Chapter 2

It was a very calm morning, so I just decided to walk around the school environment since my mother insisted I stay in the school dormitory for first year. I didn't object to the idea because it was better than coming from home daily.

I plugged in my earphones, closed my eyes and let the music clear up my clogged brain as I took a gentle stroll along the side walks.

"The fuck is wrong with you, Andre?!" My eyes sprang open as I heard the voice of a guy shouting. I looked towards where the voice was coming from and I saw two guys having a heated argument. One was already red with anger and the other one was just being cool about it.

"What exactly are you talking about?" The cool one asked and I assumed that was the Andre.

"How do you explain what happened back there?" The red one asked angrily. Andre chuckled like he was having fun with the conversation.

"Will you just go straight to the point?" Andre uttered. "And please wipe that look off your face before you reply, you don't wanna know what you look like" he laughed this time. Damn, he was cute but I didn't care.

"You know it's quite rude to stare, or didn't your parents teach you about that?" I turned around to face the voice I heard from behind me.

Oh no! Tell me this isn't another Hailey Martins. I looked at her from head to toe: she was wearing a white cropped sleeveless top, a ripped jean short, her hair had different colourings; I could only identify red, black, green, pink and white amongst other colours.

"Staring at me now? Didn't you hear what I just said? In case ur parents didn't inform you, it's rude!" The multicolored bitch repeated.

Speaking of training... My Mum really made sure she took care of that aspect.

"I heard you quite well young lady" I didn't want to start off on a wrong foot with Hailey Martins the second. So I decided to act wisely. "Besides, you don't want to know the amount of training I have" I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"Like I care, just spare me the crap" she said looking bored. "I just wanna know why you were eavesdropping" she said.

"I was walking by when I heard voices so I decided to check, is anything wrong with that?" I sneered already irritated by her inquisitiveness.

"No, just stay out of the way of Dre and Henry, especially Dre, he's not your spec. It's okay to watch from afar but don't catch feelings" she eyed me from head to toe and I knew she was looking at my baggy clothes "it's not like you even pose a threat" she laughed scornfully. I was speechless, I really wanted to wipe that laugh off her face but it'll be a bit too early to stir up trouble.

Anyway, I got the message. Dre was probably her boyfriend so she was being protective of him. I wouldn't blame her, but seriously?! I wasn't even thinking of a relationship talk less of snatching someone's boyfriend.

"Don't you think you're being a bit too rude Ashley?" The formally angry guy asked.

Oh! so she has a name.

"Henry! Oh my gosh how did you guys get here just now?" A sweet smile from nowhere appeared on her face.

Where did such smile come from? I was shocked.

"I'm Henry" he stretched out his his hand to shake me. He smiled showing off his cute dimple. Oh my gosh I was crushing.

"Marlini Miles" I stretched out my hand to shake him too. I was so close to death when our hands came in contact and he kissed the back of my hand. Thankfully I was good at masking my emotions so I smiled instead of blushing.

"Nice to meet you Marlini, this is my friend Andre" he gestured towards the dark-haired cool looking dude, well damn me for expecting a word from the dude cause he didn't utter a single letter.

I nodded at Andre and he looked away snubbing me. Well so much for being nice... Someone remind me next time to keep my politeness to myself.

Henry leaned down to my level to whisper something into my ears.

"He's an ass don't feel bad about yourself, feel sorry for him" Henry whispered, shooting me a wink and I giggled.

Well if eyes could kill, I'll be laying dead right now cause Ashley wasn't taking it easy with the death glares. Andre and Henry exchanged glances.

"You're a fresher, yeah?" Henry asked me still smiling.

"Yes" I said.

"Okay then, see you around Marlini" Henry said waving at me. Ashley shot me another glare while Andre didn't even spare me a glance.

What on Earth did I do to that boy? He was smiling at a very awkward moment when they were quarreling a while ago and now that he's supposed to be cheerful, he's all gloomy. I plugged my earphones back in and let the sweet morning breeze take my worries away.

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I wasn't having any lecture that morning so I decided to spend it at a close by cafe. After walking for a couple of minutes, I took a bend only to barge into bitchy Ashley. Not again!

"Is this how you want to keep stalking me?" She asked angrily.

"last time I checked, you were the one doing the stalking" I said rolling my eyes and stepping aside to go through her but she blocked my way.

"I thought I warned you to stay out of his way" Ashley said through her teeth.

"I'm glad you were there to witness all that happened and I didn't beg to be introduced" my voice a bit calm.

"you were supposed to mind your fucking business!" She raised her voice slightly.

"you meant I was supposed to snub Henry? Besides, you specifically told me not to talk to Andre and he obviously saved me the trouble by completely ignoring my presence" I was now fuming with rage.

Why the heck is she even obsessed with those guys? like what the fuck is so special about them?.

"You want me to leave them alone? Well fine! You can have them. I wasn't even dragging any fucked-up snub with you" I dropped my last statement and stomped off angrily before she could block me again.

Finally reaching my destination, I pushed the cafe door open with all the strength I could muster causing all heads to turn in my direction. I made my way to a vacant table and sank into the chair trying to cool my temper.

"Woah! easy there, Bella" The dude slipped into the chair next to me without my permission. Did someone cast a spell on me this morning?

"The name's not Bella, and I don't want to know who the heck you are. Just leave me in peace if you please" I muttered.

"you got some rhymes there baby" he smiled at me. Did this guy really think I was in the mood for some silly jokes?

"Did you see me walk into this cafe?" I asked almost losing my temper.

"yes?" He answered.

"Did you see the manner in which I barged in?" I continued asking.

"yes" he affirmed

"And you still had the guts to sit few inches away from me? At the risk of losing some vital parts of your body?"

"Uhmm... Since you put it like that, I'll just move my chair a bit farther" he gave me another smile. Jeez! He even had the guts to smile at me.

"Do you seriously not fear anyone?" I asked surprised. Cause I was well aware that I took some scary genes from my mum that made people space me whenever I was angry.

He didn't reply but kept watching me intensely, like he was trying to read me.

I didn't relent either, I held my death glare in place. The silence stretched for at least 2 minutes before he spoke up.

"Allow me start again, who pissed you off?" Urrrggghhh... The nerve of this guy! I face palmed myself in utter frustration.

"Was it someone named Ashley?" His last question caught my attention and I slowly dropped my hand to my side.

"How do you know that?" I asked showing a bit of interest and he relaxed, placing his hands behind his head like he just won a battle.

"I guessed" he laughed frantically. Wow this guy is really catching some fun here. "you should relax a bit, your facial expression is so hilarious". Oh! My face is funny now? That was it, I've had enough with this guy!

I reached over and punched his shoulder. He stopped laughing for a space of 2 seconds and then bursted into a more intense laughter drawing a lot of attention to our table.

"I'm sorry but did you just attempt to punch me?" He asked when he finally caught his breath.

"No! I actually punched you" I said feigning an angry look.

"Then, don't try it next time cause I thought you were trying to dust something off my shirt until I saw the serious look on your face" he continued laughing.

I studied him while he laughed earnestly. He had dark hair, similar to Andre's hair, he too was an African-American. I didn't even know when my face broke into a smile just from watching him laugh. "Damn! It was priceless" he said holding his stomach, I wonder what's making him laugh so hard. When his eyes landed on me and saw me smiling, he almost fell from his chair out of fear.

"Swear down, you look damn beautiful when you smile" he managed to say. There was a comfortable silence before he broke it.

"Mission accomplished, I gotta go now" he stood up.

"Wait, are you saying you stopped by just to make me smile?" I asked him.

"Yes, surprised?" He smiled at me.

I ignored his question and gave a nervous laugh. "My name is Marlini but you can call me Marly" he was the first person I gave permission to call me by my nickname other than Veera, my best friend.

"I think I prefer Bella" he joked "By the way, I'm Jamal" he winked at me.

"Thanks again" I meant it this time.

"If you really wanna show your gratitude, you can do that by giving me your digits" he said giving me a flirty smile.

I rolled my eyes and gave him my phone number reluctantly.

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Author's note

Okey-dokey :-D can I have your lovely comments now?

Please tell me what you think about these new characters and also your suspicions.

What do you have to say about Henry's jovial attitude, don't forget to talk about Andre's snubby attitude. Now that I think of it, why do you think he ignored Marly like that?

Lastly who do you think Jamal is?

Please don't forget to vote.

XOXOXO