Chapter 5

"You don't deserve him."

That kept on ringing in her ear. Well duh, she has known long ago that she doesn't deserve Richard. Just look at her. A mess. With her messy bun no longer a bun, she is just a mess. Not to mention she hasn't even washed her hair today. Her hoodie on top of her jeans is full of dust, from what, she doesn't even know. Her face, void of make up, is not even what we can call her best asset. Her brown eyes, her pert nose, her plump lips. Nothing stands out much.

And he dares to slap that to her face?

Mark seems to have followed her train of thoughts was not happy as to where it's going judging from the frown her has on. "Is that what you think I am referring about?"

"About him being to good for me?" she answrered. "Don't you think I haven't thought about that? Damn you, Mark! I have been asking my whole teenage life why he chose me! So there's no need for you to say that to my face as if I was innocent about it!" She was shouting now. She can no longer control her anger. I think it really is true that alcohol is liquid courage. She is the most fearless right now than she has ever been her whole life.

"That's not what I mean, Mara. What I want to say is-"

"What else do you want to mean then, Mark? Can there be any other meaning to it?" She spitefully threw those words at him as she crossed her arms. She looks like a regular villainess with her current position. Maybe that's why many people enjoy being bad because it does feel damn good.

"What I mean to say is-"

"WHAT?" cutting him off is giving her a kind of high that's really good to the feeling.

"I mean is-"

"WHAT?!" This IS fun.

He frowned. "You are smiling woman. Is this fun for you?"

"Very." Can't help the smile, she let it go and then giggled.

His frown deepened. "You are drunk."

"The shouting didn't help you figure that out?" Mara has already forgotten what happened with them just now. "Don't worry. I am not angry. I don't even know what we have been talking about." Giggles. "Can we continue drinking please? Help me forget about Richard for a few hours. Don't worry. I will pay for it." All the while urging him to sit down.

Fortunately he sat. But the ever-existent frown is still there. "Since when have you started learning how to drink?" He didn't say anything now when she ordered two more bottles of beer. She gave him one and then she drank from the bottle with the other.

"Since..." Mara started using her fingers to count. "1 hour ago." She then smiled sweetly at him. "And when have you started giving a fuck about me?"

Now it was his turn to drink straight from the bottle. Then he whispered something. She didn't catch it but sounded a little like, "...for a long time."

"What? For a long time?" She had to clarify that.

"I said, "This is going to take a long time.". I didn't answer your question." He received a shrug from her. It would also be very unbelievable if he did say so.

One more chug from the bottle, Mara is starting to get used to the taste of the beer. She finished the whole bottle quietly. And surprisingly for today, so did Mark.

She ordered two more bottles. One for each of them. And then two more. Then two more.

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Another hour and 5 more bottles of beer later.

Mara knows she is drunk as fuck. The world has been going around in circles on her 3rd bottle. But damn, Mark still is looking as fresh as when he first arrived. But you can see tells that he is drunk. His eyes are now a bit droopy and he smiles a lot more when drunk. And it's such a nice sight to see.

"I might want to get you drunk more to see more of those handsome-guy smiles of yours." Deep beer chug. "You know, you have been a non-existent being to me until today."

He was surprised at that and blurted out, "Non-existent?! I have been living beside your house for practically your whole life and you tell me I am non-existent?"

She rolled her eyes. This guy overreacts when drunk. "Please Mark. As if you ever gave me the time of the day before today." Deep beer chug. That just hit the spot. "But to tell you the truth, your face is veeeerry handsome." Long emphasis on the "e". "I would have had a crush on you if only I had existed before today." The deep frown on his face made her laugh out loud. "My gosh, Mark. If you only you could see your face. Your disappointment is so funny."

Disappointment? That had her stop laughing and double-checked. Yes. It's disappointment.

"You? Disappointed? That I don't like you?" Crazy laugh after that. "Man, you are funny." She tearing-up from too much laughter. She didn't know that Mark can be so funny.

That's when her phone rang. It's her phone's alarm. 7 pm? It's still that early? I can still try to do something crazy but I no longer trust my sense of direction. I might arrive at some place I don't know. And I am now starting to feel a headache coming. Time to call Jane then.

"You really need to work more on your self-confidence." Mark said after she dialed Jane's number.

She doesn't know how to respond to that. She laughed.

"It's not funny Mara." the frown is back.

"Who said it is?" Still ringing on the other side. Mara now has her eyes closed because everything is turning upside down in her eyes. Jane, pick up!

"You have to realize that you are pretty as you are. That you are intelligent as you are. That you are great as you are. That you are perfect as you are. That-"

Now, she REALLY doesn't know how to respond to that. She opened her eyes to see if Mark is by anyway joking. But his face shows only how serious he is with his words. She tried to make joke out of it, but nothing witty came out. She just flapped her lips like a fish out of water.

Nobody has ever told her so. Her mother has always told her that she has to be better. Richard... Richard has told her she was perfect but... but the way Mark is saying it is hitting her in a different way. An uncontrollable blush blossomed in her cheeks.

And that's when she heard Jane on the other side. And the woman was screaming "A CONFESSION!!!" She had to grab the phone away from her ears before she becomes permanently deaf. "Who is that? How sweet! Grab the guy and take him home, girl! Make babies with this guy! Like, RIGHT NOW!"

Jane has been going on and on on the other line that she wasn't able to hear Mark say, "That I have loved you for a very long time."