Joel was so absorbed in blindly sending a wild flurry of punches, that he didn’t notice when Finnian had parried them all. For someone acquainted with speed, his only reaction to Finnian’s sudden change in momentum was his body’s instinctual method of telling him of impending danger. And before he could notice Finnian’s movement, the latter had already closed in on him.

Unexpectedly so, Finnian tripped and stumbled past the dumbstruck Joel, falling with his face to the floor. The alarm beeped, signaling the end of the match. The whole class broke out into a burst of uproarious laughter seeing Finnian fall to the ground. They weren’t just being mean or anything like that; it was just that the way Finnian fell was indeed funny, stumbling head first into the ground.

Mrs. Ruth stepped up to ease the laughter. Her expression was serious as she looked at Joel, who was still uncertain of what just happened, and Finnian who inordinately rubbed the bump on his forehead.

“I pronounce Joel th