"Impossible!" exclaimed Rachel, her chocolate brown eyes wide. "This can't be true". Frustrated, she ran a hand through her brunette tresses.

Professor Peacock studied his indignant student through his gold-rimmed glasses. Rachel Daniel, daughter of Thailand's renowned politician and the current District Representative Augustus Daniel was the youngest student council member, university debate team captain, and a model student. Extremely hardworking, she always excelled in all her assignments. The present situation was truly exceptional, he acknowledged.

"Since you have not handed in the 'Ethics in the workplace' assignment on time, I am afraid you won't be graded this term" he replied sternly.

"Professor, my GPA will fall," objected Rachel hotly. "I have never failed to hand in an assignment before. I was on medical leave; my left hand was fractured. Kindly consider your decision again."

"You are a sophomore, you cannot expect leniency," admonished Professor Peacock. "Besides you were able to attend your extravagant birthday bash. Why couldn't you hand in an assignment? Your entire class has handed in their assignment."

Rachel groaned, with the elections drawing close, the elaborate birthday party had been thrown by her father to mingle with influential people and cement his image of a benevolent man. She had spent a better part of the evening, resting in a corner, woozy from all the pain medications. Not that her father had noticed or cared.

"Please Sir, kindly reconsider" she pleaded.

Professor Peacock pursed his lips. "There might be a way. The swimming team has just returned from a national competition. According to the university rules, they will be allowed a 14-day grace period to hand in all the assignments. If you could get one of them to partner with you, I will clear it with the University President, Professor Patrick Gabriel."

"Yes, Professor. I shall approach the swimming team after school" promised Rachel, relieved.

Professor Peacock nodded his head in approval. "Good. You better hand in an excellent assignment. Now off you go, I have a class to teach."

With a grateful smile, Rachel vacated her seat and headed for the staffroom door.

.............................................................................

The second lunch hour was usually more crowded than the first at Charnock Beadon University of Technology since most athletes took their break then. Still, a raven-haired girl immersed in a book and a flirtatious brunette had managed to snag a table to themselves.

"Say, where is Rache? I am so hungry. Like I am seriously going to die now" muttered Marisa Davis, glancing around.

Monica Taylor, the raven-haired beauty turned a page, not bothering to look up at her over-dramatic friend. "Go ahead, bring your meal. You don't have to wait."

Marisa rolled her expressive eye. "Jeez woman, don't get annoyed."

"What are you? The mafia or something? Occupying the whole table. Where is your Ice Queen? Not yet time for her to arrive?" smirked Hans, the renowned university bully and star basketball player.

"Honey, let the maids be" purred Ela sliding her arms around Hans's waist.

Stoked, Marisa was about to give a smashing reply when she was beaten to the punch by her unassuming friend. Monica meticulously placed a bookmark in her book before keeping it aside. "Seems your basketball practice hasn't gone well today, Hans. Your poor form is causing the basketball team to lose all its matches. Your girlfriend is right, spend more time on your game instead of bothering us. Ela, the maids aren't interested in the trash, take your boyfriend with you."

"Whoa! Way to go Monks!" yelled Marisa with delight while Hans and Ela both turned a deep shade of red.

Hans was ready to punch the two obstinate girls. "How dare you?"

The whole lunchroom grew quiet, finally aware of the drama unfolding.

"If you know what is good for you, you wouldn't dare," said a quiet voice. Rachel had finally arrived.  Dropping her bag down on the table she stood before her friends protectively.

"What? Are you going to run to your daddy or the Students Council?" mocked Hans.

"Neither, I will inform Professor Gabriel. Surely the University President would be interested to know that you have violated your terms of rejoining class. Even your captain, Ben wouldn't be able to save your ass."

Seeing the situation spiral out of control, Ela quickly put her hands on Hans's shoulder and shook her head, silently urging him to walk away. Hans stared at Rachel for a long minute before abruptly stalking off, Ela following close behind. The lunch room collectively let out a sigh.

Rachel blew away the wisps of hair falling on her face. "Did that jerk bother you?"

Aware of her friend's temperament, Monica shook her head in denial.

"Other than calling us maids," interjected Marisa.

Rachel turned back, intent on finding those idiots. "That's it, I've had it!"

Monica quickly got to her feet and gave Marisa a brief glare. "Wait. Where are you going?"

"I am going to punch that foul-mouthed jerk!"

Monica quickly held Rachel's hand. "Calm down, Rache. It's election season. You can't go punching around people. We can't afford negative publicity now or your dad will have our hides."

Marisa smiled, "Everyone knows that our dads work for your dad, it's no big deal."

"Both of you are the closest thing I have to a family. How dare he call you maids!" mumbled Rachel, emotionally spent.

"Everybody calls Hans a lot of things. It doesn't matter. We know how important we are to you," soothed Monica. "Come, let us get our meal."

"Yay, finally. The drama almost wiped out my hunger," grumbled Marisa. "What took you so long Rache?"

"I went to meet Professor Peacock. He failed me because I hadn't handed in my ethics assignment," said Rachel with a sigh.

Monica and Marisa exchanged guilty looks. "Sorry, Rache. Our dads forbade us from disturbing you."

"True, you were not doing too good back then. How can Professor P be so cruel!" exclaimed Marisa, offended on Rachel's behalf.

"Well, he did find photos of my birthday bash on Instagram," muttered Rachel. "I wonder who put it up?"

Marisa glanced away. "I am so sorry, Rache. I had no idea it would cause you trouble."

Rachel flicked back her hair in annoyance. "It was covered in the evening news, not your fault Mars. I shall have to partner with someone from the swimming team to do the assignment".

The three girls turned in unison to look at the table usually occupied by the said team. A rather unkempt boy leaned over their team captain and was soundly smacked in return by a pony-tailed guy.

"Oh! Isn't Niam so cute," gushed Marisa.

Monica was quick to cover her friend's mouth, "Shhh! Someone might hear you. How can you like that guy? He already has a girlfriend."

"What's not to like? His girlfriend is from another university, how does it make him less desirable? He is the current Mr. Popular on the university students Facebook group," gloated Marisa.

Rachel groaned, "Isn't that an unverified account? The Student Council under P' Lily's leadership has been on a warpath to take it down."

Marisa smirked, "The students have their way."

Monica smiled at Rachel's grim expression.
"Well, Niam is popular only because Danish refuses to date and Milan dates way too much. I don't blame Danish though, interning in his father's company- OPG Technology, and leading the swimming team in national and international competitions, he already has a lot on his plate."

"Though Danish looks like a fallen angel, he is too reserved. Perhaps, he already has a girlfriend," muttered Marisa, under her breath.

"Girl, stick to one man. You keep oscillating between the outrageous Milan, the pony-tailed Niam, and the unavailable Danish," scolded Monica.

"I might like Niam but it doesn't mean I don't have eyes," replied Marisa rolling said eyes.

Rachel glanced at the stiff back of the swimming team captain she had been at odds with several times the past year. Shrugging, she turned away, "Come, let us eat before the lunch hour is over."

.................................................................................

Had Rachel known that she was the topic of discussion at the swimming team table, she would have been surprised. The captain, Danish sat with his back to the lunch room to avoid making eye contact with the numerous girls infatuated with him. Even dressed appropriately in the formal attire of the university, his raven hair, grey eyes, and chiseled jaw rendered him drop-dead handsome. Beside him sat Milan, the star of the swimming team and serial dater by his confession, dressed in his usual ripped jeans instead of the formal black trousers, his formal white shirt half tucked in, his hair slicked back. Opposite them sat Niam, the last member of their swimming team and a black belt karate champion, his silky long hair pulled back in a short ponytail as his alert eyes roamed the entire room.

"Hey Danish," said Niam leaning in. "Relax. Girls aren't going to approach you with the strictest student council member around.  Rachel's best friends are waiting for her, she should be here anytime now. Shit, here comes Hans. Surely, he will harass them. There goes."

Danish turned around, ready to leap to their defense, his handsome face set in tense lines. He needn't have bothered though. Rachel had finally made her appearance and dispatched Hans with great aplomb. Reluctantly Danish turned back around. "Well, that sharp mouth of hers handled that quite well."

Niam shook his head in exasperation. "Hans never learns does he."

"Yeah man, I wonder why Rachel is called ice queen, dragon queen suits her best" replied Milan.

"Witty sarcasm and sharp comebacks might win her debates but they render her unapproachable. Also, which guy would dare to crush on her when she treats rules like gospel? She is either preaching or handing out punishments," grimaced Danish. "She is way too haughty to be remotely likable."

Milan smirked infuriatingly. "I never thought a day would come when the great Danish Zacharia would notice a girl. Seriously, why do you hate her so much? If you paid that much attention to other girls, they would fall all over you."

"I don't hate her nor do I like her," replied Danish mysteriously.

"At least Danish has been loyal in his dislike of her. It's called constancy. Something you know nothing about" defended Niam.

Milan crossed his legs over. "Hey man, I know you have had a girlfriend since the 6th grade and you have been loyal to her despite her studying in a different university. But this is plain silly. We only have a few years left. Danish is wasting his chances of finding a perfect girlfriend."

"Give him a break. You know he works in his father's company on weekends and trains the newbie swimmers on weekdays. When will he have the time to date? My girlfriend is already threatening to leave me as I meet her once a week," grimaced Niam.

"She is always threatening to dump you. Let me talk to her. I shall charm her into staying," stated Milan leaning back casually.

Niam smacked him on the head before Danish could reply. "You are just looking for an opportunity to flirt with my girl".

Danish rolled his gorgeous eyes, "Come on man, get real. She will probably smack you too. Niam, let's get to class, Milan will probably not attend. Remember we have a swimming club meeting afterwards."

"Sure man. See you after class," replied Milan with a cheery wave.

"Remember, your attendance is getting low. You can't keep missing class," warned Niam. "Especially with all the competitions Danish keeps dragging us off to."

Milan shrugged nonchalantly, "My best friend's dad is a trustee, he will bail me out."

Danish frowned disapprovingly. "My dad, Jay Zacharia might be the trustee, but even he wouldn't condone your behavior."

Milan smiled, "Not if I pleaded with my infamous puppy eyes."

Danish and Niam burst out laughing, causing others to look at them. Overcome, they slapped Milan's back before strolling out and if Danish purposefully avoided Rachel's table, none was wiser.