EMBARRASSED

The whole hall was suddenly silent that you can even hear the sound of a dropped pin. Every eye was fixed on Laura and her friends, Naomi and Alixes who were still astonished at what just happened and yet to find their voices.

"What are you doing, Laura? why get us into this mess?", Naomi whispered behind Laura after finally finding her voice.

"Yes, Laura, this is definitely a dead end, girlfriend",Alixes added in a concealed manner, keeping her fright hidden from Ben and his friends.

"Allow me handle this, please, okay?", said Laura,composed, throwing a quizzical look at her terrified friends.

They nodded,all blank.

Ben offered a sly grin that told nothing, gazing at Laura. Patrick and Fred looked very smug, leaning closer to Ben. They whispered something to him with a smirk. 

Ben grinned starring at Laura and her friends.

" Oh, Laura, just as I expected".

"Yes, is me, Laura Roberts", said Laura, gracefully gliding towards them.

"Let go off those girls ",she exclaimed with a cold tone, gazing at the direction of Patrick and Fred who were holding Ivy and Lupita by their hair.

"And what if I don't, you stupid know it all queen or should I say psycho?" He mumbled with a wry grin which his friends boo to it teasingly; leaving Laura irritated. 

She was so angry that she could even feel her blood boiling in her veins. She slightly glanced around with a fake smile and before Ben could even say another word, Laura landed a heavy slap on his cheeks like a flash of lightening; leaving it numb.

"How dare you Ben Hansel?"

Everybody in the hall were left in shock with what just happened. Naomi and Alixes were no different, they had their jaws still hanging in the air yet to recover from the shock. 

Ben held his cheeks as he glanced at the stunned, sympathetic but cold faces staring at him and the feeling of embarrassment washed through him like cold water. He has never in his life been so humiliated by anybody before and not to talk of the person being a girl.

He was so pissed and embarrassed at the same time as the shocked faces slowly started turning into grins and giggles. He threw a dreadful glare at Laura and stormed off without uttering another word. 

Patrick and Fred stared at each other and back at Laura with a fierce look before finally racing after Ben; hitting Naomi at the shoulder, causing her to 

stumble almost falling to the floor.

 Alixes immediately held her, " Hey, are you okay, girl? ", she queried and Naomi nodded in response. 

 Ivy hugged Lupita in tears. Laura felt sorry for them. She drew closer and patted their back, consolingly.

"Thanks, Laura", they cried.

" It's okay, dear. No need to thank me. I also can't stand the sight of those bastards. Come on, sit here, I'll get you guys another meal to replace yours, okay".

"No, don't bother yourself, we're okay with what you just did for us", said Ivy.

Laura insisted and they had no option than to accept. She made them settle down around the table with Naomi and Alixes after which she left to get their lunch.

 

                  ***************** 

WASHROOM

Ben stood in front of the mirror filled with rage. He continuously splashed some water on his face to calm himself with Patrick and Fred behind him; their back relaxed on the wall.

" I've not been so humiliated like this ever in my life not to talk of a girl, no other than Laura", he shouted, smacking a fist on the sink.

"Ben, I think now is the time to make a move against that girl. She's becoming powerful as the day go by", said Patrick.

"Yes, Ben, let's hear your plan so we'll know the next step to take", Fred added.

Ben trod to the door to make sure no one was approaching that direction after which he joined them.

"Here's the plan; we'll trap her at the school's storage and then, take advantage of her. That's the only way to break her pride", Ben stated.

Patrick and Fred stared at him, not so convinced with his plan.

" That won't be so easy, Ben and you know that", Patrick argued.

"Yes, I agree with Patrick. It's a tough and risky one. The girl we're talking about is not just any other girl like the others but the intelligent Laura. You know what that means",  Fred exclaimed.

They contemplated on it for sometime and finally agreed to go by Ben's plan by using Ivy as their bait to get to Laura.

" Great, we'll take Ivy as our captive to the storage and use her phone to message Laura for help. Then we'll take care of her when she comes to the rescue", said Ben with a grin.

"Perfect ", Ben and Fred chorused in support.