On the front porch, things had gotten to a much closer staredown between Wade and Gabriel, but that ended the moment Alex was in the doorway. "Gabriel," he said, "you wanted to talk to me?"
"Yeah," Gabriel shouted, stepping quickly back from Wade and then jabbing a finger in Alex's direction. "Are you fucking my girlfriend?"
"Nnnno, I'm standing here wondering why you're making a scene," Alex blinked with feigned confusion. The door didn't close behind him; there were quite a few spectators now looking through, as well as through the windows.
"I'mma beat your ass, faggot," the taller young man snarled.
"Hey, hold on there," Number 14 said, "we don't gotta be all homophobic an' shit." Sadly, everyone ignored him.
"Gabriel, seriously, chill out," Alex frowned, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace. "Do you really think coming up here all crazy is going to accomplish anything?"
"Curb stomping your ass would be enough. You've had your nose in my business ever since I hooked up with her."
"I'm her friend, Gabriel. I never made a move to steal her at all and you damn well know it. She was happy with you. I've hardly talked to her in over a year."
"Yeah, until this week! Did you fuck her, faggot?"
Alex blinked, having to skip the horrible contradiction in his question in the interests of defusing the confrontation. "Dude. I'm confused here. Am I supposed to be fucking Taylor or am I supposed to be a faggot? Completely opposite actions and desires. What do you want me to say? I'm not gonna tell you anything about Taylor, 'cause that's Taylor's business."
"Whatever you fucking faggot. There's still you and me. I'm gonna fuck you over."
"Unfortunately, I don't swing that way Gabe but I'm so glad you are coming out of the closet," Alex laughed. "Look, I don't want to fight. Seriously, I've been in three fights this week. I'm really tired of people trying to kill me. So what is it? What do I have to say to resolve this? That you're the better man? I'm sure you are, Gabriel. I'm sure all the chicks dig you more than me. You've got a bigtime basketball career and I'm a big nobody." It was hard to really say it all with any sincerity, and though Alex failed, he at least tried. At first. As he went on, though, his tone became less and less earnest, until he finally ended in rambling. "Gonna be famous. Rich. You're a snazzy dresser... uh...I'm sure you've got a tremendous penis," Alex shrugged.
"Not compared to you, he doesn't," they heard Jocelyn snort loudly from the open living room window crowded with observers.
Alex winced. "Aw, fuck," he groaned.
Gabriel's eyes flared. His right jab caught Alex on the left side of his jaw and knocked him over. Drew, too, was very quick. As Alex twisted and bent at the waist, Drew's left leg came up over and around him in an outside crescent kick that smashed right into Gabriel's face.
With that, it was on, and the fight quickly became a tangled mess after that. Drew and Wade, both trained fighters, had their hands full with two of Gabriel's teammates each. Shouting erupted from inside and then quickly from partygoers who had come out from around the back of the house to see the fight. Some yelled to break it up, others yelled random quips of bloodthirsty enjoyment.
Alex recovered quicker than Gabriel, but only by a couple of seconds. The enraged youth rushed forward in a tackle that carried Alex off the porch and into the entrance of the side yard, scattering spectators left and right. Alex landed on his back, winded, but got in a couple good punches on the side of Gabriel's head before the larger guy could scramble off and get some space to swing again.
Alex punched him dead in the throat. Gabriel jerked backward, choking and giving Alex a moment to try to catch his breath again. He glanced up to see Wade wrestling with the blond ball player; the other one that had jumped him was now on the ground, clutching his knee. Drew was pummeling another of Gabriel's boys.
The fourth, Number 14, quickly saw that he really didn't want a piece of Drew. He spotted Alex as he tried to rise and rushed over to put him down again.
It was all too fast for Alex. Number 14 caught him before he could get his footing again, but in the struggle to recover and defend himself, Alex sent them both tumbling down the small rise of the landscaping between the house and the street.
On the rooftop across the street, Martina grunted. It was very clear what would happen next. "Aw, dammit," she mumbled as she darted across the street.
"Run, Forrest, run!" Rachel called out after her with laughter.
It was no particular challenge for a guardian angel's speed and reflexes, but it had to be taken seriously. Martina made it to the sidewalk just an instant before the two tumbling combatants hit. Her hand was under Number 14's head before he could smack it into the concrete, reducing what would have been a debilitating or even fatal injury to a very mild bump. His body wound up absorbing most of the impact of the landing for Alex, who landed on top of him.
Alex scrambled to his feet again. Number 14 coughed and groaned as he rose, but the taller youth maintained his focus on the fight and powered through the pain. He was about to throw a punch when suddenly Number 14 let out a garbled wail of pain and crumpled to the ground.
Jason was standing there with a stun gun in his hand. "Dude, check out what I bought at the mall!" he grinned.
Martina, unseen by all of them, looked down at her fallen charge with disappointment. "I knew you should've taken the scholarship at Central Washington."
"Guh," Alex grunted, waving at Jason as he rushed back to the house. Gabriel was up now, ready to take a new swing at Alex, but it wasn't like that was a surprise. Alex didn't really have any hopes for putting Gabriel down -- certainly not on his own. His recent experiences in fighting aside, Alex knew how lopsided this confrontation was. Gabriel was significantly larger and a star college athlete. Alex had been a mediocre high school swimmer.
All Alex was worried about was catching the first fist that was thrown. He managed it, twisting and grabbing Gabriel's right wrist with one, then both hands. Gabriel's other fist came into Alex's side, twice, then a third time, but Alex wasn't worried about that. If he couldn't pull this off, or if one of his friends didn't come bail him out, he was going to get his ass kicked.
Alex clung to Gabriel's right hand, which didn't stay in a fist the whole time as they struggled. The pounding Gabriel was delivering with his free hand just had to be endured. Finally, Alex grabbed Gabriel's thumb and shoved it backward very, very hard. He could feel it snap.
"Aaargh!" Gabriel roared. He shoved Alex away. After the shots he'd taken to his side, Alex didn't have a whole lot of reason to stay in that grapple. He stumbled to the ground, on one knee and gasping for breath. But he'd accomplished his goal; Gabriel was looking at his hand in worry and rage. "Stupid motherfucker, you broke my thumb!"
"That's what happens in fights, Gabe," Alex coughed. "People get hurt. And then they can't do things like play college sports. And then they have to explain why they got hurt." He was tensed, a bit stooped over as he rose but still ready for Gabriel to make another attack. "People tried to kill me this week, you pencil-dick douchebag," he huffed. "None of this parking lot after school bullshit. You think I'm gonna fuck around with playground rules with you? You wanna beat my ass, fine, whatever makes you feel better. I probably can't take you out. But I'll take you off the roster for this season before I go down. Maybe even permanently."
As if to punctuate his statement, Gabriel's tall, blond teammate was tossed to the ground between them. He fell like a groaning sack of potatoes, rolling a bit to one side with the indication that he was quite done with the fight. Wade stepped over to Alex's side, breathing heavily but still standing straight. "Ah'm not much f'r fightin' fair, either," he frowned. A moment later, Jason was standing there, too.
Back behind them, they could hear someone yelling, "Uncle!" and it certainly wasn't Drew's voice.
Then someone asked, "Wade, could you move, please?"
Wade blinked, and stepped aside, and then Taylor rushed through to plant an enraged fist twisting upward right into Gabriel's gut. The tall youth's eyes bulged in shock as all the air left him as he bent over slightly. Taylor then slapped the hell out of his face.
"You stalked me here, you stupid fucking asshole!?" Taylor roared. "What part of 'I don't want to see you again' do you not understand!?" Gabriel tried to grunt something in response, but Taylor just slapped him again. "Do I need to get a restraining order on you? Do I? Should I just go talk to the coaching staff?"
"Nnnoo," Gabriel managed to groan.
"I thought about calling the cops, actually," called out another voice. Sherri was there, standing on the porch now next to Lorelei with her cell phone in her hand. "Just three little numbers. Nine. One. One," she narrated as she tapped the keys. "And then all I have to do is press 'Send' in ten... nine... eight..."
The intruders were getting to their feet now and shuffling off. Most of the spectators backed away at Sherri's urging.
"Hi, Taylor," Alex ventured.
She turned to him, but then quickly looked to Wade. "Hey," she said, "I haven't seen you since you got back. Thanks."
"F'r whut?" Wade blinked.
Taylor shrugged and smiled a bit. "For coming back home to us alive."
"Heh," Wade grinned, waving her off as he turned to head back up to the party. He was stopped in his tracks by Lorelei, who, oddly, paused to toss a tied-up garbage bag full of something or other down to the driveway. Her hair was wet, too, as if she'd just gotten out of the shower.
"I can't leave you alone without you getting into trouble, can I?" she smirked at Alex.
"Hey, I think this is just what happens when I go out with you," he huffed. "I can't take you anywhere."
"Ah. All my fault, surely." Lorelei turned her attention to his friends. "Since the four of you gentlemen are all collected now," she said, a wry smile, "I would very much like to have a private chat with you."
There were collective glances and shrugs between Alex and his male friends. Lorelei sauntered back toward the house.
As they moved to follow, Alex felt a tug on his sleeve. He stopped and turned to find Taylor staring at him with a somewhat accusatory smirk on her face. "Hi?" he tried again.
"Jocelyn? Really, Alex?"
"Oh God!" Alex blurted guiltily. "I was—we—wait, you're fucking with me right now, aren't you?" he said, seeing her face split into a laugh. "You're not mad at all!"
"Maybe a little," she shrugged. "Because now I'm gonna have to hear all about it from her. Thanks for that, by the way. Real pal. Always looking out for me," she rambled dryly.
"What, that thing with Gabriel?"
"What? God, no. I'm still talking about Jocelyn. This fight thing was totally unnecessary. If you had come get me, I'd have just punched him just like I did and it would've been over. But no, you dumb boys have to have your stupid fight."
"You're still fucking with me."
"Yeah," Taylor smiled.
Alex frowned a minute out of sincere confusion. "Why aren't you mad at me?"
"Why should I be?"
"Because you and I... I mean, I don't even know where that's going, but you... um." He faltered, realizing he hadn't really thought this through enough to be articulate about it. "You know I really like you and then there was Wednesday and you seemed kind of, I don't know, interested? I mean I don't want to sound like I'm jumping to conclusions and we both know I've got a girlfriend, but, y'know, that happened, right? But here I am hooking up with someone else right after that without having even talked to you on the phone or something, and you're not mad?"
Taylor's grin remained, though it became more curiously amazed. "Wow. Y'know, she said you really don't know how to let go and have a good time, but she didn't tell me you're spectacular about it."
Alex's expression didn't become any less worried. "You've been talking to her?"
"Yes. She's cool. Now go see what she wants."
He was turning to do just that as Jason joined him. There was an odd buzz from his buddy's new stun gun. "This was totally worth sixty bucks," Jason grinned.