"Are you alright?" Henry asked while Ellen wiped her eyes with his handkerchief. They were sitting under a tree as classes had not started yet. "Yes. I'm sorry for creating a rift between you two, but I don't want any trouble, please. Just forgive her. Any girl will be upset to find her boyfriend with another girl in class at 6 am." Ellen replied, and he smiled. "Forget about her. I decide who I want to be with, and besides, I was fed up with her anyway. Should I make her pay for hitting you?" "No, no. It's fine. I'm okay, I have to go to class. Have a nice day." She said and left. "Henry!" He turned to Eric and Clara approaching. "Thought you said drama is for girls, right? So, what was that all about? You just got back to school and you're already making threats!" Clara demanded. "Bro, no one remembers the last time you made trouble for a student since form two, when that poor guy had to transfer schools for peace.
You literally gave a warning because of Ellen, a junior. Are you interested in her?" Eric asked with raised eyebrows. "Maybe. She's an interesting lady, and Amanda just irked me, that's why." He replied. "Are you really interested in her, or you just want to play with her?" Clara asked suspiciously. "Come on, Clara, I gave you my word, remember?" "I know, I just want to be sure." She replied.... "Ellen, where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you." Kelly asked when Ellen entered class. "What happened to your face, and why is your dress dirty?" Abby asked with concern. Ellen recounted everything to her besties, and they were shocked. "OMG, is she nuts? Elle, see what we've been telling you. What if you had gotten seriously hurt? Just stay away from him, Elle. You've seen what he can do with a girl; stay away before you get hurt." Kelly said, and Abby agreed. Later that afternoon, a boy came to tell Ellen that she was needed in the library by Henry. In order not to have trouble with her friends, she didn't go and avoided Henry for some days till he caught up with her as she was running towards the dining hall and bumped into him. "Well, look who the cat dragged out of the bag. Eleanora Wilson. What's the hurry? Are you avoiding me or something?" he threw questions at her. Ellen was about to answer when she saw Abby at a distance. "Um, no. I'm just busy, that's all. It's lunch time so I have to go now. Excuse me." "You seem to love that phrase a lot. You always want to be excused. Tell you what, you aren't leaving till you tell me what's going on." Henry said, blocking her way. "I really can't talk now, I'm sorry." She replied and took off, leaving Henry confused. It was almost lunch over when Ellen got to the dining hall. She noticed everyone was eating, and her plate hadn't been served yet. That was unusual, as her friends always made sure her plate was served even if she wasn't around. "Oh, finally you've arrived, Ellen. I thought you wouldn't come and almost shared the whole food." Mercy, the table head said. Ellen was surprised her friends didn't put in a word for her and asked them so. "Why didn't you put down my plate or tell them I'd be coming?" she asked. "Well, since you were busy with your "male bestie", we thought you wouldn't get time to eat. Excuse us." Abigail answered, using air quotes to make sarcastic emphasis on male bestie. "Seriously?" "Yes, bye". Ellen was speechless with the attitude they were giving her because of a guy. She emptied her plate as she just lost her appetite and went to the washroom to cry. Ellen cried for some time as she missed her mother. She had no idea friendship could be this tough. They were her first friends, and they just showed her attitude as if she were doing something bad. She washed her face a couple of times before heading for the Biology lab. "Miss Wilson, how come you're late to class? You are mostly on time, and I'm letting you off the hook because this is your first time, but make sure not to repeat this. Is that clear? ...good, take your seat." Ellen took her seat with relief as Miss Betty wasn't one to let people off the hook that easily. She was good at making faces, so no one noticed she had been crying, but her friends did. They knew her after all. The biology period flew quickly, and everyone left, leaving Ellen. They had a free period before physics, and since they would come back to this block for physics class, Ellen decided to stay back and continue sulking. Her head was on the table when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She quickly wiped her tears under the table and raised her head. "Are you alright?" "Are you stalking me?" she replied, and he smirked. "No ma'am, I was just passing when I saw your head on the table. I was having a chemistry period, and the lab happens to be next to this one, remember? Why are you here alone? Aren't you freaked by the organisms in here? At least they should freak you out, ha-ha. Where are your friends anyway?" Henry bombarded her with a series of questions, but his last one drew tears to her eyes. He sat by her when he saw tears and asked what was wrong.
Ellen just hugged him, surprising both of them. She cried for some time, and Henry allowed her before she calmed down. "My friends are angry with me, Henry." "Why? Did you do something wrong?" "They want me to stay away from you. Not just those, every girl wants me away from you. You have no idea what I go through at the hands of my seniors." "Is this why you are crying? Ellen, do people still make decisions for you at your age? This is your life, your rules. If you think I'm not a nice person to stick around with, stay away from me, but let it be your own decision, not because your friends or any other person said so. You're the boss of your own life, make your rules and stick by it. Just know the important ones and work toward them. Stop crying and prepare for your next class. I've been told you are my greatest competition among the juniors and even the seniors, hahaha. Clara and Eric are yet to beat me, and you are yet to beat them to get to me. I don't know what they see in you, but you can't beat me with tears, unless you rack your brain, so focus and put aside trifle things, alright?" Henry teased and counseled. "You are such a braggart. Thanks anyway." "Anytime. Let's meet at the basketball court to talk more, okay? Catch you later." He said with a wink and left. The time read 3:30 pm when the closing bell rang. The last period for the day was physics, and as usual, Ellen stayed behind to go through the day's lessons. She was engrossed in her book when she heard her name. "Elle, can we talk?" Kelly asked. "I'm kind of busy. Can we make it later?" She replied without even raising her head. "Eleanora, we are talking to you! Can you at least look at our face?" Abby said, closing the book with fury. "Wow, are the best friends in the world fighting?" A boy in the class asked, and the class roared with laughter. Abby and Kelly rolled their eyes at them and asked Ellen to come with them politely. They walked over to the mango tree opposite their dorms and sat to talk. "Elle, why are you being so stubborn?
We saw your bulgy eyes today and realized you've been crying. We're sorry if we made you feel bad. Ellen, you're our friend, and we wouldn't want you to get hurt because of what guys like Henry are capable of." Kelly broke the silence after they had sat for about five minutes or so in silence. "Why are you two so bent on the idea that he is bad? Yes, he may have a reputation as a playboy, but he's not what you think. You guys just need to get to know him before you judge him. He's great and kind. Players change, okay, and I'm sure he doesn't have bad intentions for me. He gave Clara his word." Ellen defended, and they shook their head. "You have no idea how manipulative a guy can be just to get to you. We are just trying to protect you, Ellen, but if you think that's bad, then you make a choice. Henry or us? You decide, because I won't be a part of you getting hurt. And if you can, prove to us all players do change." Kelly announced, and Ellen got hurt. "Elle, if you want to make friends, go ahead. Just know who is real and who is not. There are so many guys in our year group and even in our class, why can't you befriend them, but Henry? I feel like this is my fault because I admired him, so I put ideas in your head. That's why you like him, but believe us, if you had seen how he treated sisters Esther and Lilian, you wouldn't go near him. He is just going to use you because no one has been able to get close to you except him. This could be a bet for all you know. Never trust a playboy, Elle." Abby counselled as well, and her words made an impact as they sank deep into Ellen. What she said made sense, and she didn't want to lose the people who were looking out for her, so she promised to stay away from Henry, even if it hurt her.