Whole Female Population (2)

'Just what kind of big shot is this guy? To have the school accept a proposal that makes them lose money. He couldn't have spent money to do it right? That would be so dumb, he doesn't look dumb.'

Damien thought as he wiped the corners of his mouth with his tissue, cleaning off the rice he was about to spit out.

'Cute but not dumb.'

'Wait. What the hell am I thinking.'

'Shut up head!'

'What if this guy can read minds.'

'Well, he doesn't look like he can.'

'I should be fine.'

"No, I can't read minds."

'Oh ok, good.'

'Wait what?' Damien was about to stare a hole into Nathen's handsome face.

"Well, you're looking at me like you just thought of something you shouldn't be thinking about and then stared at me like you were wondering if I knew what you were thinking. So, I'm telling you, I don't know. But I can imagine." Nathen smirked.

"I wasn't thinking about anything inappropriate." Damien retorted.

"I never said you were, I just said you looked like you were." Nathen gave him his most innocent look.

But Damien wasn't falling for it.

Okay, maybe just a little.

"Same difference," Damien huffed.

He couldn't believe he just fell for that.

Nathen's smile widened a little.

"Hey, Almighty, who is this you're with?"

All of the students there already noticed Nathen's presence and most of them were curious about the new face.

They didn't want to disrupt, but when they saw that no one else was going to ask, the table closest to the two was nominated, or if you want to make it sound just a little more pleasant, they were forced to volunteer themselves...

On second thought, nominated sounds better after all...

"I'm Damien, a freshman," Damien said as he moved his tissue away from his face.

"He's my roommate," Nathen added, swallowing his mousse.

"Wow, I'm so jealous."

"Me too."

"Me three."

"Why does he get to room with him, can I room with him?"

"Let's not even talk about the fact that you're a girl. You'd definitely be hated by half of the female population."

"Haha, details, details."

"More like the whole female population."

The conversations raged on throughout the cafeteria that had once been peaceful and quiet.

The conversation hadn't been loud, but unbeknownst to Damien, everyone had stopped what they were doing when Nathen was talking and so everyone heard their conversation.

Even the freshman, some of which were seated next to second and third years were shushed by their seniors.

It was only then that Damien had realized the extent of Nathen's popularity.

Of course, there were some gazes of disdain and malice, and some who were uninterested, but those were all within the minority.

There didn't seem to be a single person who didn't know him, and what's even more shocking is that there didn't seem to be many people who disliked him.

In fact, most people seem to adore him.

Damien found this senior to be more and more mysterious now.

'How could someone with his personality be so well-liked?'

'Won't people claim that he's too full of himself to justify their malice somehow?'

That would normally be the case, but what Damien had yet to discover was that Nathen, in fact, had the skills to back up his arrogance, in fact, some would even think he was a little too modest or lowkey when they found about all his achievements.

'Well, I guess it doesn't matter too much.'

'But it wouldn't be good if I caught too much attention. I thought I could stay under the radar, but if I'm with Nathen that doesn't seem possible… I bet I'm still being observed by 'his' people...'

The others spoke about Nathen and Damien's table for a bit, but the topic gradually shifted elsewhere as people lost interest.

Still, the number of people surrounding nearby tables watching the duo's every mover wasn't in the one digits.

"Well, we have to go back to our dorm now. I still have to get ready for the assembly."

"Don't be late guys!" Nathen took off, pulling Damien along with him.

He had noticed that Damien get nervous.

"You can just tell me if you don't want to be surrounded, I could just ask them to disperse you know?"

"I just don't want to be the center of attention." Damien's eyes drooped along with the rest of his head.

"Really? You don't seem like someone who would do poorly with attention at all." Nathen said it as if it was a passing remark, but there was probing intent hidden within his words that most wouldn't be able to notice, which made Damien narrow his eyes.

'What if he's the one spying on me?'

'No way. That might be it. I should keep my guard up against him.'

"Hey, you don't have to be so wary of me you know?"

Damien's eyes widened.

Suddenly, he felt naked. He was just seen through so easily.

'I have to control my facial expressions better around this guy.'

When he thought about it a little more, he felt like he had overthought it. Nathen's presence made him feel like a person that couldn't be controlled by others.

Maybe that was because he was always controlling himself.

There was no way his brother would be able to get a hold of someone like him.

"Relax a bit." Nathen felt like if he pushed him anymore, Damien might just build a wall in their dorm, metaphorically.

"Do you want to go back to the dorm or head straight to the auditorium?" Nathen wasn't in much of a rush.

"How far is the auditorium?" Nathen looked in a certain direction.

"I'd say around 10 minutes."

"Are you coming with me?" Damien gave Nathen a sideways glance through his thick glasses.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Their eyes met and Nathen flashed him a smile.

Damien turned his head away.

"I guess it would be helpful to have a senior who knows the way take me."

"I guess you're right. Then let's go." Nathen would have swung his arm around Damien, ignoring the fact that Damien was taller.

"Do you want to find a seat first? They'll be starting in a bit." Nathen directed Damien to the entrance.

"Sure. You not coming?"

"Nope, but you can save me a seat." Nathen handed Damien his jacket. Damien didn't really understand but he took it anyway.

"You want me to take it to your seat?" Damien looked at the jacket and then at the man who was now only wearing a shirt, exposing his muscular biceps.

'Definitely drool-worthy.' Damien shook his head to stop thinking about it.

"You'll know what it's for after you sit down." Nathen then walked away, headed backstage, waving his hand as he left without looking back.

Damien found himself a seat next to the aisle and saved the seat next to him with Nathen's jacket.

The auditorium quickly filled up with people from all years who were all silenced when a tall blond male walked onto the stage followed by black haired female.