“Boo! Boo! Boo!” the crowd shouted. “Drake is a sucker! Drake is a sucker! Drake is a sucker!”

Drake saw Alice come out from the crowd and stand just a few metres away from Carlton.

“What has happened to you, Alice? Do you really love money that much? Can’t you see that he’s using you?” Drake said.

“As long as you’re with that bitch I’ll continue to support him,” Alice said.

“Who are you calling a bitch?” Jenny yelled angrily, as she walked towards Alice. Drake grabbed her and pulled her back.

“Let me go, Drake. She deserves a slap!” Jenny exclaimed as she tried to break loose from Drake.

“This is why I didn’t want you interfering. Almost everyone here, except my friend Arnold, is playing with our emotions. The only thing I need from you is your support. Because the crowd thinks I’ve lost,” Drake said to Jenny. She paused.

“You’ve got my support Drake,” Jenny said, as she kissed Drake on the cheek.

“Vhuvhuvhuvhuu!” Drake heard whistles behind him as Jenny walked back to the crowd.

As the crowd whistled at Jenny, Carlton turned his attention to Alice. “Alice my sweetheart,” Carlton said with a soft, sarcastic voice, “Get the fuck out of my way. It’s because of your greed that I’m in this situation right now!” The expression on his face said: ‘This is all your fault’.

“Mxm. Fuck you too, Carlton. Go to hell,” Alice said as she walked away.

“Boo! Boo! Boo!” The crowd was going mad.

This crowd is going to drive me nuts. I need to make sure that this is going to be a fair fight, Drake thought as he looked at Carlton.

“Carlton. If your supporters don’t interfere with the fight then I’m taking you down!” he declared.

“Whoever interferes in this fight will lose their invitation to next week’s party at my mansion!” Carlton said loudly and voices spread the news like a frequency throughout the crowd.

“You distracted my love once, and now you want to do it again.” Drake spat on the ground and then charged at Carlton.

“Yeeaaahhhh!” the crowd chanted.

“This is for Jenny, you son of a bitch!” Drake yelled and threw a punch, which Carlton dodged. He countered with his right fist in Drake’s stomach.

Pow! Drake felt the air leave his lungs. Carlton then threw a ferocious left at Drake’s cheek. Pow!

Drake landed on the ground. When he opened his eyes he felt like the world was spinning around.

“Carlton! Carlton! Carlton!” The crowds’ chanting vibrated in his ears.

Drake looked at the sky and saw a dark cloud covering the sun. He felt rain drops on his stinging cheeks. He felt pain in his stomach.

Then it started to pour and lightning lit up the sky. It struck the branches of the mango tree. Thalala!

Everyone ran for the classrooms in a crush of bodies.

How can they be afraid of a little storm? Carlton thought.

Drake slowly lifted his face, smiling. “You punch like a girl. Carlton.” Drake tightened his left fist as he got up off the ground.

“What the fuck did you just say to me, boy? You’re going to eat not only dirt, but mud this time around,” Carlton said clenching his fists.

Thalalala! Thunder rumbled as Drake ran at Carlton. Pow! Carlton felt a right punch low on his left jaw. Crack! Pow! Drake’s right fist then smashed Carlton’s nose.

Carlton stumbled backwards then fell to the ground.

What have I just done? Drake thought as he looked at his hands and then at Carlton who was down and out. The rain poured down soaking through his clothes.

“Drake! Drake! Drake!” students in the school corridors chanted as they watched from the windows.

They’re chanting for me. But I don’t care. I need support from one person only and that’s Jenny, he thought.

“Drake! Behind you,” Jenny screamed.

Drake turned his head quickly and saw Carlton almost on him, with a brick in his hand. It crashed against Drake’s left cheek and a tooth flew out of his mouth. Drake felt the pain spread through him as he fell into the mud. His brain felt like it was exploding.

“Drake!” Jenny screamed, running to him. “Carlton you sick bastard. How could you use a brick on my friend?”

A yellow mango splattered on Carlton’s face. “That’s for hitting my friend with a brick, asshole!” Arnold shouted.

“Nolan, Kellen. Get … that … motherfucker!” Carlton yelled to his friends.

“Stop this!” Jenny screamed, as the rain streamed down.

“Why should I? Your boyfriend wanted this fight to prove how stupid he really is. Did he really believe that he could defeat me?” Carlton asked as he slowly walked towards Jenny. “I’m going to break his leg. If you get in my way I will hurt you. This is no battle for a girl.”

“Please wake up Drake,” Jenny whispered as she kissed Drake on the lips.

Thalalala! Phash! Thunder vibrated through the ground. Jenny lifted her eyes and was dazzled. It looked like hundreds of light bulbs exploding. Phash. Phash!

Drake slowly opened his eyes.

“Did you really think a mere brick would stop me, Carlton?” Drake asked as he got to his knees.

“Drake,” Jenny said in a low voice as Drake stood up and staggered.

“You really are a fool. Boy, you can hardly stand. There’s no way that I can ever lose to someone like you,” Carlton said.

“I had a dream where I kicked your ass,” Drake said as he walked slowly up to Carlton, lunged forward suddenly, then pummelled him to the ground. Carlton looked up at Drake, shielding his face with his arm. Eventually he yelled:

“I… give up!”

Drake went completely still, his left fist paused centimetres away from Carlton’s face.

“What did you say?’” Drake asked, shocked.

“Give up… I give up,” Carlton whimpered.

“Unlike you, I fight fair,” Drake said as he turned his back.

Drake heard a clap and saw that it was Alice standing under the tree. Then everyone started to clap.

“You did it Drake. You pulled it off,” Jenny said as she hugged Drake.

Alice stopped clapping while the rest of the crowd continued. They carried Drake to the class like a champion.

Facebook was the place to be if you wanted news updates from Tellison High that day:

I saw de fyt de tree waz on fire

Wat?

Carlton bit Drake, a storm came,

hit de tree, n de tree got fire,

>Drake stand up n defeat carlton

U xuld change ur profil name 2

drunk fool. Wtf is dat?

Ppl Drake has supapowers.

I min he da 1 wu created dat

lightning 2 hit de tree n he beat Carlton

even after he was knocked unconscious by a brick.

U watch 2 many movies mfana

Tsek

It was also all over Tellison High the day after the fight that Drake and Jenny’s relationship status was Facebook official!

*****

That night Drake looked up at the sky. He thought he saw a love sign shine brightly at him from the full moon. Drake saw words appear in the middle of the love sign, and he smiled as he felt his heartbeat race to the words that appeared: Jenny

***

Tell us what you think: Do you think Drake and Jenny are well matched? Do you think their relationship will last? What do you think will happen to Carlton?