Converting the Bad Boy ✔

Chapter 45

This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but have fun reading anyway! 😉 ^Song above sort of fits the chapter's theme of moving on from high school and missing friends

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Damian's POV

Uni was awesome.

I decided to go to Swinburne, and applied for courses in business management. Despite my previous rejection to everything business because of my father, I realized that I actually enjoyed Business Management, or 'Bizman' as we liked to call it, and after speaking to my father about my decision, he approved of it, saying that I was made for the business path. But I was also made for uni. I felt so...free. And independent. Two things I took pleasure in.

I also took pleasure in making new friends, and boy did I make friends. Was it just me or was everyone nicer in uni? The best part was the prayer room reserved mostly for Muslims, and there were so many Muslims compared to high school. It was probably one of the first times that I felt I belonged, and the Muslim guys I befriended couldn't even tell I had converted until I told them, which made me feel proud of myself.

They tell you when you finish high school you will be alone in the world, but I never felt less alone in my life.

"How was your day?" Mum asked as I kissed her cheek upon returning from a tutorial.

"Great. I made new friends – again," I smiled, setting my backpack down and removing my shoes.

"Not surprised, Mr. Popular," Mum chuckled, and I followed her into the kitchen where I poured a glass of water for myself. I had forgotten to take a water bottle so for two hours I was parched.

"Hey, what can I say? The people love me," I was in a good mood, and it improved when Mum laughed, her eyes bright and cheeks flushed. Even with her limited stage small cell lung cancer, she managed to live her life to the fullest and be grateful for everything. She had to take lots of medications during the day in order to ease her pain, but she never complained. Sometimes I wondered if it'd be better if she did complain, because the worst thing one could do was say they were okay when inside they weren't.

"Of course they do, what's not to love about my beautiful son?" Mum said, stifling a cough.

"See? This is why I was so cocky in high school, because you keep feeding my ego with all these compliments," I side-hugged Mum, rubbing her back, which was so bony, I could feel every ridge of her spine and ribs through her blouse. She wasn't a short woman, but beside me, she seemed so small.

"Well, at least you feel good about yourself," Mum patted my arm, leaving the kitchen and me. I noticed how the sun shone on the silver sink, creating patterns on the cream walls, and an idea suddenly struck in me.

"Hey, Mum, do you want to go to the beach?" I asked.

Mum backtracked into the kitchen, raising her eyebrows at me, but I could see the spark in her blue-grey eyes. "Now?"

"Why not?" I grinned. I didn't have a class until two days later, so I had plenty of time to catch up on my notes from the tutorial. Plus, I felt Mum needed a little break from the house.

"Let's go, then."

I didn't think I had ever seen my mum so happy than I did as she stood at the water's edge, letting it kiss her bare feet with each wave.

"I feel so alive!" she giggled, holding onto her floppy yellow hat that almost blew back in the wind. She had grown a short pixie cut that suited her well, but she still wore hats to cover it up. I personally thought she looked badass.