HURT

Jeremy stared into her eyes for her answer.

"damnit !" this girl would be the death of him.

He didn't know what made him even think of the statement that had fallen out of his mouth.

What was so special about her anyway?

She wasn't even as sophisticated as the other girls in the school and yet .... here he was. What was he even doing here anyway.

"say something Nancy.... anything...." he said, staring into her eyes.

Nancy snapped out of her shock.

"Why do you suddenly want to be friends with me?

you've made it expressly clear you detest Nigerians...no lemme rephrase sorry... you've been announcing it since I set my eyes on your very existence... You said it yourself...you can never be friends with a Nigerian so what changed Jeremy" she accused.

Jeremy dropped her hands and she folded them, towering above him.

"I'm not rich .... I'm a hawker... almost every living walking thing in this school hates me, I'm piss poor... what is it you want? sorry, but that friendship business isn't going to work" she finished.

Jeremy didn't utter a word in response as she spoke.

She was right, he'd been unjustly unfair to her

her status like she said was below middle class.

She really was piss poor. So what was it about her really? He didn't understand.

She suddenly sat back down and faced him.

"Jeremy" she called, causing his heart to jump in his chest.

"I want you to do something for me"

"what do you..." he started but she cut his sentence short.

"I'm poor Jeremy.... I'm a hawker. I'm only able to school here thanks to a scholarship Jeremy...a damn scholarship. I just want to study. Read, learn, acquire knowledge Jeremy and I have no plans of ruining my chances.

I don't want any trouble ending my stay in this school so please stay away from me.

We cannot be friends, I am not your type"

she finished and stood up to leave but Jeremy grabbed her hands again and pulled her toward himself.

She fell on his chest.

Jeremy hugged her.

Nancy was stunned.

"wierd, wierd, wierd" her brain screamed.

Was Jeremy actually hugging her for real?

"Jeremy" she called when she finally regained her senses.

He jerked away from the hug as though he had done it unconsciously....Nancy turned and ran.

She'd gone far away from the garden when she stopped.

Apparently he was hell bent on putting her in trouble.

Even when he hugged her, she felt a tug on her heart.

Oh no! you cannot be having feelings for him can you? she asked herself.

No no no no! impossible! she replied to her own question and slapped her cheeks right one and then the left.

wake up Nancy! you and him cannot happen!she would not accept any form of closeness to him. ..she just could not let it happen.

She went back to the classroom and found students in groups of twos threes, more, having discussions.

She suddenly wished she were like them.

She wished she could just sit with them and join the conversation. Even if just once..but it was just a wish...she knew it couldn't happen.

They hated her.....They all did.

"except Jeremy apparently" the voice in her head corrected. She ignored it.

She'd barely sat in her seat when two girls walked up to her.

She raised her head and flashed them her signature paparazzi smile, a smile that instantly withered the moment she set her eyes on their stern faces.

"you're Nancy the hawker right? one of the girls asked.

"no...my name is just Nancy" she replied calmly.

"are you sure?" the second girl asked brows raised before she continued.

"how can you say just Nancy when your entire means of existence depends only on that rotten fruit you sell at the school gate?" the girl announced loudly and the entire class burst into a frenzy of laughter at her expense.

Nancy was utterly embarrassed.

Just when she'd began to think they were done the second girl fired her own.

"I wonder how many men you slept with to get in" she said and another round of laughter erupted.

Then everyone else suddenly had something to say.

Nancy wished the floor would just open up and swallow her.

"she even stinks" someone else added.

Nancy could not see who spoke.

Her head was bowed. She just wanted it to stop.

"her shoes look like a beaten down old sailing boat" another chipped in.

She kept on being the subject of hurtful words from front, back, left, right and center.

She knotted her fists, her fingers digging into her palm.

Her eyes moistened.

What did she do wrong to deserve ending up like this?

Maybe she had bad karma from her past life.

She wondered.

Why was life just being unnecessarily Cruel and unfair to her? Life just enjoyed hurting her for nothing.

"can you just let me be" she yelled to no one in particular, the flood dams of her eyes, finally breaking loose.

She let the tears fall. She didn't bother to wipe them.

"you're too poor to be here"

"you don't have a place here" said another.

"her place is in a market" another said.

"your cologne is disgusting...filthy cheap"

"she looks like an old woman"

As the barrage of hurtful words fell, she let her tears fall.

Suddenly, she felt something slippery pouring on her head from above her.

She looked up to find Lisa towering over her, laughing in satisfaction at the sight.

Other students enjoyed the spectacle.

She'd just dumped raw eggs on Nancy.

"why" asked Nancy, her words barely an illegible mumble.

"oops.... sorry...I thought I was emptying rotten eggs into a trash can" she said, drawing more laughter from the students..

"What is my wrong? What did I do to you, why doing all this to me, why!!" Nancy said, tears streaming down her face like a baby's

"You don't know what you did wrong?

Okay lemme refresh your memory bitch.." Lisa spat.

"you started wronging me that very moment you sat with my boyfriend Jeremy.

why should it be you, why did he allowed only you to sit with him, why did you even agree? You know how poor and wretched you look and yet you went ahead and sat with him, you shou have let him know your stand, you could have let him know that you are nothing but a poor hawker" Lisa said with a satisfying grin on her face.

She was enjoying every bit of the insult Nancy was receiving, savouring every moment.

"I knew him before Royal High!" Nancy yelled in frustration and carrying her bag, stomped off in tears.

As she exited the class, she felt someone hold her hand as she turned right.

She turned to find Jeremy staring at her with concern.

"you're not going anywhere Nancy. No one can send you away from me" he said then he enveloped her in a hug.

The entire class watched the unfolding drama in shock.

Lisa's mouth hung open as though she was waiting for flies to walk in for a party.

Even Nancy couldn't believe it!

He was actually hugging her in front of the entire class!

In front of his girlfriend!

Jeremy hugged her fiercely, ignoring the stench of eggs emanating from her body.

He held her tight.

Nancy tried breaking the hug but he held on even tighter.

As Jeremy held her, he felt his heart throb.

He felt happy, he felt her pain.

He felt a riot of emotions.

Suddenly, he heard Nancy cough.

"please release me I'm suffocating" she said, her voice straining as though she was gasping for air.

Jeremy broke the hug instantly and held her palms.

"Don't allow people control your emotions, don't let them play with you, do you know why? It's because you're far more better than they are" Jeremy said, looking into her eyes.

Nancy's lips curled into a crooked sweet smile which made her more beautiful.

"Let's go" Jeremy said to her, ignoring the shock and stare of other students who had by now crowded around the class entrance to watch the unfolding drama.

Jeremy felt her tense up as they walked away and be turned to find her staring at Lisa oddly,

Lisa was glaring at her.

If looks could kill, Nancy would have died on the spot.

"Don't let her bother you...she wouldn't dare do anything to you" Jeremy assured Nancy.

"let's go get you cleaned up...you look like shit" Jeremy said, steering her in the direction of the rest room.

He held her hands till they got to the convenience where the went separately in.

She to the females, he to the males.

He hastily wiped off the streaks on his shirt the little he could with tissue and water.

The people here we're obviously very much stupid.

To just hate someone for no just cause.

He shook his head.