Stay to flirt with Charmaine

“I’ll probably head over to the corner, see if I can make something work,” you say, pointing at where Tatiana and Charmaine are reading.

“Hah, good luck with that man. You’re going to need it,” Griffin says. With that, he gets up and moves to the other side of the lounge, where a couple of guys are fooling around. Christina follows close behind him, waving goodbye to you, and she’s soon dragging a slim tall guy to the ping pong table.

You take a second to steel your nerve, and head over to the corner, taking one of the chairs next to Charmaine. Tatiana acknowledges your presence with a nod, and you wave back at her, but Charmaine doesn’t look up from her book. You take out your phone, and begin browsing through some messages, but surreptitiously steal a glance or two at the two girls, picking up on what they’re reading. Interestingly enough, it seems like Charmaine’s been reading the same thing as you for your writing seminar class - Foucault’s The History of Sexuality. Perhaps you might even be in the same class? An idea pops into your head, but you save it for later.

“Hey, what book are you reading?” you ask.

Charmaine looks at you, her eyes giving you a quick once-over, and she utters just four words: “The History of Sexuality.”

“Cool, I’ve been assigned that too,” you say. “I was actually asking Tatiana - you sounded like you were almost done with your major at this point, the stuff you’re reading must be pretty dense huh?”

While a hint of red crosses Charmaine’s face, Tatiana looks up with a small smile. You can’t tell if it’s because she’s seen through your plot of focusing on her to make Charmaine jealous, or if she’s happy to see you more interested in her, or if she’s just laughing at you…

“It’s just Van Evera’s Causes of War, pretty straightforward realism,” Tatiana says. “Foucault’s a hell of a lot more work to interpret than this.”

“It’s a good thing that we’ve been assigned the books that we have then, and not the other way around,” Charmaine says. “I would hate for you to have to be confused, Tatiana.”

Now this is starting to get somewhere. Regardless of whether she likes you or not, you’ve definitely struck a chord with Charmaine, which sounds like a hell of a lot more than what anyone else has achieved up until this point.

“You know, I think that Tatiana can probably handle harder readings than you, Charmaine,” you say. “After all, she is going to be finishing her Masters degree next year. What could I possibly say about you?”

“That’s hardly a fair comparison. She’s two years ahead of me,” Charmaine says.

“And I will be for the rest of all time. Life’s not fair, get used to it,” Tatiana says.

A little harsher than what you might have said, but Charmaine is fully invested now as the book drops to her side, forgotten.

“You think I don’t know that? I’ve had idiots fawning over me since I hit middle school for my looks. It’s not fair! Those guys make my life a living hell,” Charmaine says.

“And the worst part is that they only care for your looks?” you offer.

“Exactly!” Charmaine says. “It would be one thing if they realised what brains I could bring to the table, but it seems like all they’re ever interested in is what’s under my clothes. It’s pathetic.”

“You know what, I get that,” Tatiana says. “You would think that it wouldn’t be such a big deal at a selective university such as this, but I guess guys everywhere just can’t think with anything but their cocks.”

“Well, I’m going to get out of here before my kind gets bashed any harder,” you say, thinking that this would be the right time to beat a tactical retreat. You stand and turn to head up the stairs.

“Not all guys are terrible, but I get it if you’ve got other stuff to get to. Hey, what’s your name?” Charmaine asks, right as you’re about to leave.

You turn around, doing your best to hide the smile on your face. “Alex,” you say.

Tatiana +5
Charmaine +5