From The Very Beginning

Chapter Fifteen, Eighteen

Today was graduation and I was scared to death because I had to give a speech.

"ZANE!! CAMILLA'S HERE!!"

I heard my Mom yell from downstairs.

I was in my bedroom re-doing my tie for what felt like the hundredth time.

I ran down the stairs but then tripped on the last one and went flying onto the floor.

My Mother must have heard the thunk because she came rushing into the living room but before she reached me Cami was running like the wind, her curly hair flying behind her like in one of those commercials and she knelt beside me with a scared and worried expression on her face.

"ZANE!?"

I Looked up at her and smiled a goofy smile or I tried but instead I let out what sounded like a whimper.

"OH! You're hurt! Let me see, what hurts??"

My Mother appeared beside her examining my body for broken bones I assume.

"My ankle."

Cami moved over to examine my ankle and she lifted it slightly and I suddenly felt the urge to throw up, scream, and cry at the same time.

"OWW!"

My Mother now appeared to look less worried than before, but Cami seemed to look even more worried than she had.

"I'm fin- OWW!"

I felt another sharp pain shoot through my ankle.

"I think he broke it."

My Mom explained to Cami.

"Oh....we should head to the hospital."

My Mom got the car ready while Cami helped me to the car.

Most women would not have been able to do this considering I was 6'3 and weighed 200 pounds which was mainly just a lot of muscle and then some weight too.

But Cami wasn't every woman.

She was 6 feet tall and she weighed 220, she could hold my weight better than most women could.

"I can try and take some of my weight off of you."

I offered knowing what her answer would be.

"No need for that. You're only 3 inches taller than me and you weigh 20 pounds less than me."

I laughed, this girl was so stubborn but that was part of what I loved about her most.

She helped me in the car and then sat in the back and let me prop my ankle across her legs the whole ride there.

My Mom drove slowly as usual and Cami spent the whole drive telling my Mom to drive faster, not in a mean way of course but in a "I'm worried my boyfriend is seriously injured" kind of way.

"I'll help you get him out."

My Mom offered from the front.

"No Mom, Cami's got this."

Don't get me wrong I loved my Mom but she was tiny.

My Mother was 5'4 and weighed roughly around 160 pounds.

Cami helped me in the hospital and then the nurse got me a wheelchair and took me to the room.

After getting a cast on my ankle because I'd sprained it I finally got to go home.

Later we were sitting on the couch watching Cami's favorite movie "Pretty Woman" eating popsicles and she was repeating one of her favorite Vivian lines

"I can do anything I want to, baby. I ain't lost."

I smile at her as she repeats the line with that fiery look in her eyes.

She looks at me with her curly hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"What?"

I laugh as she looks at me curiously.

"Nothing, I just like it when you say that line."

She blushes then grabs the remote.

"Sorry we missed graduation."

I laugh.

"Why are you sorry? It was my fault you know you could have gone without me."

She looks at me like I'm dumb.

"Of course not! You were in the hospital, I wasn't gonna leave you!"

I smile and reach for her hand.

After "Pretty Woman" ends we end up watching "Steel Magnolias" another of Cami's favorites not that I don't love them too, I really like "Pretty Woman" and "Steel Magnolias" is also really good, it has made me cry on more than one occasion but the only person that knows this is Cami.

We get to the sad part and I cry.

Cami turns to me and hugs me.

"It's ok...I think you might be the only guy on earth who cries watching "Steel Magnolias"."

I laugh at her.

"You might be right. But I have no shame in my game."

She laughs at this and we cuddle and watch the rest of the movie. S

he is about to go home when she decides to do something crazy.

"Zane, let's go to one of the graduation parties, we can stay at the hotel too."

I think about this for a second and then grab my keys.

"Let's roll. Call your Mom and tell her you're staying here. I'll tell my Mom we're heading out."

Once we get to the party there are a lot of people dancing so we join in and dance till our feet feel like they're going to fall off.

"Whew! That was fun!"

Cami shouts over the music.

"Yeah!"

She motions for me to follow her so I do.

"I was thinking we call it a night now, it is 1 in the morning."

I nod and we head across the street to the hotel and book it for the night.

In the room after getting ready for bed I'm going to climb in when Cami stops me.

"Wait, I want the left side."

I look at her curiously.

"Since when do you prefer a side?"

She thinks for a moment.

"When I went on that ski trip with my cousins I shared a bed with one of them and I decided I liked the left side."

I smile at her and walk across to the right side of the bed and climb in after we turn the lights out Cami rolls over to face me.

"Thank you for letting me have the left side."

"Anytime."

We fell asleep that night, me on the right side and her on the left side.