Chapter 1: The Bet

On Friday afternoon, Helen Robert finished her pharmacy class and was returning to her hostel when she heard someone yell her name.

"Wait, Helen," Samuel Kingston called. He was a 24-year-old man in his fourth year at Avalon University.

"Why should I wait? What do you want from me?" Helen asked as she turned to face Samuel Kingston, the notorious bad boy on campus.

"Why are you playing hard to get? Do you think I want to use you?" Samuel asked, refusing to give up. He wore a faded black jacket, trousers, and boots, as he had just exited his pharmacy class. He was studying drug development, just like Helen, but she was a brilliant, chubby, 21-year-old fair-skinned lady.

Some other pharmacy students stole glances at them and wondered if Helen would give Samuel a chance. Besides, his father was a billionaire and owned the largest pharmaceutical company in their state.

Helen wore a white top and a brown skirt, paired with black shoes. White spectacles were perched on the bridge of her nose. She was of average height with dazzling blue eyes.

"Samuel, I am warning you: keep your distance from me. If you chase after me again, I am going to report you to the chancellor. So stay away!" Helen warned. She did not want to have anything to do with him.

Helen Robert was from an average family of five children, and she was the only daughter. Her four brothers were businessmen, and she was the youngest. At first, her parents did not support her education at the university, but because of her intelligence, her father finally accepted that Helen should further her studies.

Helen did not want to disappoint her mother, so she avoided relationships. At the age of 21, Helen Robert was still a virgin, and many of the students at Avalon University were aware because she did not have a boyfriend.

"Chubby nerd!" they called her.

"What is Helen trying to prove? Why is Samuel Kingston chasing after that chubby nerd? Doesn't he see other pretty women he could possibly chase after? Why Helen?"

Helen heard the ongoing insults flying around, but she did not care to stare at the other students. She held her books to her chest and went back to her hostel, where she had four other roommates staying with her: Bridget Black, Anita Roland, Cynthia Jackson, and Tasha Thompson.

Bridget and Anita were both 23 and brown-skinned ladies. They did not like Helen because she was more focused on her studies and did not like to attend parties with them.

However, Tasha was Helen's best friend. Unlike Helen, who was the youngest among them, Tasha was a 22-year-old lady who attended some of the university events. While Helen was the only plus-sized student among them, Tasha was slim like Bridget and Anita.

"Helen, I saw Samuel chasing after you today. Aren't you going to give him a chance? A lot of girls would kill to have Samuel's attention, yet his whole focus is on you. Why can't you agree to date him? Please?" Tasha asked, holding onto Helen's hand when Helen returned from her class.

"But Tasha," Helen frowned as she refused. "I do not want to have anything to do with a guy like Samuel Kingston. He has changed his girlfriend every week since we joined in our first year. How can I date him? Don't talk to me about Samuel again. And if you are interested in him, you can go after him," Helen said, refusing to budge.

Tasha sighed. "It's fine. I honestly wish I were the one Samuel was asking on a date. You are obviously missing out."

Helen sighed, not wanting to dwell on Samuel's topic. She went to her bed to lie down, as she was already exhausted after returning from class. Soon after, she fell asleep.

***

At the men's dormitory, Samuel was with his best friends, Alex Benson, John Edward, and Eric White, as they stayed in the same room.

"What's up with you, Samuel? Have you finally won the bet?" John asked. He was a 25-year-old guy, the son of a senator, a bad boy, and Samuel's best friend. While Alex and Eric were also among their team, they had not expected Samuel to accept the challenge with John because they knew Helen was not Samuel's type.

Samuel smiled as he sat on his bed. "Just give me time, and I will surely get Helen."

"Give you time for how long? You already lost the bet because I saw you asking her out again today. That chubby nerd is so full of herself, and I just hate her," John ranted. He had tried to ask Helen to help him with one of his projects, but she refused, which led him to fail.

John had paid a few students to help him with his homework, but this particular subject needed Helen's help. Instead of helping him like the prodigy she was, she declined his offer—even when he offered 50,000, despite the highest he had previously paid being 10,000. She embarrassed him publicly. Her words sliced his heart: "Why don't you read your pharmacy books and pass the exams yourself?"

John gritted his teeth as he remembered the smirking face Helen had given him.

Back in the present, Samuel smiled and said, "I am on the same boat as you, John. We have until our final year graduation next year for the bet to conclude. If I get Helen, date her, and sleep with her, as the bet says, you will pay me 10 million. But if I lose, I will have to pay you. Deal?"

"Yeah. Deal," John replied, his voice full of seriousness, while Eric and Alex both shook their heads.

"You guys are crazy! Even if you give me 20 million, I cannot sleep with that chubby nerd, even though she has a pretty face. She is not my spec. Damn it! I cannot imagine the thought of making love to her. Count me out of your fụcking bet. I love to have my girlfriend slim and simple, not that plus-sized nerd," Eric said. His father worked in a petroleum company, but he wanted to be a medical doctor. They were all medical students, but they knew that aside from Helen's chubby figure, the majority of the lecturers liked her.

"Me too. I cannot imagine sleeping with Helen. She is going to break my waist. Samuel, I am going to advise you to reconsider your bet with John. He is obsessed with getting his revenge on Helen after she refused to help him with his homework, which resulted in his humiliation and detention. He wants to see her humiliated, and he is using you," Alex said, his voice full of concern for his best friend.

"Don't worry. I got this. I want to have Helen, even if it's for a night. She is not my type, but that doesn't change the fact that she is a virgin compared to all the loose girls in this university. I want to know what it feels like to sleep with a virgin. Even if it's once. I want to feel her, then I will break up with her. That's the deal," Samuel said, his lips curling into a smile as he rendered his three best friends speechless.

"Fine. As you wish," they replied. Samuel smiled and re-strategized. "Trust me, I don't fail," he said with full confidence, believing he would get Helen soon.

"Alright. We trust you," they agreed, hoping to see him succeed.