Chapter Eight: Setting Things Straight

I was a bit early in school that day too & believe me, this time I've a proper reason to give than the previous time. I arrived at the football field to find the guys practicing diligently. There was a football match last weekend but I couldn't attend it since I had fallen very ill. Though they won the match anyway, Mark was sad like me as I couldn't be there in the audience. They have another match coming up in the next couple of weeks & I won't miss that for anything!

The coach Mr Jones blew the whistle, signaling end of practice. Daniel waved in my direction once he saw me & sprinted to the stands where I was sitting.

"Hey, wassup?" he asked.

"I realized today was the last day for you to return the books to the library that you had issued for me. So, there you go!" I replied, handing him those journals.

"Oh yeah. I think you saved me from receiving rude warnings from the librarian for not returning the books on time." he joked.

"My pleasure!" I quipped, laughing.

We talked for a bit about football & classes till it was time for me to take leave. As I was leaving, I happened to overhear the coach talking to Drake.

"Jack isn't upto the mark. We were on the verge of losing the last match because of him. You have one week. If he doesn't improve, he is out of the team." the coach said.

"Yes Sir." Drake replied quietly.

The brown haired guy Jack sat gloomily in the stands when Drake approached him.

"It doesn't matter how much I love football, the truth is I don't have it in me to be in this team. You get me replaced Drake & find a better player." Jack said sadly.

"I didn't include you in the team because I wanted to do charity, I selected you because you play really well. You're ridiculing your own self by not trusting your abilities so others won't take you seriously as well. You need to give yourself a chance to succeed by getting rid of your self-doubts. If you respect yourself, failure will be very easy to defeat." I heard Drake say that in conviction.

I almost thought I needed a new pair of ears as it’s hard to imagine Drake saying all that. However, his words hit me somewhere....

It was break-time after two English classes. I walked into the canteen. Sophia had saved a seat for me at a table.

"So Laura won't be joining us for lunch even today?" I asked her, taking a seat at the table.

"Seems so." Soph replied, sighing.

Laura hasn't been on talking terms with us since that incident. She is even quieter nowadays & chooses to be alone shut in her shell. And I didn't know how to set things right.

"Where is she?"I asked, "She wasn't even present in the English period."

"I had seen her walk into Room 315." my friend said.

I took her leave & made my way to that classroom. Since it was break time, the room was empty except Laura sitting in one of the benches. She didn't even seem aware of my presence.

"Laura...." I called out to her. She looked up at me but then lowered her gaze back to the floor.

I can't see her in distress anymore. I took a deep breath & spoke,

"Laura, I will say this again that I honestly love your writing skills & creativity. You're ridiculing your own self by not trusting your abilities so others won't take you seriously as well. You need to give yourself a chance to succeed by getting rid of your self-doubts. If you respect yourself, failure will be very easy to defeat."

I can't believe I quoted Drake's words & its even harder for me to accept the fact that he was indeed right in what he said. Laura looked at me with a mix of surprise, shock & confusion. I left her alone to think over that.

****

"Jason Ward, you're not in Harry Potter's Portions class at Hogwarts. So do the procedures properly." The Physics professor Mr Smith told sharply.

Everyone in the Physics lab found it hard to suppress their laughs while the guy named Jason seemed mortified.

"Andrea Wilson." I heard the teacher call out.

"Yes Professor Snape." I just blurted out & the next second I realized my blunder, "I-I mean Professor Smith..." 

I corrected myself hastily but it was too late. All my classmates burst out laughing loudly. Even Soph couldn't stop herself. It was my turn to feel mortified. My eyes caught Drake laughing from the adjacent slab. He looked so charming & adorable while laughing....but hey! he is laughing at me!!! Ugh!!!

A stern look from Mr Smith silenced everyone.

"Ms Wilson, I just said this is not Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." he told me strictly.

"Sorry Professor." I said meekly.

Then he spoke to the class in general, "For the next class tomorrow, I will be checking your science journals. See to it that you've written down all the five experiments with proper diagrams and conclusions. Anyone who doesn't submit their journal will serve detention. Is that understood?"

We all replied a "Yes Professor" in unison.

The bell rang soon after. 

****

"Listen everyone."

I heard Drake say that out loud when our last class for the day got over & the professor had already exited the classroom. Drake stood facing the class & spoke,

"Tomorrow no one will submit their physics journals. Am I clear?"

I was shocked at that. He spoke as if he was a boss or something.

"Okay Drake." a guy replied & the rest of the call solemnly agreed with him!

All agreed without asking one single question????That was like even more shocking.

"Hey wait!!!" I spoke up, seeing everyone preparing to leave the classroom. Drake's and all other pairs of eyes rested on me.

"Why shouldn't we submit our journals tomorrow & most importantly who are you to tell us what we ought to do anyway?" I looked sharply at Drake.

A smirk formed in his lips.

"No one questions Drake." some guy rebuked me.

"But--" I tried to speak but couldn't.

"Its decided. We won't be submitting tomorrow & you are included in "we"." a black-haired girl interrupted me. In a matter of few seconds, it was obvious that only I, in the entire class, had a problem with what Drake said.

Argg!!! This was so annoying!! Everyone was acting like blind followers of Drake. 

"To answer your question, Mark, I & few other guys from computer science stream are going for rafting tomorrow." Drake said.

I raised my eye brows at that, "So just because you won't submit your journal tomorrow, you don't want others to do so as well?"

"Good to know you're smart enough to understand that." he remarked tauntingly.

I frowned hard at him while others looked on.

"I am submitting my journal tomorrow, doesn't matter whether you go rafting or you go farting." I shot back & stormed out of the class. I saw people giving me scandalous expressions but who cares!!!

*

"Andy!!!" 

I heard Sophia call out to me from behind but I didn't stop walking. However, she caught up with me seconds later.

"You insulted Drake!" she said in alarm.

"Really??? how come I didn't know that!" I said sarcastically, "Well, I wouldn't have felt sad if you would have taken a stand with me against Drake in the class." I said in the same sarcastic tone.

"Andy, trust me, you don't want to get on the wrong side of him." she said solemnly as she stood on my way, blocking my path, "And he was looking so hot today!" she added in a dreamy tone.

I rolled my eyes at that.

Okay, so just let me quickly tell you what happened after that. I didn't submit the journal the next day like everybody else. Yes, you read it right, I didn't  because lets face it! you don't want your entire class to bully or hate you for going against them, especially when you have completed only two months in the school. 

And then what happened after that was completely expected---Mr Smith gave detention to the entire class. We had to write each of the five experiments, three more times. Sulk! Sulk! Sulk!

All because of that blonde haired jerk named Drake Spencer!!!Arggg!!

Soph & I were in the library the other day doing the detention work along with few other students from our Physics class. After writing the same procedure thrice, when I scanned my eyes around the library, I saw a spectacled guy who seemed to be doing the same detention like us. But I had never seen him in the Physics class before & I am damn sure he wasn't a Physics student.

Curious, I got up from my seat & strode to where the guy was sitting. When I peered over what he was writing, I figured out he was doing Drake's detention work & the guy was able to imitate Drake's handwriting pretty well! 

Shock would be an understatement.

"So again nosing around Nosey, ain't you?" I heard the sneering voice behind me that so belonged to Drake.

"I can't believe you're making someone else do your punishment!!" I said in a disgusted tone.

"It is not turning any of your hair into white, is it? So you shouldn't have any problem with it." Drake said calmly.

I opened my mouth to shoot at him but the exact moment, I felt a tug in my arm & Soph dragged me away from there just like Laura had done once.

"I can't express to what extent I hate Drake." I said as we returned back to where we were seated.

"Doing detention work is much better any day than facing the consequences of going against Drake." I heard a guy say from the opposite table.

Everyone says the same thing framed in different words. 

I was at the locker room after the last class that day. Somehow Soph & me did manage to finish our detention work. Sigh!

"Andy...." I heard a familiar low voice behind me.

"Laura?" I turned around, shutting my locker. After about a week, she's taking the initiative to talk to me.

"Andy, I thought over what you said and I guess you're right. I need to first appreciate & accept myself the way I am if I want others to appreciate & accept me. I won't be scared of rejection anymore but will work harder to achieve my dream & do full justice to whatever I'm capable of."

It felt so so good hearing from her because she meant it.

"That's the spirit girl!" I exclaimed happily.

She hugged me tight.

"I'm sorry for behaving an idiot!" I heard her say.

"Hey! Chill! We're friends after all!" I assured her.

She broke away. A smile spread on her ways.

"So alls well after all!" Soph chirped as she came in there.

"Yep!" Laura twittered.

"So we three are besties?" Soph asked.

"Totally." I quipped. We giggled, sharing a hug! Feels great to have good friends.

Ermm....Maybe I should give credit to Drake for this. Never! Never! He is not good!

~*~*~~*~*~

So here is the next part. Hope you liked it! :D

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