A Chance At A Time

Chance II: Drop Your Last Name

Harper maneuvered her way through the bodies of students loitering around the college campus trying to find their way to their new classes. Life was booming on the campus, with everyone excited to start this new journey of their lives or doing their last year before graduating. Everyone had mixed feelings in that situation but Harper felt...numb. 

She didn't hear people talking and laughing around her, she just heard a very annoying buzz sound. She didn't see people moving around her, she just saw objects that came too close to touching her and she hated it. She didn't see buildings and walkways in front of her, she just saw the prison that was keeping her from going home. A lump saturated itself in her throat, making it hard for her to breathe. She didn't belong there, she didn't want to be there and she didn't deserve to be there. 

For the past week, she went to sleep with the hopes that in the morning she would wake up in her comfortable bed and all that she had to face was just a bad nightmare but morning after morning, the realization that this was her new reality fortified itself around her. It was not a dream and she had to face the music for the whole year.

"Michelle!" Someone exclaimed beside Harper as she waved vigorously and shoved her body through the sea of people, forcing Harper to navigate to the side and bump into someone. The person gasped and pushed Harper away forcing her to land unceremoniously on her ass.

"Watch it!" The girl exclaimed then turned to her two friends and they laughed as they jumped over her, leaving her on the ground. 

The lump on Harper's throat tightened, threatening to suffocate her. Harper saw red as she grabbed her stuff and turned to the girl who pushed her. 

"Hey!" She screamed. "Who the f**k do you think you are pushing me like that?" 

The girl together with her friends stopped making everyone else turn their attention to Harper in surprise. The girls turned around and stared in shock at Harper before the girl who pushed Harper down started walking back to her.

"Who am I?" Her eyebrow arched up slowly. "You seriously don't know who I am, freshman?" She asked.

"I didn't ask for your name, b***h. I asked for your position." Harper snapped. 

Everyone gasped in surprise, wondering where Harper got the courage to talk to the girl like that.  

"Oh, so you think you can go around and cuss whoever you feel like, eh?" The girl's hand shot forward and grabbed a handful of Harper's locks tightly in her fingers before pulling Harper forward. "Oh, you are messing with the wrong b***h, freshman."

Harper groaned in pain, feeling as if her scalp was being pulled apart! She tried to untangle the girl's hands from her hair but a girl pulled harder, her fingers tightening until Harper was sure she was able to pull some of her hair out. Harper screamed and tried to dislodge the girl but her other two friends held her hands away from their friend's face and Harper found herself at the mercy of the three girls. The pain she felt on her head was enough to make her want to faint. 

Just when she thought she was done for, a loud sound of a motorbike sounded behind them and everyone jumped away as the large black motorbike made its way through the pedestrian walkway.

Harper's eyes bulged when she saw the bike making its way towards her and the girls who were teaching her a lesson. They all jumped out of the way, finally releasing Harper's hair, causing her to fall back on the ground. Harper was sure the person behind the tinted black helmet didn't see s**t because that was a pedestrian walkway, not a bike road!

Again, Harper stood up and dusted her jeans then touched her head to see if she were bleeding. There was no blood but Harper was positive her skin was inflamed because it throbbed menacingly as if her heart had shifted from her chest to her skull. The three girls who were attacking Harper were also on the ground. They got up and eyed Harper venomously but quickly started walking away when one of the lecturers came forward.

"Kristofer Mason! How many times do I have to explain it to you that you are not allowed to ride your bike on campus?" He yelled. 

The spoken about Kristofer parked his roaring bike beside the lecturer and got off before removing his helmet and handing it to him coolly. "So sue me." His thick voice came through then his piercing black eyes and grim face turned towards where Harper was. He started from her shoes all the way up to her hair then back to her face. Harper's face flushed red because she didn't expect him to do that. Without another word, he walked off, leaving the lecturer grumbling by himself. 

Harper took a deep breath of relief because suddenly everyone lost interest in her and started mumbling excitedly to themselves about Kristofer and his bike. Harper collected her backpack and her books from the ground before she continued on her way. 

One thing that she realized was that no one truly recognized her as the Blaak empire heiress. She was just another student among students. She made her way to her first lecture that morning, choosing a seat right in front where very few liked sitting. One of the criteria her father gave her was to improve on her school work. Truth be told, in the past, she really didn't care about school. She didn't think she needed to if she were going to inherit a fortune that was going to feed her for the rest of her life. She didn't even know how she managed to pass her Highschool but she did.

As she removed her notebook from her bag, she looked around and noticed everyone else removing their laptops. She pursed her lips and cursed softly wondering why on earth she handed her wallet to her father that day. She was lucky that her roommate was someone very sympathetic and managed to help her pay for accommodation and gave her some cash for food.

'Pay me when you get the money, okay?' Clair said with a smile on her face.

'I will, I promise.' Harper quickly replied. 

That meant she needed to find a way to raise the funds to pay Clair back. For the past week, she had been looking through the magazines, websites, and papers for a decent job but most of them needed the experience she didn't have. She was desperate for anything at the moment and she hoped it came around soon enough.

"Good morning, everyone." The lecturer came in and they started their morning session.

Though she didn't really pay attention at school, Harper was interested in science and technology. It was something that not even her friends knew about her. Come to think of it, apart from meeting up and scrolling through their phones while they were at it, there was nothing more they did together. Alexia was that friend that liked all of Harper's photos online and promoted her for more followers. 

Now that she was had not been able to buy a phone yet, she didn't know what was happening online. She had missed knowing everything but for the last week, she was living in a world where she had to go to the college's library, to use the computers there in order to read the emails from her student account. 

"So, that is it for the lecture today. Please look up the group assignments on your student portals. Please create the groups as soon as possible so that you can start the assignments soon enough. I also urge you to register for the 'Share a Smile' program. I know some of you need the money but also the fact that you will be recognized for your hard work…."

Harper didn't hear anything else past the 'you need the money' part. Yes, she needed the money and she needed it desperately so when the lecturer collected his stuff to leave, Harper quickly jumped from her chair and went to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get the information about the 'Share a Smile' program." She answered.

The lecturer looked up at her for a moment then Harper then looked down at the student identification hanging around her neck. "Harper Scott?"

"Yes, Dr. Adams." I dropped my last name. She wanted to add but voted against it. 

Very few people were familiar with her father's middle name Scott. It was always used as an initial and there were many Scotts in the world for someone to narrow her name down to Casper Scott Blaak. 

"Are you interested in sharing a smile with the less fortunate?" He asked her as he grabbed his bag and started for the door.

Harper followed him behind. "No, I am interested in the money." She answered without thinking and Dr. Adams stopped, causing her to bump into him from behind. The look on his face had Harper correct herself. "I mean, yes, I want to share a smile with the less fortunate."

Dr. Adams hummed in skepticism and said. "Pull out your phone."

Harper pursed her lips and clasped her hands together. "I don't have a phone, sir."

Dr. Adams' eyebrows snapped up in surprise. "Was it stolen today? Did you report it to the 'lost and found' department--although they won't help much if it is an expensive phone."

Harper shook her head. "No, I didn't lose it...I just don't have a phone. I'll buy one once I get something to raise the funds." She explained.

"Well, this is the first." Dr. Adams chuckled in surprise. "Anyway," He reached for a piece of paper in his bag and a pen and wrote down the website. "Go and register here. Deadline is tomorrow so hurry up."

Harper smiled and nodded vigorously before taking the paper and rushing towards the library. "Thanks!" 

Once at the library, Harper selected an exclusive corner where she liked using without the disturbance from other people. Harper wasn't there to make friends. She was there to survive. She needed to survive that year and go back to the life she knew. This was just a hiccup along the way. She knew that by now her father was already missing her, already regretting the decision to send her so far away but he was just too stubborn to admit it. A smirk appeared on Harper's lips. 

Like father, like daughter. 

She was also as stubborn as him and she was going to prove to him that she could survive whatever scenario he shoved her way. 

Harper hummed a little as she registered herself to the 'Share a smile' program and then logged on to her student account in order to join a group for the assignments. She frowned when she tried to select the several groups that were already created but none of them were available to her. 

"What the--" She groaned in annoyance. It was like everyone knew everyone and they already created their groups without her. 

Harper didn't speak to anyone although they usually tried to greet her and make conversation with her but most of them always awkwardly walked away after a few words. Harper didn't know whether it was her somber face or her straight-forward stares. 

Harper tried clicking several other groups but none of them accepted her. In frustration, Harper started clicking them randomly. It didn't matter where she ended up, she just needed a group for her assignments. When all hope seemed to disappear, she clicked the last group and it accepted her.

Thank you for selecting your group, click on the link below for your first assignment. 

A sigh of relief went through Harper as she settled back and clicked on the link before she opened up the assignment. Just because she never really paid much attention in class, it didn't mean she wasn't good at school work. A frown of puzzlement appeared on her face when she read the question and didn't understand what it needed her to do. Okay, maybe she didn't pay much attention in class because she wasn't good at school work. 

What the f**k did Dr. Adams want them to do?

                                                                            **********

Kristofer watched as the girl with the nasty temper dash past him.

"Thanks!" She called out to Dr. Adams before disappearing around the corner. 

Harper Scott. 

Kristofer recalled that it was the same girl that was almost beaten up by Melody and her friends. Melody was known across the university because she was from a rich family. Her family donated a lot of the equipment at the university and that bought her a smooth ride through her education. Melody was not afraid to use her status to get what she wanted. Kristofer felt sorry for Harper who crossed Melody because Melody was known to keep grudges. Kristofer had that experience first hand. 

"Kristofer!" Dr. Adams suddenly called him.

Kristofer approached him and nodded. "Good morning, Dr. Adams."

Dr. Adams hummed but the severe look on his face told Kristofer that he must have received the information about his bike ride that morning.

"Do I have to hear your name at the pantry every single day, Kris?" He asked him.

Kristofer rolled his eyes. "Professor Gunner has had it for me for years and you know that."

Dr. Adams crossed his arms and said. "So, you are trying to tell me that your bike rode itself in front of the administration building and Professor Gunner picked your helmet somewhere where you were not?"

Kristofer smirked and ran his hand through his dark locks. "Well, if we are speaking in hypothesis--"

"Don't bring your super brain in this, Kris." Dr. Adams stopped him then said. "You know, the only thing that is keeping you from getting kicked out of the college is that super brain of yours. Thanks to it, the college has been acknowledged in the science world but you keep tempting me to sack you. You are graduating this year, right? Yet you still decided to take my course for this semester that I don't think you need."

"This course is new and there are certain topics that I need from it." Kristofer assured him.

"I recommended private tutoring for you so that you didn't have to enter classes with the freshmen." Dr. Adams said.

Kristofer didn't want private tutoring because he didn't like the special treatment. Yes, he was graduating that year, and taking the extra course meant that his research time was going to be squeezed which meant extra work for him but he always loved the challenge. 

Dr. Adams always said that Kristofer had a super brain because he was very good at capturing and understanding aspects easier than others. It had reached a point that Kristofer started giving out private tutoring for the weak students. One of those weak students was Melody and Kristofer realized that she wanted more from him than just private tutoring. It had reached a point that she wanted to pay him to be her boyfriend but Kristofer's reputation kept her at bay.

Kristofer wasn't the person to easily follow orders. He did what he thought was right and he didn't like it when people dictated what he could or couldn't do. That included Melody. He told her exactly what he thought of her and that if she even thought to have a chance with him then she needed to take her education seriously. 

'You are not the only smart bad-boy on campus, Kris--but let me warn you, your life is not going to be easy if I so much as smell another girl getting close to you.' she had warned him. 'You are mine and I will do everything in my power to have you.'

Kristofer never took her seriously but the funny thing was that all of the female students that he had been tutoring suddenly began to drift away. 

"I can handle your classes and my thesis. My scholarship is enough to allow me to do both." Kristofer assured Dr. Adams. "I just need you to keep Melody off my back. She is a pain." 

"I can't do anything about that. She is a girl and is infatuated by you--her together with most of the girls on campus. You have the rebel attitude and appearance yet the brain of a professor, which girl would not want you?" Dr. Adams chuckled. "You just need to deal with her like the way you deal with everything else. By the way, Harper Scott is very interested in your 'Share a smile' program. Well, I think she is more interested in the money but if you show her exactly what you do in this program, then she might appreciate it better."

"I don't want to get involved with that girl," Kristofer said and it was the truth. She gave off a vibe that screamed for him to go the other way and usually Kristofer followed his gut to the dot. 

She was very pretty, a little innocent as well but she built a fortress around herself, rebuffing anyone and anything that tried to enter her space. He saw the way she sat right in front of the class, alone in her seat paying attention only to Dr. Adams. Though people greeted her, she just gave a polite nod and went back to what she was doing, not giving any space for a conversation. 

Judging by the way she dressed, Kristofer could tell she had a good sense of fashion and her clothes weren't cheap. Though she was in a pair of jeans with a t-shirt underneath her beige cardigan and a pair of wedges, Kristofer could tell that they might as well have cost a semester's tuition fees in a good private university. 

"You say that for every person you meet in your life." Dr. Adams started walking towards his office and Kristofer followed him.

He might have been saying it lightly in the past but this time he was dead serious. He didn't want to get involved with her especially now that she was on Melody's radar. 

Dr. Adam frowned slightly as he rubbed his chin. "I can't help but wonder where I have seen Harper. Her face is quite familiar." 

Kristofer chuckled softly. "Look who is infatuated by his student." Dr. Adams was about to protest when Kristofer waved to him. "See you on Friday." He made his way towards the laboratory when his phone suddenly chimed and a message entered.

He looked down at it with a frown. 

Group members: Kristofer W. Mason, Geoffrey M. Jock, and Harper V. Scott.

"The fuck..." Kristofer growled in surprise and turned back to where he left Dr. Adams. He was sure the man must have done that on purpose. 

"Hey, Kris." One of the students using the laboratory called to him when he entered. "The professor would like to see you." 

Kristofer gave him a nod and went to the professor's office. 

"Kristofer, sit down." The professor told him then pushed a white envelope towards him. "As expected, the science world has taken interest in you. This is once in a lifetime opportunity for you, kid." 

Kristofer frowned as he opened the envelope and was surprised to see the content. An internship opportunity to one of the best science and technology Hubs in the world. "Wow." he breathed in hard.

The professor smiled. "All you need to do is to keep the good work you're doing here, make sure your grades are up and this internship is yours. I know what this will mean to you, to your family."

Kristofer looked up at the Professor who knew him better than anyone else in that college. 

Kristofer didn't grow up with a lot but that didn't mean he suffered. He saw that every struggle he got in life taught him to be resilient and to work harder. At the moment, Kristofer worked as well as studied like most students on campus. He paid for his mother's apartment and for his younger sister's school fees. Never once had he complained about his situation and he knew that he needed to work harder in order to help his family. He knew that one day he was going to succeed and he was going to have it big. 

That was the reason why he didn't like people like Melody who thought they could buy whoever they wanted. He wasn't like that and she had to learn the hard way. 

"This is yours, Kristofer. Just graduate on time and you can start." The professor said.

Kristofer gave him a nod. "Thanks, prof."

"All the best." The professor smiled at him.

Kristofer went back to his work, his motivation brought back thousand times over. He wanted his sister to have better opportunities than he ever had, he wanted his mother to stop working two jobs just to support them. As it was, he paid for a lot of his own expenses which reduced the stress on his mother. He promised to make her life easier and the only way to do that was to get that internship. With a small smile on his face, he continued with his experiment.