Old Money - Rafe Cameron

Chapter 3

"Bathroom is where it always has been." Sarah pointed out of her room to the left, and Audrey nodded with a smile, making her way to the bathroom with her towel in her hand.

Even though Audrey was born a kook and her family had a large house, the Cameron's house was pretty unbeatable. The walk to the bathroom felt like a mile long.

Audrey walked past Wheezie's room, probably four different closets, and a living room. When she reached the bathroom, she realized the door was shut and the light was on, but when she went to knock, the door swung open on the inside, leaving Audrey face to face–well, face to chest–with Sarah's older, more reserved, coke-loving brother.

Respectfully, Rafe Cameron.

The bathroom air was foggy from his shower, and he was rubbing his hair with his towel. He was wearing what looked like an old basketball jersey from his high school days, accompanied by some sweatpants.

He gave her a flat smile, muttering a quiet "sorry... my shower is broken" under his breath as he moved past her, quiet enough that Audrey barely heard him.

He looked a little different than he did the last time she saw him. His hair had grown out nicely and he looked more put together like he was taking care of himself.

They've known each other for as long as they can remember. He was the older brother that tortured his sister and her friends every time they came over to hang out. To Audrey, he was always her best friend's mean older brother, and her older brother's best friend. Except... things had been awkward between Rafe and Audrey since his falling out with her brother Nathan. They were best friends for many years, but when Rafe got into drugs, Nathan tried to help him, but to no avail, and their friendship fell out.

Rafe had apparently gotten clean, but no one really knew for sure. Sarah had been telling Audrey that Rafe still tended to sneak out every once in a while, but definitely less than he used to. But no one knew where he was going.

Audrey replayed their interaction over and over in her head. She should have responded. But he moved past her so quickly how could she even think of something to say?

It wasn't until the hot water shut off that Audrey knew how long she'd been thinking about Rafe. She realized that was also one of the first showers in months that she hadn't wound up in front of the toilet, and she felt at ease yet confused, but didn't want to think too much about it. It wasn't a bad thing.

She wrapped herself in her towel and once she was dry enough, poked her head into the hallway and scanned it for any roaming Camerons. Down at the end of the hallway was Rafe's room, light on but door shut. Sarah's door was also closed, and Wheezie was at a sleepover, so Audrey took it that she was okay to tip-toe back through the hallway and to Sarah's bedroom, where she applied her skin and hair care and got into some comfortable clothes while Sarah showered.

The pair gossiped and laughed as they were falling asleep. It felt good to be around friends again. Audrey was starting to hate staying in her bed all day. And even though she loved sleeping in the rain, hurricanes were a whole other story. The harsh winds causing large trees to repeatedly hit the window didn't exactly calm Audrey to sleep. Instead of tossing and turning and risking the possibility of waking up Sarah, she pulled her candy from her bag and snuck downstairs to grab some water.

She sat at the kitchen table, scrolling her phone and chewing her candy, looking for any sort of news about the hurricane, but cell towers were down and apparently so were the Cameron's generators because no wifi was available either.

She pushed her bag of candy to the side, once all of the green ones were gone. She hated the other colors.

The sound of a car pulling in and the door slamming stopped Audrey from staring at her phone. Who in their right mind would be driving during this hurricane?