PROLOGUE
One
YOUR LOVE IS A TRASH.
At the Vice Chancellor's Office
"Prof. Philip Miller, you will keep receiving automated messages from the Cherry Fields Oil and Gas Group unless you do my bidding by expelling these repulsive students. Being addressed as the students of the Prestigious Eagles City University is repugnant to the entire system."
"Young man, these students are the crème de la crème of this University. They call the shots here. Their parents are the higher-ups in Mississauga and Toronto."
"Hahaha. I don't think you know the higher-ups of society. Do you?"
This rendered Prof. Philip Miller speechless. But Jeff Israel still had some threats up his sleeves and did not hesitate to unleash them.
"Prof. Miller, these scoundrels don't deserve to be classified as janitors of our noble university. I will promise you one thing, if you keep them longer than a week, I will keep beating them until I see their parents.".
He turned to the youngsters on the floor and jeered.
"If your parents are the mysterious CEO of the Cherry Fields Oil and Gas Group, bring them tomorrow to arrest me."
He turned to the VC and threatened once more.
" I will advise you to think twice because if you are planning to keep them in this school, then get prepared because 'the Eagle will lose its feathers'. Leon, let's go."
Jeff and Leon stomped out of the Vice Chancellor's office, leaving him and the Heads Of Departments in a befuddled state. He had been in this dilemma for over a year. The university was about to lose its reputation as the best and long-standing university in Toronto. His subordinate, Prof. Clem Thompson, who had eyes on the office, had been waging against him and instigating the media to publish malicious and disconcerting reports about him and the school. The latest publication that got him disoriented and parents were threatening to withdraw their children and wards had the caption:
(Is the Eagle losing its feathers?)
The publication projected the university in a bad light while pointing an accusing finger at him. He was also accused of embezzlement and sexual harassment of male and female students. He was in this precarious situation when a fight broke out between Jeff and the group who were the black sheep of the school. They were dreaded by the school authority as well as the students because their parents were the supposed owners of the Cherry Fields Oil and Gas Group – the biggest Oil and Gas Company in the country. The ownership of the company had classified information and these miscreants took advantage of that and had been parading themselves as the successors of the company. The Vice-Chancellor had been pampering them and condoning their truancies because they had promised to donate one billion every year to the School Endowment Fund. With such money in the fund, the collapsing school would resurrect, and that would be a feather in the cap of Prof. Philip Miller.
Jeff Israel's Perspective.
This was his second year at the Eagles City University, and he was the best student in his departments and the second in the entire school. He was pleased with the result but when his grandfather, Mr. Jeffrey Morris, the Chairman of the Cherry Fields Oil and Gas Group saw the result. He hacked into the school's website to find out if the school was dotting on his grandson with the pretext of buttering him up to get his attention. To his dismay, he discovered that his grandson was the overall best but was made the second best. This was because someone, Shirley Brandon, the most beautiful girl on the campus and the daughter of the mysterious owner of the leading Company in the country, must be pleased. Mr. Morris asked his son to ensure that the School Authority reversed the results.
When Jeff approached the Vice-Chancellor for the reversal, he gave him a cold shoulder.
"Young Man, I know it is your rightful position, but then there are people that cannot be offended in this school. You should be contented with the result."
This infuriated Jeff, but he was ready to let it pass.
"Dad, let's allow it to pass for now. Next time, we will nip it in the bud."
"If you say so."
Thereafter, the VC summoned Shirley Brandon to his office and when she got to the office she exhibited her ugly attitude. With this, the VC'S staff members became bored with her ill manners. She broke school rules at random and no one dared to cough because she was the daughter of a higher-up in the society. On this day, she got into the office with an unacceptable dress code and worked in the Vice Chancellor's office without cognizance of due process. The other guests that were waiting to see him were disgruntled but could do nothing. The VC was straight to the point.
"This is the last time I'm going to do this. If I don't see your father's donation before the end of this semester, I will give the first position to the rightful owner. Get out of my office."
Shirley Brandon became petrified. She could not believe that this could happen to her. She walked out of the office with her tail between her legs. The visitors that were waiting laughed and ran out of the office as a rat chased out of the Queen's shoe by the cat.
'This is too much for me to bear. Am I about to be deflated?'
When she learned that her position was under threat, she decided to fortify it with her beauty. She fished Jeff, a twenty years old handsome foreign student who was always low profile. The grandfather had set a target for him to achieve two degrees at the same time – degrees in aviation and accountancy. He was not ready to fail. He had been busy with his studies that he did not have time for social life. Likewise, he had two friends of like mind – Leon Grayson and Sidney Tremblay.
He was at the parking lot waiting for Leon when Shirley approached him with seduction intent.
"Hi handsome, what about a date?"
Jeff looked at the strange and her indecent dressing with anger brooding in him. He gave her a perfunctory response.
"Hi. Sorry, I will disappoint you. I'm a very busy person. I don't keep dates."
Shirley giggled and pressed on.
"No one refuses Shirley. You should be grateful that I offered you this opportunity, my love on a platter of gold."
With scorn written all over his face, he sized her up and asked in the most demeaning manner.
"What is there to be grateful about having a date with a promiscuous brat like you?"
Shirley became astonished. No one had ever resisted her. At this point, redeeming her personality was the only thing that mattered to her, so she fought on, pouted, and warned.
"I guess you are too stupid to realize who you are speaking with. By the time you learn your lessons, you would be out of this school."
Jeff fired back.
"It's stupidity that made you think the school was yours?"
"Just watch and see."
"Will see nothing."
She turned to walk away but hit Leon who was behind her, she staggered and missed her step. Before she could regain her balance, she was already on the floor. Jeff's bodyguards and other passersby who saw what happened laughed. Shirley Brandon stood up as quickly as she could. Leon then aggravated the matter by rubbing her nose in.
"Are you blind?"
" Me? Just wait for me."
She shouted and ran off. Jeff laughed and muttered.
"Serves her right. Come on! Get into the car and let's go."
Jeff announced. Leon got into the car and asked.
"Who is she?"
"Let's just name her 'attention seeker'."
They drove off, while Mr. Kelvin Levi and their bodyguards followed behind. The next day after school, Shirley Brandon was waiting for Jeff and Leon at the car park in the company of four boys of the same age with them. One of them was her boyfriend. Incidentally, Jeff and Leon walked to the car park together. Shirley had been leaning on the shoulder of her boyfriend, sobbing. The moment they appeared, her sobbing increased.
"Sweetie, look at them, they tried to rape me. I resisted because I was faithful to you. They pushed me down, look at the injury I sustained."
She displayed her leg that revealed the wound she sustained yesterday when she missed her steps and fell. The boys decided to strike, to please their friend's girl. Jeff and Leon stopped in their track as they saw the gangsters. They did not look at the students of the prestigious Eagles City University. The boys advanced closer, looking like ants, before Jeff and Leon. One of them who happened to be the boyfriend asked
"So you're not afraid…"
Leon did not give him the pleasure of completing his question. He aimed at him and gave him a front kick with his right leg, and did the same with his left leg at the other three. He grabbed Shirley who wanted to flee when she saw her thugs on the floor and gave her enough slap that she would not forget rushing. Jeff pulled the petrified Shirley by the hair from Leon, looked into her eyes, and informed.
"No matter what you think you are, your love is trash to me."
He shoved her aside, and she staggered and fell on the friends on the floor. Then Jeff and Leon got into their car and drove off, leaving the bewildered gangsters awestruck. They have never thought that anyone in that school could dare to stop them, the supposed successors of the mysterious Chief Executive Officer of the Cherry Fields Oil and Gas Group.
With the power and authority displayed by Jeff during the fight, Shirley Brandon became resolute, she decided that it was time to have a new boyfriend and that boyfriend must be Jeff. She had genuinely fallen in love with a hero who would be capable of protecting her. What the gangsters failed to understand was that Shirley Brandon was done with them. The next day, they reported the matter to the Vice-Chancellor, whom they threatened with the much treasured Endowment Fund.
"Prof. The only remedy to this is to ensure you chase those dogs out of your school; otherwise, our parents will not fulfill their promises."
This statement put the Professor on a pedestal, he did not have any justification to expel students that he had not heard anything from. He tried to pacify the gangsters.
"I will make him apologize to you. You can see you were at fault. But I will turn a blind eye. Will that be all right?"
"That is more like it. You have to make him promise to stay away from my girlfriend; otherwise, I will slit his throat."
He demanded, looking at Shirley, who had been quiet all the while. Now, the Vice-Chancellor gave a call to the Heads of Departments of Jeff and Leon to come along with them.
"You can wait at the reception while we wait for them to come."
The VC instructed the gangsters. After about thirty minutes, the four walked into the Vice Chancellor's office.
"Good morning Prof."
They greeted.
"Good morning. Please have your seats."
He motioned to the Heads Of Departments and turned to Leon and Jeff who were standing beside them and began to rebuke with an intimidating tone.
"Do you know that the punishment for fighting with a fellow student is total expulsion?"
"We did not fight. We beat them."
Leon blurted out the truth.
The shocked the VC. He was forced to come down from his horse when he noticed that his intimidating approach will not work. The Heads Of Departments knew that the Vice-Chancellor was being funny, but they kept mute, but Jeff had another shocker for them.
"Prof., are proud to be the Vice-Chancellor of those wastrels? We did not fight with fellow students, we beat up distractors."
The way Jeff and Leon were sounding made him caution himself, and the only option left for him was to plead with them. He changed his tactics.
"You know, it is not good to fight. I will invite the students. Just be good boys and apologize to them."
"Apologize? Why?"
Leon and Jeff blurted in unison.
"Yes. Please invite those students at the reception in."
He pleaded with one of the Heads Of the Departments, who went out and came back with the gangsters. The Vice-Chancellor regretted ever entangling himself with the five students.
They walked in with the pains written all over them. Shirley still had a swollen face as a result of the slaps from Leon yesterday. They lined up on one side of the office waiting for the two to apologize as the Vice-Chancellor promised.
The Heads Of Departments saw this as a rape on justice, but Jeff and Leon did not need any advocate, they were cognizant of the law.
"Apologize now."
The VC used a harsh tone to impress the gangsters. The Heads Of Departments watched to see if they would deign to give up their rights for their fellow students. They lived up to the expectations of the Heads Of Departments. Jeff asked.
"Why should we apologize to them? Who are they?"
Shirley's boyfriend spoke.
"I can see you are new in this school. From her name 'Shirley', you will know that it is similar to 'Cherry'. Our parents are the joint owners of Cherry Fields Oil and Gas Group. We call the shots here."
As soon as the phrase 'joint owners' left the boy's mouth, the infuriated Jeff pounced on them. Because of the distance between him and his opponents and the size of the office, he used hand strikes on them, targeting their necks. Within a few seconds, the four boys were on the ground. Shirley got dangerous slaps more than yesterday from Jeff. This time, she vomited blood and soiled the Vice Chancellor's office and documents.