Heart Pangs

Chapter 16 - The Alliance

When Camille starts college, she only knows one other person there— Benji, her older brother. It's his senior year, and thankfully he doesn't seem to mind that his kid sister chose to go to the same school as him.

Despite the fact that Benji has already spent three full years at this college, he admits that he doesn't actually know a lot of people there. Camille is determined not to let this happen to her. She wants to know more people than just Benji. She wants to know more people than Benji himself knows.

Camille has never been one to wait for things to happen to her. She was involved with numerous clubs and after school activities back in high school. She can't wait to find out what new opportunities await her in higher education. So, the moment she's finally settled on campus, she starts looking into what clubs are available.

There are, of course, the usual clubs— theater, film, photography, etc. But Camille's eye is caught when she sees a Pred/Prey Alliance club on campus. She hasn't spent much time around any preds since Felix, and she hasn't seen him for about four years now. Benji always insists that they had simply grown apart, but Camille doesn't believe that. She's sure some fight or disagreement happened between them, but she never presses Benji about it.

Still, she had grown up with Felix and still misses him every once in awhile. She knows not all preds are going to be just like him, but he had been kind enough that Camille's willing to believe she can form other meaningful relationships with preds. And, according to the club's description, that's what the Alliance is all about.

She shows up to the first meeting a little nervous but otherwise excited. True to the club's description, the room is populated more or less equally with pred and prey students. She looks around, wondering if there's someone she should talk to about officially joining.

"Hey, there!" a friendly voice says from off to the side.

Camille turns to look and sees a handsome pred with dark hair and sparkling green eyes heading her way.

"You new here? I don't think I've seen you before."

Camille can't help but to smile as he approaches. "My name is Camille. I'm a freshman," she explains. "But I was interested in joining."

The pred flashes an excited grin. "Welcome, Camille. I'm Gordon. I'm a junior and treasurer of the club. I think you'll really like it here. Everyone is great. Why don't you come find a seat for the meeting? Actually, I think there's an empty one right by where I'm sitting...."

Camille spends the meeting entranced by the energy in the room. Everyone is there to build a welcoming environment and friendly community. Right away, Camille meets several preds and prey she can see herself becoming friends with, including Gordon whose side she spends the whole meeting by.

The next morning, she meets Benji for breakfast and can't help chattering on about the meeting to him.

"It's like... we shouldn't have to live separate and in fear of one another, you know? I mean, of course I knew that before, but I didn't really think about it until last night. Everyone has such different experiences, and I think we could really benefit from getting to know one another better."

Benji's mouth in a thin, straight line as he listens.

Camille raises a brow. "What's wrong? You disagree?"

Benji shakes his head and takes a bite of sausage. "No, I guess not. I'm glad you're happy there. Just, you know, be careful around large groups of strange preds."

Camille rolls her eyes. "There's a just-as-large group of strange prey there as well. I'd think, of anyone, you'd understand best the intentions of this club. I know you and Felix don't really talk anymore, but you two were a textbook example of what the Alliance strives for. You didn't let what you guys are define your friendship. Your relationship transcended that. That's all the Alliance wants."