From Pit to Palace: Charlie Emerged

Chapter 6: It's real!

Chapter 6

Charlie furrowed his eyebrows at Duke. “What did you hear?” He asked, his voice soft.

“Megan broke up with you after everything you did for her. Is it true?” Duke answered with wide eyes.

Charlie let out a sigh, his voice barely above a whisper as he responded. “Please, Duke, I don't want to talk about bringing up something else.”

Duke covered his mouth in astonishment. “So, it's true. After everything, the sacrifice you made to keep her happy and she heartlessly did that to you just to be with that rich brat. I can't believe it.” His face tightened as he glared toward Megan who was chatting with her friends. Gritting his teeth, he mumbled under an annoying breath, “She's a slut!”

Duke then remembered something and he turned to Charlie, wrinkling his brows. “Man, what did you say came over you? Or is it because Megan broke up with you that you can't think straight? I didn't ask for money and you sent me $500 when you're the one who needs it. Don't you think you're taking Megan's breakup too extreme?”

Charlie sighed. “Taking her breakup to extremes?” He scoffed, letting out a cold chuckle. “No, I'm not. Besides, I'm glad she revealed her true colors before now, or who else would know what she might have done in the future?”

“Then why send me the money? What is it for?”

“You talk a lot, Duke,” Charlie joked with a dramatic frown. “I told you to just keep it.”

Duke opened his mouth to retort, but a familiar female voice came out, interrupting and cutting him short.

There was absolute tranquility in the class.

Everyone turned to face her.

It was the class representative, Stella McDonald. She was the second prettiest girl in the class, following Megan. But the only sharp contrast between them was that Stella, although from a well-to-do family, treats everyone in the class equally.

Unlike Megan who was so arrogant and pompous.

Stella was loved by everyone because of her nature; however, some still despised her, tagging her as overdoing it.

Charlie liked her because of the way she treated him, too.

Stella standing in front of everyone, cleared her throat, keeping a composed nature. “Hello everyone," she started calmly, addressing her course mates, “this is a message from the maths lecturer. He said the test for today has been canceled till further notice.”

Everyone jumped up in excitement, clapping their hands.

“Yay! Thank God he canceled it, I wasn't even prepared for the damn fucking test!” One unserious student loudly said, his voice echoing.

People burst into laughter.

“Me too! But I was definitely going to pass, you know, through malpractice.” Another added.

The laughter increased. Some started gathering their things leaving the class.

But Stella spoke up, “Guys, since the maths class has been canceled and it's the only class we were supposed to have today, why don't we go home, have some rest, and then by 9:00 pm, we can all go to a restaurant and have some fun. The rule is simple: you'll pay for whatever you eat.”

She paused, looking at everyone. “What do you guys think?”

“Great!” One person clapped. “That's a perfect idea, Stella! You're so full of brains!”

Stella blushed at the compliment, but she didn't say a word. She remained silent, waiting for others to drop their own point of view.

“That's a nice idea wonderfully come up with,” Franklin agreed, his voice loud. “Prime Restaurant will be a perfect place for this,” he proudly added, his shoulders squared up.

Everyone gasped, utterly speechless.

Prime Restaurant is an expensive restaurant in Maple town, and the least expensive meal there costs $500 per plate.

Stella quickly shook her head, disagreeing politely. “Franklin, we know you are capable of dining there, but for the sake of others who can't afford it, let's not go with Prime Restaurant. It's quite outrageous. Let's explore other alternatives, please.”

For Stella, she was capable of affording meals there, but she only interceded so that everyone could attend and have fun.

However, Franklin was suggesting an expensive place that just a few people could afford.

Franklin chuckled at Stella's words and he turned back, facing Charlie. A cold smirk parted his lips. “Stella, are you afraid it's only this pathetic loser who wouldn't be able to afford it? Because I can tell he's the only person who can't afford $500 unless he picks trash for decades.”

Everyone burst into laughter, enjoying Charlie getting humiliated.

“Yeah, Franklin is right! I can afford $500 so I'm coming!” One said while laughing at Charlie.

“Me too!”

“I can afford it so I'm coming along!”

Soon, almost twenty people had shown interest, agreeing with the location Franklin had chosen except for Charlie and Duke.

Franklin turned to face Stella, “You see? Everyone here can afford it except him. He's so miserable that he can't afford as little as $500 to get a meal for himself. What a worthless thing!”

Duke's fists tightened at his sides as he stood beside Charlie who listened to Franklin's taunting words with indifference. “Watch your mouth, Franklin!” Duke barked. “I can't have you humiliate my friend that way! You can be rich, yes, but that doesn't give you the right to insult and make fun of him!”

Franklin turned and let out a smug laugh. “Oh, poor Duke. Why are you angry just now?” He mocked. “Does the truth hurt that much? Or am I not telling the truth?”

“Whatever!” Duke interrupted angrily. “You've got no right to talk down on him!”

Franklin's smug laugh didn't flatter. “Oh, what a friend standing up for his poor friend. But aren't you ashamed, seeing yourself with such a popular campus loser like him, Duke? Do you think it's worth staying with someone as miserable as him who can't even afford to get a meal worth just $500 for himself when others are doing so? Don't you see it as a shame?”

While this was going on, Charlie was just busy thinking about what had happened earlier today. Everything was just feeling surreal to him, but after the confirmation, he believed it to be true.

The man was real. The money was also real.

He couldn't, but anticipated going to see the man today since the maths test had been canceled.

Still in the argument, Duke stood his ground, defending Charlie. “If that's the case, I'll pay for him. We're coming!”

At that moment when Duke's words dropped, a voice said calmly. “No, you don't have to. I'll pay for myself .” Charlie's voice came out.

Since the money was real and the man seemed genuine too, Charlie had reasoned about it and had decided to use the money to save face. He won't let Franklin humiliate him like this in front of everyone.

Everyone turned to him with a shocked expression. Laughter ceased. Arguments halted.

For a moment, there was a hush that filled the room.

But then Franklin broke into laughter, this time, louder, breaking the silence. Soon others joined, finding it entertaining.

“You?” Megan finally spoke up after a long time of silence, pointing at Charlie, clearly amused. “You are going to pay for yourself? Where would you get such money from? Or are you just trying to save face?”

“Maybe, he'll use the whole of today to go pick up trash to meet up,” Megan's friend mocked.

Charlie simply chuckled, his expression unreadable. He ignored them, looked around, and silently counted the number of people in the class. There were just eleven persons, including himself, making it round off the figure of twelve remaining since others had left in a hurry.

Turning to Franklin, Charlie started, “We're eleven persons, including myself, making it twelve left in the class. What if we do it this way?” He pointed at Duke, Stella, and three other persons despite their sharp taunts toward him. “I'll cover whatever they'll eat while you cover the rest of the six. How about that?”