Hey there! My name is Bryden Stalling, just your average 22-year-old college kid. If you attend Maystone University, you’ve most likely heard of me (unless you’ve got no life and stay cooped up in your dorm). I am the most popular guy on campus after all. The ladies all swoon whenever I pass by and faint when I comb through my gorgeous blond hair. Every girl, whether they’re a freshman or senior, dreams of dating me. It’s too bad that I’m only allowed to date one girl at a time. I have, however, dated countless girls in my twenty-two years of life—more than any other guy on campus, I bet.

However, out of all those girls on campus, there’s only one girl that my heart belongs to—Jessica Lin, the most popular girl on campus. I fell in love with her as soon as I stepped foot on campus when my eyes first laid upon her, her beauty captivating me. I’m positive she likes me as well—I’m just taking it slow. Girls like it when guys respect their boundaries and don’t act too forward.

But we’re graduating this year, which is the perfect time for a romantic confession…

Oh, how every guy will wish they were me when I date Jessica Lin…

༻❁༺

“Bryden! BRYDEN!”

“Huh?” Bryden turns his head away from the mirror.

“Have you been… talking about yourself in front of the mirror this entire time?” Rory’s eyebrows twitch, and Bryden can tell that he has been standing there watching him go on and on about himself in front of the mirror for who knows how long.

Bryden scratches his head and grins cheekily. “Oh, you didn’t hear all that, did you?”

Rory sighs and shuts his eyes. This man is such a narcissist…

Buzz! Bryden’s phone vibrates in his pocket. He picks up his phone and a text message glows on his screen.

NORA, 6:46 p.m.

Where are you???

U were supposed be at Marla’s like 30 mins ago

Bryden splutters in disbelief. Marla’s? What is she talking about? Did we have a date planned tonight? I could’ve sworn…

“Did you forget about your date with Nora tonight?” Rory crosses his arms, already knowing the answer.

Bryden blinks before he slaps his forehead. “Ah, shoot. I completely forgot!” He rushes to put on his coat before running out of their dorm.

“Wait! You didn’t clean up your—” Rory looks back and sighs, picking up the bags of chips sprawled over the floor. He picks up a broom to sweep up the mess of cookie crumbs and chips over the floor as well. Same old Bryden. Look’s like I have to clean up after him again… Oh, Nora, you deserve so much better than him.

Bryden manages to make it to Marla’s in less than ten minutes, though he is still nearly an hour late.

“About time,” Nora remarks as Bryden takes his seat in front of her. “I almost thought you weren’t even going to show up.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he apologizes while panting, out of breath. “It won’t happen again.”

Nora rolls her eyes and sighs. “You said that last time. And the time before that. This is the fifth time already. I’m surprised that I’m still dating you.”

Bryden laughs at that and shoots her a mischievous grin. “It must be because of my irresistible charm, right?”

Nora scoffs and puts down her menu. “You wish.”

“Now that the two of you are here, may I take your orders?” The waitress arrives at their table with a cheerful smile on her face.

“I would like a BLT and a strawberry smoothie, please,” Nora orders.

“Uh…” Bryden takes a quick look at the menu. He hasn’t even opened the menu yet due to his tardiness. “I’ll take a Caesar salad and some water.”  

The waitress nods as she jots down their orders and heads back into the kitchen.

“So the reason I called you over here to have dinner with me is because I wanted to tell you about some exciting news,” Nora beams, her face brightening. “I landed an internship at Pfizer! You know how I plan on attending medical school after finishing my undergrad here. But I never imagined landing an internship at such a well-known pharmaceutical company! Although it is more heavily based on biotech and the production of medicine and drugs rather than interning at an actual hospital, I accepted their offer because it’s still related to the field in some way. It’s over the summer, so…” Nora notices Bryden’s averted attention and clears her throat. “Um, Bryden? Are you listening to me?”

“Huh?” Bryden’s shoulders twitch and his head perks up. He has been focused on his phone this entire time. 

Nora frowns and sighs. “As I was saying, it’s an amazing opportunity that I shouldn’t pass up—” She stops herself when Bryden laughs at something on his phone. She grits her teeth and begrudgingly continues. “I’m really excited about this internship…”

The cycle repeats for a while—Nora talks, but Bryden’s eyes remain glued to his phone, Nora stops to get Bryden’s attention and continues speaking, and it all repeats. When she is just about to lose her cool, she calms and composes herself before standing to leave. “I’m going to use the bathroom.”

But she finally loses it when such a sight greets her upon her return—two girls surrounding a grinning Bryden at their table. It is obvious what this signifies.

“…So give me a call anytime, okay?” Bryden gives a flirtatious wink at the girls and hands them a Post-it note with presumably his phone number written.

“BRYDEN!” Nora stomps on her way over, her face red with fury. She scares the two girls out of their wits and they quickly disperse.     

Bryden, thinking nothing’s the matter, simply shoots Nora a cheeky grin. “Oh, there you are! I thought you left me. You know, it’s not very nice to leave your own boyfriend like that without warning. You’re lucky that I’m not the type to get mad at these types of—”

“Excuse me?” Nora slams her hands against the table, startling Bryden, the waitress, and everyone else present in the café. “What the hell are you doing, acting so normal like I haven’t caught you attempting to cheat on me red-handed.”

“What do you mean?” Bryden’s eyes widen with bewilderment and genuine shock. “When did I ever cheat on you?”

“Do you think I’m blind?” Nora, fuming with rage, takes another step closer.

Damn, she’s pissed, Bryden thinks, but he can’t help but laugh at the sight of it! It isn’t until a hand comes down to his face and his cheek stings with pain that he snaps out of his fit of laughter. “Hey! Why’d you slap me? Ugh, and so viciously too.”

“How could you be laughing at a time like this?” Nora’s face darkens, her head lowering. “Is flirting with other girls while you’re on a date a joke to you? Do you have no shame?”

Finally, it dawns on him. “Oh, you mean those girls?” When Bryden points at the two girls from before, they squirm and scamper away in fear. “You thought I was cheating on you with them? I was merely just making conversation. Nothing special.”

“Really?” Nora scoffs in disbelief. “How can flirting and handing out your number like candy be classified as ‘nothing special’? I should’ve known. I’m dating the campus player for Pete’s sake! You date any girl that piques your interest. To think I was stupid enough to think that you actually cared for me.”

“Of course I care about you, Nora.” Bryden reaches out to console her, but she slaps his hand away. “I know what you said is true and all…” He stretches out his arms and grins. “I am the campus player, but I would never stoop so low to cheat on girls that I date. If another girl catches my eye, I make sure to break up with the girl that I’m dating before chasing after…” Bryden pauses when he catches Nora’s expression and realizes he’s making the situation worse. “I was only flirting with those girls earlier, not having a full-on affair.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Nora retorts. “Fine. Let’s say you didn’t cheat on me. Then have you listened to a single word I’ve said before?”

“Huh? What do you mean? Of course I have.” Bryden waves it off like the idea of it is ridiculous.

“Really?” Nora scoffs and presses the tip of her finger against Bryden’s chest, a glint of challenge in her eyes. “Then what have I been telling you about this entire time? Do tell. You have been listening, haven’t you?”

“Uh…” Bryden bites his lip and scratches his head, thinking hard on what she had been discussing with him mere minutes ago while Nora waits expectantly with a smirk on her face. “Something about wanting to go to medical school? I don’t know… I think you were ranting about some doctor-related nonsense or something.”

Nora’s eyes widen and her fists clench, her face burning even redder. “Some doctor-related nonsense? Is that how you think about everything I say? That it’s all just pure nonsense?”

“No, of course not,” Bryden insists, realizing his mistake. “I’m just not a good listener.”

“Hey…” the waitress hesitantly interrupts with a forced smile. “Listen, I know this isn’t a good time right now, but your food is ready.” She places a tray of food on their table.

“You asshole!” Nora grabs her BLT and throws it at Bryden, the contents splattering on his chest.

“Hey!” Bryden exclaims, pushing the parts of the sandwich onto the floor. “That’s not very nice.”

“Oh, dear!” the waitress exclaims in fright. “Um, miss, please calm down. There are others around and you’re making quite a mess.”

“To hell with it!” Nora disregards everything the waitress has just uttered. “Has our entire relationship been a joke to you? Am I just another girl on your list of people to date? Is whatever that’s on your phone more important than your own girlfriend?”

“Shh, calm down.” Bryden attempts to shush her. “We’re in public.”

“Like I give a shit.” Nora snatches her strawberry milkshake and spills the contents over Bryden’s head.

“Ooh.” Those present at the café snicker as they watch the scene unfolding before them.

Bryden, in such a sorry state of humiliation, is left speechless.     

“That’s it. We’re done. Don’t ever call me again.” Nora turns to leave, but pauses to give one last retort. “Oh, who am I kidding? Like you’d even care to give me a call. You’re too busy dallying with other girls to give a damn about me!” She heads to the door with heavy strides.

Bryden snaps out of his trance and calls out to her. “Fine! You’re the one paying for the food though!”

Nora has already left the café without looking back.

Bryden turns to the entrance and yells, “You want to break up with me? Fine. Don’t come running back to me the next day begging me to take you back!” After that last sentence leaves his mouth, he realizes that everyone present is staring at him and murmuring amongst themselves. Bryden flushes with embarrassment and shouts out, “What are you all staring at?”

Everyone hastily averts their gazes. It is when the strawberry milkshake spilled over his head drips from his hair does he realize that he is quite the hilarious sight at the moment!

Bryden groans and sighs. “Ah, crap.” He scans his surroundings until his eyes rest upon the waitress from before, whose body shakes in the corner. “So how much is this dinner?”

The waitress hesitates and bites her lip, but Bryden slams down a twenty-dollar bill before she has a chance to speak.   

“Keep the change” is the last thing Bryden says before stealing a bunch of napkins and leaving. As he walks down the street to head back to the dormitories and wipes the sticky milk from his hair, his thoughts go wild. 

Ugh, this is so embarrassing. At least there aren’t too many people around. Nora is so damn sensitive! She acts all tough, but she gets upset over seeing me flirting with a couple of girls? Whatever. I was going to break up with her soon anyway. I never date the same girl for too long—Woah!    

Bryden nearly trips on something he steps on and swears. He looks at his feet and bends down to pick the item up. He tripped on a silver ring with a shimmering piece of amethyst at the center. Although it appears to be quite old—it’s caked with dust and sediment—the luster and beauty of the purple jewel still mesmorizes him. He doesn’t snap out of his trance until a good few moments have passed.

What a find! he thinks to himself. I can sell this online and make a pretty penny.

With this thought in mind, Bryden’s mood brightens up and he forgets all about Nora as he hums happily on his way back to the dorms.