Chapter four

There was a soft  knock on the door. Claire's eyes turned to Annabelle's direction as if she was expecting her to open the door. 

Monica stood up. She unlocked the door and pushed it open.

"Food is here" A young lady announced, pushing a trolley into the room. Everyone picked their plate of food and ate silently. 

After dinner, The young lady cleared their dishes and Annabelle stood up to lock the door after she left. 

"Anna" Ashley called.

"Hmm"

"You know, you shouldn't let anyone bully you especially when they don't worth it" Ashley said, fixing her gaze on Claire. 

"She's a weakling, she's got no choice" Claire mocked, looking at Ashley directly in the face. She wondered why Ashley was so daring. Deep down, she was excited. "Tonight, we're gonna put you in your place, and you won't be able to run that little mouth of yours" She thought, smirking as she looked at Ashley. 

"Touch her and you'll have to deal with me" Ashley warned and Claire scoffed. 

After the exchange of words between both parties, Ashley decided to go to a class to study.  She brought a small bag from her closet and arranged some books inside, she picked up her pink hoodie and put it on, pulling the hood over her head. 

She picked her head phones, slid her feet into her black flip-flop and slung the bag over her shoulders. 

"I'm off to class to study..... I'll be back by nine" She said to Annabelle. A smug smile appeared on Claire's face. She had been thinking of how she was going get Ashley to leave the room. Luckily, her work had been made easier. 

"Be careful, it's creepy out there" Annabelle warned. 

The evening breeze was cool and the sky was ablaze with the fire of the setting sun. Darkness crept in and the day slowly turned into night.

 Ashley drew in a deep breath and tucked her hands into her hoodie pockets. She took the narrow corridor, climbed down the stairs, walked through the hallway and finally into the class. 

The class was as silent as a graveyard . Ashley ran her eyes across the class, looking for a suitable spot to sit. 

She ended up sitting right in the middle of the class. She dropped her bag on the chair, close to her right. She unzipped it and brought out her pen and her books. 

After an hour of studying mathematics, she decided to study history, but the lights suddenly went off. Everywhere turned so dark she couldn't even see what was right in front of her. 

She trailed her hands into her bag in search of her phone, but she couldn't find it. 

"Oh shit" She muttered in frustration. 

Using her instincts, she packed her books and pen into her bag, making sure she didn't make any sound.

 She knew her phone was somewhere in her bag, but she couldn't find it. She slung her back over her shoulder and tiptoed out of the class. 

She trembled as she walked in the hallway. She took each step, making sure she didn't the slightest noise. 

Still in the hallway, she caught the sight of a figure of someone walking at the end of the hallway. 

Frightened, she wanted to turn back quietly and probably make a run for it, but she clumsily stepped on a plastic bottle. 

Ashley stood still. The person turned back abruptly. The moonlight was dim, but Ashley could tell that it was a man and he felt very familiar. The man started taking steps towards her direction. 

Scared, she scurried through the hallway. He increased his pace and he got closer to her. 

Suddenly, someone dragged her into a corner and before she had the chance to scream, a masculine hand covered her mouth.

The unknown man kept coming closer , then he stopped. He listened for a while, then he turned to go. He must have thought someone was there or maybe he was mistakened. 

Ashley felt relieved, but she had another problem to deal with. She tried to get the hand off her mouth, but she was knocked out instead. 

***

Ashley opened her eyes slowly. Her sight was blurry at first. She was in a room with a dim light. 

The room was untidy, with broken chairs and tables scattered all over the floor.  She groaned as she felt a sharp pain in her head. 

She tried to stand up from the chair she was seated, but she realized her hands were tied, her legs too. She struggled to free herself to no avail. Frustrated, she called out, "Hello, is anyone there?".

The door creaked and two boys and a girl appeared. The boys were putting on black hoodies while the girl was putting a blue hoodie. 

Ashley couldn't see their faces because their hoods covered part of their faces. 

The girl pulled off her hoodie and Ashley recognized her immediately. It was Claire. She clenched her fist hard at the sight of Claire. 

The boys pulled down their hood and she recognized one of them. It was Alex. For the first time, she looked at Alex directly in the face. He has black and curly hair, and green eyes, full eyes brows and long eyelashes.

 Ashley didn't notice that before, maybe she was just too upset to notice it. She was lost staring at Alex until a slap landed on her cheek. A slap that brought her back to reality. 

It was Claire. "I swear I'm gonna kill his girl" She fumed inside, struggling to free herself again. Veins popped up on the side of her neck. 

"I told you I'll have my revenge didn't I?" Alex said with a smug smile. Ashley gritted her teeth. 

"You can hit her all you want Claire. Take out all your anger on her" Alex pulled a chair to sit while Claire grabbed a stick that was lying on the floor.  

With a devilish grin on her face, she started hitting Ashley with the stick. 

Ashley's eyes stung with tears. Her tears were more of anger than pain. She shut her eyes tightly as the stick hit her back. Alex smiled, deriving pleasure from Ashley's reaction. 

Unexpectedly, someone pushed the door open and they all froze. Ashley's eyes darted towards the door and she saw another cute boy standing at the entrance. 

She couldn't tell who was more handsome between him and Alex. 

"Wow! There are many cute boys in this school" She thought inspite of her present situation. 

Each step the guy took make her heart beat. He had brown and curly hair, cute black eyes and cute lips. 

"Stop it!" He said with utmost seriousness. The stick Claire was holding fell off her hand automatically. Alex's forehead creased in discontent. 

"And who are you to interfere?" Alex growled, standing up. Without replying Alex, he untied the rope used to tie Ashley's hands and legs.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his cute black eyes piercing hers and she nodded. 

Ashley gave Claire a dirty look. She was definitely going to deal with her in her own way. She tried to stand up, but her legs wobbled. Claire must have hit the stick hard on her legs. 

"You shouldn't have interfered Henry" Alex bellowed and walked out of the room with Claire and the other guy tagging behind him. 

"Let me help you" Henry offered. He told her to get on his back. Though she was reluctant at first, she agreed. He picked up her bag from the floor and then walked out of the room, carrying Ashley on his back. 

His sweet scent filled the air as he walked through the hallway, down the stairs, then towards the female dormitory. 

"Where's your dorm?" He asked, his voice was calm and cool. 

"Dorm G" She replied almost in a whisper. 

After fifteen minutes of walking, he dropped her off at the gate of her dormitory. Of course, Males are not allowed in female dorms. 

"Thank you" Her mouth curved into a smile. She was avoiding his gaze because he was just so cute. 

"You're welcome, but next time, don't get involved with Alex... He can be brutal you know" He advised. She kept mute, not knowing what to say. 

"So, what's your name?" He asked and Ashley felt her heart leap. 

"I'm Ashley" Her cheeks were heating up. 

"I'm Henry" He extended his hand for a handshake. Ashley hesitated before taking his hand. His hand was damn soft. 

They stood there, staring at each other without saying anything. Their eyes said it all. 

"Hmm Good night and take care of yourself" Henry waved. 

"Yeah good night" Ashley smiled. 

He stopped abruptly. 

"And you're very beautiful" He complimented, winking  at her, then he turned back to go. 

Ashely turned scarlet red as she blushed hard. She watched him disappear out of sight before she headed into the dormitory. 

She was full of smiles until she got to the entrance of her room. The thought of what Claire did suddenly made her furious, so furious she barged into the room. 

"Ashley,Where have you been? This is 10pm already" Annabelle said all worried.

Ignoring Annabelle, she charged at Claire who was asleep, or say, pretending to sleep. 

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