Chapter 24

I was amazed at what I was seeing and hearing from Jennie Brooke. The last time she spoke against the R3 guys, it went for Reuben and now it's happening to Reuben again. Why does it always have to be Reuben and not Ryan and Ryder?

"Jennie!", I heard someone calling out her name, it was Ryder. He has never mentioned her name like that before, it would be different if I wasn't around.

I was confused as to why Ryder would just call out her name like that as if trying to warn her.

"Can you stop blabbering?", he finally added when everyone turned to look at him.

"That's not what you are supposed to do Ryder", Ryan finally spoke looking like a devil.

"Have you forgotten our deal already, she's proving stubborn so what are you going to do with her?", he added but this time, he looked dangerous.

Ryder just walked towards Jennie and stood right in front of her. He bent to her ear level and whispered some words into her ear. He resumed his normal height after whispering whatever it was into her ears and without waiting any longer, he slapped her.

"Ouch", she cried out.

"What was that for Ryder?", I cut in. I was quiet all this while thinking Jennie would be able to handle what was about to come but it turned out to be wrong.

"Good job Ryder, but next time don't keep us waiting ", Reuben said and they walked out of the cafeteria.

Ryder kept looking behind him as they walked out looking regretful. I held unto Jennie so she wouldn't burst out crying. 'Why did he do it if he didn't like it, can't he just distance himself from them?', I questioned my thoughts.

"I'm okay, stop worrying about me", Jennie finally spoke as if she had now been released from her shock.

"Are you sure", I asked worriedly.

"Did I do well?", that was the reply she gave me. I was confused because I didn't know why she was asking me such a question.

"What do you mean?", I asked her.

"I was able to speak against them ", she finally made her points clear.

"Oh yeah, I'm proud of you", I said giving her a reassuring smile and she smiled back. We lost appetite so we walked out of the cafeteria band made our way back to class. I finally remembered what Ryder did before slapping Jennie and I was curious but I didn't know if it was the right time to ask her about it.

"Urhm Ash", she mentioned my name which brought me to the present.

"Yeah", I responded trying not to raise her suspicion.

"Do you think Ryder is a good guy?", she asked while stopping me from moving any further.

"Why do you ask?", I asked her even though I knew the answer to her question, I don't want to make any mistake while answering her.

"He said he's sorry "

"When did he say he's sorry"

"That was what he whispered to me before slapping me, I felt he didn't want to hit me", she sounded like she wanted to break down.

"Why did he hit you if he was really sorry?", I asked

"Maybe if he doesn't do what they ask him to do, he might be in bigger trouble "

'Why is this girl sounding like she cares about him now', I thought.

"Why don't you talk to him to find out why he apologized to you", I suggested.

"I don't think he'd want to talk to me , he looked regretful after hitting me, didn't you realize it?",

"Or perhaps he won't talk to you when Ryan and Reuben are around so why don't we follow him after school?",

"It's still the same Ash, he won't talk to me"

"Let's just give it a try", I was eager to make the two talk things out.

"Okay", she finally gave in and we walked to class to complete the final lesson for the day.