Chapter 2

When the young man had gotten bored of mocking Kevin, they all left him and walked away.

 The fading sun seemed to scorch. He was so depressed.

He pulled himself up from the wet field grasses and sauntered out of the field with his head bent in shame and his body wet with the water some of them had emptied on him from their cans.

“I guess I deserve all this,” he muttered to himself, “my punishment for daring to dream of a life with Maya.”

His life was full of thorns and thistles, characterised by being raised in several foster homes and never having real parents.

He was suffering and had a pitiable condition. He ordinarily should not have been able to afford college tuition or any tuition for that matter but he was just lucky that he was usually acing all his papers and hence, was always winning several scholarships.

But, the scholarships could not cater to all of his needs hence, he still had to work hard and also not look so great.

He was not fashionable and not appealing. His clothes were less than acceptable and totally worn out. His appearance made it extremely easy for people to ridicule him.

Even his girlfriend Maya was only ok putting up with his shenanigans because she had no choice at the time and Kevin knew this.

The only true friend he had was Eden.

The fiesty, fierce Eden.

She was in front of her door when he returned from the harassment he had endured and he felt his eyes watery with tears at how concerned she was about his well-being.

“Who did this to you, Kevin?” She blurted, holding him steady as he almost slumped onto the door.

“I'd rather not say.”

“What? Did those crazy arse rich boys do that to you? I mean Liam and his gang?”

“Yes. I do not understand why they would bully me this much, each and every time.”

“Because you let them! You have refused to stand up to your right and so they trample on you.”

There was anger in her voice and she looked like she could beat the hell out of them if she had the chance to do that.

“But you and I know that I cannot stand up to them, Eden. I am no match for them; their wealth and their class is way above mine.”

Eden grumbled about something before helping him into the old room that happened to be his.

She cleaned him up and made him soup.

Kevin was overwhelmed by her kindness but heart was with Maya.

The days that followed, Maya made it quite obvious that she was avoiding him. She would budge at every request from him for a hang out.

“I just wanted us to hang out for a little while, me, you and my friend, Eden.”

A grimace appeared on her face.

“I am so sorry, Kevin. I have got some assignments to tackle before dusk.”

Kevin felt a stab of disappointment to his chest.

“Are you avoiding me?”

Maya turned to him with a smirk, “why would I?” She asked rather nonchalantly because deep down she knew she was.

“I don't know. Maybe because I am not in your League.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed him aside gently.

“I gotta run now, Kevin. I have an awful lot to do.”

She sauntered away from him without even turning around.

Kevin felt a pang of rejection in his chest.

“She is definitely avoiding me,” he mumbled, gathering his books and walking into the Library. He could smell the rejection, the forced feeling of love that she was showing him yet, a part of him was still holding on.

He was hopeful.

He found Eden as usual, sitting on the reading table that they always shared while studying.

Eden giggled at the sight of him.“I thought you wouldn't show up today.”

“Why would I not? I have got to study and we have an assignment to do together.”

“My point exactly. I made up my mind that you were probably tired or busy.”

Kevin smiled at her fervency in pursuing their academic goals. She was the type of woman any man would want to be with but he still had his eyes on Maya.

He was working hard to be a better man for Maya. All that he did was secretly for Maya, a fact Eden did or didn't know.

After studying for quite some time, they proceeded to walk to the cafeteria to have lunch.

“I_I am embarrassed to say this Eden, I don't have so much money on me to handle both our bills,” he stuttered feeling heavily embarrassed.

Eden punched him lightly on his arm.

“Did I say I cannot handle my own meal?”

“I know you weren't looking out for me to provide for you but I just feel that I owe it to you.”

He was lowering his gaze, feeling heavily embarrassed to look at her.

“You make me laugh, Kevin. You don't owe me anything. We are both students and understand each other's financial limitations.”

Kevin was impressed by her level of understanding and her maturity and lack of desperation for wealth.

She was not wealthy but her condition was better than Kevin's.

They sat down to eat the meals they had ordered and while they were at it, Henry, a stooge for Liam, walked past Kevin and intentionally hit his arm just as he was raising it to his mouth.

The impact caused Kevin to lose control of his arm and he hit the spoon on his face, causing the food he had scooped to fall all over his face and neck.

Everyone in the Cafeteria burst into mocking laughter, causing Kevin to feel a gust of shame wash through him.

“Hey… how did that feel?” Henry bragged, rubbing his hair like he was a kid.

Eden was not having it. She slammed her hand on the table and stood up to Henry to everyone's shock.

“What the hell was that for?” She howled loudly.

Everywhere was still.