A Drop In The Lake

pet names

Alessa

    I'm on my way to my US History class when a familiar prickle of anticipation scurries up my skin, one goosebump at a time. A flurry of fluttering butterflies take flight in the deepest depths of my stomach, lurching free from the confines of my inside via my heart.

    "Crumb cake." Teases Cameron's voice as he slings his arm over my shoulder.

    I look at him, complete contention and excitement filtering through me as I repeat, "Crumb cake?"

    "What? You don't like it," he turns his attention to me. "I've been going through some cutesy pet names."

    I roll my eyes at his childish excitement.

    "How about pumpkin?" I shake my head. "Sugar?"

    "No."

    "Milk dud?" He questions, continuing to drag me in the direction of the history building.

    "Are you just listing off foods?" I joke, grabbing the door to the history building.

    He lets out a sigh and then continues, "You caught me."

    A full hearted laugh escapes me as we enter the seating area outside of the classroom.

    "Don't you have a class to be at?" I question, watching as Cameron wracks his brain for more playful pet names.

    "Babe?" He tries, completely disregarding my question.

    "Cameron." I spit, snapping his attention away from pet names and back to me.

    He coughs, "Sorry. What?"

    "Why are you following me to class?" I ask affirmingly.

    A sneaky smile plays at the corner of his lips. "Am I not allowed to walk my girl to class?"

    I raise my eyebrow and repeat, "Don't you have a class to be at?"

    "Oh right. Yeah, no." He answers, fiddling with the ends of my overgrown hair.

    Cameron and I have been dating for about a month now, and all I can say is, things have been amazing. Shortly after our first date, we found out that Max moved to LBI from California and that's why Kaya was here. He hasn't been much of a bother to us because Cameron has all but killed him off in his head. While the thought of Max coming back into Cameron's life and wreaking havoc, torchered Cameron in the beginning, he has since learned to focus on what is right in front of him rather than stressing over what is behind him. I'll be the first to admit that it was a long process, filled with long walks around campus at night and emotional meltdowns turned sexual in my room, but it is nice to feel that he whole-heartedly trusts me.

    "Is that a yes or no?" I ask, still unsure of why he's here.

    "It's a 'my teacher cancelled class cause she doesn't know what to do with us'." He responds, getting up from the lounge chair.

    Now that college application deadlines are coming up, our teachers have lightened our workload to compensate for the doubtless hours we will have to put into our college applications. It's a blessing and a curse, because while it gives me more time to make last minute adjustments to my personal essay, it leaves me with too much down time and too little to do.

    "Lucky. My teachers are still making us come to class even though we're not really learning anything." I groan, trudging in the direction of the classroom.

   "Wait. Alessa." Calls Cameron, before I'm able to open the classroom door.

    "What?"

    "You've got ten minutes till class starts. Hang with me." He pleads, backing up in the direction we entered the building from.

    "Cameron, you're being weird." I point out, shifting uncomfortably towards him.

    "Just trust me," he puts his hand out.

    Before I have a moment to think over my actions, I take his hand and he leads me back out of the History building. This time, however, the normal shuffling of students on their way to their next class is void, and a normally aged look is replaced with the smiling faces of my teammates.

    "What's going on?" I question, my words lurching from my mouth like they've been clipped in a lawn mower.

    "Just a second." Cameron adds ominously, dragging me around the front of the History building.

    I'm about to ask again when a large white sign, covered in bubble letters and pictures comes into view on the ground.

    Cameron runs to pick up the sign and reads aloud, "Alessa. Do you want to be my firework to my fairytale ending and join me at jingle jubilee?"

    His words come crashing into me as my teammates each pull out a single purple rose. What the hell?

    I almost cry from the sight of Cameron's boyish glee. I blink through my clouded vision, finally seeing the pictures posted on the sign, pictures of me and Cameron from our first date.

    "Alessa?" Comes Cameron's voice, the nerve obvious in how his vibrato falters.

    I clear my throat before answering, "Of course."

    His smile widens, transforming him into one of the most precious sights I've ever seen. A small dimple peeks out of his left cheek as an unruly curl falls from the bundle of tousled curls on the top of his head.

    Jack, Tony, Pete and Brook each hand me a rose before I move towards Cameron.

    He hands me four more roses and then stutters, "I wanted Marilyn, Dana, and Danielle to be here, but they all had class."

    I giggle at his nervousness and then recoup by saying, "It's fine Cameron. This is perfect." I turn to address my friends, "Thank you."

    A single tear trickles down my cheek and all my friends come plowing over to us, embracing us in an awkward, yet touching group-hug.

    When we've all separated, and the high of euphoria simmers, I'm reminded of my class, "Shit. I gotta go."

    "I'll get you there, don't worry. I asked your teacher if it'd be alright if you were a little late so I could do this." He chuckles, handing the sign off to Tony.

    "I'll take these back to the dorm. Go to class, and then we can talk on the bus to practice." Offers Brook, moving to grab the bouquet of roses from me.

    Cameron, once again, slings his arm over my shoulder and leads us back to my classroom.

    "Thank you." He mumbles.

    I can't help but giggle, "For what?"

    "Saying yes."

__________
Alright alright alright!
Another one, out for the world to see
(Or anyone who has a Wattpad)

So today's chapter was really cute
wasn't it... hehe.

Anyways, imma say this now,
the next few chapters are gonna be a lot of
relationship building,
but trust me...
things gonna get get real good 😶‍🌫️

So... onto today's question
since I'm in the car,
driving back to school from one of my brother's races,
I have a bit of time.
Thus, today's question is:
What do you do to keep yourself entertained while on a long car ride?

Personally, I can get motion-sick, so I either just stare out the window lay down in the back seat and read.

Till Wednesday!
Love you all💜💜