You Live And Learn

11 | memories and moments

I wake up to someone playing with my hair gently. There's only one person who does that so casually. Somehow I peek and there Camille was. Her left hand playing with my hair and the other hand is holding her phone. It seems that she was reading something. Why are we outside again? Oh yeah, now it's coming back to me. The whole situation with Mitchell happened, and she took me here to get away from it. She rested me on her lap and I blacked out faster than someone who had too much to drink at a frat party. That was better than the nap I had today in Literature. In all honesty, her lap put my bed to shame.

Camille used her womanly senses because after a few moments I was awake, she knew. She put her phone down on the bench and gazed at me with a happy smile. From that expression, it's only my assumption that she liked what was she doing.

"Good morning sleepyhead," she teases me. I could only return her energy at this point.

"Yeah, good morning. How long was I out?" I ask her. Looking at our surroundings, the sun hasn't set and the kids who we met there are still present.

"Around 45 minutes." Damn, it was a quick power nap then. Dealing with Mitchell drained me of my energy I can only guess. Or it was probably that I let out my feelings even though I don't want to admit that.

"You slept so soundly, I couldn't bring myself to disturb you," she continues. "You looked so cute sleeping, you were like a baby. To pass the time, I was just reading a post on my phone and watching some videos. I honestly wouldn't mind if you were still sleeping, I was already comfortable." Throughout this entire conversation, her hand hasn't left my hair. Also, I'm glad that my quiet sleeping skills came in clutch at the right time. People, my family especially, told me that I always slept peacefully. Apparently, I was like that since I was a toddler. As much as I am enjoying this pillow, I don't want to inconvenience Camille any longer. So, I attempt to sit up from that glorious resting position. In the process, she removes her hand from my hair and lets me get up. After I get up, I stretched and look at her. There's a slight pout on her face. I'm guessing she didn't want me to move just yet.

"I did say, you could have gone back to sleep," Camille whines. Ah, so my hypothesis was correct. The look on her face is priceless right now. I definitely screenshotted it in my brain and save it to my internal gallery.

"I apologize Cami. That nap literally brought me back to full battery," I reply while stretching. "This was the best I slept in a while." With that statement, her face lights up.

"I'm glad I could be of service," she says. She then salutes me with the most awkward form of all existence. The only thing I could do is laugh and she joins in. Despite the day we had at school, this afternoon so far is exquisite.

"That's not how you salute, Camille," I say in between bursts of laughter.

"Yeah, I know, I always sucked at it." She looks over by the playground then back at me. "Hey, the basketball court is open, how about we shoot some hoops?" Camille asks me. First of all, who asks to play basketball like that. Secondly, I'm not Steph Curry, and on a more realistic note, Mitchell. Nevertheless, I'm not gonna wuss out.

"Yeah sure, let's go," I confirm her request. She squeals then jumps off the bench happily. Once again, she grips my forearm like it did something to her, and walks us to the court. As a courtesy, there's always a spare ball if you need one to play. Granted, it's not the best one, but it gets the job done. Once we're there I realized that she was right, the place is deserted. I walk in front of us and grab the basketball. The court is spacious, not really cramped. There are two ten feet rims and a half-court line. Both sides of the court have a white free-throw and three-point line. The floor has a greyish-green color to it.