The following week smiled brightly at Worthloth, with the gentle hums of cars, the easy waving of trees, and the flights of birds in the sky.
Fred was up due to the growl of a wolf within the thick forest, which had become his rooster every morning. He quickly had his bath to catch up with the morning lecture.
Mr. Ethan, the instructor for the day, hardly tolerated late coming and, most importantly, Fred never felt like missing any class that day. He got into his uniform after a cool bath and headed out. The car sounds started getting heavier as he walked towards the exit of the forest. The cool air he experienced after getting out of the forest was just too immeasurable.
"Oh yes, this is what I need," Fred muttered as he started heading towards the urban area of Worthloth.
The trekking along the busy road blessed him with enough fresh air to keep his body at the right temperature. People in cars stared at him while he walked responsibly, avoiding any vehicles that might be coming his way. After quite some minutes, Fred arrived at the gate of Greenlight College. Students patrolled in; some in haste while others walked like kings. Fred was still some feet away from the school gate when a luxurious car drove in, students paved way immediately.
From his spot, Fred saw two ladies stepping out from the car as people's eyes watched them in awe. No doubt, the ladies were beautiful. After a few more steps, he noticed the ladies were none other than Clara and Àjè - the eyes of every male student at Greenlight. People begged for their attention and tried to get close to them, that's according to what Fred heard. Their bags were taken by the driver, a man with a heavy moustache skinny appearance. They walked majestically to their first lecture hall, every strides measured. The students' eyes never left them as some tried to say hi, but the ladies were too focused on what they had in mind that morning.
Fred got into Greenlight courtyard, Clara's car leaving the school building at that time. Some students in his department were quick to recognize him, and there, he saw his new friends again.
"Hey Fred, how is it going, man?" Tamir greeted.
"I'm good, Tamir. How are you guys?" Fred replied.
"I guess we are great, Fred. How's the night sleep?" Jerry asked, as Fred's thought went back to the eerie dream he had during the late hour of the night.
"My sleep was good, Jerry. Hope the family's doing great?" Fred eventually found his voice.
"Yeah. They are doing well," Tamir and Jerry said in unison.
"Alright guys, you can go to your lecture hall now. I will be heading towards mine. We'll see later" Tamir said, waving at Jerry and Fred.
Through the thick crowd of students, Fred could see Àjè staring at him as if she was looking for something in him. He was completely shocked for he thought Àjè and her sister had something urgent to that morning. They rushed to the hall with sheer urgency and niw Àjè was staring at him. Fred pressed his gaze deeper to be certain he was the one she was staring at because her gaze seemed unreadable indeed.
Àjè stood static, hands clasped before her, and her red hair added to the thrilling effect. He thought maybe she wanted to say something to him, and he made an attempt to walk to her amidst the crowd.
"Hey bro, you're cool?" Jerry's voice rang.
"Yeah but..." Fred blinked as Àjè, who was staring at him earlier, suddenly disappeared into the heavy crowd. Truly, his heart throbbed hard. He searched through the thickets of students to know maybe he was hallucinating but seemed so - no more Àjè staring. "Let's just head to class," Fred finally said.
As they got into class, Mr. Ethan was yet to come in to lecture. Fred sat down, exchanging pleasantries with a few students who greeted him. Not all of the students cared though and he was sure he knew them all.
A palm suddenly landed on his right shoulder from behind. And there stood his rival, Hough the rough bully.
"What's up, my man. How's it going around you?" Hough asked with a feigned smile.
"Yeah...I'm...good, Hough. You're good?" Fred's voice trembled.
Hough was like six feet tall, and his built body was too intimidating, it had always made him afraid of Hough. But... Fred noticed something unusual about Hough that morning. Something was off. Oh! Hough was looking so neat and clean this morning. Hough was known to be the roughest of all in the class, but this morning, his uniform was finely ironed, his hair well combed, and one wouldn't know he could look this good. He even smell like cologne.
"I'm great, lucky man, and as you can see I'm prepared," Hough uttered, checking his neat dressing to be sure no place needed adjustment.
Fred raised an eyebrow. "Wow, you're prepared... for what exactly?"
"You joke a lot, Fred," Hough laughed.
"You're telling me you don't know why I'm fully packed this morning?"
Fred shook his head.
"Wait a minute, Fred. Are you telling me you've forgotten what we talked about?" Hough's voice hardened this time. The class noticed his hard tone, and the chattering reduced subsequently, all attention on the two of them.
Jerry was oblivious to the situation as he'd plugged his headphone, and the angle he sat was unfavourable to easy sight.
"I'm sorry, Hough. What did we talk about?" Fred said with innocence, embroiled with fear.
Hough's eyes squinted in anger, but he decided to reply with gentleness. "I know we didn't volume this earlier and I think you ought to understand as a dude. I worked so hard to look this good today, for Clara. You've got to call her to the school garden right after this class. You're simply going to say your friend wants to have a word with her," Hough explained.
Fred appeared to grasp a little. "What... if she doesn't feel like coming to you... my friend?" Fred said with a trembling voice.
Hough leaned forward with stealth and without warning, he hit Fred by his ribs hard, making the young man groan in pain. "I guess you grasp the picture now. I will have you beheaded immediately I hear she won't come with you to the garden," Hough threatened. None of the students tended to notice this because Hough made his hit inconspicuous.
Fred watched him as he walked back to his class, using his fingers to demonstrate how he was going to deal with Fred if he refused to comply with his ordeals.
Just then, Mr. Ethan walked in with a student who arranged the projector for the class. The class immediately maintained decorum at the entrance of the coach. Ethan looked very young, with his beard neatly trimmed while his hair was of perfect curls.
Before he started the class, he called to Fred, "Fred, ensure you see me at the end of this class."
Fred nodded in surprise, wondering why the coach needed him.