Reality (On Hold - For A While)

Ten- Suffering for Friends

By the end of second period, I had almost fallen asleep three times, and I was beginning to regret not making Zac and Katrina leave sooner than they did. I made my way to the table and was relieved when I found that I was the first one to arrive. I sat down on the broken, wooden bench and waited as the rest of the school made their way to their normal spots. I watched as a single leaf of the large oak tree that was nearby gradually made its way to the floor, being blown around by the large gusts of wind. As the leaf finally made contact with the floor, I heard the faint sound of grass being crumbled under a foot from behind my back. I turned my head just enough so I was able to see a male figure walking towards me.

"You took your time," I said as the footsteps were finally within speaking distance.

"I didn't realise how desperate you were to see me." The voice answered. I groaned as it came to my realisation that it wasn't Zac or James that I had started a conversation with. The large body made its way around the table and sat down directly in front of me.

"No don't bother asking if you can take a seat, Cameron, just help yourself," I groaned.

"That was my plan." He replied in a snide tone. "So, there's a party on this Friday, and I was debating whether to take you or Jessica, but I think I've made my decision."

"Great for you," I stated making it clear that I was not interested in the current conversation.

"Don't you want to know who I choose?" I looked up from the table and glared at him. "Well, I think you'll be happy to know that I have chosen to take you. Jessica's too easy, I wanted a girl who'd make me work for it."

"That's very faltering, but what makes you think that I would want to go to the party? Let anole with you."

"I saw you checking me out yesterday." I let out a large laugh.

"Me? Checking you out? In your dreams."

"Don't deny it, I saw you looking at me the whole period."

"I was looking at you, but that's only because you had something in your teeth that was almost the size of your ego."

As though she could sense how little I wanted to engage in the conversation that Cameron and I were having, Casey dumped her books onto the table causing a loud bang to interrupt our conversation.

"Well, you know where to find me if you change your mind."

"Trust me, I won't." With those final words, Cameron turned around and walked away. I let out a sigh of relief before remembering that Casey had taken a seat next to me. I turned my face towards her and immediately noticed the pile of books laid out on the table. I watched as her eyebrows furrowed together, creating unmistakeable cresses on her forehead.

"Worrying gives you wrinkles. What's got you stressed out anyway?" I questioned.

"You know my science teacher, Mr Sage? Anyway, he has given us an assignment that is due in five days, and I am stuck with one of Cameron's friends, Mark, so of course he is doing nothing. I can't get a bad mark on this, my parents are expecting me to have good grades." She spoke, not taking a breath between sentences. I sighed and slowly got up from my place at the table.

"Where are you going?" She curiously asked.

"To make sure that you're not the only one doing all of the work." I began moving slowly towards where Cameron sat with his friends. He sat at the end of one of the benches, with Jessica sprawled on his lap. Typical Cameron, saying he doesn't want to go to a party with someone but then hooking up with them anyway. As soon as we made I contact, he murmured something in Jessica's ear which forced her to get off of his lap, glaring at me as she faced me. Cameron stood up and walked towards me.

"I knew you would come back."

"Don't revolt me. I came back because I have a proposition." He looked at me with a confused expression.

"I'm listening."

"I will go with you to the party, only if Mark helps Casey with their Science assignment." A slight grin spread across his face. "I'm not talking 'I helped because I put my name on the worksheet', I mean 'I helped because I researched and found half of the information."

"I'll make it happen." His slight grin formed into a large smile, and as much as I hate to admit it, Cameron had an award- winning smile. I turned on my heels and walked back to where I found Casey sitting along with James and Katrina.

"Well I made sure that Mark will be doing at least fifty percent of the work." Casey looked up from her book with a relieved and confused appearance on her features. "Don't ask, just be glad you aren't doing everything."