Someone Like You

Chapter Twenty-nine

I found myself sitting inside a milk tea house. A sweet aroma fills the shop. It is the kind of smell that would make you think of those tiny little happy things. Ahh. Sweet little things.

"What do you want?" Dominic asks as he stands to go to the counter.

"No thanks. I'm good." I answer politely.

I'm not good at all. I've been craving milk tea for quite a while now but I don't have that much money right now. I'm broke AF so as much as possible, I want to save money.

"It's my treat."

My face lightens up. "Wintermelon, please." I say with a big smile.

He chuckles.

I had not met Dominic since the Diamond Cup but yesterday, he called me to say that he want us to meet and talk about something. I declined his offer at first saying that I am busy but he won't stop calling me until I finally said yes. He went on and on convincing me to come and meet him.

It must have been very important for him to get into extremes.

Dominic is still unstoppable as always and I just feel like I won't like the thing we will talk about today.

"Here you go." He placed down the tray on our table. "I also ordered a slice of a red velvet cake for you."

"Awe. I love red velvet. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome."

Dominic looks cool in black shirt and jeans topped with grey knee-length cardigan. He's always fashionable and creative. No wonder he's the mind behind the AU Pep squad and a number of famous local models and beauty queens. He sure is a very attractive man. It's unfortunate that he's not interested in girls. For heaven's sake, those genes need to go somewhere productive.

"How's the basketball team?" He asks while taking a bite on his cheesecake.

"They're doing great, I guess." I smile bitterly. "I'm not with them anymore."

"Really? Why?" He sounds surprise.

I don't have any reason of staying there anymore. I really want to say that but instead I say, "I need to focus on my studies since I'll be fourth year next school year." What a lame excuse! "Anyway, we're not here to talk about that right?"

"Yeah." He smiles meaningfully. He shifts a little and crosses his legs. He then takes a sip from his milk tea. I feel uneasily nervous for some reason. Every move he does is making me tense. The first time I talked to this guy, I ended up being a substitute Miss AU. He clasps his hands. "I've heard you deleted your facebook account."

"Yeah." I answer, puzzled. I shrug while my eyebrows cross. "Some unnecessary things were there."

"That must have been very painful." He smiles sympathetically. "I've read some of them." He explains.

"Ah. Okay." I look down to the table. The memory of it spreads an unwelcomed pain all over my body.

"Do you want to show them that you are worth it to be called Miss AU?"

I raise my head and look at him with an even more puzzled expression. On the other hand, he is looking at me with eyes full of hope.

"What do you mean?"

"Three months from now, there would be the annual search for Miss University wherein fifty candidates from fifty different universities will join to compete for the crown. It's the biggest beauty pageant for the universities."

"Okay. Then?"

"I want you to join this pageant as the representative of your university."

I am staring at him but I do not understand any of what he is saying. I take a deep breath, trying to let what he said sink into my brain. "W-what do y-you want me to d-do?" I ask, stuttering.

"I want you to join this year's search for Miss University." He says loud and clear.

I am silent for a minute or so but suddenly I burst into laughter. I knew he would say something weird but I hadn't imagined it would be this crazy. "Are you kidding me? Is this a prank? Oh my gosh. Are you filming this?"

"I'm not joking."

I brush my hair to the back of my ear, trying to fix myself a little. I look around to find something suspicious. "Come on, you've got busted. I know this is some kind of a prank so just give up with your act and show me where is the camera."

"I'm serious, Melissa." He says with a straight face.

My smile fades. He is looking at me with a bitch-please kind of look. "No way. You're serious?"

"I am."

"You're fucking serious with this?"

"I am."

"No. No. No. No. No. No way! I can't do it."

"Hear me out first, okay. You don't need to spend anything. The university will shoulder all the expenses. From the dress to accessories to footwear and even up to the make-up, you don't need to worry anything about it. Also, I would be your personal mentor and trainer. I would train you to walk properly, talk properly, answer the questions properly, everything. I am going make sure that you are the best among the rest during the pageant. How does that sound?"

"And how would you do that?"

"We still have three months, darling. It's a lot of time." He says. I bite my nails unconsciously. I am looking down on my already half eaten red velvet cake. "It won't be easy but I promise you, it would be worth it."

I look at him and smile apologetically. "I'm sorry but I just can't do it. It's just too much for me. I don't think I can do it."

"You can. All you just have to do is agree to this." He says encouragingly. "I've seen you walked before and you were amazing. I know you're going to slay the pageant."

I shake my head. "I can't. I'm sorry. It's out of my league. I know myself too well and I know I can't do that. I mean ... just look at me." I smile bitterly.

"Why what is wrong with you?"

"Look at me." I say trying to sound firm. "I'm neither sexy nor pretty. I don't have any sense of fashion. I am not the kind of girl who would turn someone's head. I am not qualified to enter a competition about beauty because I am not beautiful on the first place." He closes his eyes and scratches his head in frustration. "Also, I am in a bad situation right now because of what happened during the diamond cup. I feel like everyone at school hates me because I was the substitute Miss AU. I don't want to think about how they would react if I'll join a real pageant."

He takes a deep breath and cocks his head to the side and look at me intently. "That's the point." He exclaims. "To be honest, that day, I was presented with a handful of girls to choose from to be the substitute Miss AU but I chose you. Do you know why?" He looks deeper into my eyes. "It's because I saw something in you that I didn't saw from the rest of the girls."

A sarcastic laugh escapes my throat. "I-I can't really do it. I'm sorry."

"Look Melissa. This is the perfect thing to do to prove to everyone who bashed you, who belittled you, who cursed you, who ... left you that they are wrong for hurting you."

A picture of Alexander's face appears unwillingly to my mind. I bite my lips shake my head a little to erase the thought in my mind.

"I don't know what to say."

"Just agree to this."

"I don't know about that."

"Well, I'll give you time to think about it. You have my number so just contact me. You can also find me at Reload Gym – you know, the fitness gym along the Guangzon Street. You can find me there every day at five in the afternoon. Don't take too long before you contact me though. The earlier the better." He smiles warmly to me.

I nod but remain silent.

"You are beautiful Melissa." He says while staring at me.