Chapter 4: Chapter 4

It was a cold, chilly Monday morning. Michelle scurried out of her room dressed in her school uniform as she settled beside Roland at the dining table to breakfast on bread and egg served with hot tea. She told Roland to eat up fast because the driver would arrive sooner than expected. After eating, she wore her wristwatch and hurried up the stairs to her mother's room to greet her since she had just awoken from her sleep. Roland walked up to where his Michelle sat packing her books and writing materials to tell her he's ready.

"That's my boy!" She patted his head and checked his dress.

"Good morning Angel." Desmond called out to her as she was packing lunch for Roland and herself.

"Big bro. I'm sorry I didn't try to see you before leaving. I didn't want to disturb your sleep and I also didn't want to be late for school" she said apologetically.

"It's nothing. I was once like you. Remember?". Smiling, Michelle thanked Desmond for his words the other night.

"Oh that, what am I a brother for? But remember to watch your actions" he reminded her. There was a light knock on the door. It was the driver Anderson.

"Miss, the car is ready" he informed.

"Alright. We'll be on our way" Michelle replied then he left.

"Bro Des! Goodbye" she waved at him. "See you later in the day" Roland said.

"Have a nice day" Desmond waved back at them. Michelle and her little brother got in the car while the driver ignited the car engine. The engine revved with less noise. And zoom! They're gone.

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The students of Worthings High School were excited to be back after a long summer break. Worthings High was known to be one of the best school in it's division. It had the largest sports field, the most biggest well-equipped infirmary and chemical laboratories, a fascinating school car park, and the best appealing layout. The school buildings were arranged in large one and two-storeys as some parts of the buildings were built with glass. The exterior which was decorated with bright coloured flowers, is breathtaking making the viewer think of paradise. The school is often tagged as "the school of the rich" and the students are highly recognized throughout the vicinity. One of the beauties of attending Worthings High is that every student, has the priviledge to take in any mobile if his or her choice, albeit with rules. All in all, the school is of a very high standard and produces high intelligence.

Michelle alighted from the car biding her brother goodbye as the driver drove off, taking Roland to his own school since the junior high section of Worthings High is a lot far away from that of the Senior .

"Babe! What's up" Daisy called from behind. She has been waiting for her since she arrived school.

"I'm great" she replied.

"Yeah! I can see that". Holding hands, they headed towards thier class but met Richard in their way dressed in his best.

"Hello Michelle" he waved at her.

" Hi" she replied in her light pretty angelic voice.

"How's your holiday?"

"Fine" she said coldly and walked away with Daisy since she was not ready to entertain any other questions from him.

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The morning assembly began in ernest and was completed within few minutes as usual. The school principal Mr Matt addressed the crowd welcoming them back to school once again.

"Good morning students" he began in his clear english accent. "You are all welcome back to school for a new session and term which I want to assure you would be more interesting and memorable than the past ones.

"Memorable?, I pray so" Michelle thought.

"As we all know , we have the new intake and the familiar students. If I'm right, some of the first year students are already familiarized with this environment. However, I'm pleading with you all to get more acquainted with one another so as to achieve our aims and objectives for success this year. Moreso, the newly selected prefects, should make sure that the school rules and regulations are strictly adhered to. For the convenience of the new students, the names of the prefect will be posted on the bulletin board close to the broadcasting room. You can check that at your leisure. I implore you all to work hard in hand to achieve your possible best . Good luck in Worthing High" he concluded.

There was a thunderous round of applause from the students as the principal concluded his welcoming speech. Afterwards, they went to thier respective classes.

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Michelle and Daisy sat close to each other in class chatting and gusting cheerfully. Since it was the first day at school, teachers would be too busy to attend classes; so there was no real class that day. The MaVaMi trio came around to say hello to the two friends with enthusiasm and not scorn.

"Is this a pretence or change" Michelle thought when they left. They have always been known as the school gossips and source if trouble. Every incident that occurred in the school will not pass them. But not wanting to spoil her mood, she dismissed the thought with her usual philosophy of " You never can tell, change is constant. Then a sudden strange feeling made Michelle uneasy. She tried to figure out what it was and noticed a tall handsome boy sitting adjacent to Richard, glaring at her. He was a new student. She couldn't tell him to lower his gaze on her because it would only embarrass her. She then excused herself from the class, not without telling Daisy she'd be back. Few minutes later, she returned to the class, but the boy kept staring at her. Then she had no choice but to ignore him.

Livening up more, Daisy asked Michelle which extra activity she would like to include for that year. Joining and participating in extra-curricular activities like martial arts, golf, soccer, baseball, and many other sports were mandatory at Worthings High leaving every student without a choice. Thinking of the activity that would benefit her most and be easier for her, she told Daisy that she would like to choose martial arts.

"Martial arts?" Daisy was surprised.

"Yeah! I'm good at it" she replied.

"Alright then, Which type exactly?. There are lots of it you know."

"I don't know yet. I'll be choosing between Judo and Taekwondo" she said.

"You never ceases to amaze me. How strong are you?." Daisy laughed.

"It doesn't matter. To be precise . I'll go for Taekwondo"

"Woah!" Daisy said in admiration.

"What about you?" Michelle asked in return.

"I'm choosing golf" she replied

"Really!" Michelle exclaimed slightly.

"Yes, just like you. I've once trained for it and I love it." she said with confidence. Michelle was about to say something, when a cleanly rolled paper was thrown to her. She searched around her for who could have thrown it but couldn't find a clue and she didn't want to insinuate anything. So she opened the paper and it read:

" Happy new term dear Mich!. I just heard you say you'll be joining the Taekwondo team this term. I'll be joining too. I bet it's gonna be fun. Trust me". Michelle was still in a trance after reading the short note. Daisy snapped her fingers to bring Michelle back from her thoughts.

"What's written there?" she asked.

"It's Richard, he's getting into action" Michelle said.

"How sure are you? We just resumed for God's sake. He won't begin so soon" Daisy said. Then Michelle pointed at the caligraphed symbol which shows the note was from Richard making Daisy gasp. They both looked at were Richard was sitting and he gave them a devilish smirk.

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After school hours, the two friends left the class in preparation to return home. Michelle pleaded with Daisy to wait for her at the car pack. She wanted to your the whole school alone in search of where she could go frequently to ease her mind, calm her nerves, and relax whenever she's free. Of all the options, she has, she chose the school garden as her favorite place. The garden has beautiful flowers of different colours and pleasant odour. The atmosphere there was usually cool and exciting which was why she chose it since it would calm her easily. After her survey, she joined Daisy at the car park. Anderson would be the one dropping Daisy at her house at Michelle's behest. The car pack was bustling with activities as parents and guidance dropped by to pick thier wards.

A figure moving behind the duo frightened them a little.

"Hello" someone said showing up at last. It was the boy whom Michelle had spotted earlier in class.

"Hi" they replied. Extending his hands, he introduced himself. "I'm Daniel Bassey. But you can call me Dan. I think it's better that way." Without taking his hands, Daisy did the talking because she didn't want any trouble to occur.

"I'm Daisy Cole and she's Michelle Arrowhood. Nice to meet you" Michelle shrugged. She was already getting irritated by the whole drama. Saving other conversations, her driver arrived with Roland.

"Big sis! Here!" he shouted.

With courtesy, they left Daniel on the spot. Unknowingly, Richard stood not too far from them watching the whole scene

" This term is gonna be super interesting for me" he thought.

"Badass!" Daniel muttered. Richard walked across to him. "Man, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I tried talking to her but she didn't respond. Instead the other girl was answering for her" he lamented.

"You mean Michelle?" asked Richard.

"Yeah! that's her name if I can remember". Grinning, Richard said " you can call her a badass but she's also the smartest and most brilliant girl I know in this school. But she's the apoplectic type though"

"You mean? Apoplectic?" Daniel was confused. Richard threw him a friendly punch and left.

" Watch your back" he said.