Chapter Eighteen (It's short, but it's the one with 50,000 words!)

School the next day couldn’t be more awkward. I mean, Chrissy and the Great were no longer a problem, but Damien started acting all couple-like once we started spending time together. I mean, I guess I loved him by now, but it always feels awkward at first… right?
So Damien and I were officially like a couple now. Charlie was no longer hanging out with us at brunch or lunch. He was back to taking care of Katie with Angela. He did visit us once at lunch to tell us that people have been talking about the two of us, but I didn’t really care. I just ignored it.
Damien and I were good friends, and now a bit more. We were hanging out more, talking to each other more, texting each other more. I didn’t know if I was ready to say I loved him or not.

The next day was a lot better. Damien and I talked a lot and we finally made it so I was a lot more comfortable around him. He was wondering why I was uncomfortable in the first place, because I had always been comfortable around him. I kept trying to explain it to him, but he simply laughed all the time.
I couldn’t pay attention in Calculus—no big surprise there. But it wasn’t because of any of the other reasons. Basically I kept on thinking about Damien. I couldn’t get him out of my mind. I don’t know why. I never really recognized most of his good attributes until that day in Calculus. He was smart, kind, and all around a wonderful person. I also didn’t realize how good-looking he was until then, too. I was kind of turned on by his red moppish hair.
I also couldn’t pay any attention to Ms. Romander because my phone kept vibrating due to the fact that Damien kept texting me from his other class. Some made me smile, but others made me go “aw” on the inside. He was really very sweet. He said he couldn’t wait to see me next period. And then we did.
He kept giving me a weird stare every time he looked at me. And it was a kind of stare where he put his eyes on me and then he never took them off. I glanced at him and laughed.
“Why the hell are you staring at me like that?” I said, laughing.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said.
“Well,” I started, “I was thinking about you in Calculus…”
“Were you really?” he asked, slightly shocked.
“Of course. So I was thinking about you, and I was just thinking about how hot you really were.”
He smiled. “Maybe I should wear all black.”
I laughed again. “That would be so sexy.”
“Just like you.”
It was kind of amusing. And feeling awkward around Damien felt like a distant memory. I was really starting to get into this just as much as he was.
“You sure you’re not drunk, right?” I asked him once we got out of Literature.
“I wouldn’t be able to analyze metaphors in that class if I was drunk.”
I laughed again. “You are so amazing.”
“Not as amazing as you.”
“I love you.”
Damien’s eyes lit up with something I’ve never seen before in anyone, and he gave me a smile that was unlike any other. “You love me?”
I nodded. I half didn’t believe that I actually said it myself, but once I really thought about it, I always loved Damien. When I met him, I loved him. When he gave me a job, I loved him. When he gave me so much more, I loved him. When we tortured Chrissy, I loved him. When we were together for so long… I loved him. He was always there for me, and I have always loved him. But I didn’t realize it until then.
Once brunch ended, I left towards World History. Chrissy caught a glance at me, but I ignored it. Then to my surprise, the Great actually walked up to me.
“Hey, Paige, I heard you and Damien Caster are going out now. What happened to that Charlie fellow?”
“Oh… um… it’s a long story, I guess.”
“Ah. I see.”
“Yeah. Well, Chrissy and I broke up. I’m kind of surprised that you and Caster are together after what you two did at the dance.”
“Surprised?”
“Yeah. I broke up with Chrissy because Damien and her kissed, you know? And I kind of think that the whole point of him kissing her was so that I could break up with her. So I guess I did. But I’m surprised that you got together with him because he actually kissed Chrissy.”
“That was all part of the plan, though,” I explained.
“Oh, I see. Well… good luck with that.”
He sat down, and I felt that I really wouldn’t ever be talking to him like that again.
Damien was still a bit shocked, by the time we made it to Chemistry, by the fact that I still told him that I loved him. I didn’t understand why, though. I guess it was just because he didn’t expect it or something. But neither did I, because I didn’t just start loving him, I had only just found out that I had loved him since the very beginning. It’s those kinds of epiphanies that make up life, you know?
I proceeded to Drama in an extremely happy mood. Not only because Drama was the most fun of all my classes, but also because I couldn’t stop thinking about Damien. Was this truly a sign of love? I wouldn’t know. All I know is I didn’t really constantly think about Charlie when I started going out with him.
Even the atmosphere at work seemed to be in high spirits. Everyone seemed to be working efficiently because of all the good moods. I enjoyed it so much, it was the most amazing time at work I’ve had in a long time. Or maybe it just felt like that because comparing it to the last time I had work it was so dull without Damien.
So Damien dropped me at my Aunt Clara’s house, which ended up being a huge mistake. Aunt Clara had apparently meant it when she kicked me out of the house. She was absolutely furious when she saw that I was back. But instead of kicking me out again, she simply forced me into my room. I knew what she was going to do. She was probably going to call the agency that always sent me to a new guardian, and ask to have me sent to someone else. So I went up into my room, and simply waited.