Chapter 1: SCAVENGER

Marylyn University possessed a silence at dawn that stretches towards every corner of the school, especially during the weekends but when students are up, it’s always a hustle and bustle, accompanied by squeals, rush hours, and excitements.

Today was the Dragon boat race so the students took advantage of the free day to sleep till later in the day when the event would take place. However, not all students were asleep during the early hours of that morning.

The A students who seized every opportunity to study were on their way to the study halls while some of the school’s sub-staff were kicking off with their duties.

Two petites bearing the same blonde hair were on their way to the study hall when one of them noticed a male student hurrying toward the school entrance.

With his hands tucked inside his pockets and his face slightly buried inside the black hoodie he wore, he continued hurrying toward the school entrance ensuring his long legs were serving their purpose.

One of the girls who had noticed him from the moment he popped out turned to her colleague. “He is hot.” She then turned to steal a glance at his departing figure with a half-smile.

Her friend who seemed rather surprised brushed her off slightly with her arm. “Jeez, are you checking him out, Aida?”

Aida stumbled on her words. “Not really. I just find him tall and physically built. You know I have a weakness for men like that. I wish I could see the muscles underneath that hoodie.”

“No matter how hot he is, he is still a scavenger.” Aida’s friend replied with her lips curled up in irritation. He will always be a loser.”

Aida’s brows went up. “Are you talking about Henry Parker?”

“Who do you think it was? Michael Jackson?”

Aida clenched her jaw and shot a disgusting look at Henry who was just about to vanish out of sight. “I didn’t see him. I thought it was someone worthy. Such a loser.”

They broke out laughing and marched toward the study hall, swinging their hips while Aida flipped her hair repeatedly.

Henry Parker took off his hoodie hat the moment he arrived at the school entrance. It was a new day, another day to collect trash.

Three years ago, Henry earned a scholarship to Marylyn University but the scholarship program wasn’t going to cover his feeding and the school materials he needed so he resolved to scavenge.

Henry Parker was regarded as the poorest man in Marylyn University who relied on crumbs from trash cans to stay alive.

That morning, as usual, Henry was inspecting the school’s trash can. If he’s lucky, he might pull out a half-eaten burger from the rubbish or maybe an almost empty bottle of soda or some dumped packs of consumed meals aside from the junks he could sell.

It was almost 6 am and the sun had started to come up. Some groups of students were already making their way onto campus. When they got to the entrance, they saw the busy Henry, rummaging through the trash can which wasn’t a new scene to them.

Over the years, Henry had turned deaf ears to their mocking laughs and demeaning comments. He needed to eat and stay alive so while they kept hurling insults at him that morning, he went on digging into the trash.

One of the boys plunged his hand inside his bag and pulled out an apple. “Hey!” he called out to Henry.

Henry quickly turned around, his forest-green eyes staring wolfishly at the apple.

 “You want a bite? Go get it.” The boy said and threw the apple far away so Henry could fetch it like the way dogs fetch tennis balls.

Henry ran after the fruit while the others broke out laughing. It was an epic scene for them. He reached the apple and was about to pick it from the grass when he noticed a Nike sneaker pressed on it. Henry looked up and caught a glance at Manny, the baseball captain.

Henry sighed and decided to walk away. Chasing the apple was a terrible idea.

With his left leg stationed on the fruit, Manny crushed the apple with delight while the spectators exploded with laughter.

“You should quit school, loser,” Manny yelled at Henry. “Get back to the streets where you belong.”

Henry ignored them like he always did and went back to the trash can.

The students began to move away from Henry. Unperturbed by their actions, Henry went on. He smiled after pulling out an empty water bottle from the trash can. He slipped it inside his bag.

For the past three years, Henry relied on waste collection to support his expenses. There was a time he picked a fairly used ear pod from the trash can which he sold and was able to purchase some journals he needed for study.

Henry was used to people pointing fingers at him and calling him all sorts of names when he walked around school. He barely had friends for no one would want to be friends with a scavenger who fed on scraps and had little or no clothing.

However, something unimaginable happened the previous week. After more than a year of relentless pursuit, Bella, a girl in his class who spoke to him without resentment had agreed to be his girlfriend.

Henry smiled when the image of Bella’s face fluttered in his mind. Her red hair, her oval face, and those blue eyes made her seem like a baby when she blinked.

No one would hold conversations with him on campus but Bella would and now, she had agreed to become his girlfriend.

Bella was the reason he woke up very early and headed straight to the crash cans lately. Meanwhile, If he doesn’t show up on time, the school sub staff will collect the trash and replace the cans with new ones. Showing up early was an opportunity for Henry to check out some items he could sell at the local market.

Last week, he cumulated the money he had realized from picking up items from the trash can. He had realized the total sum of 300$ and the money was what he had used to obtain a gift for Bella, his first gift to her. It was a smartphone, one of the latest models which most of the students used to navigate the tech world.

Henry sighed in frustration when he realized that he was reaching the end of the trash can and no valuables seemed to be coming forth. Now that he was out of cash, he needed to collect more junk to sell even though he was worried by the fact that the price of junk had been going down for the past few days.

Henry was studying Geology, a course he admired and was determined to pursue. However, he wasn’t doing so well with his grades and there was no way he could make use of his academic knowledge to earn. Also, the principled Henry would rather collect junk and sell than put his unskilled knowledge to use.

He was determined to graduate, earn a certificate, and then hit the labor market. He was considering checking out the talent market tomorrow, to see if he can fit in one of the skills and possibly earn there. 

Henry sighed and tossed the trash can to the side. The empty water bottle was the valuable he had obtained but it wasn’t over yet. There were more trash cans to look at as Marylyn University covered a large area so he charged toward one of the male dormitories.

Henry approached one of the trash bags facing Dorm 4 and swung into action. It was a huge black polythene bag tied in front of the dorm door, waiting to be picked and disposed of.

He knelt and began to untie the bag very quickly and a few moments later, he ended up with a sad expression. The bag contained pieces of paper.

He moved downstairs to the dorm facing the arts department. He identified a trash can and charged toward it. Immediately after Henry lifted the lid, a stench took charge of his nose trills, causing him to almost puke. Some had dumped a pack of rotten salads inside. He quickly shut the lid and moved to the next trash can.

Not only was Henry growing frustrated, but he was growing weary from moving from one trash can to the other. It wasn’t a lucky day for him.

Suddenly, a girl popped out. She had just stepped out of the Arts department.

“Hey, what are you doing here? She asked Henry.

It was Bella.

Henry’s heart leapt for joy when he heard her voice.

Bella was a simple girl who came from a family that was not considered rich or poor. Unlike Henry, she was well-to-do.

She stared at the watch on her left wrist. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve been looking for you.”

Henry charged toward her with a bright smile. He wanted to hug her but he stopped. It wasn’t the best place.

Bella sighed and Henry noticed the way she was gritting her teeth. His excitement waned.

“I have something to tell you.” She said and presented something to Henry.

“Take it.” Bella encouraged him after he hesitated.

Henry stretched his hand toward her and accepted the phone. He recognized it as the phone he had just purchased for Bella.

“Why are you giving me this?” he asked Bella with a quirked brow.

Daisy gave her forehead a delicate scrape. “Well, I wanted to give it to you myself. I had wanted to deliver it via EBay. The thing is, I’m breaking up with you.”

“Breaking up?” asked an astonished Henry.

Bella watched as gloom hovered around Henrys face and she giggled. “Are you surprised?.” She mumbled and shook her head.

“But why?” Henry stuttered.

Bella took a deep breath. “I’m not going to date a guy who collects junk and can’t boast of a penny.”

Henry’s eyes widened in horror.