Roy shouted, “Fucking slut, I know you kissed Asher.”

Roy towered over his year-long girlfriend, Stacy, with fists and murder in his eyes. The hallway grew quiet. The third fight this week, but louder than the others, because love makes people crazy. Roy, a football player featured on two pro scout lists, had increased his steroid and weightlifting loads the past month. His swollen arm muscles ripped his t-shirt sleeves again. Red-faced with anger creases over his eyes, at the top of his nose, and on his puffy cheeks. White teeth sneered between thin lips with yellow highlights from the fluorescent hall lights. The silent students stepped backward to give space. The squeak of shoes on the green floor and the rustle of backpacks offset Roy’s deep, sour breaths.

“It was an accident, and it didn’t mean anything,” Stacy said. She stood rigid and stared up at him. Blond ponytail ends trembled as she balled her hands. Sweat rolled down the back of her pink neck. The wall of students murmured. No teachers, administrators, or disciplinarians appeared stop the proceedings.

“Fuck you!” Roy screamed and smashed the locker as Stacy’s head jerked to the side. The door crumbled, and red spots appeared on the jagged silver edges. One student gasped while another laughed. Phones appeared, and backpacks landed on the floor. Stacy stood with an arched back, defiant, a tower against Roy’s storm. Books fell out of the locker, and papers fluttered in the air as Asher withdrew his blood-covered fist.

Stacy, hands in fists with a tremble in her arms, shifted her feet and sneered. Someone coughed. Roy stared down at Stacy, his back hunched like a bear. Blood dripped from his knuckles onto the floor. Stacy stepped closer, a mouse versus a lion. Her pink lips pressed tight, her nostrils open, with pale blue glass irises between her narrow eyelids, black eyeliner with red eye shadow. Her chin cleft thrust out.

“Never again, we’re done,” Stacy said and turned her back to Roy. Her lips quivered while she released her fists. A thin girl with super agility, her heels lifted off the ground, and the right foot turned inward as if ready to dodge the next punch. The two closest students attempted to step backward, but the ones behind stopped them. A few glanced around for authority, but none appeared.

Roy straightened, reached for her shoulder, and launched his cut fist at the back of her head. She moved under his arm, jabbed his ribs with her fingers, then around his right leg, and jabbed the back of his leg with the side of her hand. A younger girl gasped and dropped her phone. Cheers drowned out Roy’s growl but not Stacy’s scream as he grabbed her blonde ponytail.