Fight in School and Aftermath

It seemed like a normal Friday night class on October 7, 2005.  We students were taking notes as we listened to the lecture when Danny suddenly walked in.

"What is he doing out of class?" I wondered since he also had a class that night.

About half an hour before class, Danny had arrived at the school clinic to interrupt Ranko during our pharmacy shift.  "Can we talk?" They both stepped outside the clinic, and a few minutes later, Danny told me some vague and confusing things.  Soon someone else informed me about his interest in me on the way to class.

When I answered that I was too busy and not interested, she protested, "You’ll break his heart!"

Thinking that they were going to further discuss their problems, I continued to take notes when I suddenly heard hitting and punching.  I turned around to see people trying to restrain Danny from assaulting Ranko though Danny once mentioned that after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, we had to be careful in talking about physical attacks and violence.  Now, he was being a hypocrite.  It took awhile for the professor to get things back under-control and file reports, and someone called the police.

While then, both guys were separated, and I heard Ranko announce to some classmates, "Danny likes…" At the same time Danny was saying that it wasn’t just about me.  Before I could hear anything else or explain things, people led me away from the two crowds.

I didn’t see the police or know what else happened in the hallway because after awhile, the professor closed the door and continued the lecture.  Some people were so upset that they left, and I found it hard to focus.  For awhile, school administrators came and went to discuss the incident report.  I almost burst into tears, and developed a headache.

When class break rolled around, I heard the reason from Ranko and others: Danny had interest in me, and thought I had interest in Ranko, so he got jealous and attacked him.  Ranko and I decided that it would be better to just say “hi" and nothing else from now on.  He also said that he was changing his pharmacy time so he wouldn’t be working with me.

Later that night, I informed Danny, "I feel as if a heavy burden has been placed on me! You mean I have to be careful who I talk to? I have no interest in anybody, and everybody is equally a friend." I also repeated that I was too busy for things like that, and said that they both should have asked me for the proof instead of making false assumptions and getting violent.  Besides, Ranko already had a girlfriend, and they know I do not go for guys who are already taken.  If a male friend has a wife or girlfriend, I want to be friends with her, and help them stay together.  Danny apologized for his behavior and false assumption, and added that he might get expelled.

When I saw Danny the following Monday, October 10, he apologized again, admitted his mistake, and announced that he would take the quarter off.  He said that it wasn’t just because of his interest in me, but a few other things were also bothering him, causing him to lose control.  At the same time, he said that he was going to tell Ranko not to change his schedule or behavior towards me, but he never did.  Ranko was still not comfortable with the situation.  I had originally changed my clinic pharmacy schedule from Thursday morning to Friday afternoon, and though he said at first that he was changing his schedule, he was asking me to change my schedule again because he couldn’t change his.

When I said that it was hard for me to reschedule, he pointed out, "If you are a friend, then you would do it for me.  If it had been you I would have done the same thing." Then he added that he was going to take it to the administration.  To avoid further hassles, I changed back to Thursday morning.  To tell the truth, I found that shift better for me.  After that, Ranko stopped talking to me and treated me like an outcast.  Even worse, he influenced other people into rejecting me, knowing they were cliquey.

I then feared that people were upset at me for the fight, especially since Ranko and some people later talked to me as if it were my fault.  He informed me that Danny complained that I was never available when he called, and I never called him back.  Well, they both know I’m busy, and by the time I got the message it was too late to call back.  Besides, we were able to talk at school the following day.

Ranko also complained, "You need to improve your communication with Danny."

At the same time, one of Ranko’s friends lectured, "Next time, if you get a feeling a guy likes you, but you don’t like him…"

"Well, I didn’t know until after the fight Friday night," I replied which convinced him it wasn’t my fault.

Fortunately, everyone I later talked to said that no one was mad or blaming me.  I hope they meant it.  While making sure, Ranko falsely accused me of trying to get attention by bringing it up.  I said I wasn’t, and that the reason was my fear of people thinking badly and hating me.

A few weeks later, Ranko announced, "It wasn’t just about you.  It was about a lot of people."

"Then why didn’t you say so at first?" I asked, but received no response.

To me, both guys were just friends like everyone else, but their stupidity ruined a few friendships.  At first, I felt sorry for Ranko as the victim, and was mad at Danny for making false assumptions about me and getting violent without asking me for the answer, but I eventually felt anger towards both of them as more information was revealed.

I gradually learned that both Danny and Ranko had some problems between them.  During that time, I was mentioned, so they decided to use me as an excuse, especially when they had to explain to others the reason behind their fight.  Others agreed, and we figured it had been a complicated situation.

Ranko and I talked before class on Tuesday, January 3, 2006, the first day of Winter Quarter.  After that, he disappeared, and I later heard that he had gone to join a soccer team.

Danny returned for Winter Quarter 2006, and we said "hi" in the halls.  One night, after a midterm, he approached me in the parking lot to apologize again for what happened.

He asked, "Did Ranko stop talking to you?" and I said yes.  He also informed me that he had been suspended, and the fight was over some complicated issues.  Both guys already had problems besides Danny’s interest and false assumption about me.  Danny had adjusted his Winter Quarter schedule so that he wouldn’t have classes with Ranko.  Some people have suggested that I go on a date with Danny, but

I definitely wouldn’t with someone like him: irresponsible, controlling, stereotypical, violent, and making false assumptions.

For Spring Quarter, 2006, Danny was in two of my classes.  When Ranko returned the third week, Danny stated that he wouldn’t hit him, and that he usually doesn’t get mad easily, especially at strangers.  He continued to say that he only gets mad when it’s personal.  That is an even bigger reason for me to not go out with him: if he could get angry at a friend to the point of hitting him, then think what he could do to a girlfriend.  At the same time, he mentioned that he wished there was a job where he could hit people and not get in trouble though he mentioned about using caution when discussing violence.  Despite what Danny said, he immediately dropped all his classes for the quarter.  The words and actions once again proved his irresponsibility, hypocrisy, violence, and inability to sort out priorities.

Though we talked a little bit on his first day back, Ranko was treating me worse than before.  If I got near to him, he quickly moved away.  He became more cliquey, put me down more, and tried to make me look bad.  It seemed he was even willing to break rules to avoid me.

I began to think that there might have been some plot.  Irresponsible and unable to sort out his priorities, Danny avoided having classes with Ranko.  He would rather not finish his classes than see how his assult on Ranko made him avoid and put me down.  Actually, Danny’s missing his class to fight already proved how he couldn’t get his priorities straight.  Instead of trying to settle and improve things, he just ran away from his problems to avoid responsibilities.

I recalled what Ranko said when asking me to change my schedule: "If you are a friend, you would do it for me."

I then discovered that if Danny and Ranko were really friends, they wouldn’t have used me as an excuse for the fight.  I did not appreciate how they dragged me into their problems.  When others wanted an explanation, they should have said something like, "It’s personal so we can’t tell you," or "It’s a complicated issue that we can’t expalin" instead of using a third party as an excuse.  I also became aware that Ranko was the one who immediately mentioned Danny’s interest in me when asked to explain the fight, and Danny had quickly responded that it wasn’t just about me.

I also realized that Ranko had lied about not being able to change his pharmacy shift Fall 2005.  He could have just switched it with another one of his clinic shifts, but he just wanted others to cater to his wishes.  In the past, there were times when he kept trying to make me get a boyfriend, and Danny was the one he mentioned the most.  If Danny was already making false assumptions about me and bothering Ranko about it, Ranko should have at least mentioned something instead of making indirect vague comments and actions.  If he didn’t have the nerve to tell me, then he shouldn’t have been saying or doing anything.  Both men’s actions showed their irresponsibility and selfishness.  With that, I grew angry at both, stopped talking to them, and refused to adjust my schedule for them.  Fortunately, they never asked me to.

For Summer Quarter, 2006, I saw both guys in one of my classes the first week.  During the class break, Danny approached Ranko, probably to apologize, because I saw them shake hands afterwards as I attempted a scowl at them.  Danny then left right away and dropped the class, proving once again his irresponsibility and inability to sort out priorities.

I eventually became aware that Ranko’s actions were similar to the fact that the more you try to hide something, the more obvious it becomes.  In this case, the more Ranko tried to avoid and put me down, the more Danny is going to falsely think I have interest in him (make the false assumption sound true), which would make him more jealous and upset at Ranko.  That made me feel more and more that there was a scheme with Ranko trying to make it look as if I’m provoking Danny to hit him again, then have me take the blame and bad reputation.

Later, one of Ranko’s friends stated that he doesn’t talk to him anymore, and that Ranko is argumentative.  He proceeded to inform me about Ranko putting down something he did, leading to an argument.  That made more sense why Ranko was attacked.  He probably provoked Danny by arguing, which worsened into a physical fight.

One day, several of us wanted to change the time of one of our Fall 2006 classes, and others asked me to start a petition.  He wrote: "NO! NO! [Ranko] is against this change.  I have to work and have made my schedule already.  [The class] was scheduled for Friday night for many weeks and we already have set our work schedule around this time. NO CHANGE."  It was true that the class had been scheduled for weeks, but it was Wednesday night, not Friday.  There were even papers to prove it.  When he had the chance, he quickly and rudely rushed to the school office to complain, and I happen to cross paths with him and an administrator a few minutes later.

The administrator asked me about the petitions, and I began to explain, but we had already walked too far away before I could tell him the whole thing.  Fortunately, I soon saw the administrator back in his office and cleared up the whole thing.  He said that the class was going to be Wednesday night as originally planned, and that Ranko was just worried about it being moved to the daytime.  Then he should have just written, "I need it at night, because I have to work in the day." This showed that he was trying to argue, be rude, put me down, and make my starting the petition look bad, even with the nerve to lie.  Besides, I didn’t recall him ever having to work everyday, especially since he was usually in my daytime classes and clinic shifts.  He once also boasted that he would be done with classes by Summer 2006, and now he was saying that he needed to take that class Fall 2006.  Certainly, people could change their minds, and situations could change, but his behavior just didn’t make it credible.

At about the same time, a rude, nosy, and disrespectful classmate, announced, "I heard the story."

"What story?" I asked.

"This guy likes you and he asked you out," Charlotte answered.

I replied, "He didn’t ask me out."

"Yes, he did," she contradicted, "but you said you were too busy… but you’re always busy."  It was as if I was wrong to say I was busy, or even be busy.  I quickly explained about Danny’s vague questions and false assumptions, my having no interest in anyone, the fight, and the terrible long-term effects.  While talking, we passed by Ranko, and Charlotte kept trying to inform him what we were discussing though I said not to.

<p align="justify”>A week later, she reported, "I talked to Ranko and he said that he doesn’t blame you.  He said that it also had to do with other girls."  I then further explained the way he was treating me while he didn’t change his behavior towards them.  I suspected that either Charlotte had asked some picky questions about Ranko and me, or Ranko, Danny, and those in their cliques must had fed her rumors and false information about me.

There is much evidence that both Danny and Ranko are not friends.  My feelings for them have turned into anger and hatred.  While they knew how to appear nice and get people to like them, they were actually trying to torture me.