Phil Chase was walking down the street, the morning air warm even though it was cloudy. He walked past stores and hotels until he reached his neighborhood, Sun Park, a quiet and cheery place where the most severe crime committed was someone breaking into a car. He got to his house, a big red house with white trim that was shaped like a big box and had a yard full of bright green grass.
He opened the door and said “Hi” to Foofers, a scrawny black cat with green eyes. He checked if his parents Magnus and Alex were home, but they were working at the hotel down the street. This will be fun, thought Phil, as he grabbed the bowl of chocolate chips off the counter and walked to his room. When he got to his room, he made a beeline for his X-Box and got ready to play his favorite game, Call of Duty.
Phil opened his eyes, remembering that today he was going to a party. “Dagnabbit!” he yelled, getting to his feet and rushing to his closet. When he was all ready, he walked toward the beach. Five minutes later, he got to his friend Audrey’s house. She looked pale as an Irish person and very skinny because her family was Muslim and had just finished fasting for Ramadan. Audrey’s mom Sam worked at the hotel even though her father’s side of the family had a successful falafel shop.
“Hi,” Audrey said. “Ben just came over. Let’s go diving.”
“Sure. Let’s hurry so we can have lots of time before the other kids arrive,” said Phil.
As they walked to the dock, they saw Ben. Phil ran up to him and said, “Hi, Ben.”
“Shhh, Phil…” Ben was cut off as a group of Humuhumunukunukuapua’a fish who had been watching blasted Ben with water because of Phil’s noisy entrance.   
Ben stumbled back, rubbing his eyes. Before he realized it, he’d reached the end of the dock. He quickly balanced himself at the last second. “Phew,” he said, a little too quick. The old, barnacle-plastered wood gave a soggy snap like an Oreo just dipped in milk and Ben plunged into the water.
Phil and Audrey helped a soaked Ben up, laughing the whole time. Ben harrumphed and stomped on to the beach and laid down in the sand, saying, “I’m not touching the water ‘til it’s party time.”
Phil and Audrey just shrugged. Phil walked into the changing room at the side of the house and changed into the scuba-diving suit he’d brought. Then, he hopped on the jet ski and waited for Audrey, who always took forever to change. Once she came out, Phil started the boat and playfully drove it two feet away from the dock. Audrey launched herself at the boat, missing it, but grabbing Phil and pulling him off, almost capsizing the jet ski. Phil was shocked by how cold the water was. His diving mask started to fog up. He suddenly felt a cold, clammy hand grab his foot. He started laughing uncontrollably. Audrey was tickling him and he squirmed until he slipped away and got back on the jet ski. A few seconds later, Audrey popped out of the water. After trying and failing to get on the jet ski, she gave Phil a pleading look. He hoisted her up and they set off.
When they got back to the house, Ben was waiting for them on the dock, glaring at Phil.
“What did I do now?” Phil said, rubbing his chin.
“Well,” said Ben. “You drenched me and scared away the fish, and the other day…”
“Fine. I get it,” said phil, slightly defensive.
Just then, they heard the crystal clear Ding Dong of the bell. Audrey sent Ben to get the door so Phil and Audrey could change.
Soon, everyone in the class was there, swimming, eating and someone had set up a beach volleyball game that was pretty impressive. Across the fence, there was another party going on. Ever so often, there was a sound of breaking glass over the sound of rap music.
By mid-afternoon, the party next door sounded like it was getting out of hand, like a child handling a Rottweiler, but no one was that worried. Phil grabbed a Sprite from the cooler and walked over to the dock. He sat in his chair, watching the water and the brightly colored corral. As he sat there, sipping his drink, there was a SNAP, and Phil half-expected to fall into the water, but his subconscious mind knew the sound hadn’t come from below him. He glanced across the rest of the dock, looking for a broken plank or beam but, strangely enough, he couldn’t find one. He scanned the party, and, when he saw the fence, he gasped. A section of it had fallen in. Laying on top of the fence was a bloodied and bruised teenager who was at least in high school. On the other side of the fence stood a lean teenager with eyes that were wincing in pain, but were full of rage. Standing around him was a ring of other boys. In the lean teenager’s left hand was a half-empty beer bottle. In his right hand was a Kitchen Aid knife.
I guess the Rottweiler won, thought Phil.
The effect was instant. Anyone near the fence, promptly stepped away from the fence. Audrey walked over to the fence. “Get out of the yard and take your friend, also,” she said.
Jeez, thought Phil. Audrey just smart-mouthed a drunk person with a knife. Phil laughed giddily and walked over toward the fence. The lean teenager walked over his friend and went over and hit Audrey in the face. She stepped back a few times. He feigned and Audrey jumped back, knocking her head into the wall. Blood oozed down the back of her neck.
“Any other sissy little idiot girls gonna challenge me, because I’m shaking in my boots?” the lean teenager said. The teenagers behind the fence laughed.
Phil knew that he had to do something, but what, he wondered. He knew he had to get the knife or else somebody might get seriously injured. He looked around but there was nothing to fight with. Just then, the teenager started to drink from his bottle. This was his chance, he thought, but he was a second too late because the teenager was already putting down his bottle.
“H-hey!” said Phil, stuttering. “What do you want?”
“Shut your mouth,” said the teenager.
Audrey came over and stood at his side. The teenager threw the now empty bottle hurtling at Audrey, but Phil grabbed it just before it hit her. She was still shaking her head with her hands. Phil set the bottle down in the sand. The teenager stabbed the knife into the fence. “C’mon and fight me, sissy,” he said.
Everyone on the beach was edging away from the fight. Phil stepped forward but the teenager stopped him. “The girl,” he said.
Back on the other side of the fence, someone said, “Rodney, don’t do it,” but Audrey was already stepping forward.
“Just because I’m a girl, you think I can’t fight?” Audrey said, raising an eyebrow. (One of her many talents, thought Phil.) She put up her hands like a boxer on TV. Phil sighed. He’d always thought those fights were scripted.
Rodney launched himself at her, punching furiously. She was immediately thrown back and she gasped in pain. Then Rodney punched her in the arm and there was a crunch, like someone biting into an apple, as her arm broke. Her eyes rolled back into her head and, enraged, Phil jumped forward, punching Rodney square in the nose. Rodney recoiled slowly, then he punched Phil in the jaw with his right hand and his stomach with his left hand. Phil doubled over in pain and shock, but, for some reason, he couldn’t move his mouth. Then he saw a knee soaring towards his face. He jerked back but he knew it was too late. The knee never hit his face, but it hit his chest hard, breaking his rib. Phil flew flat on his back in the amber sand. Through the encroaching darkness and bright stars, Phil saw Rodney.
“You can’t deal with me pushing a girl? You know, men used to be dominant, fighting and dealing with money, and then one girl decided she wants to stand up, so all the others do, too, and now we have these incompetent idiots who can’t even do a push-up trying to rule the world.”   
“Wow,” said Phil. “Okay, Mr. Bill O’Reilly. Guess this is another lawsuit you’re gonna have to pay off.” He laughed. Then he heard something that sounded like a butcher’s knife cutting through a balloon. His broken rib had punctured his lung. In his wild pain, he saw masked creatures laughing and laughing and then he saw stars dancing faster and faster. The laughing turned to screaming and the stars flashed and spun so fast that his vision went from white to black.
Phil awoke in a white room. It smelled like the hospital. He tried to moves his head but pain overtook him, so he lay down and went to sleep. The next time he awoke, there was a tray of food beside his table. He tried to move his head again and he found he could, but only for a few seconds. He took a bite of the sandwich that was on the tray and his jaw hurt like crazy. Suddenly, he remembered what had happened. His stomach lurched as he remembered the feeling of his lung being punctured. He leaned over and threw-up on the hospital floor. The last time he woke up, his body felt refreshed but his rib was in a lot of pain. He realized the sting of a I.V. in his arm and he saw a heart monitor beside his bed. After he’d eaten a fruit cup, he heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” he said. His parents came in and they told him he was going to be alright. After Phil chatted with them, they left and his friends came in.
“You alright?” said Ben and Audrey in unison.
“Yes,” said Phil, and they chatted about that night. Phil told them about his strange dream right before he blacked out. “Weird,” said Audrey.
“Yeah,” agreed Ben.
“Is your arm okay, Audrey?” said Phil.
“Yeah, but your rib is probably a lot worse with the whole lung thing. Apparently, you had like three surgeries and tons of stitches,” Audrey exclaimed, gulping breath.
Phil nodded, and then they talked about other things that friends talk about.