The stadium went wild as Henry won the 400-meter race for his house. He was the overall best and was lifted by his friends. Ellen, for the first time, cheered on a guy in a manner that surprised her friends. She took a bright pink handkerchief and waved it high till it caught Henry's attention, and he smiled her way, making Amanda and the other ladies jealous. "Elle, there's no way you like Henry, right?" Abby asked. "No, of course not. I'm just admiring his skills. I mean, no wonder he's the sports prefect, right? And besides, maybe it's a good time to start making male friends since he wants to be my friend." Ellen replied, and both girls were shocked. "Elle, he is a PLAYBOY!!! There's no way he just wants to be your friend." Kelly reminded, and Abby could not agree more. "Besides, there are so many males in our year group that you can be friends with. Why our senior? Just be careful, girl." Abby said, and they left.
…
"Wow, you guys seriously weren't kidding about that freshman. She is a goddess." Henry remarked in the locker room after being impressed with what he saw. "Well, you know me, brother, I don't praise just anyone. I must warn you, she's a hot cake, a priceless jewel. Right guys? Hahaha." Eric said, and they all laughed. "Must you fools play every girl you see? Come on, give her a break. Besides, I gave Clara my word, and I am a man of my word." Henry said, to the shock of everybody. "Dude, you can't be serious right now. Who are you, and what have you done to our star player?" Benjamin asked, and they laughed again. "Quit the drama, that's for girls. I'm still Henry, alright. I'm just honoring my word to Clara." Henry said for them to stare at him, shocked. "You are seriously letting her off the hook? Dude, we all thought you'd make the impossible, possible. Didn't you like what you saw? I mean, that girl is a challenge. She can easily take up your position as king of high school, you know. Everybody keeps singing her praise about how beautiful and brilliant she is…" Ben continued, but was cut short. "Ben, life is not all about playing girls or being popular, alright. Everyone, listen up. None of you should go near her, you get that? Let me take care of her." Henry said with a wink, and the boys smiled with satisfaction.
…
"Oh my God." Ellen heaved a sigh of relief when she saw who had suddenly appeared before her. "I'm sorry, did I scare you?" Henry asked innocently. "No-um, I didn't expect to turn and find you behind me. What are you doing here anyway? It's too early to be out here. Oh, good morning by the way." Ellen replied, trying to steady her breath. She was yet to understand why his presence gave her goose bumps. The time read 5:30 am, and the form ones were up doing their morning duties before school began. Ellen was among those who swept the form three science block together with Kelly. She was about to leave after sweeping when she almost bumped into Henry at the door. At one moment, she thought it was a ghost till she saw his face. "What do you mean, what am I doing here? This happens to be my class, Miss. Can't I come to class this early?" Henry asked with raised eyebrows. "Oh, I'm sorry, senior, I had no idea. I was about to leave after sweeping. Excuse me." She said and was about to leave when, "Wait a minute! Do you work here?" Henry asked, making her halt in her tracks. "Yes." Came her short reply. "Can you see well in the dark?" "Yes." "The room is not well swept. I can still feel dust around." "WHAT? Pardon me, senior, but I swept very well. Since this is your class, you can attest to the fact that the room is always clean before classes begin. And I beg your pardon; dust is not felt but seen. Excuse me." She left after that remark, and Henry smirked. 'This term isn't going to be boring after all.' He thought as he took his seat. The day went by quickly, and Ellen was exhausted after studying on her own with her friends. "Elle, it's dining time," Abby announced for them to start packing. They were on their way when Ellen heard her name: "Eleanora!" "Oh God, what does he want now?" Ellen said as they all turned to see Henry with Clara. They approached them, and Abby left with Kelly after greeting the prefects. "Ellen, how are you doing?" Clara asked. "I'm fine, please." "Great. This guy over here just reported you to me. He says you disrespected him. Is that true?" "Um, I didn't mean to disrespect him. Sister Clara, is just that I was just in a hurry to prepare for class, and he told me to sweep the class again because he felt dust around. I only asked him if he's seen dust around before, since it's his class, and that the class was always well cleaned." "Oh, is that so? Ellen, Henry just loves to play around. He was joking when he said that. He told me you corrected him, and that's funny because he's the best in academics and sports for our year group, followed by me. He barely stays in class and still takes up the first position, which I'll occupy soon. Don't take him seriously; he just wants an opportunity to talk to you, that's all. I'm sure you've heard about him on campus, right?" "Yes. He has quite a reputation here, especially among the girls." Ellen answered with a smile. Henry just sat still as if he wasn't the object of discussion while Clara laughed. "Wow, you are really funny, Ellen. I don't know why I'm attracted to you because I don't give freshmen a jovial face for them to walk over me, but I'm sure you won't do that. Would you like to be my friend or, better yet, sister? I just love your courage and attitude." Clara praised and asked. Ellen was glad to hear that, as she admired the girls' prefect a lot as well. "YES! I'd love to be your sister." She replied. "Girls and drama. Clara, you were supposed to be defending me against this rude freshman, and you are forming family ties with her? What kind of best friend and sister are you? Audrey is way better than you." Henry remarked, pretending to be upset, and stood to leave, but was stopped by Ellen. "I'm sorry I disrespected you, senior. I'm not rude. I just had to finish early and go to class." He turned to find her kneeling. At this point, people were starting to move to their class for preps and saw Ellen kneeling in front of Henry and Clara. Abby and Kelly were shocked to see their friend kneeling and wondered what she had done to deserve it. They walked towards the trio with Amanda in the lead and others staring. "Hello, everyone, except you. Babe, what's going on here?" Amanda asked, rolling her eyes at Ellen. She was beyond happy, thinking Henry must have punished her since she felt insecure about Henry leaving her for Ellen. "Nothing that's of your business, Amanda. Get up before I become the bad guy in front of your friends." Henry ordered, but Ellen refused to get up. Amanda, however, was shocked at how he answered her. She turned to look at Clara, who rolled her eyes and looked at Ellen. "Ellen, why are you kneeling? Won't you prepare for prep? Your friends are waiting for you as well. Forget about this and go. Let's talk later." Clara said, and before they could blink, Henry picked her from the ground using her shoulder. "I said, get up, Ellen. I don't repeat myself twice. It's okay, I will forgive you on one condition…friends?" He said, extending his hand, which Ellen took with a smile. They all left with Ellen explaining everything to her friends.
*** (In the prefects' room)
"Wow Henry, wow. I'm absolutely speechless. Who on earth uses bullying to make friends with a girl? This means you had a reason for bullying her right? Wow! What's the plan?" Eric asked his best friend after prep in the prefects' cubicle. "There's no plan bro. I told you I'm not playing her. She's a smart girl but I'm sharp. Just wait and watch. This term is going to be fun." He replied with his arm behind his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. ... The sun came out with Ellen sitting with Henry in class. She was already in her uniform with her belongings in her class. As if she knew this guy would make an appearance again and waste her time, so she was prepared. They have been sitting for 30 minutes now, talking about random things and he had a great time making her laugh. "What the hell is going on here?" Came Amanda's voice. Ellen stood immediately, ready to leave when Henry held her back. A greeting is supposed to come out of a well-mannered lady's mouth when she enters a place with people inside. Be a lady number one, Amanda. We are talking, what else? I don't believe I'm with a blind girl, am I?" Henry gave a sharp reply which brought tears to her eyes. "Are you seriously talking to me this way in front of a freshman? Hey, you, what is so special about you that is giving you all the attention huh? How many times must I warn you against my boyfriend?" Amanda said in an angry tone. At this time, people were beginning to fill the class, and Ellen was uncomfortable about being the center of attention. "She is a first-class lady, and you are not! We are over." Henry declared and Amanda dashed for Ellen. *Slap* "You prostitute, who the hell do you think you are? How dare you?" "AMANDA!!" Henry roared and pulled her off Ellen, making her fall on her butt. Ellen ran out of the class but was stopped by Clara, who just arrived. "Ellen? What are you doing here? OMG, who did this to you?" She just threw questions at her, but the girl couldn't answer and just stared at her in tears. Clara looked into the class and saw Henry restraining Amanda. *Clap, clap, clap* Clara clapped three times in a row to restore order in the class. "Have you seniors, got nothing better to do than behave like children? Even our juniors are quietly studying, and you are turning the classroom into a boxing arena. I dare anyone to make another move, and I'll send you straight to DC." Clara said and the whole class turned quiet. Though just a girls' prefect, Clara held such authoritative and honorable demeanor that everyone feared and respected her. She turned to Henry with demanding eyes, but before he explained what was going on to her, he gave a warning: "Touch her again and you'll regret it. That goes for all of you. It seems I've lain too low for you to forget who is in charge here." He left with that last statement, pulling Ellen along. Henry was not one to make empty threats, and they knew that very well. He was a daddy's boy who got away with everything, whether good or bad. He hailed from a powerful family that had allies both locally and internationally. That was why no one punished him when he didn't attend class or come to school for a whole term. The whole class erupted into laughter after a while as Amanda had just been dumped by the guy she held in high esteem, forgetting he was a star player, and it was only a matter of time before he dumped her like the other girls. Amanda just went to her seat to cry while Clara smiled. She never liked Amanda anyway.