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Pallas was a bright girl, always outstanding in her academics. She wasn't just blessed with the gift of intellect but also had the gift of beauty—she was the definition of black is beauty.
Pallas always came out on top, and when it was time for her to go to college, she gained a scholarship into a prestigious boarding school.
An elite school, filled with children of billionaires, a school someone in her financial class wouldn't even dream of attending.
She was the only daughter of her single mother. Pallas made a promise to her mom never to take her eyes off her studies and avoid any distractions—especially boys as it was what put Pallas's mom in her situation and made her a single mom at a young age.
The moment Pallas entered Bridgestone High, she became the best student, dethroning Jason.
Jason had always been the best student before Pallas came into the picture.
Jason was the dream boy of all the girls in Bridgestone. He was smart, tall, and had a perfect face and physique with his blue eyes. His Nigerian dad and Brazilian mom were multimillionaires and were one of the major sponsors of the school.
Jason had always had his eyes on Pallas, so one day, he decided to ask her out, but she straight out rejected him in front of the whole class.
The entire school was stunned by the gossip of Pallas turning Jason down, no one had ever rejected Jason Wilfred.
Pallas was in every gossip and was the envy of the school, but she didn't care. She had made a promise to her mother and she was going to keep it. Besides she knew what it meant to be the product of a careless decision. And she wasn't going to let history repeat itself.
Until a little mistake changed everything.
All the staff in the school knew Pallas and were fond of her.
One day, early in the morning, the principal's secretary entrusted Pallas with an important and confidential document to deliver to the principal. It wasn't the first time Pallas was entrusted with such a serious task, and Pallas always took it seriously. She put the file in her bag and guided it fiercely.
Before heading to the office she stopped at the restroom. The restroom was still wet, and she didn't want to risk dropping the heavy file, so she kept the bag in the empty hallway.
She took only a minute, and when she came out and carried her bag, her heart jumped at the significant weight change in her bag.
She turned her bag out like a crazy person but still couldn't find the file. Her blood turned ice cold. If she lost the file, it wouldn't just cost her the trust she had worked hard to build, but she might also be expelled. She was in soup—a huge pot of boiling soup.
The entire day, Pallas walked the whole school searching and asking students about the file while also dodging every academic staff. But still, she couldn't find the file.
When she was tired, she went to the library, where she sat and cried silently; it was also a good hiding spot from any of the staff who might be looking for her regarding the file.
Just then she saw Jason coming to meet her.
‘ugh, please, not right now,’ she thought as she rolled her eyes.
But then she realized something, Jason didn't look like he was coming to her because he cared about how worried she looked or to flirt with her. He had a smirk on his face and his eyes had some sense of satisfaction.
“Looking for something?" He asked as he leaned on the table towards her.
Her breath hitched ‘Wait don't tell me he knows where the file is’
“Something like this?” he said as he pulled the file out of his bag
"Where did you get that," she reached for the file.
But Jason withdrew it fast enough.
He leaned in and said in a low voice “Let's just say a birdie dropped it, but you can get it back…on one condition,”
Pallas already knew what Jason had always wanted.
“Meet me in the bakery tonight after lights out, don't worry about how…I have my ways. Just the two of us, no distraction,” he said with a sinister smile and lustful eyes.
Pallas felt disgusted, never expecting him to go this length.
She couldn't give up the file; refusing meant giving up her reputation, and it might even affect her scholarship, or there might be legal actions. But giving in wasn't an option either.
Jason looked at his watch. “It's still 1pm; I will need an answer by 4," he left with the file.
Pallas sat at the library brainstorming for solutions, then she got struck by an idea, it was risky but worth trying.
With all her pocket money she bribed a kitchen staff to let her borrow her phone. And when she turned away Pallas took off with the phone.
A few minutes past 4.
Pallas took a deep breath before approaching Jason.
“I will do it," pallas said
Jason's eyes darkened with triumph.
“But promise you will keep to your word," Pallas said.
Jason made his terms clear and Pallas played along. With the phone in her pocket recording the entire conversation.
Immediately after she went straight to the principal's room.
She played the record and Jason's voice sounded loud and clear as he blackmailed her.
By noon, Jason was expelled, and the news shook the school. His parents withdrew their funding with shame and humiliation.
Pallas was called back to the principal's office and questioned about the phone. She came clean about how she got the phone.
The phone and money were returned to their respective owners, and the kitchen staff was suspended for breaking the rules.
Later, Pallas wrote a letter to the staff member, apologizing for dragging her into the mess and explaining everything. The woman forgave her, saying she had done what she had to do.
Pallas had won, but she learned an important lesson: brilliance alone wasn’t enough. In a world filled with people like Jason, she needed more than just intelligence. She needed courage. And she had plenty of that.
