From Bet To Love

Chapter 4: Unfair Punishment

Author’s POV

“Vacate your room” a voice boomed in otherwise silent room causing the girl seated on the other side of the desk to flinch.

Jennifer could have sworn she felt the floor vibrate from Miss Brook’s loud voice.

Her eyes widened at the command, and she couldn’t help but feel wronged by the decision.

“What?! That’s so unfair, Miss Brook!” The words left her mouth before she could stop them, in a voice louder than she intended.

But can she be blamed in this situation? She feels completely wronged.

She had tolerated all the yelling Miss Brook threw at her for ‘unorderly conduct and misbehavior,’ for which, by the way, she wasn’t even responsible.

Miss Brook went on about how disappointed she was in her, how she never expected such behavior from a scholarship student, and how giving a scholarship to someone like Jennifer was a waste.

Then came the complaints about how girls these days have no shame at all.

Even though Jennifer believed she shouldn’t have been scolded for the incident last night — when that blue-eyed guy came out of nowhere and kissed her inside the girls’ dorm — she still listened, with her head bowed, as the furious woman before her let out all her anger.

But this punishment? This was something she couldn’t accept, especially when she had done nothing wrong.

“Mind your tone, Miss Roberts,” Miss Brook warned, glaring at her.

“I apologize for that, Miss Brook. But it’s really unfair. Why am I the one being punished?” Jennifer asked in desperation.

“Unfair? What’s unfair, Miss Roberts? You’re being punished for not following the rules. If you hate punishment, you shouldn’t have brought a guy into the girls’ dorm, right?” the woman said, raising an eyebrow.

Jennifer sighed. “I have already told you, ma’am, I never did that. I didn’t bring that guy to my room. In fact, I don’t even know who he is. Believe me”.

Jennifer tried to plead her case, but the woman across from her was clearly not interested in hearing her side. It seemed Miss Brook was adamant about throwing her out of the dorm.

“You have twenty-four hours. Make sure you vacate the room before then,” Miss Brook declared before picking up the file on her desk and beginning to read it.

Tears welled up in Jennifer’s eyes. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. She was being punished for something she didn’t even do.

What would she do now? Where would she go? She doesn’t even know anyone in this city except for Amber and her father.

If her mother found out that she has been asked to vacate her dorm room, she would be so worried. She would definitely tell her to stay at Amber’s house for the time being.

She knows that Amber’s father would happily welcome her and allow her to stay at their place. But she is not sure about her step mother and step brother.

Even if they have no problem with her staying with them, Jennifer doesn’t want to be a burden to them.

‘Why is this happening to me?’ she cried out in her head.

This is not how she thought she will be starting her first year in her dream university.

“But why am I the only one being punished? What about that guy? Shouldn’t you scold him too for breaking the rules? Shouldn’t he also be punished if we were both in the wrong?” Jennifer asked, trying to hold back her tears.

Miss Brook was taken aback for a moment but she quickly composed herself before leaning back in her swivel chair and crossing her arms over her chest.

Jennifer noticed the hesitation. It confirmed what she already suspected: the only person getting punished for this incident would be her.

There was definitely something fishy about this whole situation.

It had seemed odd to her how Miss Brook hadn’t said a word to the blue-eyed guy yesterday when she caught them ‘misbehaving in her vicinity,’ as she liked to call it. The guy had been right there, in front of her, but she hadn’t even glanced his way, let alone questioned him.

Jennifer couldn’t understand why Miss Brook was behaving like this. The guy from yesterday is probably just a student here, so why can’t she summon him here and punish him, like she is doing with her.

What is the reason for overlooking his mistake?

Is he from a rich family? Do the teachers in this collage discriminate students based on their status, like this?

Or is there any other reason?

“Aren’t we both supposed to be punished, Miss Brook? After all, the rules are the same for everyone, right?” Jennifer continued when the woman in front of her didn’t say anything.

“He doesn’t live here in girls dorm Miss Roberts. You do. So, you are the one who should have been careful about not doing anything which is against the rules and regulations of this place”.

“But still…” Jennifer started to argue but was cut off by Miss Brook’s firm voice as she asked, “Is twenty four hours too much time Miss Roberts? You seem to be wasting it like you have all the time in the world. Should I reduce the time for you? Eighteen hours? Twelve?”

Jennifer curled her hands into fists and bit her tongue to stop herself from saying something she will regret later, before whispering, “No ma’am”.

“Then get going. The door’s over there.” The woman pointed towards the door. “Twenty-four hours,” she reminded, returning her focus to the file in her hands.

Jennifer came out of the office, burning with anger.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to calm herself. But it was to no avail. She opened her eyes and ran her hand through her long hairs before shaking her head.

No, she couldn’t just accept this. Why should she suffer for someone else’s mistake? No, she wouldn’t take the fall alone. She would make sure the person who caused this mess, fixed it.

Now all of her anger was directed towards one person who deserved it.

The guy with blue eyes.

***

“As expected, another win for our King of Dares,” Evan announced with a proud smile on his face, patting his friend’s back.

The cafeteria erupted in cheers and applause. Some were genuinely impressed, while others joined in, not wanting to get on the bad side of those sitting around the table placed in the center of this huge cafeteria.

“Well, Lana, you must be happy that it was just a dare and not a bet, right? Who knows what Damon would have made you do if you lost the bet,” Evan teased the blonde-haired girl.

Instead of being irritated by Evan’s mocking words, Lana looked pleased by this whole situation. She smirked and replied, “You are right. I am really happy right now”.

Evan was taken aback by her reaction. Any other day, she would have been worked up by his teasing. But today, she looked content as if everything was going exactly the way she wanted.

Ignoring her strange behavior, Evan turned to his friend. “Where are you lost, Damon? Aren’t you going to celebrate your victory as always?”

But Damon just sat there, silently. His muscled arms crossed over his chest, his blue eyes staring into space. He looked lost as if he was in deep thoughts.

He wasn’t paying attention to anything happening around him. His mind was clouded by thoughts of the girl with emerald green eyes. Her innocent gaze, her sweet voice, those pink lips… Ugh, the feeling of those plump, soft lips pressed against his own, her sweet taste still lingered on his skin, in his mind.

He had kissed half the female population of the university in the past year as a freshman. Now, as a sophomore, he had kissed many more, from juniors to seniors, in just the first week of school.

But no girl had ever had this kind of effect on him till now, not a single one.

Evan placed a hand on Damon’s shoulder and shook him a little, snapping him out of his thoughts, just as a girl approached their table and stood behind him.

“Why did you do this to me?” the girl asked in a quivering voice, catching everyone’s attention.

Finally, Damon snapped out of his daze, but he didn’t turn around to acknowledge that girl.

“Now you are going to ignore me, huh?” this time her voice was a little more strong and firm. A hint of anger was also noticeable in her tone.

Damon sighed in frustration. He doesn’t like dealing with such stupid people who do not understand the matter even after being told multiple times.

He knew this girl wouldn’t leave him alone until he put her in her place.

So, he stood up, spun his chair around, and sat back down, facing her.

“What do you want?” he asked, his voice cold and emotionless just like his eyes.

Hurt flashed in the girl’s eyes at his cold and indifferent tone.

“Why are you acting like this, Damon? Did I do something wrong?” she asked, desperation evident in her voice, hoping to fix whatever had gone wrong between them. So that they can go back to being how they used to be.

“Look, I’ve already told you that everything we had was just a game. It was for the sake of bet, nothing more. I’ve already won the bet, so now I have nothing to do with you. It’d be best if you remembered that and stopped bothering me, okay?” Damon said, completely unbothered by her tears.

He has told this same thing to her multiple times by now. But this girl is not ready to accept it and it’s really starting to piss him off.

“But I… I loved you Damon. I still love you. What do I do now? How will I live without you?” she asked between sobs.

“What a joke,” Damon scoffed at her words, shaking his head slightly before meeting her gaze again. “Stop exaggerating girl” he said as he doesn’t even remember her name.

“You are not going to die just because I don’t love you back. No one dies because of love. No one loves someone so much that they would die without them. So stop saying you can’t live without me. It’s nothing but bullshit. Just few days and you will be over me, dating someone else. So stop with your nonsense and stop bothering me” he said with gritted teeth.

He hates it when people talk about love. He doesn’t believe in it.

Because he has seen people who claim that they love one another and those exact same people living their life happily after leaving their so called loved ones. As if their absence means nothing to them.

Everyone watched the scene unfold. Some pitied the girl, while others blamed her for falling for someone like Damon, for believing the guy who is notorious player and heartbreaker.

The girl stood there, stunned by his cruel words. Her heart ached from his indifference. But now she knew she was wasting her time. She realized she was dealing with someone who was nothing but an utterly heartless guy.

“You’re saying this because you don’t know love,” she whispered through her pain but Damon heard her and looked up to meet her teary gaze.

She wiped her tears and took a deep breath before saying, “I get it now. I was stupid because I was expecting love from someone who doesn’t even know what it means. But now I know. So, don’t worry, I won’t bother you anymore.”

She turned to leave but stopped suddenly, spinning back around to meet his gaze. “One day, Damon, one day you’ll fall in love with someone, and at that time you’ll know exactly how I feel right now. And when that day comes, you’ll regret everything you just said to me. So remember this conversation, because I’ll be praying that day comes soon and you find out how it feels to live without the person you love.”

With that, she was gone. Silence filled the room for a moment before Lana’s high-pitched voice broke it. “What the hell was she yapping about?”

Everyone sitting around the table burst Into laughter, including Damon. “Sounded like she was trying to curse me,” Damon joked making everyone laugh even more.

Everyone who was sitting around this table didn’t know the meaning of love. For them it was just a joke. Other’s pain was nothing but a joke in their eyes.

“Let’s forget about her and talk about the party next week,” Evan suggested, in order to change the subject.

Damon nodded and was about to get up and turn his chair back to face his friends when his eyes landed on a certain girl who had just entered the cafeteria. The girl who had been flooding his thoughts since last night.

Suddenly, he couldn’t move.

His gaze was fixed on her as she looked around, scanning whole room with determination in her emerald eyes, until they locked onto him.

He watched her walking towards him. Her unwavering gaze and her fast strides clearly reflected the anger radiating her body. And for some reason it made him excited.

Slowly, a smirk made it’s way to his lips when she stood in front of him and glared down at him before saying,

“We need to talk”.