ENRAGED SOUL

It was a usual Monday morning at THE ROBERTS' MANSION but not for Laura Roberts. Her definition of a usual Monday morning was getting to school on time, at least 7:30 to observe an hour or two personal studies before class begins.

But on the contrary, she was extremely late today, all thanks to her kid brother, Kelvin Roberts, the troublesome one among the three siblings of Mr. and Mrs Roberts.

Laura was the second daughter after Mya Roberts, the introvert, shy but intelligent and beauty queen of the Roberts' family.

" Stop it now, Kelvin Roberts, I need my bag. I'm already running late for my personal studies before class begins which you know how I hate missing that", Laura shouted, running after Kelvin who kept racing around the hall with her bag, teasing.

" Catch me if you can, sweet sis", he bursted out with laughter, dashing off to the kitchen.

Laura whined, tamping her foot on the floor, furious, " Oh, boy, I'll so kill you if I get hold of you. I bet you".

She sped off after him into the kitchen, shouting.

Kelvin, bumped into Mrs. Amy Roberts their mother who was coming out of the kitchen with a glass of milk in her hands.

" Hey, easy, why are you running around like that? You almost caused the milk to spill. Who is after..."

Without completing her statement, she noticed Laura approaching, all furious.

"Oh, I should have known. Causing trouble again?",she queried with a smile, holding Kelvin's chin.

Kelvin nodded with a smile," I just wanted to play, mum".

"Mum, please tell Kelvin to return my bag, I need to run now. Its already 7:00 and thanks to him I'm late ", Laura's voice echoed from behind, interrupting.

"Hey, young lady, where are your manners? No greetings? "

Laura sighed, forcing a smile, " Sorry mum,Good morning", she said, kissing her mum on the cheek.

Mrs. Amy smiled and brushed her hand through her daughter's hair.

"Good morning, honey. Hope you had a good night?"

She nodded,"yes mum. Now can you tell Kelvin to return my bag?"

Mrs Amy gave a faint chuckle, turning back to Kelvin who stood next to her, making teasing faces at Laura.

" Enough, young man. Return your sister's bag to her".

Kelvin gazed at them with a chuckle, hiding the bag behind him in hesitation.

" Return it now, Kelvin. She's already late".

" Yes, mum, I am", answered Kelvin and stepped towards Laura with his hand stretched out.

" Here you go, Laura", he said as he returned it to her. " Sorry for getting you late. Just wanted to have some fun with my sister. Hope I'm forgiven".

Laura knelt before him, smiling. " Sure, kid bro. You know I hold no grudges against you. We're good okay and I love you so much. Come here".

She hugged him, chuckling.

Mrs. Amy stared at her kids, full of smiles. "Laura?"

" Huh? Do you need anything, mum".

Mrs. Amy smiled, realizing Laura had already forgotten of her latenesses for school.

" I thought someone was running late for school or?"

Laura hit her head," Goodness, what just happened to me? I'm sure its all the cause of Kelvin's charm ", she exclaimed, teasing.

" I'm off now, mum. Bye, Kelvin. See you after school ".

"Okay, Laure. Take care", said Kelvin.

She hugged them and sped out of the house.

Mrs. Amy turned back to Kelvin who was already finding another trouble to start and smiled.

" No more troubles, Kelvin. Come and have your milk. You are running late for school. I got an important meeting to attend after dropping you off at school. "

He giggled, making a puppy face," Okay mum".

He took the milk and sat down on the sofa in the hall. Mrs. Amy packed up his lunch box and bag pack, ready to set off.

Kelvin searched around for awhile in search of something unknown.

"Mum", he called after his search seemed futile.

"Huh, what is it this time, Kelvin?", answered Mrs Amy still busy with Kelvin's stuff.

"Where is Mya? I've not seen her this morning."

Mrs. Amy smiled, approaching Kelvin with his lunch box and bag pack.

"Wanted to cause trouble for her as well?".

He gave a guilty smile and nodded.

Mrs. Amy chuckled and took the empty glass Kelvin placed on the table.

" She left early with dad today to the office. Poor you. Better luck next time my dear trouble maker",answered Mrs Amy as she trod off to the kitchen.

Kelvin made a pouted face as he playfully drew something with his legs on the floor. Mrs. Amy returned from the kitchen still smiling.

" Hey, no need to look all grumpy. You can have all the fun with her after school , okay?. Now we need to run. Come on, let's go", she said, tickling him.

He laughed," alright, alright, mum. Stop it now. Let's go".

" Good boy, get your bag".

He took his bag from the sofa and followed Mrs. Amy out of the house, cheerful.

EXCELLENT BRAINS COLLEGE

Laura's car pulled over in front of the school premises but she was so immersed in her text book that she didn't realize. Mr. Van, her driver gazed at her through the driver's mirror and smiled, slightly shaking his head.

" Miss. Laura", he called.

Without looking up from her book, she asked.

"Huh, need anything? Mr. Van?".

"Hmm, no, actually, we've arrived", he answered with a smile.

Laura swiftly raised her head from her book and took a glance through the window.

"Oh, you're right. Thanks ", she replied with a smile and packed her books into her bag.

Just when she was about to step out of the car, the bell rang.

"Oh, mine, I'm so late today", she murmured to herself as she got of in a hurry. " See you later, Mr. Van", she shouted and sped off.

Before he could even reply, Laura was far gone. He smiled, stared at her back while she diminished into the crowd of students.

" Such a book worm. So brave and brilliant ", he mumbled and drove off.

********

Laura got to the hallway in a rush with other students also rushing off to their classes. She shoved her bag well over her shoulder, not really giving attention to any of her mates who by passed her to their classrooms.

Her mind was busily plotting how to get back at Kelvin for her lateness. She kept whining as she approached her class.

"Damn it, Kelvin Roberts. You know how I hate to be this late for class. I'll so get back at you for this".

She went past class 2/4 and 3/4 before finally stopping at hers class 1/4. The whole block was so quite that even with a drop of pin, it's sound will be heard across the block. This definitely tells the presence of a teacher.

Laura wasn't so bothered about that. She pushed the door opened in a haste which drew the attention of everyone to her. She gave a faint sheepish smile and bowed, greeting their teacher whose attention was now fixed on her.

"You're late, Miss. Laura Roberts ", Mr. Mark exclaimed with quite an unfriendly expression.

Laura flinched with a grin "I'm sorry, sir", she replied and hurried off to her desk, not paying attention to the piercing stares and glares from her colleagues, especially Ben and his friends, Fred and Patrick who always find Laura irritating.

Mr. Mark's gaze followed her with a scornful look; slightly shaking his head, he deftly turned to the board continuing the lesson.

Alixes, being in a hurry to find out why Laura was late; hastily picked up her bag from Laura's desk with a quizzical look.

"What's that look for?", whispered Laura with a cold tone as she settled down.

Alixes gasped; ranting " You of all people? What happened and Why are you late, Laura?".

Laura ignored her, rummaging through her bag in search of her Literature and Acts textbook along with her notepad. Alixes; now sure Laura wasn't ready to answer her, snapped her fingers in front of her face, pissed.

"Hey, answer me, girlfriend ", she cried.

Laura rolled her eyes and sighed, " Gosh, Alixes, not now, please. I'm not ready for your troubles. Let's talk about this after class, okay", she whispered; turning towards the board " I'm already late and that's enough trouble. No need to get us into another with Mr. Mark, huh?".

Alixes nodded her approval although not so happy with her unwillingness to talk.

" Um, right. Fine, let's talk, lunch time, okay? ", she cried but had no response from Laura.

" Now, introducing today's topic, let's turn our textbooks to page 16 , "Acts and Scenes", Mr. Mark's voice announced drawing Laura and Alixes attention.

" Acts and Scenes are part of theatre act; Ben Hansel, tell us what you understand by this topic".

Ben was so immersed in his phone that he didn't know what was going on. Ben Hansel is the son of the director of EXCELLENT BRAINS COLLEGE, Mr. Hansel Graham. He always had issues with his teachers due to his notorious attitude and less attentiveness in class and on campus. He does whatever he liked without any punishment.

Fred quickly nudged Ben who was busily surfing through his phone without any knowledge of what was going on. He lifted his head only to find those piercing eyes of his colleagues and the tutor on him. He sharply looked around; at sea.

" What's going on? why is everyone staring at me?", he queried.

" I just called you, Ben; explain what you understand by "Acts and Scenes in theatre act", Mr. Mark repeated.

Ben hived; settling back in his desk, less concerned," Um, actually, sir, I kind of don't know what that means. I got no idea on that", he said.

Mr. Mark sighed; shaking his head,"Laura Roberts, kindly help us out on this topic", he called at Laura who was busily jotting down some notes she missed earlier on.

Alixes shoved her on the shoulder, drawing her attention but unfortunately caused her to rather cancel what she wrote . Laura glared at her, furious.

"Hey, Alixes, what was that for? I can see you are so bent on distracting me today, right?",she mumbled.

Alixes flinched, " Hey, chill...bestie. Mr Mark called you", she answered; pointing to the board.

"Yes, Laura, I called. You seem out of class today. Is everything alright with you?", Mr. Mark's voice echoed, interrupting the two ladies.

Laura grinned sheepishly as she rose to her feet,

" Yes, sir. I'm perfectly good."

"Alright, now kindly help us with the topic on the board".

"Acts and Scenes; An act is a part of play defined by elements such as rising action, climax and resolution while a scene normally represents actions happening at one place at a time, and usually marked off from the next scene by a curtain, a blackout or a brief emptying of the stage", she stated.

Mr. Mark smiled, satisfied by Laura's explanation.

"Very good dear. Thanks; you may have your seat now "

Laura nodded with a smile and settled back in her seat while lessons continued. Alixes playfully nudged her, "way to go girl; your level of intelligence never seize to marvel me", she cried and drew closer to her; whispering "Tell me, what's your charm", she teased.

Laura gasped and shoved her off, chuckling "knock it off, Alixes; stop flattering me".

They giggled and turned their attention back to the lesson.

Ben stared at them from his desk; furious and scoffed " I so hate this girl and her Miss perfect attitude. Every tutor and student seem to sing her praises every time. This really gets on my nerves", he groaned " Its so irritating ".

His friends, Fred and Patrick who shared a desk next to him nodded in support.

" I agree with you, Ben. She's so full of herself. We ought to find a way to break her sense of confidence and bring her under our control like any other student in this school", said Fred.

"I'm in for this ", Patrick added.

They all nodded with a broad evil smirk, gazing at her direction.

" We'll know what to do with her after class", Ben announced with his eyes fixed on her.

" Enjoy all you can now ,Laura because very soon; you'll be just one dumped bastard with no recognition. You'll be my pet, Laura Roberts", he whispered underneath his breath with a satisfied smile.

Mr. Mark's attention was drawn to the whispers of Ben and his friends. He cleared his throat, irritated by their inattentive act,

" Ben, Fred and Patrick; what's going on over there? Why are you distracting my class?", his voice roared like a wounded lion, echoing through the whole class.

"Kindly excuse us since you are not ready for my class "

" But sir...", Ben swiftly interrupted but was immediately cut off by Mr. Mark.

"No buts, Mr. Ben Hansel. Walk out of my class now; I mean all of you", he shouted, showing them the door.

Ben and his friends glanced at each other and back at their tutor with outer dismay and indifference.

" Let's get out of here, guys", said Fred; tapping Ben and Patrick on their shoulders.

They nodded with a furious glare at Laura whose gaze was among the numerous eyes fixed on them and trod out; knocking off Lupita's textbook to the floor which made her flinch.

Lupita Daniels was one of the victims of Ben and his friends' bully. She once witnessed them bullying one of their mates, Ivy and stepped in to help only to become their target since then. She always trembled and flinch at the sight of them ever since.

Lupita gasped and took a deep breath before retrieving back her book from the floor. Mr Mark sighed, worried.

"Are you okay, Miss Lupita? ", he asked.

She nodded, forcing a smile" Yes, sir....I'm good".

" Alright; now everyone, let's get back to our lessons. Sorry for what just happened ", he said and turned back to the lesson.

Alixes on witnessing what just transpired and those deadly glare thrown at Laura by Ben and his friends became nervous and distracted. She took a glance at Laura who seem not concerned and immersed in her book, worried.

Alixes sighed; shaking her head, " Are you human at all?", she cried undertone.

Laura looked up at her, surprised at her words

" Why? What is it, Alixes? What have I done?", she queried.

" Do you even get frightened or scared for once? Don't tell me you didn't see those deadly glares Ben and his friends threw at you before walking out of class", she flinches.

" Hell, its one horrifying glare; it can easily send one into his or her grave", she added.

Laura scoffed and ignored her; flipping through her book, acting unaware of what she was talking about,

" What glares are you talking about, Alixes?",she asked.

Alixes gasped, bemused by the words that just escaped Laura's lips," God!,I now believe you're not human; tell me you really didn't see those glares", she soft whispered.

" Enough !!, Alixes, stop talking already. All you are ranting now is irrelevant. Look here; i'm not ready to be walked out like those guys all because of your nosy attitude, please", said Laura, jotting down something into her notepad.

Alixes sighed, helpless; not knowing want to do to make her understand her fears.

" You're so unbelievable, Laura. You seem not to care about anything concerning your safety unless academics. I guess you know how deadly those boys", she kept whining.

Laura felt irritated by her continuous nag and dropped her pen, staring up at Alixes with the look that says "I'll kill you if you kept nagging".

Alixes flinched, " Fine, I give up, Laura Roberts. Suit yourself but don't say I didn't warn you", she mumbled; jotting down the notes on the board.

Laura stared at her for a brief moment and shook her head," She's such a parrot", she murmured and returned back to her work.

******************

Ben, Fred and Patrick got to the corridor in front of their class. They stood and stared back into their class, burning with rage.

"Damn it !! ", Ben shouted, smacking his hands into the rails.

Fred and Patrick strolled to his side and held his shoulders to calm him down.

"Come on, Ben; you got to calm down so we can think of what to do next ", said Patrick.

He ruffled his hands through his hairs in devastation," Can't believe we were disgraced and sent out of class like fowls because of that bastard, Laura".

" Come on, buddy, let's bring her gracious reign to an end; you're in?", Fred exclaimed with a smirk, leaning back on the rails.

Ben stood there lost in thoughts, plotting his next step of action against Laura.