VERA’S POV Here I was, right before the college. I couldn’t believe I was sent to study fashion designing. Out of all courses in the world, I had to go for fashion designing. Somehow, I just felt it within me that fashion designing was way too low compared to what I could do. I had this feeling that I was destined to do something more innovative, but I couldn’t just fathom what it was, at this point. Anyways, I am thankful, still, because I could still manage fashion designing. It was still a reputable course, with a promising future. I walked into the building, and found the class I was to have this morning. I was late, and it was so weird as half of the class turned their heads to look at me. “Miss whatever, this should be your first and last time you come in to my class late. I am Professor Darwin and I do not tolerate both lateness and laziness in my class.” He spoke sternly, and I nodded, pursing my lips out of embarrassment. About half of the class laughed, making things worse, so I just found my way up to the back. I sat down comfortably, and focused on the Professor. “Hey.” A lady with blonde hair, called my attention. She was two seats away from me, but she moved closer to me and sat beside me. “I’m Claire, and you are?” She whispered, with a smile. “I’m Vera.” I responded uncomfortably. What the heck! Why did I just say that, right now? I shook my head and then I looked back at the lady who introduced herself to me, and I realized what mistake I could be making by replying her. ~flashback~ “Keep away from having friends. I didn’t send you there to have any. If you dare go against my order, you will find out what it means to be tortured mercilessly.” Lord Daniel threatened. ~back to reality~ Such warning I can not overlook, especially that I didn’t want him to remember who I was before I finally escape. “I’m Melissa.” I replied, and focused on the Professor.“But you just said Vera.” I looked away as I also didn’t understand why I just did that. “Where do you come from?” She asked, seeming like she had decided to move on from that question. She was beginning to seem like a pest, and was getting on my nerves. Was she the devil sent to me to put me into trouble? “Please I need to listen.” I said to her, and opened a text book. After class, I walked out to the field to chill out since I had one more class for the day. I brought out my phone, and opened my diary app to type. “Dear Diary, College seems normal, and a bit dry. This is not the kind of life I thought I would have if I ever get to get into a college, but here I am, living a life which isn’t mine. I want to have a friend, but I dare not. Having fun is thereby prohibited…” “What are you doing?” Claire asked as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder, interrupting my lone time. I immediately went off the app and put my phone into my bag. “Why are you following me?” I questioned, harshly. “Come on, take a chill pill. I saw you, and came over to meet you. Is that a crime?” “Yes! A huge crime which could earn me a dreaded treatment!” I yelled at her, and picked up my bag. I stood up and my pen fell, so I picked it up and tried to remove my pen cap which was seeming hard to do, and when I finally removed it, I had mistakenly scratched someone in the face with it. I looked back immediately, and noticed blood trickling down his chin. He was handsome and breath-taking, but his eyes looked fiery, and like he was about to explode. Just before I could make sense of what was going to happen next, someone grabbed my hand. “You run!” Claire yelled as she held my hand tight while running. “After them!” I heard the guy yell. Oh, no. I ran as fast as I could, with Claire, and we ran inside the main building and began to run up the stairs which seemed endless. I stopped, trying to catch my breath as I couldn’t take it any longer. “Wait. I can’t run anymore.” I managed to speak out as I gasped for breath. “They ran up these stairs!” I heard one of them yell out, and my eyes widened in shock. Claire grabbed my hand again, and we did our best to run as fast as we could until we ran into an empty class, and hid somewhere safe. We laughed, and chuckled, happy we were away from those guys. “Who were they?” I asked, out of curiosity. “Well, they are ‘Pride Boys’. But I call them Pee Ride.” Claire chuckled. “Whoa. But why did we have to run from them when all I did was a mistake.” “Well, the Pee Ride Boys do not take things lightly, especially that you scratched his face. I can’t imagine what he could have done to you.” Claire replied as she sat comfortably on the floor. “Well, what worse stuff can he do to me?” I muttered under my breath. “Heard it. Look, Melissa. You shouldn’t mess with them. They can do the worst.” Pfft! I know I wasn’t an iron lady, but I wasn’t that scared of the unknown with them. What I was more scared about was Lord Daniel. I was living with a lion, and playing his kind of game. What more could I be scared of? Speaking of Lord Daniel, I was not to have a friend, and Claire and I had just had a fun time running. I quickly stood up, and distanced myself from her. “What’s wrong, Melissa?” she asked, looking puzzled at my sudden action. “Thanks for today. Bye.” I said to her, then walked out of the class. I walked down the stairs, and was headed towards the next class, but Professor Dwayne called me. I followed him to his office, and hoped that I had not offended him by coming late to his class for the first time. “You are Melissa Creed, isn’t it?” He asked as he crossed his legs while sitting comfortably on his chair. “Yes. Did I perhaps do something wrong, Professor?” I inquired. “Well, yes you did.” “if it is because I came late to your class…”“Hush! Why would coming late for the first time be taken seriously? Think about it.” “Okay, what exactly did I do?” “You were warned not to mingle, Melissa, but you did. And now, I’ll just have to report to Lord Daniel.” My blood turned cold, and horror filled the in-depth of my soul. “Please…please. Do not report me, Professor. She…she was the one who…who came to me. We were… running from some guys.” I pleaded, with my voice trembling in fear of what was going to happen to me. “You never thought that he had his eyes in this college, right? Well, you are doomed.” “Professor, please. Have mercy. He will kill me.” I pleaded as tears ran down my eyes. “Alright, alright. I will not report to him on one condition.” “I will do anything, professor.” I sniffed, feeling hope alive in me again. “You have to sleep with me, whenever I ask you to.” He said, with a wrinkled smile on his face. “If you can’t, you’ll have to face the penalty, because I will add to your dilemma.” He threatened. ************** VERA'S POV I was lost in thoughts while walking back home. I felt so troubled, lost, dejected, and tired of it all. I couldn’t believe that Lord Daniel truly had his eyes on me in the school and what was more surprising was that it was my professor. Now, I was in trouble seeing as Professor Darwin was ready to destroy my life if I didn’t do his bidding. “Oh, gosh! What do I do about this?” I stomped my feet like a pouting child. “Is there anything wrong?” Kavon questioned, out of the blue. I didn’t notice that I had almost gotten home until I looked up at Kavon and then I glanced at the mansion. “Uhm… N…nothing.” I replied, then I walked into the mansion. When I got into my room, I sat on the bed like a lifeless being. Thinking back to when Professor Darwin asked me to have sex with him, I felt frustrated.“I can’t have sex with that man. No. There has to be another way around this.” I muttered under my breath as I stared at the ceiling. My eyes gradually closed as they became heavy, until I fell asleep. I woke up at midnight and walked out of my room, and headed to the dining room to drink water. As I got to the dining room, I poured chilled water into my glass cup. I gulped down my drink satisfyingly and shut my eyes to enjoy the feeling. “Why are you this loud while drinking water?” I heard Lord Daniel’s voice echo. My eyes widened in shock, and I coughed out, making water spill out of my mouth. I continued to cough until I felt better, and then turned on the lights. Lord Daniel was right in the sitting room without his shirt on. “I…I apologize. I didn’t know you were here.” “How was college today? I hope you are keeping to my instructions?” He asked, staring straight into my eyes. “Yes…yes I am.” I responded, trying to keep my fear and anxiety in check. “Good. Now, you can go back to your room. I will not tolerate bad grades or you sleeping in. You have to pull this off excellently or I will not let you off the hook.” He said, then turned back to what he was doing before I came in. I gulped down my fear in anxiety, and quietly walked back to my room. It was hard to sleep seeing how doomed I was. That so-called Claire had put me into the trouble I was avoiding, on my first day. I sighed, and curled up on my bed, wondering what would be the way out, out of this. The next day, I got ready for college, and when I got to class, I walked up to the back seat to avoid any trouble or attention from anyone, but unfortunately, the Pee Ride Boys sat near me, making me sit in their midst. They sneered at me, and chuckled evilly as they looked down on me. “So, you dared try to run from me, and ended up stressing my boys, uhn!” The leader uttered, staring deeply into my eyes. “I had no intention of running, but I was advised to. Look, I am sorry for hitting you, but that wasn’t intentional.” I apologized, hoping that he would take my apology. “Hmmm. Well, I’ll listen to your apology only when you see me at the basketball court once it is evening. If not, I will still see you as an enemy.” He said, then put on his face cap, and faced it to the back, then left.His boys or friends also followed after him, and adding to my dilemma, Claire sat beside me immediately. “What did they talk to you about, Melissa?” Claire asked, inquisitively. I felt anxious and my skin pores broke out sweat as a result of my nervousness. “Please can you stop following me?” I voiced out, beginning to get tired of her appearing at me. “Hey, chill out. You left me yesterday even when I helped you, and now, you are acting like some ungrateful princess.” Claire busted out in anger. I sighed, and slammed my hand on my face. “Look, I appreciate what you did yesterday, but let it be the last time you butt into my business. You already caused me enough trouble.” I retorted, and stood up, carried my bag, then moved to another seat which was far from her. I knew I didn’t act right, but right now, I had to do that to be able to live longer in this world. Professor Darwin walked in confidently into the class, and his eyes scanned the whole class like he was searching for me. And I was right, he was searching for me. His eyes met mine, and he smiled mischievously which made my blood boil in anger. I clenched my fists, and almost broke my pen because of that. “Now, let’s get to today’s work.” Professor Darwin announced, with a smile on his face like he was some good man. After Professor Darwin’s class, I had two more classes until it was evening. I packed up my books, and remembered that I had a brief meeting with the Pee Ride Boys. “Well, all I just got to do is to apologize to them again, and that would be all.” I said to myself, and headed to the basketball court. I looked around while I was walking to ensure that Professor Darwin wasn’t stalking me to get more things to pull me into his tricks. As soon as I got to the basketball court, I breathed a sigh of relief. The basketball court was empty, but I sighted the Pee Ride Boys, standing in front of the basketball court. I walked up to them, clutching to my bag, and when I got to them, I halted. “So, I am here to apologize.” “Go on.” The leader urged, with a wide smile. “I am sorry for mistakenly scratching you on the face.” I apologized again.The Pee Ride Boys clapped and laughed and I wondered why they were doing that. “You know, I really do not let those who offend me off the hook. You aggravated your situation by running from me, and an apology can’t suffice for that.” He said as he circled around me. “What do you mean by that?” I questioned as I felt my body freeze. “If you were a guy, I would have punched you till you got a sore eye, but I can’t do that to a lady. So, instead, I prepared something nice for you. Guys, bring it on.” He said to his gang. I took a few steps backwards and was preparing to run, but they were faster than me, and pulled me to the wall, then pinned me down. “I am going to rip your clothes off, and take a video of the beauty you have under those clothes. That way, I would have my sweet revenge. One wrong move from you any time after I take the video, I will post it. More like you’ll become my underdog.” He smirked, and began to move closer to me. “No… No… Please don’t!” I screamed as he got closer to me and began to unbutton my shirt.