The Silver Bracelet

Chapter Three

The next week Cam and Rose went on their date.

When Rose got home she called me immediately.

"So...how did it go, lover girl?" I tried not to sound too excited on my end of the phone even though I was practically bursting with curiosity.

There was an insane break of silence as I tapped my fingers on my desk and awaited the answer.

And then there was a long sigh.

"Amanda, nothing really happened. The movie was great and we had a good time. But he didn't hold my hand, he didn't hug me, he didn't kiss me, he did nothing!" Rose screamed, clearly frustrated. Who could blame her? Cam was seriously a wimp, no matter how sweet he was.

I played with my silver charm bracelet on my right arm absentmindedly. Clara had given it to me for my birthday last year and I never took it off. She had it engraved with my name and the day we met on it. I had lost it in the ocean last summer and I could not stop crying for a whole week. But later that week we got a call from the beach club that my family and I belong to saying that my bracelet had washed up on the beach. Sadly, one charm was missing and I was constantly picking sand out of the engravings. But I was happy that I had it back, regardless of the difference.

"-and then after his mom picked him up, Mandy, are you listening?" a voice sounded on the other end of the home phone line.

"Hmm oh yeah sorry Rosie I-"

My phone lit up.

New text message from Cam Anderson

'Hey, can we talk?'

My heartbeat sped up and every thought in my mind drained from my head in that moment. I blankly stared at the phone and had no idea what to think.

What does he want?

Why does he want to talk to me?

Not wanting to delay any longer I told Rose I'd call her later and picked up my phone to reply.

'Sure is something wrong?'

Four minutes later, Cam responded with words that made my heart stop and my eyes bulge.

'My date went horrible. I think I want to tell Rose that we should stop seeing each other.'

Shit.

Rose is not going to take this well.

My brain told me to help Rose because I knew she liked him. But my fingers had a different idea.

'If it didn't go well then it might be best that you stop seeing each other. Don't stress, Rose will be fine.'

She better be.

Cam replied: 'You're great you know that? Anyway I'm going to dinner. Ttyl, loser.'

I stifled a giggle and responded: 'Pfft who you calling loser, loser? Bye, ttyl.'

***

When my bus finally made it to school on Monday morning, I couldn't help but sigh.

Damn, I hated Mondays.

Apparently the rest of the school did too.

I trudged into the lugubrious environment of the red, brick building of Glenmont High School.

I raced down the cold, marble staircase and ran past the tan and yellow lockers as students unpacked backpacks and restocked lockers.

My bus was late again.

And I was going to be late for homeroom.

I raced to my locker only to find Clara and Rose frantically discussing something clearly important. I practically crashed into Clara's back as I twisted the dial of the only red locker in the entire school meaning I got to stand out even more.

Joy.

Clara turned to face me as I stuffed books into my already crowded locker. She was wearing her usual kohl eyeliner on her lower waterline, a dash of mascara and a hint of lip balm and yet she looked flawless. Her black tresses were sleek and shiny and smoothed stick straight. She wore gray sweatpants, a graphic t-shirt and black converse.

I glanced over at Rose whose eyes were puffy and red.

Shit.

Her mascara was smudged, her hair was a disaster and her green eyes were now a sickening shade of gray. He broke her heart. He broke her fucking heart.

And it was all my fault.

I acted in my best interests, not Rose's. I should have told Cam to take it easy and see how it goes because the next date could have been better.

But there was something sitting in my mind: a subconscious presence that was playing with my brain and my heart. It was almost as if he had a typewriter and it typed the words that came out of my mouth.

And this presence had a completely different view of Cam than my mind did.

Or at least I thought so.

I reached out to Rose to give her a hug and she huddled into my arms, practically shaking with sadness. Clara stood there, her eyes glassy and her mouth shut; she clearly had no idea what to say.

So, it was up to me.

Come on, Amanda. You got yourself into this mess, now get yourself out.

"Rosie...honey? It's going to be okay. He clearly wasn't good enough for you if he wanted to break it off after the first date. Guys come and go and no matter what, they teach us something. Maybe his coming was a lesson on how to let go instead of how to love," I said as I tried my best to comfort her.

She sniffed. And then, she said something that I was not expecting.

"He was never supposed to mean this much to me. I was never supposed to fall this hard. But you know what? I did and that's the truth and that's what keeps me holding on because it hurts like hell to let him go. I really thought this was going to work out."

"And it didn't Rose. But it's over and it's done. You have to wait for the guy that will put in the time, heart, and effort to pursue you. You need to wait for the kind of guy who will put in the time to win your heart. How can you do that if you throw yourself at him? You need to be stable with yourself and stable with the person that you are going to be so that you don't need to throw your heart around and give it to every guy that winks at you. We have to get to homeroom but let's get you cleaned up first," I said as the three of us made our way towards the girl's bathroom.

But of course we had to pass Cam on the way there.

Joy.

He stared at us and then took a quick glance at me and mouthed "what's wrong?" His deep eyes burned into my head and I lost myself for a second. I muttered quickly that I would tell him later and Clara, Rose, and I scuttled toward the foggy girl's bathroom.

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This chapter is dedicated to my bestest friend in the entire world because she's leaving me for three weeks.

Love you guys and share this story with everyone!

~Courtney