Chapter One: May
Cameron looked at the clock. 1:45. He had 20 minutes to get to Chloe, before the day ended and they had four days off of school. He tapped his pencil on the desk with the beat of the click, click, click, that all classes seem to make, even in dead silence. He glanced at Jeremy, who sat three seats to his right. Jeremy tapped his watch and raised his eyebrows at Cameron. 1:50. Cameron tried to focus. Mr. Brightingale wouldn't let him leave until he finished his test. The last question... "What do you think the main theme in To Kill a Mockingbird was?" God, Cameron wished he had actually read the book not just read the sparknotes. He scratched his head, and thought hard. "Go over the main points Cameron." he thought to himself. "There was a trial. They pinned the wrong guy. He was aquitted. But, the towns people killed him anyways. Wait, was he aquitted?" then it hit him. He wrote down his answer quickly. "The main theme of the story, is that life isn't fair. They pinned the wrong guy, just because it was the quickest and easiest way to solve the problem. And even though the Jury made the right desicion, the people of their society took it into their hands to punish him. This shows that, even if the right is pointed out to people, they still believe in the wrong, and that makes it unfair." Cameron jumped out of his seat, slapped the paper on Mr. Brightingale's desk, made the hand signal for "bathroom" and walked out of the class. 1:57.
Cameron ran down the hall to Mrs. Lemps class, and slipped a note underneath the door, that said "For Chloe." He tapped on the glass, then sprinted around the corner, until he heard the door open and close. He heard Chloe's footsteps echoing down the hall towards him.
"Hello?" her voice was angellic, soft and smooth, never risen above a timid whisper. Cameron stepped out from his hiding spot, looking at his feet.
"Hi.." he had never met a more beautiful girl in his life. Her hair was wavy and it stretched all the way down her back. It was the shade of bubblegum, a perfect pink. When he looked in her eyes, he saw the ocean, the majority of her eye was the brightest blue, and surrounded the small spot of black in the center.
"Cameron! You scared the shit out of me! I thought I was getting in trouble or something... What's up? You know, you're making me miss a movie right?" Chloe laughed, flipping her bangs out of her eyes. She was so cute when she did that. Cameron just looked at her for a second, then felt the clock shift. 2:00
"Chloe, will you go to the dance with me on Tuesday?" He looked up from his shoes and his thoughts and bit his lower lip. He raised an eyebrow at her, noticing the look of shock on her face. He could tell she was thinking about it, he just couldn't tell WHAT she thought about it..
"Oh Cameron.. I really wish you'd have asked me sooner... I already said yes to Jeremy.. I'm sorry." Chloe held his hand, gave him a slight apologetic smile, then turned back towards her classroom.
"I already said yes to Jeremy....." The words replayed in Camerons head, as his anger grew. Jeremy Nickles. His best friend. The only person he had told about his love for Chloe. Jeremy Nickles. He walked back to his class, but instead of going in, he sat against the wall, slumping down into a curled up form, clutching his knees to his chest. He barely noticed the ringing of the bell. Didn't hear all the kids asking him if he was okay. He didn't hear anything and all he saw was Chloe's face.
"You alright man?" Jeremy stood over him, reaching his hand down to him.
"You piece of shit..." Cameron whispered. He glared at his best friend. "You asked her to the dance? How could you do that to me." He jumped up, grabbing Jeremy by the shirt and shoving him into the wall. "Why the fuck did you do that? You knew how much she meant to me!"
"Woah, what man? I asked Chloe Carp to the dance! Not Chloe Minx!" Jeremy squirmed under Cameron's tight grip. He looked scared of him for the first time.
"I know! I asked Chloe Carp too! How many pink haired Chloe's do I talk about huh? Oh yeah, there's only ONE in our whole school, CARP." Cameron let his friend go, picking up his own bag, and walking down the hall.
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"Oh shit dude, I'm so sorry! I, I didn't know." Jeremy clapped his hand onto Cameron's shoulder, a gesture of friendship, trying to make ammends with his best friend.
"Yeah, I know you didn't know. If you don't mind though, I'm going home." Cameron wiggled out from his friends embrace, and walked down the other direction. His walk home was cold and tedious. All he could think about was the opportunity he missed. How beautiful Chloe would look at the dance. How he wouldn't be the one to dance with her. It would be Jeremy. His anger at his best friend had melted away, and all he could feel was self pity. Why couldn't that be him? What was so special about Jeremy?
It was no use thinking about it any more. He'll just have another weekend, where he listens to music, and plays video games all weekend. No big deal, he was used to them. He sighed as he opened the door to his home, walking straight upstairs to his room, ignoring his mothers angry calls telling him that he was late. He turned on his CD player, turned it all the way up, then flopped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. The night passed, and he heard his father calling him to dinner.
"What's your problem today Kiddo? Your mom said you just, walked up there and haven't been down." his dad put his hand on his shoulder, and guided him to the dining room.
"Can I talk about it later? I don't feel like it now." He looked at his dad, the one person that he could tell anything too. He felt guilty about ignoring his mom, but he didn't really have a choice. Had he stopped and talked to her, he would've had a mental breakdown, which consisted of him screaming and her crying.
"Sure thing sport. Come see me in the study when you want to talk." His dad smiled, squeezing his shoulder, then letting go to sit at his seat on the end of the table. Cameron sombered to his respective seat. Looking down at his empty plate. He sighed, standing up.
"I'm not very hungry. Can you save me a plate and I'll eat later?" He looked at his mom, who was dishing out his little brother and sisters plates.
"Sure thing love. It'll be in the microwave when you're ready to eat." She continued to look at where she was scooping the Spaghetti, but Cameron could see a tear in her eye. He wondered what it was for. He pushed in his chair, walking around to his mother, and kissing her cheek. She smiled that half-hearted smile she gave his father when he had buisness trips. Cameron walked back upstairs, flipping his Slayer back on, and looking in the mirror. He hated what he saw. He was sick of being the boy he was, brown hair, green eyes. He was the perfect child every parent wanted. He looked like the kid from those old sunblock commercials, the little boy with the bowl cut.
He frowned, moving his hair to one side. He liked the way that made his fringe look. He thought it was, edgy. Punk. He then looked at his bare face. He was average looking, he'd admit, but he didn't look how he wanted. Maybe piercings. Snake bites. Septum. He'd seen several guys with piercings like that, he thought they looked cool. He shrugged, walking to his desk and sitting down, where he pulled out the essay he had to write for Mr. Gales 20th Century history class.
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7:47 in the morning. Cameron stretched his arms over his head, tuning his ears onto the sound of his baby sister's soft breaths. She must have snuck into his room last night, she does that when she's had a bad dream.
"What are you doing, Princess?" He sat up and looked at the small child curled into a ball lying on his bed. He smiled, shaking her shoulder lightly.
"No Cam, I'm sleepy." Anabella fluttered her eyes open, looking at her older brother. She's the youngest out of all three children,
