Bridge Of Solitude - Volume 1 Chapter 10 Threat With Treat

The morning show in cafeteria came to a reluctant halt as classes began. When Margaret walked into cafeteria again at lunch, it was back to its usual environment.

She sat at a corner table and took a bite of her cinnamon roll as her mind once again settled on Arthur. She doesn’t usually see him every day but she doesn’t search for him every day either. And yet she was unable to find him, which left only one explanation he chose today of all days to skip.

And while he was sleeping in his house peacefully, Tyler and Paul were making themselves look like heroes and victims at the same time, and Arthur as some lawless ruffian.

But, why was Margaret so worried about him, when she can be sure even that sleepy dude himself wouldn’t give a damn about it.

Nope. She don’t care about him. At all.

“Margie!” A rough voice boomed beside her ear, startling Margaret out of her thoughts. Or more like scaring the life out of her.

She inadvertently let out a low scream and the cinnamon roll in her hands went flying. It bounced off the edge of the table before dropping to the floor.

Margaret was so deep in her thoughts that she didn’t notice someone coming up to her. She took deep breaths to calm her heart before she spoke to her uninvited guest.

“What do you want, Jacob?” She glared at the guy standing beside her and as if on queue, Jacob burst out laughing. It was thunderous to say the least.

Ugh, so annoying!

Margaret looked away and saw her poor cinnamon roll lying on the floor. She was so busy thinking about Arthur, she didn’t even finish half of it.

Now the sleepy dude owes her a cinnamon roll.

“That was so funny, and I didn’t even try to scare you.” Jacob controlled his laughter as he sat on the opposite chair. “Damn, I should’ve recorded it. I’ll do it next time.”

Margaret huffed and crossed her arms. This guy has an incredible talent to drive her mad everytime.

“What do you want, Jacob?” she repeated her question, staring at the gladiator-esque man in front of her. However, she could already guess why he found her.

“Yeah, right.” He spoke, as if he only now remembered why he came here. “Why did some glasses kid came to me saying that he’s my new partner?”

Aah… there was that one too, huh? She completely forgot about it.

Margaret silently prayed for the well-being of Cooper as she hoped he could survive being Jacob’s partner. But according to Cooper, he’d want to be paired with anyone other than Arthur, so Margaret shouldn’t feel guilty for throwing Cooper at Jacob.

Margaret casually shrugged her shoulders before answering. “Mr. Collins decided to change it that way. I’m just following his orders.” That might be a lie but it was a very logical one. “If you have any problem, you should talk to Mr. Collins.”

Okay, that last sentence was unnecessary. Her big mouth could really get carried away once it started. But she was going to keep her faith in Mr. Collins that he won’t agree to change the partners for a second time.

Jacob gave a weak groan and mumbled something unintelligible. They were most likely to be curses though. “But, why did you run away like that yesterday? I called after you many times but you didn’t stop.”

There it was ladies and gentlemen, the billion dollar question!

Right, why indeed?

“Uh…” She trailed off. What was she to say? She panicked so she ran away? No way!

But she doesn’t have any other reason.

Then make one.

Right, Fantastic idea.

“I had some urgent business to take care of.” She blurted out hurriedly.

Seriously Margaret, that’s the best you could come up with. There was no way he’d believe that. She needed to train her brain to create good enough excuses, and she still has a long way to go.

Jacob narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.

See, that excuse wasn’t even enough to fool this guy, who has the least possible content of brain.

“HmmI thought so.” He smiled and nodded as if it was to be expected. And Margaret who was seated in front of him was left slack jawed.

He believed it! He really believed it! Thank god for his stupidity!

“Anyway, I want you to write the Bio-chem thesis report for me.” Jacob declared. “I have to pass the damn subject to clear the fourth semester, otherwise Coach will take me off the team.”

Margaret furrowed her brows as she groaned internally.

‘This again? Didn’t I refuse him once already?’

Golden Dawn University greatly values sports curriculum along with academic education. The university supports and encourages its sport stars and athletes in every way possible. But the bottom line was that they should not let it affect their academics. No compromises. No excuses.

They should at least clear their selective courses with passing scores, otherwise they would be held off their respective teams until they clear everything.

And now, Jacob must be precisely in that situation where he should clear Bio-chemistry or he will be thrown off the team. But instead of working hard himself, he was forcing his responsibility onto Margaret.

But what’s irritating Margaret was he was clearly asking her for a favor and yet, his tone was arrogant and demanding. And there was no mention of the word ‘please’ anywhere in there. So he just comes in, gives her an order and expects her to follow it?

“I already told you once, I’m not doing it.” Margaret controlled her anger and answered in as calm a voice as she could manage. “And in case you forgot, I’m a second year for only two days now, so there is no way I can summarize the final report for you. Moreover, I don’t even have Bio-chemistry in my curriculum so I can’t help you.”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem for you.” Jacob smiled calmly, taking a piece of wedge fry from her plate and popping it into his mouth.

My fries! Margaret shouted in her mind and glared at him. She absolutely hates it when people put their hands in her plate. She was not against sharing but she won’t accept anyone touching the food in her plate. That was her personal boundary.

“You are the genius who deduced the complex molecular equations of final year, when you were barely even a first year. How many classes did you attend by then? Ten? Twelve?”

Margaret let out a low growl. That was a touchy subject and he just punched in her sore spot.

‘And by the way, what do you mean ten and twelve? It was exactly seven classes before I couldn’t take it anymore.’ Margaret mumbled quietly.

“So a mere 2nd year report will be a piece of cake for you.” Jacob smirked, looking at her with a rather pleased expression.

Damn it. It’s been a year already. Are the hash tags of her misdeeds still trending, even after such a long time? Clearly, she underestimated her bad luck. But it was her fault in the first place for showing off and making a ‘ruckus’, without considering the after-effects. Margaret busily cursed herself for a good while before she looked at him.

What Jacob said was true. Preparing a 2nd year report was not a big problem for Margaret. She only need to read through the textbooks and familiarize herself with the subject again. And with a week’s time at most, she was confident of drafting the final report. But there was no way she would admit that openly. So she made herself humble and stated the contrary.

“You are overestimating me. That was in the past, I’m not that genius anymore.” Margaret spoke in a nonchalant manner as she crossed her arms and leaned back into her chair. She knew he won’t be satisfied with such a simple answer so she decided to extend her argument with a perfectly logical and plausible reason.

“And it is no ‘piece of cake’ as you say. Even regular students have to work hard throughout the year to formulate a decent report. And as you said I barely took ten classes when I dropped it; and that was a year ago.”

That was a fact. And a very reasonable one too so, she hoped he would understand the reality of it and stop bothering her.

“But I believe in you. I’m sure you can do it if you put mind into it.” Jacob waved off her arguments with his stupid smile and Margaret couldn’t help her urge to smack the grin off his face.

He just doesn’t get it. He was determined in his belief that she was some kind of ‘genius’ who can do anything. Although it might be true to some extent and she should feel happy about it, she was not.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you.” Margaret stood up and grabbed her bag, ready to leave but Jacob immediately slammed his hand on her bag. She tried to pull it out from under his heavy arm but he made sure to stick it in place.

“It’s not a good idea to refuse me, Margie.” He declared with his head down, the coldness in his voice sent a shiver down her spine. When he raised his head to look at Margaret, there was no hint of his usual smile on his face anymore.

Margaret understood the underlying message in his words. Rejecting him means making an enemy out of him. She knew she cannot afford to increase the number of her ‘fans’, much less such a fanatical one. But, if she caved in now, this will just keep repeating again and again. She would become his personal assistant, but without any salary. And if by some sort of bad luck, any professor were to find out, she will be in a much bigger trouble.

“Im sorry but I-”

“Don’t be in such a hurry to turn me down, Margaret.” Jacob spoke dryly, gazing ahead into distance. The casualness in his voice replaced by the icy chill. “You know what my position is, in the team? I’m a Defender. It’s my job to block the opposition’s attacks and not let the other team players to get anywhere near our goal post. And let me tell you, as long as I’m there, no one gets past me. Because I don’t play fair, and I don’t care about the rules; I play dirty, and I get the job done.”

He then turned his gaze to her, a faint smile hanging on the corner of his lips. “I’m giving you a chance here, Margie. Helping me means helping yourself. So choose your side wisely.”

Jacob slowly stood up and leaned forward, while Margaret instantly took a step back. He locked his cold sinister eyes with hers and she was instantly frozen stiff in place. “But if you still insist on standing against me, then I cannot guarantee I will play safe. And trust me when I say this. You don’t want me as your enemy, because you cannot endure my wrath.”

Margaret’s heart was hammering in her ears and she was breaking out in cold sweat.

He was scary. Very, very scary.

As strong and tough Margaret tries to act, she won’t survive a punch from his huge and heavy arms. And when he’s done with her, she most certainly will be retired for life.

‘Great job reminding me that, my mind. I’m feeling so much better now.’

“Yo, Jake. What are you doing here, bro?” A guy’s voice called out from other side of the cafeteria, but Margaret was too scared to move. “Come on man, the coach is gonna yell at us again.”

Jacob gritted his teeth and growled as he turned towards his football pals. “I’m coming!” He took his hand off her bag and stood straight. But before he could leave, he turned back to Margaret once again. “Remember what I told you, Margie. I don’t want to hurt you, so think carefully and make the right decision.”

Then he jogged towards his friends as Margaret collapsed in her chair. Her head was heavy and her whole body felt cold as her mouth was dry and her heart was yet to calm down. She took a deep breath and sighed, wiping the sweat off her forehead with the sleeve of her jean jacket.

Then she noticed the cafeteria almost empty and realized that lunch had already ended. That means she was going to be late for her class.

Margaret quickly stood up and emptied her water bottle in a hurry. As she felt alive again, she threw the bottle in a bin, grabbed her bag and hopped her way to the class.