Kissing Habits.

04. Awkward Apologies

Chapter Four
Awkward Apologies

AT SCHOOL THE NEXT DAY, NANCY WHEELER WAS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. And Camila Dimaano began to think that little theory of Theodora's was much less crazy than she'd initially thought.

But it wasn't until after school that she finally said something about it to someone; with that someone being Steve Harrington.

Camila had been waiting by Theodora's car for its owner to emerge from the building when she'd seen him, walking towards his own vehicle only a few parking spaces away. She glanced back towards the school for any sign of her friend. Who knew where she'd gone off to? She doubted she'd see her any time soon, anyway. So Camila shrugged her bag snugly on her back and went off in the direction of her Tom Cruise look-alike.

"Hey, Steve," she said as she fell into step with him, an apologetic tone in her voice.

He glanced over at her, a quirk of his eyebrow indicating his surprise to see her, but he said nothing.

"Okay, I get this is weird, considering... considering you know what," she continued awkwardly, "but I just wanted to apologise."

Steve's pace slowed.

"I didn't even realise that happened, and when Thea told me about it I was so... so, so embarrassed. Like, you have no idea how embarrassed I felt," Camila rambled. "And I felt bad if I just left it, so I wanted to apologise. Like, properly."

He nodded slowly, turning his head to look at her. "Don't worry about it," he spoke up. "I get it; it was a party, people drink at parties. It's just- I just..." His dark hazel eyes trailed off, and his sentence was left unfinished.

"You just...?" The girl urged on, walking pace coming to a stop.

Steve shrugged. "It's just that Nancy and I... We had a falling out."

Fuck... Theodora was right!

"Oh, shit..." Camila muttered. "It wasn't because of me, was it?"

The male let out a half-hearted, bittersweet chuckle, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Nah, don't worry, it happened before that."

Camila nodded slowly, gripping her bag straps as she kicked awkwardly at the tarmac. Opposite her, Steve glanced around the parking lot, fiddling with the edge of his maths textbook. Neither said a word for a few moments or more.

Steve cleared his throat, alleviating the awkward tension quickly. "I- I should go. Yeah. I'll - uh - see you around."

And he continued his short journey to his car, but Camila didn't stay around for long enough to figure out which it was, for she quickly returned to Theodora's car in time for its owner to reach it as well.

In the car on the way to Camila's, Theodora turned down the volume of the radio and spoke up, "I saw you speaking to Tommy Cruise back there." Her tone was playful and teasing.

Camila let out an exaggerated sigh to mask her small smile as she leaned her head against the window. "I just wanted to apologise about the party. It's not even a big deal," she explained with a shrug.

"Okayy... What did he say back?"

"He said it was fine, and that... What was it? He said something like him and Nancy fell out."

With that, Theodora gasped so loud the car swerved into the next lane. "Oh my God! What did he say? Was it because of you!?"

Chuckling at her friend's enthusiasm, Camila shook her head. "No, no, nothing like that. He said they fell out before we crossed paths, but he looked sad so he didn't go too much into it."

"Oooohh!" Theodora giggled. "Not as fun as if you'd homewrecked them, but still interesting nonetheless. And did you notice neither Nancy or Jonathan Byers were in today? I've seen them hanging out a lot."

Another laugh brushed past Camila's lips. "Okay, calm down, Thea," she said, placing a calming hand on her knee. "Maybe you should cut down on getting in people's business."

Theodora shrugged, smiling cheekily over at her friend. "Maybe, maybe not."