Mike laid out the whole story in detail, making sure to hammer home two key points: first, that the other guy was deliberately picking on him as the new kid on the team; second, that Sam threw the first punch, and Mike was just defending himself.
Bottom line? Mike had planned this out ahead of time—he wanted to downplay his own role as much as possible.
Everyone on the team knew what kind of jerk Sam was, so they pretty much bought Mike's side of the story without much pushback.
Little George, who'd basically seen the whole thing go down, thought Mike might've gone a bit overboard with his counterattack. Still, he stepped up and offered to back Mike up as a witness.
Meanwhile, word had spread to the cheerleaders about what happened on the field. When they heard Mike had put that big dumb lug Sam in the hospital, the way they looked at him totally changed.
Tall, handsome, and can handle himself in a fight? That's straight-up security-blanket vibes.
Regina caught all those thirsty glances from the other girls—like they wanted to devour Mike—and it irritated her for no good reason. This "prey" of hers was clearly slipping out of her grasp.
Over with Coach George, he nodded slightly at Mike's smart answers. "Alright, think about how you're gonna handle the principal. This thing's probably not over yet..."
He dropped a few subtle hints to Mike, then, seeing that time was up, told everyone to drop the gossip and officially wrapped up practice for the day.
Mike brushed off a few teammates trying to buddy up to him, then grabbed Little George. "Come on, walk with me to the nurse's office."
Seeing how chill Mike was acting, Little George couldn't read him at all. "Dude, you already put Sam in the hospital—are you seriously not done with him? You're like a demon!"
"What are you talking about? Do I look like some villain to you?" Mike rolled his eyes and smacked Little George's shoulder. "I'm going to get an injury report done. That way, I've got something to show the school admins."
With that, Mike lifted his jersey, revealing huge bruises all along his ribs and waist.
"Hiss—" Little George winced at the sight, then glanced at Mike acting like it was nothing. "Man... you're a straight-up beast!"
Mike shrugged it off. "This is nothing. Sam's way worse off than me."
Thanks to his [Devil's Physique] trait, these bruises really weren't a big deal. Grab a solid meal tonight, and they'd probably heal up on their own.
With Little George tagging along, Mike hit the nurse's office—but Sam wasn't there. Even the school nurse was about to clock out.
Spotting their football jerseys, the nurse asked, "What can I do for you guys? That injured teammate of yours from earlier got sent to the town hospital."
Clearly, she figured they were friends of Sam's.
"We're not here to visit the patient—we need an injury assessment," Mike explained.
He lifted his jersey again.
The nurse still had fresh memories of Sam's injuries, and now here was another football player hurt. She sighed. "Football's just way too dangerous, huh?"
After a quick check, she smiled. "Kid, it looks bad, but it's all superficial. Rest a few days and you'll be fine."
Compared to the last guy's "critical" injury down there, Mike's bruises were honestly minor.
Mike held out his arm. "Nurse, my arm might be cracked—can you check it out real good?"
He hadn't been acting like his arm was busted, so she frowned a bit and grabbed her little reflex hammer.
No matter where she tapped on his arm, Mike insisted it hurt—like, bad.
After a few rounds of this, her frown turned into a weird look aimed right at Mike.
"You got beef with that other football player who got hurt earlier?" she asked.
Since she'd already guessed it, Mike didn't bother hiding. "That senior Sam wanted to 'teach me a lesson' as the new guy on the team. We had some differences of opinion, and yeah, a little scuffle broke out."
The nurse was a bit surprised by how upfront he was.
But let's be real—a good-looking kid like Mike? Easier to root for.
Little George jumped in too, stirring the pot by spilling all of Sam's usual bully antics.
While that was going on, Mike casually asked about Sam's condition.
From the nurse, it sounded like Sam wasn't too bad off—just needed to get those knocked-out teeth replaced eventually, and he'd be okay.
"Nurse, does my arm need a cast or anything?" Mike asked, dropping a heavy hint.
She totally saw through it and shook her head. "I'll write you up an injury report in a sec. As for your arm, a sling should do the trick."
Mike was super grateful for her going along with it.
In the end, Mike walked out of the nurse's office with a dramatically slung arm, injury report in hand, looking pretty satisfied.
Back home, when Grandma Connie saw his over-the-top getup, she freaked out and demanded to know what happened.
This time, Mike didn't hold back—he told her all about the thing with Sam that afternoon.
As his temporary guardian, Connie immediately declared she'd go give Sam a piece of her mind.
To calm her down, Mike had to spill the "real" story and his game plan.
Finally, he took off the sling, flexed his arm a few times to prove he was fine.
"You little rascal," Connie laughed and scolded once she knew he hadn't really gotten the worst of it. She promised she'd have his back if it came to the school.
That night, Mike and Connie skipped mooching dinner off the Cooper house next door.
Instead, to make up for worrying her, Mike took over the kitchen and whipped up a few of his specialty stir-fries.
Dinner wrapped up with Connie showering him with compliments.
Before bed, Mike got a call from Dennis.
He was back in St. Paul now, just checking in to let Mike know he was safe—and to ask how Mike was settling in.
Mike assured him everything was great here, that Connie and the Coopers had been super welcoming.
After putting Dennis's mind at ease, Mike even said hi to Aunt Kelly (Dennis's wife) through the phone before hanging up.
For the next couple days, Mike played the part fully—using his "injury" as an excuse to skip football practice.
Word of the showdown between Mike and Sam on the field didn't die down just because Coach warned everyone to zip it.
If anything, because of all the crap Sam had pulled before, kids he'd bullied were now treating Mike like a hero for putting him in the hospital.
Even that sling around Mike's neck? It became like his badge of honor.
A bunch of girls who didn't know the full story used "checking on him" as an excuse to flock around him again.
"Mike, the class already started a fan club for you. If the school or Sam gives you any trouble, we'll figure out a way to help..." During study hall, pretty classmate Lina leaned over and whispered.
For a while, those girls had backed off because they were scared of Regina's mean-girl vibes.
But now, with Mike turning into a school celebrity after the fight, his female admirers weren't as intimidated by her anymore.
At the same time, over in the principal's office, Principal Tom had called in all of Mike's teachers to ask about how he was doing in class.