The horseback riding students couldn't stop talking about how impressed they were with Heidi. But as they continued to sing her praises, a few of the boys in the crowd started trying to talk up their actions in the fight, hoping to impress her.
"Heidi was so amazing! She's so fast with that sword. She's incredible for a girl. But I had to get in there and start taking care of things myself, you know? No sword for me, I just used my teeth!"
"I've never kicked anybody so hard in my life. I learned something new about myself today."
"I got a couple hits in at their leader, that yellow-haired guy. I think I did all right!"
They edged nearer and nearer to her, hoping she would notice one of them and be impressed.
But Heidi just smiled faintly at all of them, refusing to pay any more attention to one than another. "Yes, I saw you all! Everyone did a great job."
The students were all very excited, even by this faint praise. Any compliment from the mouth of such an amazing girl felt like a huge honour.
One student pressed a hand down over a wound on his arm to hide it, and grinned at her. It was worth getting hurt if meeting her was part of the deal.
"We all fought well, but there was one person who just stood by doing nothing," one voice called over the noise.
Heidi scowled. "Yes, I know who you mean."
She only glanced briefly in Alex's direction, but it was just enough to direct more attention his way. Several people in the crowd of students turned to look at Alex and began giving him puzzled and contemptuous looks.
Debbie was still at Alex's side, and she glared back at the crowd, confused by the change in their attitude.
They began muttering to each other as they realized that Alex had not joined the fight or tried to help them.
"Did he really just stand there the whole time? That's ridiculous."
"I recognize him. Wasn't he just in some big fight? Maybe he only bothers when there's cameras around."
"Maybe he's tired from his big fight?"
"Please! Does he look tired to you?"
Debbie wrinkled her nose and tugged at the corner of Alex's coat. "Well, it looks like she's okay now. Let's get out of here."
She worried that Alex might do something rash if the crowd irritated him too much. However, the more Alex studied martial arts, the more patient and calm he found himself to be in situations like this. Gossip and chatter didn't bother him as much as they used to.
Alex turned and gave her a sweet smile as if to assure her that he was fine.
One of the students, a young girl, stepped forward and began speaking out on his behalf.
"That's not fair! We fought today, but what about last time that gang came and took our money? Remember that boy whose leg was broken? Which one of you stepped forward then? I just think... I... " Her voice began to falter as she realized her classmates were all glaring at her sternly.
"What are you criticizing us for?" One person griped. "Yesterday was different. We had our reasons."
"Well, maybe he had his reasons too! That's all I'm trying to say!"
The students began to debate amongst themselves. Some agreed that Alex wasn't necessarily obligated to jump in to fight on their behalf, while others still felt he should have done it anyway.
Heidi watched them bicker grimly. She was still angry that Alex had refused to help. The gang's leader, Micky, had gone so far as to put a knife to her throat, and Alex hadn't lifted a finger. Of course, she had been more than capable of handling the situation, but he couldn't have known that.
She had seen his fight on TV and imagined him to be an amazing, heroic, super-human figure. She had hung around the riding yard for hours, hoping to run into him and get to talk with him. But he had turned out to be a huge disappointment.
She began to wonder if the amazing fight she had seen on TV was even real. Maybe it had all been staged, and Alex was worthless.
She drew herself up and said in a condescending tone, "All right, that's enough. Don't bully him, he's clearly not able to do much to be helpful. Just because everyone else managed to be brave today, doesn't mean he can automatically do the same."
Alex watched her impassively. He knew it wasn't worth getting into a fight with her over something so silly.
But at Heidi's words, many of the people in the crowd backed off. Even the girls who had been trying to defend him fell back.
One of the students turned to Heidi with a winning smile. "You're right, we shouldn't waste any more time here. Why don't we go do something fun? You're coming with us, right?"
He phrased it as if the entire group would be hanging out together, but in his mind, he was asking her for a date.
Before Heidi could answer, she heard the sound of heavy footsteps trampling the field behind them. She glanced behind her, and her eyes went wide with surprise. "They're back already?"
It hadn't occurred to any of the students that the gang would return quickly to take revenge.
A car drove up behind the group and squealed to a halt as the rest of the gang members ran to catch up to it. The door opened, revealing Micky in the passenger seat. His broken leg was already wrapped up in makeshift bandaging, and he gripped a pair of crutches.
He glared at the students, then shouted to the rest of his men, "Yeah, this is them all right!"
The gang members had the students surrounded in an instant. There seemed to be hundreds of them, all dressed in black, with weapons glinting menacingly in their hands.
The students were dumbfounded at how quickly things had turned against them.
Micky hopped awkwardly out of the car. Everyone was too frightened to laugh.
"These people," he swept a crutch out to gesture to the group of students, "tried to hurt us, and they all still owe us money!"
The students cringed, trying to hide behind one another.