A Chance At A Time

Chance VII: Choose Your Friends Well

Kristofer, Harper, and Cash were walking away when Kristofer was forcefully yanked back by the collar of his t-shirt. When he turned, Evans punched him in the face. Harper yelped and jumped out of the way as Kristofer staggered to the ground. Evans bent down to pull him up and when he tried to punch Kristofer again, Kristofer was ready for him. He countered Evans' punch with his arm and introduced his knuckles to Evans' stomach. Evans howled in pain and fell down. 

Kristofer didn't give him a chance to reciprocate as he straddled Evans and started punching him, his rage simmering out of control.

"Kris, that's enough!" Cash went over to them and pulled Kristofer from Evans.

Evans laid on the ground bloody and groaning in pain as he clutched his stomach and his friends went over to help, pulling him away from the enraged Kris. 

Harper was left speechless. She didn't expect everything to turn out like that. Kristofer's lower lip was busted but he was okay. 

Evans wasn't and Harper was shocked that Kristofer suddenly turned all gangster on him! Cash dragged Kristofer away from the scene with Harper close behind but people had already started muttering to themselves at the turn out of events. Harper also saw several students taking videos and photos and it reminded her of how her life was turned upside down because of a video. She just hoped that Kris wasn't going to go through what she was forced to go through. 

"Are seriously going to let a dickhead like Evans get you in trouble again?" Cash asked when they were a few yards away from the scene. "You barely talked yourself out of the previous mess and now you want to add this into your list of sins."

Harper had always suspected that Kristofer was a troublemaker but she never expected to see it live. The way that he attacked Evans showed that he had so much anger that he was bottling inside. She was surprised by his reaction. 

Kristofer ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath to try and calm himself. 

"Your lip is bleeding, Kris," Harper noted. "I have a first aid kit in my room."

"Let's go." Cash didn't even want to hear Kristofer's protests as the three of them went back to the dorms. 

Good thing was that Clair was not around when they arrived. She must have gone to see Max. Harper settled Kristofer at her study table and went to get the first aid kit. She could hear Cash muttering something under his breath to Kristofer but when she stole a glance at Kristofer, he looked like he didn't want to hear it. Truth be told, Harper didn't want to know what had happened among them and why Kristofer was so angry because she believed that everyone was entitled to their own story and they didn't need to share it. 

"Here." She pulled Clair's chair and sat in front of Kristofer just as Cash's phone trilled and excused himself before he went out to answer it. She took an earbud and placed it in the disinfectant before she softly dabbed it on his cut. When he jerked back lightly at the sting of the alcohol in the disinfectant, Harper unconsciously blew on the cut. "I placed you in this mess. I am sorry."

Kristofer gave a little shake of his head. "Evans is known for his explosive temper and I hear he doesn't have a good past with women. You were in danger."

Harper looked up at Kristofer and hummed. "You didn't have to take the beating though." 

A smile appeared on Kristofer's face. "You should see the other guy."

Harper scowled. "I was there." She looked down at his knuckles and they were bruised as well. "I take it this is not the first time you went all physical in a fight."

Kristofer looked away but not after Harper so the shadows that passed across his face. He wasn't going to answer her, Harper knew that much and she didn't want to push him so she started attending to his knuckles. 

"Just when I thought to start making friends, I attract a psychopath." She muttered to herself. "If you and your friend hadn't come to my rescue, I don't know what would have happened. Thank you, Kris."

Kristofer just grunted lightly and turned away from her. 

Harper bit into her lower lip and added. "And I also want to apologize for the last time in the library. Though you are acting as if it never happened, I know I must have hurt you with my careless mouth and for that I am sorry. When I said someone like you, I meant someone who was experienced in the real world. It came out wrong--"

"I figured as much. That is why I let it go." He assured her. 

Harper smiled. "But that doesn't make us friends now. I still hate your guts."

Kristofer chuckled lightly. "And I am just using you for my own selfish gain. Once we are done with Dr. Adam's course at the end of the semester, you and I are done."

"Asshole." Harper found herself uttering but at least that heavy load of guilt she had been carrying around slowly melted away. 

Cash returned, not giving Kristofer the chance to react. 

"I have something that needs my attention." Cash said then turned to Harper. "Thanks for the help."

Harper gave him a nod and Cash quickly left the room. 

"That's Cash. My roommate."

Harper laughed lightly. "Cash as in his real name?" 

"Nah, his real name is Carlson Hernandez but the nickname is better known," Kristofer assured Harper and sat up abruptly, looking down at his knuckles. "I think this will suffice. I--uh--I have somewhere to be."

Harper nodded as she placed the first aid stuff back in the kit. "Get the bruise ointment and apply on that cut so that it doesn't get infected." She noticed the blood splotches on his black t-shirt. Good thing it was black so they didn't show properly. 

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." He said and turned to the door then stopped and gave Harper a side glance. "If Evans starts to harass you, tell me. And take care of that bruise on your wrist."

Harper cleaned away the bloodied cotton balls and looked down at her wrist then said. "I can take care of myself from now on. I have seen what kind of person he is, I doubt he would come back for the second round of my slap." 

"Just in case." 

Harper nodded. "Okay, I will."

"Bye." Kristofer walked out.

When he left, Harper frowned at the fact that Kristofer left so abruptly as if he had suddenly realized something that she didn't. After cleaning up, Harper went out. Unfortunately, she didn't have the opportunity to eat and she was super hungry so she decided to go out of campus to go and look for food. 

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Being in Harper's room gave Kristofer some idea of what kind of person she was. It was a very neat room with two beds. One could tell that the two people who shared that room were complete opposites. The bedding for Harper was very high end and even her stuff was not like the stuff being sold in normal stores. It was different from her roommate's side that had accessories that you would find in local stores. 

Kristofer didn't know what made him accept to be brought back to her place. Maybe when Evans punched him in the face, he disconnected the logic part of his brain. With a sigh, Kristofer walked out of the dorm with his hands in his pockets. A couple of students were loitering in the front and when they saw him coming out from the dorms, they were curious. 

This was what Kristofer was trying to avoid. People always concluded to the wrong thing and he didn't want to give Harper a hard time with people speculating that there could be something between them. A lot of the students saw him fighting Evans because of her. It was only a matter of time that Melody went after her. Though he did warn her to stay away from Harper, he knew Melody would never listen to him.

It would have been a lot easier if she wasn't in his assignment group but now that she was, it was a little hard to avoid her. She wasn't very good at the assignments which meant he had to pay more attention to what she did. 

Just when I thought to start making friends, I attract a psychopath.

Kristofer heard the disappointment ring in her voice when she uttered those words. Again, her naivety came out because she needed to be able to see the person's character before she interacted with them. Kristofer knew that Harper was going to withdraw from the student body again because of that particular incident. 

He knew she would feel that she gave people a chance and they disappointed her but Kristofer knew of many good people on campus who would genuinely become her friend. She had made it known that she was okay alone. She didn't even take him as a friend.

A smile played on his lips. Somehow it was a little relieving to know that because it made their work relationship very clear. They were going to help each other through the semester through the assignments and after that, they were going to go their separate ways with nothing to lose. Kristofer just wished there were more girls at the college like her. It would have made his tutoring job a whole lot easier.

Kristofer removed his pack of cigarettes from his pocket and placed one between his lips before lighting it as he made his way to his bike. He needed to get out of that place before he found himself going back to Evans and punching his face into oblivion. One thing that Kristofer hated was disrespect and abuse especially to those weaker than you and Evans had crossed the line when he forced Harper to sit down.

Good thing was that Harper wasn't the person to take the assault sitting down. Kristofer saw the bruise that Evans left around her wrist because she was wearing her mother's golden bangle and it braised her skin but she was too caught up with his busted lip to remember that she, too, needed to take care of herself. 

Kristofer had a history of violence in middle and high school because he never let bullies get the best of him. He firmly stood for his beliefs and whenever someone had a problem with him, he threw punches just to get his point across. He was rather proud of himself that in college he was not that much of a trouble maker. He knew he gave his mother a hard time whenever she was called to his school after a fight broke out. There was a time she actually had to go to the police station to bail him out. 

Just thinking about it at that moment, made him cringe. His mother suffered a lot because of him and the worst part was that Kristofer punished the wrong person. His mother wasn't the one to blame for his anger and rebellious nature. 

His father was. 

Kristofer quickly pushed the thoughts of his father aside and concentrated on the present. His mother had a very big heart and she forgave him. She always told her that she couldn't get mad at him because he was her son. When Kristofer recalled what he made his mother go through, his heart ached. There was no way of erasing the past but he had ample time to make sure he showered his mother with all the love and attention she deserved. 

"Hey, Kris!" Jace came from across the path together with his girlfriend when Kristofer reached the parking where his bike was. "Have you seen Cash?"

"He left early. He said he had something urgent to deal with." Kristofer said as he grabbed his helmet. 

Jace frowned. "He never mentioned anything to me even though we were supposed to meet up tonight." 

"He received the call a few minutes ago." Kristofer assured him.

Jace nodded and noticed the busted lip. "What the f**k happened to you?"

Kristofer wasn't in the mood to answer a thousand questions so he looked for a good way out. "Walked into a door."

Jace's eyebrows snapped up in surprise. "Have you been drinking? Should you be riding that at your state? Was it Melody again?"

"So Kris is really going out with Melody?" Susan, Jace's girlfriend asked curiously. 

Kristofer rolled his eyes and sighed in irritation. "I am not drunk and this has nothing to do with Melody." Then turned to Susan and added. "Melody and I are not an item. You shouldn't listen to the gossip that is going around at the moment." 

"Are you heading home?" Jace asked him.

It was known to his friends that he spent the weekends at home helping out but at the moment he couldn't afford that because of his inconclusive data at the laboratory. 

"Nah, just going for a ride to clear my head then I need to return to the lab and continue with my experiment. See you tomorrow." Kristofer didn't wait for any more questions and turned on the switch to his bike. The bike came to life with a roar of the engine. It purred underneath him for a little while before Kristofer eased it out of its parking slot and onto the main path exiting the college campus. 

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"That's her, right?"--"She is so shameless"--"I don't know how she managed to make the two friends fight over her."--"She is such a bitch." 

Those were the mutterings Harper had to deal with on an early Monday morning. At first, she was curious at who rubbed the student body the wrong way...until she saw the way everyone was eyeing her in the hallways and whispering behind their hands. Realization slammed against her like a big block wall and it rattled her entire being because she was being accused of something that she didn't do. 

For one, Evans and Kristofer were not friends. It was in the way they interacted and later had the altercation that made Harper discover that those two didn't like each other at all. The other thing was that she was shameless because she was the one who was harassed but no one knew what actually happened. They all got third-person versions of the story that made her the villain. 

Frustration went through Harper. And to believe that she wanted to befriend those people. They didn't deserve her attention because instead of judging her from afar, they should have approached her and asked her for her version of the story. Harper had a feeling that someone was out there trying to tarnish her reputation. So much for flying under the raider and finishing that year quietly. 

Harper made her way to her first lecture of the day and like always, she found a place right in front. She opened her bag and removed her laptop and her notebook and pen.

"I heard she cornered Kris into giving her that laptop." Someone said from behind.

Harper looked down at the laptop she had refused from Kristofer. Somehow, in the story that was circulating around, she cornered Kris into giving it to her. 

Harper didn't know what was worse, being accused of something that didn't happen the way it was being narrated or that there wasn't much she could about it because whoever went around spreading the lies had done a pretty good job in the make-believe sector. 

Harper refused to be deterred by what was happening and she quickly shut everything away with Dr. Adams entered the lecture theatre. Kristofer was right behind him and when he looked in her direction, Harper quickly looked away, pretending she was too busy counting the lines on one page of her notebook. She didn't want any more gossip circulating and she hated the fact that Kristofer, who had no idea what was happening, was in the middle of it all. 

Harper didn't understand what it was about Kristofer that was driving girls mad with envy. He was no doubt a very good-looking guy and he had that wicked, bad-boy aura around him that attracted even the quietest of individuals. He had the right height and an impressive body to go with it. His face was chiseled into perfection and although Harper had never seen him genuinely smile she was positive he had a killer smile. In conclusion, Kristofer was an exemplary species of a man to a woman.

What she didn't understand was why everyone was attacking her as if she was the one holding onto him. If it weren't for Dr. Adams' lectures, she doubted that she would have been talking to him. He tried to run over her with his bike for crying out loud! It seemed people had already forgotten about that and were now pairing them up because they were spending time together. The only time Harper and Kristofer spent together was when they had an assignment. All the other times they saw her with Kris were mere coincidences. It was not like she went looking for him! They happened to bump into each other. Why didn't they see that she was spending time with Geoffrey as well? 

"Everyone settle down." Dr. Adams said then started the lecture. "I wanted to remind you about the 'Share A Smile' Program. The first meeting will be this evening right here and I am proud to announce the co-founder and coordinator of the program, Kristofer Mason."

Harper's eyes almost rolled out of their sockets. 

Another mere coincidence was that Kristofer was the co-founder and coordinator of the 'Share a Smile' program. 

"f*****g hell..." She groaned lightly knowing that the girls were going to eat her alive when they learned that she had joined the program as well! She had no idea that Kris was behind it and he said nothing about it! All this time, she thought Dr. Adams was the man behind it. 

"Before we start today's lesson, let's give Kris a minute to talk about the program and what is expected for all those who signed up for it." Dr. Adams said and some people murmured in protest because they missed the chance to sign up and spend time with Kristofer.

Kristofer made his way to the front of the class. As he started talking, Harper groaned lightly and placed her head on the table, afraid of what it meant to be in the program. She was thinking about money when she first registered for it but at that moment, she was thinking about her life.

Double crap! 

She sighed softly, barely hearing what Kris was saying.