Matthew yawned as he walked through the school doors, pushing past a group of people on his way in. He’d been up too late last night playing Team Fortress 2 with Seth and Geri. Speaking of which he’d have to gloat in their face again about his twenty seven win streak once he got to the classroom.

   “Heh heh heh, Seth won’t be happy about that,” he mused to himself as he reached his locker.

   Undoing the combination lock and getting his books, he paused when he heard girlish laughter down the hall. He turned curiously, though he already knew who it was. He scanned the group quickly before spotting who he was looking for.

   Hailey Beyo stood out among the other popular girls; not looking overdone, with her seemingly perfect smile, her long, shiny black hair, her upbeat, free personality, not afraid to speak her mind, her eyes that make the stars in the sky seem as dull as a butter knife. If there was ever a true word for perfect, Hailey would be the answer.

   Matthew closed his eyes and was lost in thought, “all that and she’s got the rack of an angel…”

   The group walked by, paying no attention to Matthew, or anyone else for that matter. He sighed and watched as they turned the corner.

   “One day…one day,” he said to himself.

   Matthew turned around and made his way to his first class.

   “Oh come on, this is easy! So easy,” Seth told Geri, pointing at a complicated diagram.

   Geri scratched her head, confused, “I don’t see it,”

   “Alright look, you move this variable here, you divide this one by thirteen, you multiply this one by four, minus seventy off the total then add one hundred thirty seven,” Seth replied writing down the answer.

   “Oh! Well stupid Geri! I thought it was five! Turns out it was forty seven! Damn it all!” She exclaimed sarcastically, “you know Seth this isn’t exactly helping me with my work,”

   Seth frowned and swiped his paper away.

   “Well fine, just go back to your…beginner’s math,” he scoffed.

   Matthew walked in the class and sat with them.

   “Matthew, did you finish your homework?” Seth asked.

   “What homework?” Matthew replied.

   “The assignment on page 134? You know 1-12?” Seth answered.

   “…Aww, SHIT!” Matthew shouted, gaining the looks of everyone in the class, he looked at everyone slowly, “…Sorry,”

   “I think that’s the last time Mrs. Weiser’s gonna put up with you not doing your homework, you know what that means,” Seth told him.

   “I know, library for a week, it’s no big deal really,” Matthew replied leaning back in his chair, “Oh and by the way, who’s Mr. Twenty Seven in a Row?”

   Seth and Geri flattened their looks and pointed haphazardly at Matthew.

   “You know that playing Team Fortress 2 all your life isn’t going to get you anywhere right?” Seth questioned.

   “Yeah whatever,” Matthew replied.

   “Oh, Seth, I had trouble with the last question can you help me finish it? At least tell me what to do so I can complete it before class starts,” Geri asked.

   “Sure, and Matthew, I guess we’ll only see you at lunch for the next five days huh? See ya man,” Seth said, waving.

   “Yeah well…shut up!” Matthew snapped back.

   Mrs. Weiser walked into the room and set down some papers on the front desk.

   “Alright…who here finished 1-12?” She asked.

   Everyone raised their hand except for Matthew. The hands lowered as she made her way towards Matthew.

   “Matthew, this is unacceptable, gather your things and go to the library,” she told him.

   He raised his hand to his forehead.

   “Yes sir,” and he proceeded to get up and leave.

   “You know? That is what I am trying to get across,” Jared said to a group of students.

   “Never have I heard truer words in my life, thank you, you have cleared my mind,” one replied and the rest agreed.

   Jared leaned back in his chair, sensing a strong feeling of accomplishment.

   “I have done the world a favor,” he said closing his eyes.

   The group left and it was quiet for a moment.

   “Hey idiot,” someone spoke in a rude manner.

   Jared opened his eyes.

   “AH! Oh…uh…how can I help you guys?” He asked the group.

   The three of them surrounded his chair and looked down at him.

   “Listen man, I don’t want any trouble from you three again,” Jared said looking up at their shadowed faces.

   “Then don’t bother us,” one of them replied.

   “But I didn-“

   “I said, don’t bother us,” he interrupted.

   The three of them walked away and left the library just as Matthew walked in, he saw Jared and went over to him.

   “Those three give you trouble again?” Matthew asked sitting down.

   “Nah, not today…maybe after school…at the flagpole, stupid…Icarus and Grage and Kaian, have they no honor picking on a relatively feeble person such as myself?” Jared asked.

   “Course not, they’re testosterone pumped jocks,” Matthew answered, “anyway, Jared, I was wondering if you could help me here,”

   “What’s wrong? Just lay it on me and I’ll try to solve it,” he replied positively.

   “Okay…it involves Hailey-“

   “Whoa whoa whoa, hold on…Hailey? You’re kidding right? Please tell me you’re kidding,” Jared interrupted, “whatever, I’ll try. So you want to get a chance at Hailey do you not?”

   “How’d you know?” Matthew asked confused.

   “You’ve been trying to that for the past two weeks,” Jared answered.

   “…Then why were you all surprised when I brought it up?”

   “I don’t know, but tell ya what, I’ll help you…or not, just go up to her and say hi, that usually works,” Jared instructed.

   “Hey Jared,” Hailey said standing behind Matthew with her friends.

   “What?”

   “You have Mr. Konstantinov’s biology test answers?” She asked.

   Jared pulled out a brown envelope.

   “You know I do,”

   “Sweet, can I have them?” She asked again.

   “Alright,” he replied holding out the envelope.

   Jared paused in handing them over and looked at Matthew, who was looking back at him with a look.

   “…Hold up,” he said pulling the envelope away.

   “Aw come on Jared, you used to be cool,” Hailey replied crossing her arms.

   “Now hold on, you want them, you’ll have to do something for me,” he told her.

   Hailey sighed, “Alright fine, what?”

   “As you can see, my good friend Matthew is sitting in front of you, so if you want these answers and pass Konstantinov’s test with flying colors, then you will listen to what he has to say,” Jared answered.

   Hailey looked down at Matthew, who was looking right back up at her.

   “I thought I smelled failure,” she said coldly.

   Her friends laughed with her.

   “Alright then, what?” She asked him.

   Matthew stood up and faced her.

   “Ahem…uh…heh…hi,” he stammered.

   “Hi, can I have the answers now?” Hailey asked Jared.

   Jared handed the envelope over to her and they left, Matthew sat down and put his head on the table.

   “I’m such a scrub,” he said to himself.

   “Now now Matthew, that may be true, but there is a slight possibility you can get her, why…all you have to do is win a fight, she’s the kind of girl that loves the strong guys, which is why she is dating Icarus, so all you have to do is win a fight against Icarus and she’ll be all over you,” Jared explained.

   Matthew slowly looked up at him.

   “You’d better be joking, I can’t win against Icarus, he’s on the god damn football team!” Matthew shouted.

   Everyone in the library looked at him.

   “…Sorry,” Matthew whispered.

   Jared sat there for a moment.

   “Don’t despair, I’m sure you can do it, I’ll set you up with him!” He said running off.

   “Hey wait! Jared!” Matthew shouted again, “Damn it!”

   Matthew chased Jared around until he lost him.

   “Where did he go?” He asked himself wandering around the halls.

   Matthew turned a corner and saw him talking to Icarus.

   “Oh fuck!”

   He ran over to them.

   “So, you want a chance at my girl huh? Alright, I’ll give you a shot, your hippy friend here set up a fight with me, three o’ clock, at the flagpole, be there,” Icarus threatened walking away with Grage and Kaian.

   Matthew looked at Jared.

   “Why does everyone assume I’m a hippy?” Jared asked.

   “It’s your hair dude, you gotta cut it,” Matthew answered.

   “WHAT?! No! Screw you!” Jared shouted defensively, placing both hands on his head.

   “Anyway, what the hell’s wrong with you!? I can’t beat Icarus! Are you kidding me!?” Matthew yelled at him.

   “Don’t worry, you still got a whole day to prepare,” Jared assured him.

   “You’re right,” Matthew replied taking out a cell phone and dialing a number, “…Hello? Chasten Funeral Home? I’d like to book your room for today-“

   Jared grabbed his phone and closed it.

   “By prepare I didn’t mean like that, you gotta collect yourself man, get in the zone, it’s the eye of the tiger man,” Jared told him.

   “...Right, this won’t be too bad!”

   Three o’ clock came and Matthew and Jared stepped outside the front door, there they saw Icarus leaning against the flagpole, finishing off a cigarette.

   “There he is man, this is your big chance! Hailey’s standing there with him, now is your time to shine!” Jared said pushing him towards Icarus, “Now get in there and show him what you’re made of!”

   The next day Matthew closed his locker and looked at Jared with a black eye.

   “Gee…I’m sorry Matthew, I thought you’d take more than one hit before you bit the dust,” Jared said apologetically.

   “Yeah…well...not today,” Matthew replied.

   “S’cuse me?” Jared asked.

   “You heard me, not today, I’m gonna get him today, he’s dead man,” Matthew answered.

   “What? Matthew! Icarus is going to MURDER you! You can’t fight him again! Not today anyway,” Jared told him.

   “That’s why I’m going to train, and I need your help,” Matthew replied.

   “My help? …Alright then, but I’m gonna need a case of orange juice, a plate of burgers, and Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” playing in the background,”

   The day wore on as Jared pushed Matthew to his limits in his training program, both of them skipping the entire day of class and no one taking notice for some reason.

   “Yeah,” Matthew said sitting up, “I’m gonna beat him now,”

   “And not a moment too soon, it’s two-fifty five, to the flagpole!” Jared said pointing to the front doors.

   They both ran out the front doors and to the flagpole, there they saw Hailey standing near it.

   “Hey you!” Hailey shouted at Matthew, “Word round the school says you’re goin’ up against Icarus again,”

   “Yeah that’s right! He’s going down!”

   “Yeah sure, just try and stay up for more than a second this time around,” she laughed, leaving the area.

   “You just wait Hailey…you’ll be mine,” Matthew said, watching her walk away.

   The bell rang, and a few moments later, people started to circle Matthew, some talking to him, when finally, Icarus and his crew came out of the front doors, they slowly made their way to the crowd.

   “So Matthew! Back for another beat down huh? Ha, this’ll be fun,” Icarus laughed.

   A deafening silence befell the crowd as Icarus entered the “arena”, standing across from Matthew. Hailey made her way to the front and began cheering Icarus on, eventually leading the rest of the crowd to do so.

   “Don’t listen to em Matthew! You can do it! It’s what we were training for all this morning!” Jared shouted amongst the noise.

   Icarus ran up to Matthew and punched him across the face, sending him to the ground.

   “Man that was even easier than last time!” Icarus taunted about to leave.

   Matthew slowly got back up, the crowd gasped and fell silent.

   “Icarus…I’m not going to lose,” Matthew told him, standing up.

   Even Icarus was shocked at his persistence.

   “Well then…” he said, “bring it on,”

   Matthew ran at him and began punching and kicking relentlessly, Icarus barely managing to dodge them.

   “Hmm…Matthew needs support,” Jared thought, “…Ma-tthew! Ma-tthew! Ma-tthew!”

   A couple people joined in on the chanting, followed by more, then more, until everyone besides Hailey, Grage and Kaian were chanting Matthew’s name. Matthew finally succeeded in hitting Icarus, knocking him to the ground this time.

   “Yeah! Give him all ya got Matthew!” Jared shouted.

   Matthew grabbed Icarus’ collar and pulled him up to his feet.

   “You’re tired Icarus? Oh well, you’ve had your time in the sun, time for a new face,” he told him.

   Matthew jumped back and delivered a devastating roundhouse kick to Icarus, sending him flying right into the school fountain. The crowd cheered loudly, Kaian and Grage ended up running off, abandoning Icarus. Matthew, still in the thought of his victory, stood there for a while before realizing that he had won. A few minutes later, the crowd disbanded, immortalizing Matthew’s name as the only person to ever beat Icarus in a fight. Hailey walked over to him.

   “Hey you…Matthew,” she said catching his attention, “how the hell did you pull that off? No one has ever been able to beat him, but who am I kidding? You did…I praise you for that,”

   “A-…are you…getting at something here?” Matthew asked.

   “Matthew,” Hailey said again, pulling him towards her, “do you want to go out sometime?”

   “Uh? U-of course!” Matthew replied with great happiness.

   Hailey pulled him closer and kissed him.

   “Then let’s go,” she said pulling him along with her.

   Jared stood there and watched them go.

   “Aah…now my mission is complete…but what should I do now?” He asked himself, “Huh…guess I’ll go smoke the rest of my pot,”

   Jared walked the other way and everyone lived happily ever after.

                                                                                                 THE END