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i. denial (cont.)

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ TWITTER ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

@bellserina

why is jeremiah being such a weirdo

↳ @camcam hmm

↳ @lesbians4tswift hmm

↳ @shaylaslayla hmm

↳ @bellserina @lesbians4tswift @camscam @shaylaslayla FREAKS?? WHAT IS THIS SUPPOSED TO MEAN

@jerebear

BELLS KEEPS GIVING ME WEIRD LOOKS IS SHE ONTO ME ????

↳ @stonkslin STOP TALKING ABT MY SISTER

↳ ↳ @jerebear I NRED HELP STEVEN WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO

↳ ↳ ↳ @stonkslin NOT TALK ABT MY BABY SISTER??

↳ ↳ ↳ ↳ @jerebear ITS HARD WHEN U ABANDON ME

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ BELLY ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Jeremiah hasn't made eye contact with me since the queue, since that wink. We filed into the building in near silence, him and I, just taking in the exterior as the rest of our friends laughed and joked. Stephen and Shayla reappeared just before we got in, and then quickly disappeared again once we were inside, and I avoided looking at Taylor, knowing the smug expression that would be plastered on her face. Nicole seemed slightly adrift in the group, Conrad distracted by some conversation about sailing with Cam, and Shayla off with my brother. I'm about to go to her, although I have no idea what I would've said, when an arm grabs my shoulder - Cam physically shaking with excitement, and shaking me with him.

"Isabel! Look! There are turtles." He almost laughs. I can hear it in his voice, the way he sounds like a little kid.

I try to picture little seventh-grade Cam and Belly standing side by side, smiling an idiots smile, the way we are now. He's right, too. The entrance hall is panelled with pale blue tiles, and the soft, bone-white curves of the walls and ceilings, as they morph into each other, lend the whole thing an oceanic effect, like we're submerged in Neptune's palace. It's only the turtle-shell-shaped windows to the outside world granted by the skylights that ground me in reality.

Cam's already moved on, snapping photos as he goes, completely lost in his world of film and lenses and angles as he switches between cameras. Jeremiah has been rendered his bag carrier so he can change cameras or lenses at a moment's notice. Mostly he sticks to a battered Olympus 35 that used to be his aunt's, and a newer fancier looking one I don't remember the name of. He just calls it Bill. Nicole and Conrad have disappeared, leaving me with Taylor. I wrap my arm around my best friend and kiss the top of her head.

▬▬▬▬▬▬ JEREMIAH ▬▬▬▬▬▬

We've barely made it past the door when Steven starts shooting me looks and wagging his head like a half-demented dog. I reckon he's trying to get me alone so he can lecture me about the tweet from earlier, so I ignore him. He'll busy himself with Shayla pretty quick once he realises that I'm not budging I think. But then Shayla starts to give me looks, and as I'm about to be swayed into letting myself be cornered by them, Cam unceremoniously dumps a backpack he must have loaded with cement on me. I go to huff at him, but he smiled so sheepishly that I can't be mad at him.

"Sorry. I really need to take photos." He runs a hand through his hair and seems truly regretful. For a moment. Then he spins round and is clicking away, occasionally stopping to switch out some piece of equipment.