I was still stunned from the warmth of Travis’s lips when Shepley pulled me to the wall beside Adam. I was bumped and elbowed, reminding me of the first night I watched Travis fight, but the crowd was less focused, and some of the State students were getting hostile. Easterners cheered and whistled for Travis when he broke into the Circle, and State’s crowd alternated between booing Travis and cheering for Brady.
I was in prime position to see Brady tower over Travis, twitching impatiently for the bullhorn to sound. As usual, Travis had a slight grin on his face, unaffected by the madness around him. When Adam began the fight, Travis intentionally let Brady get in the first punch. I was surprised when his face jerked hard to the side with the blow. Brady had been training.
Travis smiled, his teeth a bright red, and then he focused on matching every punch Brady dealt.
“Why is he letting him hit him so much?” I asked Shepley.
“I don’t think he’s letting him any more,” Shepley said, shaking his head. “Don’t worry, Abby. He’s getting ready to take it up a notch.”
After ten minutes Brady was winded, but he still landed solid blows into Travis’s sides and jaw. Travis caught Brady’s shoe when he tried to kick him, and held his leg high with one hand, punching him in the nose with incredible force and then lifting Brady’s leg higher, causing him to lose his balance. The crowd exploded when Brady fell, but he wasn’t on the floor for long. He stood, but with the addition of two lines of dark red streaming from his nose. In the next moment, he landed two more punches to Travis’s face. Blood rose from a cut on Travis’s eyebrow and dripped down his cheek.
I closed my eyes and turned away, hoping Travis would end the fight soon. The small shift of my body caught me in the current of onlookers, and before I could right myself, I was several feet from a preoccupied Shepley. Efforts to fight against the crowd were ineffective, and before long I was being rubbed against the back wall.
The nearest exit was on the other side of the room, an equal distance to the door we’d come in. My back slammed against the concrete wall, knocking the wind out of me.
“Shep!” I yelled, waving my hand above me to get his attention. The fight was at its peak. No one could hear me.
A man lost his footing and used my shirt to right himself, spilling his beer down my front. I was soaked from neck to waist, reeking with the bitter stench of cheap beer. The man still had my shirt bunched in his fist as he tried to pull himself from the floor, and I ripped his fingers open two at time until he released me. He didn’t look twice at me, pushing his way forward through the crowd.
“Hey! I know you!” Another man yelled into my ear.
I leaned away, recognizing him right away. It was Ethan, the man Travis threatened at the bar—the man that had somehow escaped sexual assault charges.
“Yeah,” I said, looking for a hole in the crowd as I straightened my shirt.
“That’s a nice bracelet,” he said, running his hand down my arm and grabbing my wrist.
“Hey,” I warned, pulling my hand away.
He rubbed my arm, swaying and grinning. “We were rudely interrupted last time I tried to talk to you.”
I stood on my tiptoes, seeing Travis land two blows into Brady’s face. He scanned the crowd between each one. He was looking for me instead of focusing on the fight. I had to get back to my spot before he was too distracted.
I had barely made headway into the crowd when Ethan’s fingers dug into the back of my jeans. My back slammed into the wall once more.
“I wasn’t finished talking to you,” Ethan said, scanning my wet shirt.
I pulled his hand from the back of my jeans, digging in my nails. “Let go!” I yelled when he resisted.
Ethan laughed and pulled me against him. “I don’t wanna let go.”
I scanned the crowd for a familiar face, trying to push Ethan away at the same time. His arms were heavy, and his grip was tight. In a panic, I couldn’t distinguish State students from Easterners. No one seemed to notice my scuffle with Ethan, and it was so loud no one could hear me protest, either. He leaned in, reaching his hand around to my backside.
“I always thought you’d be a nice piece of ass,” he said, breathing stale beer in my face.
“Get OFF!” I screamed, pushing him.
I looked for Shepley, and saw that Travis had finally picked me out of the crowd. He instantly pushed against the packed bodies surrounding him.
“Travis!” I screamed, but it was muffled against the cheering. I pushed Ethan with one hand and reached for Travis with the other.
Travis made little progress before being shoved back into the Circle. Brady took advantage of Travis’s distraction and rammed an elbow in the side of his head.
The crowd quieted down a bit when Travis punched someone in the crowd, trying once again to get to me.
“Get the fuck off her!” Travis yelled.
In a line between where I stood and Travis’s desperate attempt to reach me, heads turned in my direction. Ethan was oblivious, trying to keep me still long enough to kiss me. He ran his nose across my cheekbone and then down my neck.