D*mn it, Maria!

13◕⩊◕ Weirdo Club

The next day, Caleb woke up earlier than usual. He dialed Maria's number. "Good morning."

[Hmm?] She answered groggily after the fifth ring.

"Are you going to eat breakfast here?"

[Why?]

He frowned. What why? She'd been coming and going shamelessly to scavenge his pantry and enslave his employees. He was willing to let her do just that, but now she changed her modus. "Nothing."

[It's too early. Call later m'kay.]

He stared at his phone for a good, long five seconds (might be more), before he began his workout with a scowl. Showered and dressed up, he crossed the street to personally invite her for breakfast.

There was no need for another interview at the gate. Maria was still in pajamas with a bedhead, and unbrushed teeth with a blinding smile.

"G'morning!" She greeted and pulled him in. "Are you gonna eat breakfast?" She called over loudly even before he could decline, "Nana Cecil! Please cook more fried rice and food. Mon-Mon really wants to eat breakfast here."

"Okay!" Someone shouted from somewhere in the house.

Mon-Mon really wants to eat breakfast here. She announced it as if he begged her for it.

"What do you wanna eat?" She hollered once more before he could reply. "Nana Cecil, he said he wants fried chicken. Just heat the leftovers from last night, please. Some eggs and bacon. And hotdogs too, spicy ketchup please."

"Okay!" was the same enthusiastic reply.

She led him to the living room, told him to wait and turned the TV on to a cartoon show. While the maids prepared breakfast, she went upstairs and took a shower.

Caleb called his house to inform them that he was going to eat at Maria's, then changed the channel to the morning news. Fifteen minutes passed by and Maria came down in uniform and a towel on her head.

Breakfast began. As usual, Maria talked with her mouth full. "Did you watch last night's episode?"

"Of what?"

"The drama, Chain Me With Your Scorching Love."

"Chain what?"

"You don't know?" From her tone, he could hear her judgment. "It's so popular!"

The hell he cared about a commoner's drama. The breakfast ended and he was forced to say thanks. It's not like he wanted to eat there anyway. He volunteered to take her to school to return the favor. Instead of their family driver, Caleb drove the car himself.

"Do you have some tissues?" She asked once they were out of the subdivision.

"Yeah."

"Give me, please. You came so early, I forgot to take my booger."

The car sharply swerved left. Wasn't it enough that he breathed the same air as her? Why did he have to endure her body impurities, too?

Despite the disgust, he pointed to the box on the backseat. "Hold that dirty thing until we get to school. Don't you dare just—just don't put it anywhere in my car."

"Okay."

The crowd who were waiting were less than the previous days, but it was nowhere near comfortable enough to walk through.

"Oh my god." Almost everyone gasped in unison when Maria climbed out of his car, the tissue still in her hand.

"It's true. It really is!"

The crowd parted as they walked. Maria even dared to wave and greet everyone with a chirpy "Good morning!" The girls' faces twisted into frowns. She didn't mind, glad when she found a trash can and threw the tissue there.

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Caleb spent the whole day studying, or at least he tried to. When class ended, he and the rest proceeded to the clubroom for the first club meeting since they joined.

According to Lord, the school approved their membership application "Luckily, you're all not part of any clubs yet."

"Me." Tamara raised her hand. "I'm a member of the Voodoo Club."

"Your club's not registered and you're the only member."

"President," Matthew asked next, "what's SMMC for?"

"Studies of the Modern Society Club."

"I already know that. What do we do in it?"

"Hmm, we're going to conduct activities and research related to the majority classes of society."

"Like what?"

"What are their common daily recreational activities, the most common place in the city popular to them, and their income-expenditure? Things like that."

Caleb was the first one to say it bluntly, "In short, this club's focus is to study poor people like you?"

She nodded, as calm as usual. "Yeah."

"Oh, that sounds fun," Maria voiced. "I want to do them all."

"Well," Matthew said, "I think so too. I'm a hybrid. I party with the spoiled kids and the commoners alike. I think it's interesting."

Tamara nodded. While Caleb was not even a little bit pleased. It's pointless. There was no need to examine the bottom feeders, except of course, for business purposes. "And why do we need to study the lives of poor people?"

"Education, at least that's what I wrote in the description. I'm the founder of this club. Actually, it would give me credits when I enter university. And it's a plus point for my scholarship application. We did have enough members before. However, they quit when they found out about the activities."

"In short, you're using the club to earn favorable conditions for a scholarship application in college?"

"Yeah," she admitted frankly.

Not bad, he thought. Lord might be poor, but she was smart. Along with Matthew's, he added her name to the list of people he might recruit in the future.

"Lord, use me!" Maria volunteered. "I'll do my best for this club!" Matthew and Tamara promised the same, in their own words.

"Well, yeah, me too," Caleb was forced to agree, thanks to Maria's expectant stare.

"Nice, Your Highness," Matthew teased then turned to Lord. "So, we're all here. What are we gonna do now?"

"We're missing one, the vice president is late."

At that moment, the door swung open, and a shocked "What the hell?!" echoed. Shalla held a frappe from a famous coffee chain and scowled.

"Finally." Lord sighed. "We're complete."

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