Chapter eight

"I don't think you've read the school rules" Mrs Jones started as Ashely stopped midway into the office. 

Ashely kept mute. 

"Fighting is against the school rules and you can get severely punished for it. I just decided to let it go today, but I may not be able to do that next time. It will be more that detention" She continued and Ashley listened attentively to her. 

"And I didn't expect you to get into a fight with Alex" She said. 

"He tore my mathematics note" Ashely said in a protesting tone. 

"Then you should have reported him instead" She said and Ashley became pissed. 

"And then you'll give him detention and that'll be all" She said almost rudely. 

Mrs Jones drew in a deep breath. 

"You know what, I hate school rules so I don't follow them. I do what I think is right. I don't care if I get punished" She sassed and stromed out of the office.

Angry, she had totally forgotten that Henry was waiting for her. 

"Hey" Henry called running after her. She stopped and turned back. Realization hit her in an instant. 

"I'm sorry. I'm just a little bit pissed" She apologized feeling guilty that she left him. 

"It's okay" He said. 

"Gosh! She said I should have reported him instead of fighting him like how does that make sense? It's just so annoying........... " She ranted and Henry bursted into laughter. 

"What's funny?" She pouted. 

"You look cute when you're angry" He winked at her. She held her breath. Did he just say she looked cute? 

She was turning red, her cheeks were heating up. Her stomach twisted in excitement. She just couldn't control it. 

"Huh.... Why is your face turning red?" Henry teased knowingly. She quickly cupped her face in her hands. 

"We're gonna be late for the next class" She said and increased her pace. She heard him chuckle softly. 

"Hey, wait up" He called running after her. She broke into a run and raced all the way to the class. 

Henry could not stop laughing. He stopped to catch his breath. 

"She's amazing" He thought and a smile curled on his lips. 

***

As Ashley settled down on her seat, she started to wonder why Monica wasn't given detention. It had skipped her mind totally. 

She remembered vividly that Monica didn't do her mathematics assignment. Did she perhaps copy Annabelle's note while she was gone? 

"Anna" Ashley called, gesturing her to come over. As usual, Annabelle was full of smiles, but she was a bit cautious because Alex was seated. 

She didn't want another fight to break out after what happened. 

Getting to Ashley's seat, she leaned on her table. 

"Did you give Monica your assignment?" Ashley asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Hmm... Yes.... I had no choice" Annabelle answered like it was nothing. 

Anger flickered in Ashley's eyes. Bullying was one of the things she hated most. 

"Forget it, it's okay" Annabelle added.

Before Annabelle could stop her, she had jerked to her feet. She took angry steps towards Monica, who didn't even notice she was coming for her until a hot slap landed on her cheek. 

Shocked, Monica caressed her red cheek that now stung in pain. 

Without thinking twice, Claire slapped her back. Ashely shut her eyes tightly. Her anger was at the peak. 

"Do you have a death wish!" Ashely screamed, breathing hard. 

"Shut that thing you call mouth!" Claire fired. 

"You walk up here, slap my friend for no reason and you expect me to just sit back watch huh?" She added. 

"For no reason? Your friend forcefully copied MY FRIEND'S assignment. Do you also expect me to sit back and do nothing?" Ashley fumed.

"Ashely calm down" Henry, who had already stood up from his seat said, placing his hand on Ashely's shoulders. 

His voice calmed her down and her body shuddered a little as his hand touched her shoulders. 

Suddenly, Alex stood up and punched Henry. He was angry, but he didn't know exactly why. Maybe it was because of his girlfriend, or maybe because Henry was supporting Ashley, or maybe it was because of the rift between them. 

Ashely let out a loud gasp.

Getting up to his feet, Henry punched Alex in the stomach. 

"Stop it!" Claire tried to separate them,  but she was shoved aside. Ashely tried to stop them to no avail. 

It was complete pandemonium and Ashely feared that they would get hurt. Henry punched Alex in the face and blood oozed out from his nose. 

Ashley screamed so loud, they all stopped for a moment. She hated the sight of blood. It makes her heart quiver and her body tremble.

In a flash, she quickly used her handkerchief to wipe the blood already rolling down towards his mouth off. 

Alex was suprised, at the same time touched by her sudden reaction. Did she care? Why did she do it?  All these questions ran through his mind, but then his mind drifted back to the fight and Shoving Ashely aside, he punched Henry in the mouth. 

The side of his lips bled and Ashley shut her eyes tightly. 

"Fighting is against the school rules" A stern voice said and they all froze. They knew who the voice belonged to. 

It was none other than their biology teacher, Mr Oliver. 

Everyone scrambled to their seats. Ashley's legs wobbled as she stood up while Alex and Henry kept glaring at each other. 

"Both of you" He said, referring to Alex and Henry. 

"Jog round the field thirty times and after school, you're gonna wash the toilets on the first floor" He stated the punishment. 

"Off you go" He commanded and they jogged out of the class. 

For the first time, Ashely felt bad about fighting. She ought to be the one punished not Henry. 

"Why did that asshole have to interfere? He just made everything worse" She thought. 

She wondered if they were fine because they were both hurt. 

***

Silence engulfed the air as they both jogged round the field. Soon, balls of sweats began to gather on their foreheads and their legs started to hurt. 

Out of breath, they decided to stop for a while since Mr Oliver was in class teaching, he wouldn't notice. 

They laid on the grass beside each other, their eyes fixed on the sky.  

"Do you feel better huh?" Henry asked, but Alex didn't reply. Tears glistened in his eyes. He was angry, angry at himself. 

He stood up suddenly and began to jog, then he broke into a run. Henry watched him and a part of him felt guilty.

Still running round the field, tears rolled down his cheeks. He tripped and fell on the floor. Henry rushed to help him up, but Alex's mind somewhere else. 

The memory of a girl sitting all alone in the school premises flashed through his head. He clenched his fist so much, he started punching the concrete floor until blood slowly seeped out from his bruised hand. 

Still not satisfied, he made to punch the floor again but Henry stopped him.

"That's okay now" Henry said in a soft voice. 

Thanks for reading. 

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