Chapter 46 Lunch with Damian
The rain had stopped just as the morning sun began to melt through the clouds. The campus glowed with that soft gold light that made even the old buildings look new again. Lila walked beside Asher, her bag slung lazily over one shoulder, her hair catching the light as she moved.
They didn’t talk much, but the silence wasn’t heavy.
Finally, Asher said quietly, “You should be careful around Damian.”
Lila stopped walking. “You’re still on that?”
He didn’t answer right away. “There’s just something off about him.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re a freshman like me. Whatever you think you know, you probably heard from people who don’t know him at all.”
Asher’s jaw tightened. He wanted to say more, but her tone warned him not to.
“Lila.”
“No,” she interrupted, her voice firmer than usual. “I’ve heard enough rumors since I got here. I’m done listening to whispers.”
He sighed. “I just don’t want you to get hurt again.”
Her expression softened for a second. The concern in his voice made her chest ache but she forced a small smile. “You won’t have to worry about that. He’s just a friend, okay?”
“Yeah,” he murmured, though he didn’t sound convinced.
Lila nudged his arm gently. “Hey, you’re still coming to his game, right?”
He hesitated. “Do I have a choice?”
She grinned faintly. “Not really.”
He gave in, shaking his head. “Fine. I’ll be there.”
The conversation ended there, but something lingered, doubts and fears. Asher’s silence felt like a wall, and she didn’t know how to climb it.
Later that day, the cafeteria was bright and noisy, filled with chatter and clinking trays. Lila sat by the window, absently stirring her drink, when Damian arrived.
He spotted her easily, walking with that smooth confidence that made people turn their heads. His hair was still damp from practice, and he smelled faintly of rain and cologne.
“Hey,” he said, flashing that perfect grin. “You actually came.”
She smiled. “You invited me.”
He laughed, sliding into the seat across from her. “Yeah, but most people just say they’ll come. You actually showed up. I like that.”
Something in the way he said it made her cheeks warm.
They ordered lunch, and while waiting, they talked easily and naturally. It surprised her how comfortable she felt. He told stories about growing up with three brothers, about endless sports competitions, about how he’d almost chosen another college until fate or maybe just the scholarship changed his mind.
Lila laughed more than she had in weeks. The kind of laugh that made her forget, even for a few minutes, the shadows that had been clinging to her life.
When she mentioned she liked photography, his eyes lit up. “Really? You should take pictures of one of our games. You’d make the team look better than we actually are.”
She chuckled. “I doubt that. You guys already have a fan club.”
“True,” he said, smirking. “But I’d rather have one honest fan than fifty noisy ones.”
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop smiling. There was something magnetic about him, not just the looks everyone talked about, but the ease he carried, the way he made the world around him feel lighter.
“Why’d you choose philosophy?” he asked, resting his chin on his hand.
Her smile faltered for a second. “I thought I could learn how people think. Why do they do what they do.”
He studied her quietly. “That’s deep.”
She shrugged. “I just like answers. Even if they hurt.”
Their food arrived, and they ate between bursts of laughter. He was charming in that careless, effortless way that made people feel seen. And Lila, for the first time in a long while, didn’t feel like a ghost haunting her own story.
But as the lunch hour passed, and the noise around them grew, she noticed something the way people glanced at her table. Not just glanced but stared. Especially the girls.
She tried to ignore it, but whispers floated through the air like static.
“Is that Damian Reyes?”
“Who’s she?”
“I guess he’s got a new project.”
Her stomach twisted, but Damian didn’t seem to notice or he didn’t care. He leaned closer, telling another story, and she forced herself to laugh again, pretending not to feel the weight of every pair of eyes on her.
When they finished, he paid before she could argue.
“You didn’t have to,” she said.
“I wanted to,” he replied simply. “You made my day less boring.”
She laughed softly. “You don’t look like someone who gets bored easily.”
“Oh, I do,” he said. “But not today.”
There it was again, that warm, practiced charm that made her heart stutter just a little.
When they walked out, the air was cool and sweet after the cafeteria heat. Students lounged under trees, music floated faintly from someone’s speaker, and for once, the campus didn’t feel like a place built on grief.
Lila slowed her steps, breathing it all in. She hadn’t felt calm like this in weeks.
Damian walked beside her, hands in his pockets. “Are you okay?”
She looked up, startled. “Yeah. Why?”
“You keep spacing out.”
She laughed nervously. “Sorry. I was just thinking about a project.”
He nodded. “You think too much. Try smiling more; it suits you.”
She rolled her eyes, but inside, his words lingered longer than she wanted them to.
When they reached the main courtyard, he stopped and turned to her. “So, you’ll really come to the game?”
She smiled. “If I say no, will you cancel it?”
“Maybe,” he said, grinning. “I guess you’ll have to find out.”
Her laughter rang out, bright and genuine.
“See you Friday, Lila,” he said, backing away slowly before turning down the walkway toward the gym.
She watched him go, the sun catching in his hair, and for the first time in a while, she felt normal. Like maybe, just maybe, her life was moving again.
But normal never lasted long around her.
After he left, Lila stayed standing for a few seconds, staring at the path he’d taken. She didn’t notice the curious eyes around her anymore. She just stood there caught between the calm of the moment and the uneasy whisper at the back of her mind.
Something about the way Damian smiled like he was so sure and certain felt too perfect.
She brushed the thought away. “Don’t ruin this,” she told herself. “Not everything has to be dangerous.”
Still, as she turned to leave, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
The breeze shifted, carrying the scent of wet earth and faint roses just for a second.
Her heart gave a small, uncertain flutter.
She quickened her pace, heading back toward the academic building. Maybe she was just tired. Maybe her mind was playing tricks again.
She almost believed that until her phone buzzed.
A new message. No name, no number. Just text.
“He smiles too easily. Be careful who you sit with.”
Her fingers went cold.
She looked around, scanning the faces around her, none of them were familiar.
The message blinked on the screen again as if mocking her silence.
Her breath caught.
She swallowed hard, shoved the phone into her pocket, and started walking faster.
Not now. Not again. Not when she was beginning to enjoy school.
But deep inside, she already knew the game she thought she’d left behind had started again.
As she reached the dorm steps, her phone buzzed once more this time, only three words lit the screen:
“Don’t trust him.”