The rejected mate

THE SECOND MEETING

Asher and his friends sat at the back with the buttons of their jackets loose, and their hands were wrapped around some ladies who I presumed to be their girlfriends.

The teacher walked in. She was a blonde wearing a black gown.

"Good Morning, class," she greeted everyone as she quickly dropped her bags and the book she was carrying on the table.

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"Good evening, Ms. Kendra." The students responded.

"You’re the new exchange student, is it not?" Ms. Kendra said, pointing at me.

"Yes, ma. I am." I said. I wonder what gave me out as the new exchange student after all; we were over forty students in the class.

"I was sent your details," Ms. Kendra said with a smile, realisingthat I was shocked that she knew about me.

Ms. Kendra went to the board and continued yesterday’s class by putting an old equation on the board. While she wrote on the board, the backbenchers could not help but have their conversations.

"Bro, it’s the little girl we met with the strange skin," Asher said to his friend while pointing at me. I did not know whether to feel happy that he finally noticed me or angry that he referred to me as the girl with the strange skin. I did not mind anyway. His voice was so deep and bold that it sent shivers down my spine.

"Oh, the little doll who could not see..." Mark responded with a smirk as he placed his feet on the table. They were so large. I could swear he was hitting the gym from the sight of his calves.

I could not tell whether they liked me or not from the names they called me. But one thing was for sure: my heart had begun to spin from the back and forth they had been doing.

Upon realising that the people sitting at the back were talking, Ms. Kendra stopped to ask who was talking at the back, and since no one responded, she called Ophelia to the board to solve the equation.

Ophelia went to the board and solved it incorrectly. She missed a few steps. Ms. Kendra, our Math teacher, requested that Ophelia hand over the marker to any of her friends who were sitting at the back of the class.

Without wasting time, Ophelia pointed at me. "I want the new girl," she said as she handed over the marker to me.

Luckily, I had seen and solved the equation in my Math textbook, so it was indeed no big deal.

I made my way to the board and solved the equation correctly.

"You have done well, Ella." Ms. Kendra said as I returned to my seat.

"Aww… The little girl is also a nerd." Asher commented as his friend Mark laughed and raised his hands to make a handshake loud enough that I could hear.

I ignored whatever sounds and noises they made, not because I wanted to, but because I did not want them to catch me gaping at them.

"You know, you can ignore us all you want, but ignoring us would make us deal with you even more," Asher smirked.

I wondered what that meant. I was familiar with bullying, but this was a little bit different from the kind I had experienced in my former school.

Throughout the entire class, they kept taunting me, expecting a response, but I knew better than to reply to them.

Ophelia could not help but notice and get angry at the fact that her boyfriend was paying more attention to me than her.

Throughout the rest of the week, Ophelia kept taunting me. Her other friends, Jessie and Tess, joined the hate bandwagon.

On Wednesday of the same week, Ophelia and her friends, Jessie and Tess, requested that I sit beside them during lunch.

At first, I refused, but when I realised the consequences of refusing a seat beside the most popular girl in high school, I gave in.

Ophelia asked me about my life, but I refused to give her too much information. The three ladies also warned me never to come to school in the dress I wore that day again.

While they spoke during lunch, Ophelia pretended to have dropped her purse on the floor, and while she pretended to search for it, she spilled cold soda on my dress.

"Oops!" Ophelia exclaimed, pretending to have done it accidentally.

Asher smiled and nodded his head while she did this. From his countenance, I could tell that he was somewhat surprised but not displeased at what his girlfriend had done.

I dashed out to the bathroom, sobbing and wishing my days at Crestville were over.

Joyce, who had been watching me, followed. She apologisedand told me to ignore their sinister comment. She helped clean my dress, and after it had dried a little, she requested I have lunch with her and her friends.

All through the rest of our lunchtime, Ophelia kept staring at me with sneers as both of her friends laughed so loudly I could hear them from across the table.

Throughout the entire week, the school felt like my worst nightmare. Ophelia and her friends did not stop the taunting.

To make matters worse, my mother, Regina, requested that I get a job. "You keep eating my food and drinking my water. Yet you contribute absolutely nothing to the growth of this house. Get a job!" She snapped.

I was sure that footing the bills was not the problem, as I heard Ken was being paid eight figures at his new job. However, there was no other option than to get a new job.

Luckily, my friend, Gemma, told me about the job opening in one of the restaurants downtown. She seemed excited to tell me about the place.

"I know someone who works there," Gemma said as she grinned.

"Who’s the person?" I asked.

.​

Rather than opening up, Gemma simply picked up her phone and smiled.

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