Divine Artifact in a Scientific World-Chapter 135: Calling Katie and Samantha (3)

"What if she hadn’t confessed? Would you have really..." started Samantha.

"Yes. If she failed to confess to each person she lied to about me, I would have ended our friendship. It’s hard to describe just how much what she did hurt."

"But...all she did was tell Katie, I, and some other girls that you had her were together. How would that-"

"That’s not all she did."

"What? Oh. Um, what else did she do?"

"How would you feel if you asked a guy out, and he rejected you like you were shit on the bottom of his shoe?"

"I could never...but...umm...wow, yeah, that would really hurt. I think I’d never try again after that."

"And how would you feel about yourself if you tried again, four times, each time being rejected like you were scum?"

"I think I’d hate myself, or at least wonder what was wrong with me to get rejected like that."

"And how would you feel if you learned someone had gone ahead of you and poisoned those guys against you before you had a chance to ask them out?"

"Rage," she said in a surprisingly deep tone. "Murderous rage."

"Exactly."

"Oh shit, seriously. She did that?"

"Yes, she was able to figure out which girls I wanted to ask out before I did, then went to each and lied to them, telling them I was a cheating bastard, or worse. When she confessed to me, I felt so much rage. It was... difficult to restrain myself."

Without the soul bond, he probably would have beaten the shit out of her.

"Wait, and you forgave her?"

"I did. But only after she confessed to every girl she lied to about me."

"But why? Why would you forgive her after doing something like that to you?"

"Because she didn’t do it out of malice. At the time, she didn’t understand that what she was doing was hurting me. It’s the only reason I was willing to forgive her. If she’d done it, knowing it was hurting me, I would have...well, let’s just say forgiveness would have been the last thing on my mind."

"I...don’t think I could forgive someone like that."

"Yeah, I hear ya. So... changing the topic, how have you been? We never really talked in class, so I’m a bit surprised you wanted to hear from me."

"I, um, kinda had a crush on you back then. And when I learned you were available, I thought, now’s my chance!"

"Um, available isn’t quite the word I would use to describe my situation."

"Oh, you mean the thing with Madison? She told me. Said she had to share you with whoever else you choose to be with."

"Not exactly. I have four girlfriends, and a first date with Katie scheduled for this Saturday."

"Four?! Do they know about each other?"

"Yes. All of them know I’m dating four girls and am interested in a few others. Madison and one other have met and seem to get along fine."

"Damn, that’s hot!"

Seriously?! Is she like Miranda or something?

"Hot? Wait, are you Aquitanian by any chance?"

"What? No, I’m not Aquitanian, but I, um, there’s this genre I like to read and, um, I just, I think it’s really hot when a guy can not only attract the attention of many girls, but can be with more than one without lying to them about it. The, um, genre I like...."

"Harem?"

"Yes. I... does that make me weird?"

"You’re talking about regular haram fiction, not reverse-haram fiction, right?

"Yes, that. Does it make me weird?"

"Maybe, a little," he teased. "But not in a bad way. One of my girlfriends, the one that knows Madison, she’s Aquitanian and has a similar opinion of guys that can hold down multiple relationships."

More like Miranda was turned on by money and power and thought a harem was just a natural consequence of that.

"Can I meet her? If that’s okay with you?"

"Eventually. Like I told Katie, I think it’s important to get to know you better first, before introducing you to the other girls."

"Ah, okay. I think I understand. So, um, does that mean you want to get to know me better?"

"Yes, I do."

"Um, are you free this evening?"

"I need to do some shopping so I have something appropriate to wear to Katie’s yacht club party."

"Wait, she invited you to that!"

"Yes. Do you know something I don’t?"

"It’s just, um... Oh hell! She didn’t say it was a secret. Her mother is forcing her to go. The yacht club party is a mixer. It’s so the children of wealthy families can meet each other and maybe find a partner. Katie wants to become a doctor and focus on her career, but her mom wants her to marry a rich guy and settle down. Her mom is threatening to cut her off if she doesn’t go."

"So, she invited me just to help fend off these other richy-rich types?"

"Oh! No, no. She was really looking forward to hearing from you. She probably just didn’t want to go there alone. Besides, if you go with her, then her mom can’t berate her for not going on any dates."

Mystery solved. Katie really just wanted to spend time with him, and her initial less than warm response was probably driven in part by stress. Becoming a doctor is not cheap and without a scholarship, she would either have to take out a crazy amount of student loans, or rely on her parents.

And, learning what type of party it was meant that he had a better idea of how to dress, or more like Miranda and her mom would have a better idea of how he should dress.

"Thank you for telling me this. It helped clear up some confusion I had about Katie’s reason for inviting me. And now I have a much better idea of what I’ll need to buy."

"Um, you’re welcome. I think she would have told you about the party if she thought about it, but she’d been kind of stressed because of her mom’s threats."

"Yeah, I picked up on the stress."

"So, um, can I go shopping with you?"

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