Porcelain behind Glass

Chapter 2: Negotiation

Rachel could never have imagined her presence would bring such chaos to the swimming club.

When she wandered in, a meeting was in progress with the senior team members- Milan, Niam, and Danish announcing the freshman selected for the team. A group of fifteen freshmen vehemently opposed the selection, passing nasty personal comments to argue their points. Things came to a head when one student used an ethnic slur for another. While giving the concerned student a well-deserved dressing down, Danish spotted Rachel standing far behind. Stunned he grew quiet for a moment. That was all the impetus required for the insulted student to declare war on his opponent. Issuing a war cry, he began to shower the other with punches and slurs. Before the seniors knew it, friends of the two had jumped into the fray and a full-fledged battle was on. By the time the two groups had been pulled apart the entire club room was in shambles, chairs and tables had been smashed, artwork adorning the walls torn up, and several students were badly injured.

Rachel quickly fetched a few guards and assisted the injured to the sick bay. When the room had been cleared, only Danish, Niam, and Milan remained behind sporting various bruises, cuts, and nicks.

"Man, what was wrong with you? If you had dealt severely with that insolent fool, things wouldn't have spiraled out of control," admonished Milan as he held a rag to his bleeding forehead.

"You should have inflicted a heavy penalty on him," said Niam as he surveyed the cuts and bruises blossoming on his arms.

Danish wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "She was here," he replied.

"Who?" asked Niam as he attempted to tie a cloth around the deepest cut on his arm.

"Rachel" replied Danish glumly.

Milan promptly fell from his perch on a broken table. "What rule did we violate now?" he lamented. "For God's sake, we just got back."

Before they could pepper Danish with further questions, the object of their curiosity came into view.

"Hi," said Rachel, a first aid kit in hand. The three boys stared at her with various degrees of shock, causing her to sigh. "I know we haven't been on good terms the last few times we met. I was only following the instructions of the Student Council. I hope you don't hold me to it. Can we start over? Hi, I am Rachel Daniel. I study in the same class as you do."

Milan choked. Rachel rushed to his aid with a bottle of water that had somehow remained untouched through the melee. When Milan stopped gagging, Rachel smiled at him. "Allow me to bandage your forehead". Stunned, Milan merely nodded. Making a short job of it she moved on to Niam's injuries.

Dapping a cotton bud in antiseptic, she carefully cleaned the various nicks and cuts before applying Band-Aids. Niam studied the rainbow of Band-Aids adorning his tattooed arm, "You haven't told us as yet, why were you here? Admission to the club is closed for now."

"I haven't come here to join the club," replied Rachel evenly.

"You shouldn't have been here at all", scolded Niam sternly. "You could have been injured or worse. How are we going to explain your presence to Professor Gabriel?"

"Professor Peacock knows I was going to be here. I had come here to ask for your assistance," countered Rachel unperturbed.

"Did Professor P also permit you to disturb a meeting in progress?" remarked Niam skeptically.

Rachel looked away guiltily before approaching Danish who had been watching her intently. Nervous at his fierce scrutiny, Rachel began to dab antiseptic on the corner of his mouth, as she scrambled for a way to convince the trio. "A few weeks ago, I fractured my left arm due to which I was unable to attend classes for a few days or hand in the ethics assignment. Your team was participating in a competition at that time, so all of you also missed the same assignment. The university rules provide a 14-day grace period for the three of you to hand in all overdue assignments. Professor Peacock will allow me to submit late if I partner with one of you. So would you be my partner?"