A R T H U R

"If I see Shawn again, I will kill that little bitch!" Arthur huffed out angrily, trying to fix his tie in front of the mirror.

    "What's the big deal?" Isaac tried to say soothingly as he sat at his desk, reading. "It's just a date."

    "Oh, yes! Just a date!" Arthur said sarcastically, acting cheerful. But then he turned to glare at Isaac. "Just a date I was forced to go on! Why did I even agree to it? I don't even know this Mariana girl!"

    "Her name is Mary," Isaac said calmly, flipping to the next page of his book as he took a bite of his chocolate.

    "If you know her so well, then why didn't you agree to go on a date with her?"

    "I only know her name, Arthur. Besides, I already told you; I have to be at Professor Hudson's office at seven. He's asked a few of his students to come to his office for poetry reading tonight."

    "But you're not even studying Literature!"

    "The poems are in Latin. We take turns in reading and translating them. And I'm practicing it right now," Isaac explained, holding up the poetry book he was just reading.

     Arthur groaned in defeat, grabbing his briefcase and leaving the dorm after bidding Isaac goodbye.

    Earlier that day, Shawn had burst into their room without as much as a single knock, looking distressed.

     When they had asked him what was wrong, he'd only said, "I messed up."

    "What did you do this time?" Arthur had questioned, smirking lightly.

    "Very funny," Shawn said blankly.

    "What happened?" Isaac asked him worriedly.

    Shawn dropped himself down on one of the empty beds in their dorm, covering his face in his palms. "I just went to Luca's room to tell him about the opera tickets, but then I panicked and made him think that I'm going with him."

    "What's wrong with that?" said Isaac. "Luca's your friend. I'm sure he'd like to have you as company."

    "It's not that." Shawn sat up, looking miserable. "I've already asked Mary to go out with one of my friends. I'd thought that Luca would have more fun if I had set her up with someone."

    "Then just tell Mary that the date is cancelled. Problem solves." Arthur shrugged.

    "I can't. I heard from one of friends that she was really looking forward to this date, and that she's even bought a new dress already. That will ruin my reputation among girls."

    "Oh, that's bad. She'll be heartbroken..." Isaac grimaced. "Can't you just ask someone else to go with her?"

    Shawn's face was cleared of his frown, thinking it through. "Can you take her?"

    "Me?" Isaac shook his head quickly. "I can't. There's a gathering in Professor Hudson's office tonight."

    Shawn turned his glance on Arthur, grinning as he gave him a look.

    "Don't even think about it," said Arthur, knowing exactly what Sawn was indicating.

    "Come on!" Shawn groaned pleadingly. "I'll owe you one."

    "No! Besides, I don't even know where I'm supposed to take her!"

    "Take her to watch a movie. You can even go to the diner nearby and share a milkshake. Girls like that sort of things. You might even enjoy it, too!"

    Arthur groaned to himself. "Fine. But you owe me one, Anderson!"

    "Oh, thank you so much! That's such a relief." Shawn hopped off the bed with a broad grin.

   "Wouldn't she get mad if she saw that I'm not Luca?"

   "I haven't really told her which one of my friends is going to take her out. Mysteries make people more excited," Shawn said knowingly. "Anyway, meet her in front of the East Residency building at six. And wear something nice for once, will you?"

    "I'll wear the things that I always wear."

    "You'll never know, Arthur. You might actually fall for this girl. You might as well make an effort," Isaac said with a teasing smile.

    "That's not a good enough reason to change who I am."

    "We're not saying change who you are," Shawn began to say jokingly, "Just your clothes, your hair, and if you can help it, that sarcastic personality of yours. Girls don't like it when boys act like a grumpy, sarcastic, know-it-all."

    "She can hate me all she wants," Arthur said earnestly. "If I can't be myself, then I would rather not be anybody at all."

***

Arthur looked down at his watch as he was making his way down the staircase. But when he saw that he was already ten minutes late, he cursed himself under his breath and began to ran all the way out of the building.

    Glancing around, Arthur finally spotted a girl from afar. She was leaning against the wall as she kept throwing looks at the turret clock, obviously waiting for someone. She had to be Mary.

    Swallowing hard, Arthur walked toward the girl. He'd rather be giving an exam on metaphysics than go through with this date.

    When he was close enough to her, he gave her a small wave of his hand. "Hello."

    "Hey." The girl glanced at him up and down. She didn't seem too thrilled to be here with him tonight either. Perhaps she had expected to see Luca, or at least Nicholas. "You're Arthur, right?"

    He merely nodded in response.

    Mary was a brunette girl with light brown hair, nearly the same height as Arthur himself. She had a lovely round face and a curvy frame, and even though it was usually hard to tell what a girl looked like while being in their dresses or puffy skirts, Arthur could still tell that she had plump hips and big breasts.

    "So, should we get going?" Arthur said casually, and Mary gave a nod of her in response, already looking bored. As much as Arthur hated being here, he still didn't want her to have a bad time.

    After they left the campus, taking a cab to the only movie theatre in town. Arthur bought two tickets for 'the Prince and the Showgirl'. He was glad that Shawn had suggested watching a movie, because this way they didn't have to talk much.

    When the movie finally came to an end, the two of them left the theatre, and Arthur noticed that they were the only couple who hadn't been kissing or holding hands during the movie.

    "Now, that was just terrible," said Mary as they walked out of the theatre, talking mostly to herself as though complaining out loud. "I don't get why they have to make girls act so dumb and goofy in movies. Especially blondes. What's even the point?"

    Arthur's head snapped up at those words and he stared at her through his large glasses. "That's what I always say!"

    The edge of Mary's lips curled up into the smallest grin. "Really?"

    "Yes!" He nodded earnestly. "They think men like the gullible and innocent type. But let me tell you that this is not the case for all man. They're only leaving a bad stereotype, if you're asking me."

    "Exactly!" Mary assented. "This might sound really weird to most people, but I wouldn't mind seeing a western or action movie with a woman as the lead. And by lead, I don't mean the romantic lead for the actual hero of the story. I want to see a woman saving people and doing brilliant stunts."

    "That's not weird at all. Not to me, at least," Arthur admitted honestly. "It also wouldn't hurt to see a woman as the powerful villain for once."

    Mary laughed. "My thoughts, exactly! Which is why I love Cat Woman's character in Batman's comics."

    Arthur's eyes widened in amusement. "You read comic books?"

    "Of course. It's not just for boys, you know. I mean, it technically was made for them. But so what?"

    Arthur found himself smiling as he looked back at her, silent for a moment before finally saying, "Er... there's an American-styled diner near campus. What do you say to hamburger and milkshake?"

    Mary scoffed. "My answer to food is always yes."

***

Arthur would never admit to Isaac or Shawn how much he actually enjoyed spending time with Mary, even though he had only known her for one night.

    Shawn had told Arthur to try sharing a milkshake with his date, but Arthur never liked sharing food with people. And as it turned out, neither did Mary. They sat beside each other on the bar's stools and both ordered hamburgers and fries and milkshare, eating them to the last bit and leaving nothing behind.

    Arthur had finally found someone who didn't interrupt him when he was talking about his philosophical theories, and even shared her own opinions in return. Their conversation led to a few small arguments in the meantime, but Arthur found himself enjoying it.

    Unlike him, Mary was an outgoing and bold person, which he was surprised to like. During their meal, every few minutes she would walk over the jukebox at the far end of the diner and throw a coin in to play a song, and she then would dance all the way back to her seat.

    At the end of the night, Mary gave him a sweet smile when they reached the dormitory building. "I had a wonderful night."

    "So did I." Arthur returned the smile. He was caught off guard when Mary suddenly leaned in and placed a little kiss on his cheek.

    Arthur didn't exactly get the feeling of fireworks and shivers running all through his body, as his friends had described that would happen, and there was no strange batter in his heart. But he felt his ears growing warm at the kiss, knowing that they had probably gone red enough to match his hair.

    "Goodnight, Arthur," she whispered almost in a flirty manner, sending him a little wink before walking into the building.