Chris ducked away from the fist headed toward his face and jabbed at his attacker’s stomach. His opponent doubled over and Chris brought his elbow sharply down on his back, sending the other into the concrete. Chris had already taken two steps away before realizing he didn’t put enough pressure onto his opponents back to bring him down. He fell too easily.

He whirled around only to see a fist only inches from his face. The second the fist met his eye, all he could think was: He fucking got me. Chris could already feel his brow begin to swell as he stumbled backward. He barked out a laugh as a cheer was thrown up around him.

“You got me you bastard.” Chris laughed as he shook hands with Kevin.

“You gotta keep an eye out; you never know where I’m coming from.” Laughing, Kevin shook out his fist, his knuckles red and swelling as well.

Kevin and Chris were friends. They’d grown up with each other. That had no reason to fight. And that was the genius of it. A group of cocky teenage boys all pumped on testosterone and energy drink—of course they’ll decide to start holding a Fight Club. Duh.

What’s a fist fight between friends, anyway?

Chris felt pats on his back from the onlookers, his other friends, who all muttered sympathetic things about the shiner he’d have in the morning. Two other boys brought themselves out into the middle of the backyard and put up their dukes with huge smiles on their mugs.

It was probably the stupidest idea that Chris had ever let himself get involved in, yet here he was with a throbbing eye. Without a word to his friends, he left the backyard through the fence door. He heard Kevin’s dad come out into the yard yelling something about if they knock someone out take them to the park down the street then call the police. No wonder a Fight Club sounded like such a good idea if they came from that generation.

With a sigh, Chris plopped himself on the curb out front of Kevin’s house, his long legs splaying out into the street. Without a thought, he laid back across the sidewalk, staring at the impossibly clear sky. School was ending and summer was coming. And summer only meant more time for more dumb-ass ideas for him and his friends to come up with. Great.

The sound of steps against the cement caught Chris’ attention. He looked up and around, hoping he wouldn’t be stepped on. The sound came from the sidewalk across the street. Chris recognized the girl in the red flats immediately. It was Sofia. She sat behind him in his Spanish class.

They talked every so often in class, mostly complaining about the class itself. Chris and Sofia had the craziest class and a teacher that wouldn’t know power or control if it smacked her in the ass. Half the time it was funny to see idiotic kids try to grasp Spanish then make fun of it because they didn’t care enough to really learn. Other times it was beyond infuriating to see the scale of disrespect the students could get to while still having some dumb justification so they could bitch to their friends later on.

Over the course of the year, Chris had developed a little crush on Sofia, but he would never act on it. It was just a silly infatuation he usually got when any attractive girl showed him attention. Oh god…but it wasn’t just any girl who could move her hips like Sofia.

She was dancing as she walked down the sidewalk in her red flats, lost in her own little world. Quietly singing the lyrics to whatever she was listening to through her headphones she was oblivious to whatever around her, her eyes half lidded as she danced.

Chris was surprised to say the least. He’d never seen any action from Sofia that said she enjoyed dancing. She was quiet unless spoken to usually, not exactly outgoing. Though, he did notice her slowly becoming more so. Every so often she’d have a snide comment to offer to Chris under her breath with an idiotic student would get into fights with their teacher about moving seats. But he never saw her as someone with confidence to be dancing on the sidewalk.

It might have had something to do with her weight. As long as Chris had known her, Sofia hadn’t been the skinniest girl around but it wasn’t as if she was ostracized for it. Recently, Chris noticed she’d lost weight. She still wasn’t a stick but had certainly lost some inches around her waist. Chris could feel it was a lack of confidence that she’d always had and high school was slowly allowing her to let it go. Slowly. He had seen the same thing in his little sister, who had lost a lot of weight before entering high school.

Realizing he was staring at her amazing swaying hips, he quickly laid back down on the concrete before she noticed he was there.

Sofia didn’t notice he was there. She was caught in her music, humming and moving. It was like her drug. As the song faded out, there was a silence as it changed to another. Sofia grunted as she realized her pants were practically falling off her ass again. She was proud of the fact that she’d lost over twenty pounds but she’d yet to buy new clothes so she was stuck with oversized jeans and unflattering t-shirts.

As she squirmed to keep her pants from falling down her hips (a very new feeling for her considering the size of her hips) she noticed a man splayed across the opposite sidewalk. He seemed to be paying no attention to her but she held in an embarrassed snort anyway. She quickly turned her music down and quickened her pace. He could have seen her dancing. He probably thought something horrid about her and was laughing on the inside. Laughing about how her lardy ass should never moved like that ever (especially where everyone could see). She blushed hotly. It was Chris. Oh god, it was Chris.

One of the best looking guys she knew was thinking horrid things about her lardy ass. She resisted hitting her head as she walked even faster; her eyes squeezed shut as if she were squeezing the thought from her mind. Chris wasn’t like that, he was nice. He didn’t think about her body and why would he? Sure she had lost weight but it didn’t mean she was attractive. She nearly tripped in her scurry to get away.

When Chris looked up, all he saw was Sofie’s exit and he couldn’t help but stare as her pants hum dangerously on her hips. He swallowed hard and shut his eyes even harder. The action reminded him of the pain in his eye and he hissed; the pain taking his mind off of Sofia’s swaying. But that thought brought his mind’s eye right back to it.

Thank the Gods that she would have to be hidden behind a very unattractive desk during class or Spanish class would have gotten that much more unbearable and probably just a bit embarrassing. Chris flopped back down onto the concrete. School was winding down and soon all he would have was his memory of Sofia’s hips swaying to an unheard beat.