Leo shifted slightly in his chair.

It was a small adjustment, almost impossible to notice among the surrounding movements.

His feet settled more firmly against the tiled floor.

His shoulders relaxed.

His gaze remained on Jax.

He did not want another confrontation.

But he was no longer willing to assume that remaining passive would protect him.

Across the table, Troy took half a step backward.

Not because he intended to leave.

He was making room for his friend.

Jax pulled the backpack fully into his hand.

The strap stretched tight beneath the weight.

A student behind him whispered, “Don’t.”

Jax either did not hear or chose to ignore the warning.

He raised the bag.

Leo recognized the movement immediately.

There was no longer time for another explanation.

Jax swung the backpack toward his head.

“We’re going to make you regret that!”

The bag swept across the narrow space between them.

Metal zippers flashed beneath the cafeteria lights.

A few students cried out.

Leo moved.

He lowered his head and shifted his upper body beneath the approaching backpack.

The heavy canvas passed just above his hair.

For an instant, Jax’s arms continued moving through empty space.

The force of his own swing pulled his shoulders forward.

Leo’s chair scraped slightly against the floor.

His hand reached toward the tray on the table.

The movement happened quickly.

There was no dramatic pause.

No warning.

No exchange of threats.

Leo seized the plastic tray and sent it toward Jax.

The tray struck the senior’s face.

A burst of leftover pizza, ranch dressing, and chocolate milk scattered across the space between them.

Jax staggered backward.

His expression changed from fury to complete surprise.

He had expected his heavy backpack to make contact.

Instead, his own momentum had carried him into the center of an embarrassing scene.

Chocolate milk ran down the front of his shirt.

A piece of pizza slid across the floor.

The tray dropped near his shoes.

Jax tried to regain his balance.

His foot landed in the spilled milk.

It slipped.

His arms moved outward instinctively, searching for something solid.

There was nothing close enough to catch.

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He fell backward onto the cafeteria tiles.

The sound of his landing echoed through the room.

For a moment, the students nearest him simply stared.

Jax remained on the floor, blinking in confusion.

His backpack lay beside him.

One hand pressed against the tile while the other moved toward his face.

He looked less like a feared senior than a boy who had made a terrible decision in front of a very large audience.

Somewhere behind the closest tables, a student gave a startled laugh.

Another quickly covered his mouth.

The laughter did not spread.

Not yet.

Everyone knew Troy was still standing.

Leo set his hand against the edge of the table.

His glasses remained in place.

He looked down toward Jax.

“You ought to pay attention to where you’re going.”

The remark was calm.

Almost conversational.

There was no celebration in his voice.

He did not smile.

He did not appear pleased by Jax’s embarrassment.

He simply seemed relieved that the backpack had missed him.

But Troy did not interpret the scene that way.

From his perspective, something intolerable had just happened.

His best friend had been knocked to the cafeteria floor.

Students were watching.

Some were struggling not to laugh.

And the quiet newcomer he had attempted to intimidate was still sitting beside the same table.

Still wearing his glasses.

Still refusing to surrender the seat.

Troy looked down at Jax.

Then toward the spilled food.

Then back at Leo.

His face turned a deep red.

The muscles in his neck tightened.

Leo noticed the change before Troy spoke.

The senior’s embarrassment was becoming anger.

And his anger was no longer controlled.

“You think this is funny?”

Troy demanded.

Leo slowly stood.

He was noticeably smaller than the senior standing across from him.

The difference in their builds was obvious.

Yet Leo’s expression remained steady.

“No,” he answered.

Troy stepped forward.

“Then why are you still standing there?”

Leo looked at the fallen tableware.

Then at Jax.

Then back at Troy.

“Because neither of you has given me a reason to leave.”

A few students exchanged looks.

The quiet boy’s refusal had become something they could no longer dismiss as simple stubbornness.

Troy had struck him.

Jax had swung a heavy backpack toward his head.

And Leo was still trying to end the confrontation without surrendering to them.

For the girl standing nearby, the situation had become almost unbearable.

She wanted someone to intervene.

A teacher.

A cafeteria worker.

Anyone with enough authority to stop the two seniors.

She looked toward the doors once more.

 

Nothing.

When she returned her attention to the table, Troy was already moving.