Students Ran a Betting Ring on Schoolyard Fights. One Teacher Bet Twenty “on the Girl.”

Fights at Skydale High have been drawing crowds, and for some weeks now the crowds have been placing bets.

The book is kept by a student named Mika, in a notebook with her name on the cover. She does not look up. At last week’s fight in the courtyard, witnesses heard “Fifty on Gwen!”, then “Two hundred. On Gwen.” A member of staff was heard to add, “Twenty on the girl.” The school has not said which member of staff.

Gwen won. A clip of the fight has been watched by most of the town.

The rematch, on the retaining wall behind the back lot, did not go to plan. The favourite did a backflip on top of the wall, looked at someone in the crowd, and stepped off the far side. She was not seen again that afternoon. Her opponent fell off the near side. Mika crossed out GWEN and wrote TREY.

Some students now say the fights are staged and the fighters take a cut. One fighter, asked about this, said only: “My cut’s what, twelve bucks?”

Related: BUG, the first pages