LOSING IT ALL //HAYLEY PARKER

14

~LOSING IT ALL~

A bonus chapter since it's Valentine's Day. Enjoy.

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14| THE BREAKUP
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"HEY, MILL, WHAT'S GOING on. Can you please open up so we can talk about whatever's bothering you?" I coax, leaning against the wooden panel of Camille's door.

"Why does this feel like a dé-jà vu?" Jennifer grills, keenly examining her newly manicured fingernails. "Yesterday it's was you behind the door, today's Milley. I can't wait to fathom whatever would make me stand behind the door tomorrow."

"Don't fawking start." I hiss at her, then return to whacking my knuckles softly against the door.

"Yeah, yeah. The truth always stinks." She drawls back. I draw myself to my full height. "This isn't helping the situation, Jenny. So, instead of you being sarcastic, be morose."

Jennifer snorts. "Morose?" She stifles a simpering chuckle. "Yesterday even though I was morose, did you open up; what makes you think she's going to. You two are alike, intransigent."

I squeeze my eyes and draw in a breath. Jennifer is right. Camille will rather gut herself than to have any of us seeing her vulnerability. She is proud and stubborn, and it will be pointless to continue begging her open the door.

"All right." I say. "I'm no more begging you to open the damn door. If you don't open this door, Mill, I promise I'll TRAMP IT DOWN MYSELF!"

Jennifer shifts back, baffled by my sudden outburst. "Jesus Christ, Hayley, you should've at least given me a clue. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest."

"It should've." I snap, banging my clenched fist against the door. "I'M FUCKING SERIOUS, MILL, OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

The knob twists, Jennifer and I share a look, and when the heavy door creaks open with a wheezing cry divulging a very harried looking Camille behind it, we both rush towards her and gather her in a rib-cracking hug.

"Becky broke up with me." Camille jags, clinging desperately onto Jennifer and I. I lean away, befuddled with my eyes jutting out of their sockets. "What?"

"What?" Jennifer gawps.

Camille's bleached blonde hair is tousled, her once pale face is brighten with red splotches, and her puffy blue eyes brims with unshed tears. "I don't know why, but she broke up with me." She croaks out, her body trembling.

I hold her and tentatively take her to her bed. The room is not in a catastrophic state. Except for a shattered photo frame of Becky and her, everything else seems to be intact. Nightlight flows into the room to vie with the stream of her bedside lamp.

"The fuck!" Jennifer yells. "How dare she do such a thing to you. Why would she decide to hurt your feelings that way. Is she nuts?" It's her turn to go ballistic.

"Now is not the time." I tell her, cradling Camille in my arms. "Did you do anything to offend her?" I ask Camille. She wheezes and shakes her head. "I would never hurt Becky, you know that."

"I'll call that bitch this instant. She's got a lot of explaining to do." Jennifer snarls, fishing into the hip pocket of her denim shorts for her phone.

"Can you pull yourself together and not act irrational." I say. "Camille's hurt, instead of comforting her you're trying to complicate things."

"Then let me. No one hurts my friends and gets away with it." Jennifer returns with a tone brokering no arguments. I pause my prying lips together. Like always, there's no point trying to talk Jennifer out of anything that she has already put her mind into.

While she's at it, I take hold of Camille's fragile hands and squeeze them comfortingly. "I won't ask you how you're feeling cause I know you're not fine. But, if there's anything I can do for you, tell me, I'll do it."

Camille sniffles. "I want to drink myself to stupor." She says. "I feel like shit. I thought I was doing everything right." A salty tears pelts down her cheek, and she quickly wipes it away with the sleeve of her knitted sweater. "I loved her. I don't know why I always get hurt. Is loving someone a crime?"

An heavy feeling settles in my chest, and I try to restrain myself from going berserk like Jennifer. "No, loving her wasn't a crime. I saw how much you loved her, and...truthfully, I was jealous." I scoff at my own confession. "It's her loss, cause I don't think she'll ever find someone as genuine and sweet as you."

Camille cackles, a bitter sound without humor. "Genuine and sweet." She says bitterly. "Becky said I'm boring. That all I do is study and hang out with y'all."

"She said that?" Now, I'm getting pissed.

Camille suddenly brightens. "She's right. I'm boring. I love to cook, and read, and hang out with my friends." Another tears escapes her eyelid, and she sniffs. "And no matter what, I don't think I would ever give those up for anyone."

My heart breaks. "Mill."

"I want to drink myself to stupor, can you get me something strong?" Camille says sadly. I throw my arms around her neck, and press a kiss against her temple, soothing her hair. "We love you, don't you ever forget that."

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