of them were outraged on Alex's behalf, a lot of them that Alex read were more malicious and in regards to how he deserved the public humiliation.

It's impossible for someone to not trip over in their entire life, and Alex didn't think that he was a holy saint that glided everywhere he walked. But the problem Alex faced was how someone had dared to stand up to him and takes his crown - a stranger nonetheless.

Alex never learned the other guy's name, and that made everything worse because the guy was like a whirlwind that threw him off his course. This was only the beginning as people were going to start looking at him like he was inferior. As the captain of the school's basketball teams, Alex needed the exact opposite reputation, so that made Alex hate every second of looking and feeling weaker to everyone.

Arriving at the locker room late, Alex slipped in as he began to get changed for gym class. He found his fellow teammates huddled up near the back of the room, where the Beckerford Knights were separated from the rest of the ordinary students.

"It's our newest internet sensation!" Mark laughed as he drew all the attention away from himself, and directed it towards the newly arrived Alex.

"Fuck you too." Alex quipped back with a slight viciousness to his voice.

Mark got up from the bench and playfully patted Alex on his shoulders, leaving them on as he tormented the center of the Beckerford Knights. "Are you going to do an impression of Pitbull for us?"

Alex turned his head slightly and look confused. "What does-"

"Timbeeerrrrr!"

It must have been the funniest joke Alex's teammates heard because they were all hysterically laughing. Alex's face was blank as his eyes brew with irritation and annoyance.

Alex forcefully took Mark's hands away from his shoulders and dropped them so that they were swinging by his own sides. He didn't let it go unnoticed how he disliked Mark by burning a hole in him with his eyes.

Owen came to Alex's rescue by saving him from another petty battle between the pair of them. He laughed to himself as he stood beside Alex, putting his arm around his shoulders and ruffling Alex's hair. "Mark's just changing the subject because the team is making fun of him."

Alex looked towards the team and saw how they all were grinning at Mark like Cheshire cats. This was when Alex realized he missed the conversation that was going on when he joined the locker room late.

"About what?" Alex wondered. This was an open opportunity to make fun of someone he didn't like, even more so since it would be at Mark Greenstone's expense.

"Mark's in looooove." Omar laughed in a light and singing tone.

Mark was rubbing the back of his own neck repeatedly as he laughed it off. "He's just my flavor of the month."

"For 2 months? I've seen you guys-"

Mark interrupted his friend by speaking loudly and dominantly over him. "It's all a faux pas. Nothing serious, just very laid back and stuff. Plus he's great in bed."

Alex had no idea that the other infamous playboy had someone special in his back pocket. If Alex paid more attention to Mark and his life, then he probably would have seen all of this coming.

But Alex just didn't care about Mark at all. Mark may be one of Alex's oldest friends, but he was also an ex-friend for certain reasons.

Alex turned away from Mark so that he could have his own conversation with Owen, his actual friend. He was the person Alex cared for the most because they were always inseparable growing up, and that's how they grew up to be more than best friends - as if they were actually brothers.

"You want to hang out later?" Alex asked. "I've got an empty house again, so we can do anything we want."

Owen sighed as he told Alex he was busy. "I'm working later. It's not exactly as fun as the party Kimmy is throwing later, but money's pretty nice too."

Alex had the option to have a wild night out with a bunch of his other friends, alcohol, and the company of any guy or girl that would beg for his attention. And while he would never miss out on an opportunity to let loose like any normal teenager, Alex didn't want to go to the party.

It wouldn't be as fun if his wingman and partner in crime wouldn't be with him. "I'll probably pass on it too then. Maybe I'll just stop by for something before your shift ends."

~~~~~~~~~~

Alex was in his element as he was practicing shooting basketballs into the hoop that was hung up in the regulation-sized arena. It all felt so natural to him as all of his shots landed in the basket perfectly.

Alex heard faint applauses at a distance from the admiring fans that were also his peers. It was music to his ears as he enjoyed the glory of being a star in their eyes. It gave him a focus on life because he was truly good at basketball, and that made Alex feel fulfilled.

All of a sudden Alex's attention was shifted towards the heavy metal doors that could loudly be heard opening. The sudden noise gained everybody's attention as they looked at the person that was accidentally making his dramatic entrance.

"Sorry!"

Alex no longer felt the inner peace that kept him humble as anger flushed through his entire body. There, in front of him, was the person responsible for his humiliation over the past 24 hours.

The guy with the blond messy hair had scratched his way underneath Alex's skin, and that made him feel uncomfortable. It was an unpleasant feeling because Alex never felt like his power dynamic over this school was disrupted - not until he showed up.

"You want to take a break from crushing the ball with your bare hands?" Owen chuckled.

Alex finally looked away and saw how some of the air had been released from the ball. Alex couldn't determine whether the deflated ball was a victim of his frustration, or if it was already deflated before he held it. Regardless, Alex ended up landing the next shot as the ball hit the back of the board and landed through the net.

Owen nodded his head impressed as he watched Alex throw the ball with ease. "Are you imagining that's Liam's head?"

'Liam.'

Alex repeated the name of his newest archenemy that was seemingly laughing at him from across the room. Right at this very moment, Alex was planning on how to get revenge against Liam. He wanted to do something that would realign his own status as untouchable in this school, and it would all start with taking Liam down a notch.

"Pass me another ball."

~~~~~~~~~~

Liam did his best to sneak into the gym without anybody noticing how late he was to class. He didn't want to run laps around the room as it was typical punishment for coming to class late. But Liam had a last-minute meeting with his homeroom teacher about how he was settling in.

Joining a new school was always scary for someone that was still finding their place in the world. For most young people high school was the time and place where it shaped their future, and that certainly didn't change for Liam.

It was often tiring for Liam to constantly move around because he would have to navigate the whole new setting all on his own; trying not to get lost in a new town, learning about the school's social ladder so that he could remain undetected, figuring out all the bus routes that took him to his multiple temporary jobs. It took a lot of effort for Liam to do something that should be second nature.

Liam walked up to the first person in the room that didn't make his new life in Michigan so intimidating. "Hey, Mel."

Melissa greeted Liam as she then bounced the basketball near her feet. "Let's play. Coach Willard went AWOL again so everyone's just doing their own thing."

Even though Liam only played sports casually, he would often say that he was pretty decent at everything he tried. "Only if you want to lose again."

There was no big scene with the game between the two of them. They didn't even need a lot of space to play around in the gymnasium. All they needed was a basketball to constantly shoot in the basket and some space where they could step back each time they were successful.

"Loser pays for lunch?" Melissa teased as she landed her first shot.

Liam calmly began to dribble the ball that he collected from under the basket and walked to his position. Liam didn't even bother looking at the basket as he listened to the ball landing in the net.

"I hope you brought your wallet to pay up." Liam laughed.

Melissa took the ball out of Liam's hands after he offered it to her. "I did. But I'm pretty sure I won't be using it today."

"Oh, I think you will," Liam replied confidently.

"Would you like me to buy you some new underwear when I walk all over you, pissing your pants in defeat when you lie down on the floor like a baby caterpillar after it hatches?"

Liam contorted his face in confusion at the vivid description Melissa was creating. "What the fuck?"

Taking a step back and landing the next shot, Melissa grinned as she confidently tilted her head up at Liam. "I'm thinking about hash browns to go with some nuggets."

Liam was aiming his next shot when he felt something collide with the back of his head. His body was rocked forward as the ball in his hands was knocked down onto the floor.

"Liam!" Melissa gasped, "Are you okay?"

Liam frowned as he vigorously rubbed the back of his head that had been hit by the 20-ounce ball. He watched the ball bounce across the floor, with the sound of it fading away amongst the crowd laughing.

"Juvenile." Liam cursed under his breath.

Liam turned his head towards the audience that was acting like they had seen the funniest thing ever. His eyes landed on the only person that was facing away from him, pretending like they didn't witness or do anything.

Liam had a scowl on his face as he grabbed the nearest basketball. Before he could rationally talk himself out of it, Liam fired back by dashing the ball at an unknowing Alex.

Even the people that weren't standing besides Alex backed away from the shot in case of the ricochet. The several squeaking steps of people scurrying away weren't enough of a warning for Alex to dodge or catch the ball.

With a 'thunk' to the head, Alex's smug expression was wiped off his face when he turned around to see Liam laughing at him. Alex's own amused expression was now thunderous as he stormed forward to confront Liam.

Liam was ready to deal with the cards he was dealt until he felt Mark block his path. Mark's hands were on Liam as he prevented the two bulls from charging at each other in the middle of the gymnasium.

"Get off me!" Liam snapped.

"Don't cause a scene," Mark whispered to Liam. "Just drop it, Liam. You really want to pick a fight you know you're going to lose?"

Liam looked away from Mark as he watched how Owen was doing the same thing for Alex. Owen was seemingly calming Alex down as although no words of acknowledgment were coming out of Alex's mouth, his frozen on the spot stance indicated that he wasn't going to continue his pursuit of fighting him.

"That jerk needs to be taught a lesson," Liam whispered to Mark.

"You can't do anything that will even remotely touch Alex. Alex doesn't care about anything because he doesn't need to, he always comes out on top." Mark continued to warn Liam about the danger of picking a losing fight by repeating everything Liam already heard from Melissa, "At the end of the day, Alex always wins. So don't do anything stupid that will make everything even worse."

Melissa made herself present as she stood in front of Liam. "I actually agree with Mark on this. I thought you wanted to slip through your final year of high school? You can't do that by fighting the biggest, yet most powerful, neanderthal in this school..."

Liam hated how they were both right. As much as he wanted to get rid of the constant smug and arrogant expression on Alex's face, Liam knew that he was the one that was going to be hurt by his own actions the most.

Liam was defeated as he looked at Alex once again. A fire could be seen in both of their eyes as Liam eventually sagged his shoulders dejectedly. "I'm going for a walk."

Walking out of the gymnasium alone, Liam went off to cool down and convince himself that this was the best option, even if walking away from a fight was something Liam didn't want to do.

==========