"Are you actually making an effort?" Alicia asks as she watches me dress up.

Rolling my eyes, I turn my head to the side to see where I'm hooking my earrings. "Yep. It's been proven that he's a maniac but it's my first date so yeah."

Only me would be excited to go on a date with someone that actually wants me dead, but if this dates goes as well as I hoped then I won't regret dressing up.

"You're crazy," she says with a laugh. I see her lay flat on my bed through the mirror.

"I know." There's no point in denying the truth.

Placing my hands on top of the drawer that houses the mirror, I stand up straight and walk to Alicia, twirling for her and places my hands on my waist as I stand still. "How do I look?"

She rolls on her side, bending her hand to support her head. "Hmm..." She hums as she looks at me from my head to toe. "It's not bad."

"What?" I look down, my hair falling forward with me. "It's not bad. I'm wearing a dress. I think the words you were looking for are 'you're pretty, Cami'."

She rolls her eyes and drops her hand to lay on her stomach, and brings her hands up to rest on her chin. "You're wearing a jumpsuit, not a dress and I mean, it's not bad but you can do better."

What? Is she kidding? I can do better. I'm wearing makeup, earrings and necklace. I don't look like myself and she said I can do better. What?

"I'm not changing. I'm going like this," I tell her and lean over to take my clutch.

Alicia shifts a little to see what I'm doing and she frowns when she sees me holding it. "Why are you carrying a purple clutch while wearing a red jumpsuit?"

I shrug. "You refuse to help me pick something to wear, so don't complain when this is all your fault." I glare at her.

"Not even going to argue," she mutters.

"Better not."

"The crystal?"

I raise and shake my clutch. "Why did you think I'm carrying this?"

Caleb probably knows what the crystal is and it won't make sense to hold it because he'll see it glow and everything. Hiding it is better.

"Clever. You ready?"

When she asks something like that, it feels like I'm preparing for a battle and I am, aren't I? I don't suppose Caleb is stupid to see through my shit and if he does then I'm screwed.

****

I meet up with Caleb in front of the dorms, he looks like he's been waiting for me and since he doesn't have my contact or know where my room is, standing out here is best.

"Hey beautiful." He smiles when he sees me. The smile hits me differently because I know of him, I don't really know him but I've read about the horrors he's done. He might be the one that wants me dead but why does his smile makes me think he's better? His smile is genuine and I have met lot of liar, does that make Caleb a better liar than Damian?

Argh! I sure know how to pick them.

"Hey, Caleb," I greet him with a smile. I've practiced smiles with Alicia before coming here because I feel he'll see through me if I make mistakes, which includes fake smiles and I've worked so hard for this day, so yeah I'll give him a real smile.

He moves closer and places his hands on my waist, I try not to flinch, knowing what those hands has done. He leans closer to whispers, "you look so pretty." He presses a kiss on my cheek before pulling away.

"Why, thank you. You don't look bad yourself." I reply and pretend to check him out. I saw what he was wearing from afar but just to give him some clarity that I actually want to be here with him. Caleb is wear a white dress shirt tuck in a suit pants. He isn't wearing a coat to complete the look but he looks fine like this. His long dreads are braided in six, covering the side of his face.

He smirks and offers me his hand. "Shall we?"

I nod. "Of course." I reach forward and take his hand.

Leading me to our destination. I frown when we walk away from the dorms. "Are we having the date in your room?" I ask curiously because I thought we were going to his room.

He looks back to smile at me and answers, "no. It's our first date and I want it to be special."

Right.

We walk past the school building and with the path he's leading, I think I know where we're going. The lake. And the lighting ahead confirms it. The wooden bridge by the lake is set up and everything gets clearer as I move closer. There's a mat on the floor with each edge of the mat decorated with candles. A big woven basket is in the middle of the mat and the pathway that leads to the set up is sparkling with glitters.

"This is fancy," I comment with a genuine smile. If he wasn't a psychotic maniac, I could have easily falling in love with the date but I can't. I need to stay focus and not let–is that pasta nerana I smell?

Caleb throws his hand around my shoulder, which catches me by surprise as I stagger and rest my weight on him to prevent me from falling. He doesn't notice as the next words that comes out of his mouth isn't be careful. "Best things for my girl."

I recoil in disgust.

Anything but those last two words.

"Not your girl." I make it clear.

He pulls me closer and presses an open mouth kiss on my cheek. Fuck! Who the hell is this guy?

"Not my girl...yet. Come on, we don't want Mr. Snickle breaking up our date before time," he says and pulls me towards the lake.

I take off my shoes and step on the mat before kneeling and move my body to the side and sit. Caleb takes more time undoing his shoe laces before sitting.

"Hope you're hungry because I've got all your favorite," he tells me before pulling the basket towards himself, he opens it and unloads it.

"I don't have favorites food or snacks," I respond.

He stops and looks at me in surprise. "Really? But I thought–" the confusion spreads on his face, "you always get chicken sandwich, so I thought it's your favorite."

I shake my head. "No, no, no, no chicken sandwich. I've had enough to last me a lifetime," I tell him as I remember the amount of sandwich I ate today while researching him.

"Hmm... I–" the disappointment and hurt is obvious on his face.

Shit. If I didn't know better, I'd believe he's actually sad about me wasting his efforts.

"I don't mind, I'll eat it, I could, I will."

His face lights up. "Good because I went through a lot to get this just for you." He lets me know.

"Right."

Fuck. I think I'll spend the rest of the night with my head glued to the toilet because I know I'll puke if I eat anything else.

He doesn't say anything else until after he's set everything down. He begins, "I don't know much about you, Cami and I'd love to get to know you better."

"Only if you plan to do the same," I reply and bring my clutch forward. I open it and stare at the crystal. Without taking my eyes off him, so he won't suspect anything, I dip my fingers inside the clutch and touch the  chain holding the crystals. I push it out and hold it. This way I can listen to Caleb and see the crystal clearly without his knowledge.

"I plan to," he answers and shifts forward. "Listen, Cami, I want to be with you, regardless of what others think of you and I'm happy you're giving me a chance. Honestly, I thought you weren't interested."

"What others think of me?" I repeat what he said and ask, "what do you think others thinks of me?"

"They think you're dangerous. They think you're a killer."

That gets to me. I mean it's not as if I didn't know but hearing it is... It hurts but I won't let it distract me from what I'm here to do.

"What about you?" I ask, raising my chin towards.

"What about me?"

"What do think of me?"

He smirks and tells me what he thinks. "I think they're right," I open my mouth to ask why he thinks that but he continues. "But you shouldn't let that get to you. Infact you should take that as a compliment."

I raise my eyebrows in question. "What?"

"Why do you think I was drawn to you the first time we met?" I don't know but I'm sure he'll tell me. "You remind me of someone, my sister."

"Your sister?" I repeat like it's some kind compliment. "What's she like?"

Let the Q and A start with a truth crystal to guide us.