CHAPTER 13

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I liked what I saw. My hair was behaving and did not frizz at all. And my makeup was flawless. Thank you Bella Hadid! I looked at my watch. I would be picking up Damien at his apartment in 10 minutes, since he doesn't have a car. I grabbed my jacket and handbag as I walked out of my dorm. Lois was out on a date..or an animal sacrifice or something. I don't know.

As I drove my car through the traffic, I caught sight of someone. Caleb! He was walking into a diner with a group of guys and girls. They were laughing and Caleb looked like he didn't care about ditching me yesterday. I felt angry all of a sudden. I don't know why I'm angry though. I guess it was because he wasn't at the play and I really wanted him there yesterday. And I didn't even get to see Damien after because he went to a party with all the casts of the play. He didn't even ask if I wanted to go too. Which stung, but at least I got to see him tonight.

When I was outside Damien's apartment, I texted him and in a few minutes he came out. He smiled when he saw me. I smiled back and all anger towards Caleb and him melted away. Damien looked real good. He was wearing a black shirt under a jacket and jeans. He opened the passanger door and slid in. He even smelt nice. I smiled as he closed the door.

"Hi, beautiful. Thanks for picking me up. This really feels weird, being picked up by a lady, but I'm all for fair treatment and equality." Damien said. I smiled as I started to drive.

"So, where are we going?" I asked as we stopped at a red light. The traffic was a little busy since it's Saturday night.

"Oh, my favourite restaurant. You have to try it. It's vegan and just around that corner." Damien said as he directed the route to me. I cringed inwardly. Vegan..eww..I'm a very committed meat eater, so a vegan meal kinda starts to make my stomach churn.

"Ohh..vegan..yum.." I said, trying hard to hide my dismay. Well, it couldn't that bad, could it? I mean, it's not like I would be eating much. I'm too excited from going out with Damien. And that is enough for me.

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Oh God, what the fying eff is this crap?! I stared at the plate in front of me in dismay. It's supposed to be vegetarian fajitas or something but it was so spicy that my eyes and nose as well as all orifices I have on my face is leaking snot. And whoever invented vegetarian cheese should be shot. In the face. Naked.

"So, this is good, huh?" Damien said after he had swallowed the mouthful of green goop.

"Totally. So good." I chocked out, trying hard to gush without grimacing. I was sweating like a very nervous pig. Literally. I took a long swig of the iced water in front of me. I drained the whole glass while gesturing wildly to the waiter for another glass. Heck, it would even be better if she just brings the whole darn bottle over here.

Damien was busy talking about the way artists see the world, their perspective, how it affects him bla bla bla...I could listen to him all night. He's so smart. Even though he has very unfortunate and questionable taste in food. I mean, not to insult vegan food, but I have eaten vegan food. Even when I could never stomach it much. But this has got to be the worst vegan meal I've ever tasted in my whole life. If I could find the chef, I would force feed him with this poor excuse of a meal.

As he went on and on, I took the opportunity to look at him. He is not what you would usually call conventionally handsome. He's like the cute nerdy guy who I secretly find adorable and endearing. I never really like guys who are handsome or too good-looking. They can't be trusted not to hurt me. Well, for one they never even look at me, so there's that. Who would want an overweight loner like me? Scoring a date with Damien is already totally crazy for someone like me.

After the harrowing dinner experience, Damien took me to a late-night movie at the theater. My stomach was growling throughout the movie, which was an old Bogart and not Casablanca. It's Sabrina, I think. I wrapped my jacket tightly around my tummy, trying to drown the sound of my stomach rumble that could rival the sound of thunder any day. I was so hungry and the tiny popcorn Damien bought because he 'wasn't hungry' was long gone by now. I had to drink the wheatgrass juice he bought for me. It was awful as it smelt of manure and cow pee. It was hard not to gag.

Thank goodness the movie was really good. After the movie ended, I drove Damien home, It was nearly 11 pm and I was beat. Even with Damien with me, I was ready to sleep. When I stopped my car, I turned to look at Damien to tell him goodbye. He just turned to me with a smile on his lips.

"Well, um, goodnight. I had a nice time." Damien said as he opened my car door.

"Um, yeah. It was..um..nice. Goodnight." I said, feeling a little apprehensive whether he would try to kiss me or just leave. I was about to speak some more,but he's already out the car and was waving at me as he walked away towards his apartment. I smiled back at him, at first stung the he didn't even kiss me goodnight. But on the other hand, I felt strangely relieved when Damien walked into his apartment. I was happy I could finally eat something, I was so hungry.

I drove to a nearby diner and had some cheeseburger, onion rings and ice-cream soda. I moaned shamelessly when I took a bite of the huge, greasy burger. God, that's the stuff. I had a nice time eating on my own. I was so hungry that I couldn't care less about eating alone. I thought back to my date with Damien. It was weird how I felt a little let down by his unfortunate choice of food. I mean, food's subjective but really, I couldn't get pass how pretentious it was to like something just because it's trendy and cool. I never knew eating fire leaves fajitas and sewer goop is the in-thing. I don't know if it's shallow, but lousy taste in food is kinda a deal breaker for me. But remembering how cute and smart Damien is, I know I'd give him a second chance if he asks me out for a second date. And maybe this time, I'll pick the food.

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It's been almost 4 days. And I haven't heard a peep from Damien. It was like the date never happened. And today's the art club meeting. I got dressed carefully, making sure I look somewhat hot.

Then, at the meeting I was disappointed again since Damien barely acknowledge me. He was busy with the cast members. None of them looked happy since they closed the play only after 2 nights. The play was a bust and no one was happy. Especially Saskia and Damien. Saskia was ravnting and the other crew members just kept quiet, not really willing to get Saskia even more worked up than she already is. She was nitpicking every little detail, trying to find that one slip-up that contributes to the failure of the play. She was determined it was not her. Definitely not her, she thought. And she was right. It's everything. It was downright crap and pretentious as eff, its sole purpose only to glorify Damien's ego. I didn't know why I never saw that. I've always looked at Damien in rose-tinted glasses, failing to see the hipster wannabe that he was. Even I couldn't sit through the play. And I was supposedly having a crush on Damien.

"God, I can't believe the students here could be so stupid and ignorant. How could they not appreciate such thought provoking play? I mean, it was a riveting performance. That's what I get from trying to bring class and taste in this cultural wasteland. Should've known these layman won't get it!" Saskia ranted and groaned as she swished around like a tiny, angry 14 year old.

"Now, now Saskia. Everybody's entitled to their opinion. Now, instead of getting all worked up and blaming the audience, why don't we have a little post-mortem meeting on what went wrong, ok?" Kara, the Arts Club President said as she looked around the room. Saskia harrumphed and threw herself on the floor, beside Damien. Damien put his arm around her and Saskia just snuggled in his arms. I frowned. I looked at Damien and suddenly, his eyes fell on me. He just gave a small smile and looked away when Kara started the meeting. I was starting to zone out when Kara suddenly asked me.

"What do you think, Charlie? Do you think the audience is right?" Kara asked me. My stomach churned. All eyes on me. I glanced briefly at Damien. He wasn't looking at me. He was busy cooing at Saskia. Yes, you read it right. He was cooing! I mean, nobody does that except to babies! I swear, the more I watch those two, the more creeped out I was. I mean, do roommates do that shit to each other?! Well, if they really do, I must've missed the memo. Turning away, I was determined to be honest. Damien was not even paying attention at the discussion. Let's give him something to catch his attention. I sat up straighter, ready to tear Damien and Saskia to shreds. Pretentious assholes...

"Well, I for one, think that the play sucked ass." I said casually. Many gasped at my bold confession. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Damien and Saskia looking at me with wide eyes. I ignored them.

"Okay, why do you think so, Charlie?" Kara asked calmly. I took a deep breath and went to town.

"Well, for one it's pretentious as hell. I think a good play starts with a good script. A good script makes a movie or a play. A bad, over-glorified one will break a play to pieces even before Act 2. And I think the characters onstage know nothing about a serial killer. Before we play someone onstage, it pays to do some research. For example, serial killers are psychopaths and sociopaths. And most of them are so arrogant that most have no trouble bragging their exploits and murders to the neighborhood. They feel no guilt and remorse whatsoever since a part of their brain that feels emotions is usually underdeveloped. That's why some serial killers are sloppy and don't really care about hiding their crimes. But the serial killer in the play is too ordinary and was so obsessed with hiding his crimes. Usually serial killers are extraordinarily smart people or has a brain retardation. The two extremes." I said as everybody stared at me. Kara had a small smile on her lips. Damien and Saskia's faces were legendary. Damien's were drained of blood from shock. Saskia's meanwhile was red and steaming. Suffice to say that she's livid. Furious even.

"You little bitch. You don't know crap!" Saskia started yelling. Damien got up and tried to calm her. He was making that blasted cooing noise and even went as far as holding her tight and kissing her cheek. Urgh, what the hell did I see in that jerk?

"Now, Saskia, Charlie's entitled to her opinion. Alright, now does anybody share Charlie's opinion?" Kara asked as she looked around the stage. Everybody looked at each other and glanced worriedly at Damien and Saskia. She was giving them sharp death stares that none could look at directly and not feel like she's about to pounce on them. All 5 feet of anger right on your face. No thank you.

When nobody said anything, Saskia glared at me with a satisfied look on her face. I didn't care. I knew I was right and I didn't care that other students were too cowardly to be honest to the little witch. Whatever, as long as I got to say what I really thought. And I didn't even care if they kick me out of the club. I don't think I'd want to see Damien and Saskia again after this.

"Well, okay. If there's nothing else, I guess meeting's adjourned. Urm, Damien, Saskia, can I see you guys for a moment?" Kara said as she gave me a small smile. I knew Kara agreed with me but as the President, she couldn't really tell them off in front of everybody. Everybody filed out of the auditorium. I packed my stuff and saw Saskia glared at me as she swished off the stage.

"Charlie, what the hell was that?" Damien's voice rang behind me. I turned to face Damien and saw his face was serious and his mouth looked grim. I groaned inwardly.

"My opinion. Can't I have any?" I said as I got ready to leave.

"Are you getting back at me for not kissing you goodnight last week? And for not calling you?" Damien said suddenly. I looked at him incredulously. As much as his indifference pissed me off, I'm not as petty as to base my opinion on some trifling reason.

I narrowed my eyes at Damien as I turned my heels towards the door. I felt that wasting my time with this idiot will just undermine my intelligence. But as I reached the door, I heard the whiny ass spoke again.

"Well, if you must know, I like my woman sophisticated and refined. I don't do country hicks from backwardsville. And I am not attracted to you. At all. I just went out with you because I felt sorry for you, since it was obvious that you liked me." Damien said, a self-satisfactory smirk on his face. I turned to face the stupid moron and wanted to smack his face so badly.

"That's a bit rich coming from a guy who doesn't even drive his own car. And please, this is the 21st century. Calling a girl 'my woman' is so archaic and I am so grateful that I find you repulsive now." I said coolly and turned to walk away when the jerk served the coup de grace.

"Well, you're repulsive to me too, fat girl." Damien said and I stopped myself from turning around and jamming my fist into his gaping, insulting mouth. Walk away, Charlie. Just walk away, I told myself firmly. He must've been really offended, so he made that fat girl comment. That's just a cheap shot. I got into my car and started it. But suddenly, a sob escaped my mouth. Soon, the floodgates opened and I sobbed uncontrollably. I was heaving like it was the most heartbreaking thing when a jerk called me fat. I was used to it. I really was. So, how come I'm crying?!

When I had calmed down significantly, I took a tissue from my bad and wiped off my tears and the gross snot from my nose. I took a deep breath. Suddenly, I knew why O cried. It's because the jerk who called me fat was the guy that I really, really liked. I had a crush on him since freshman year. And when he finally asked me out, I was crazy happy. But it turned out he did it out of pity. Because I was so obvious that it was getting embarrassing. ANd he called me fat. That sealed the deal. My heart is officially broken to smithereens. I took a deep breath to finally calm myself down. I looked in front of me and saw Damien and Saskia. I gritted my teeth. Saskia was flouncing around and looking so proud of herself. Damien was beside her, holding her by the waist. They seemed to be in their own world. Urgh, whatever. They so deserve each other. It seems unfair for them to be with other people and infecting those people with their horrible poser, pretentious attitude. They are doing the world a favour by sticking with each other.

Feeling much calmer now, I started my car and drove out of the parking lot. As I neared them, I floored it and zoomed pass them, narrowly missing Saskia's ass. I heard a scream and curses. From the rearview mirror, I saw Damien screaming at me and Saskia standing akimbo with hands on her narrow hips. I laughed and drove back to my dorm to just bury myself under my duvet and not come out to the public for as long as I live.

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