summer of love • rafe cameron 2

eight

when i woke up the next morning, it was to my phone ringing loudly. i jumped, feeling someone's skin rub against mine. i looked over, seeing a very sleepy rafe look up at me, his arm around my waist. i reached over, grabbing my phone and answering it.

"hello?" i asked.

"cami, it's your mom, waking you up for your run." she said. "you need to add on another half mile today, your run yesterday was weak."

"what?" i asked, still mostly asleep and not able to comprehend what she was saying.

"wake up!" she said which made me jump.

"mom, chill out."

"what did you just say?"

"i just woke up and you're yelling at me."

"get up and run."

"no, i'm going back to bed." i told her and hung up, flipping my phone on silent before dropping it to the floor. i settled back into the groove of the bed i'd be in before. i let my eyes shut, but then remembered rafe. i turned, looking at him as he stared at me, confused.

"what the hell just happened?" he croaked.

"my mother," i replied and looked at his hand that was resting on my waist. "why are you touching me?"

"sorry," he pulled his hand away. "i didn't mean to. i should've warned you i'm a sleep cuddler."

i smiled as he watched me.

"you stood up to your mom."

i shook my head, "i'll just do my run before bed tonight."

"why?" he asked. "you don't have to run. you don't have to listen to your mom."

"i do," i nodded. "or she'll show up here and drag me back by my hair."

"that's an aweful big long shot."

"you really don't know my mom." i told him. "she hated this whole arrangement to begin with."

"why?"

"because she knows my dad hates her and she also knows that he's very vocal about it to me."

"if he hates her, why'd he wait this long to divorce her?"

"because of me," i shrugged. "he wanted to wait until i graduated but he just couldn't handle another year. she was driving him up the wall, and now she's driving me into the ground. stanford wasn't my first pick at a college, but it's the closest to her so that's what she made me choose."

"what was your first choice?"

"john hopkins in maryland." i told him. "i don't want to go in for business, i want to a psychologist. that's not what my mom planned though, so the dream goes out the window."

"john hopkins..." he trailed with a nod. "that's... beautiful actually."

"what?"

"nothing," he shook his head. "you should go, to maryland. you've got to stop following your mom's dream and follow your own, that's what life is about, isn't it?"

"i guess, but-"

"no buts," he shook his head. "you should apply to john hopkins."

"it's way too late."

"it's never too late. you haven't graduated highschool yet."

"i guess you're right, i still have a couple months."

"i'm always right," he shrugged as i smiled.

"yeah, right, and i'm pikachu."

"one more secret," he said and laid back, but still looking at me. "i used to be obsessed with pokemon, like absolutely obsessed."