Just Friends

Chapter 2

So, to explain some things that may or may not have been in the first chapter;

☆☆- over a period of time

Bold print means author's note unless it's in the middle of the story and/or italicized.

{¤}- end of author's note

{¤}

I tear an outfit out of a box. Jean shorts and a multicolored tribal tank. Easing on the makeup, my phone rings, scarring me and making me run liquid eyeliner on parts of my face which it should not be.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is Michael there?"

"You have the wrong number."

"Are you sure? This is Tyler."

"I don't know a Tyler or a Michael, sorry." I hang up and angrily wipe the makeup off of my left eye, fixing it so I look... presentable.

It's nice to have my own bathroom for a change. Nobody to interrupt me and a shower to myself. Wonderful.

I walk down the stairs and stop. Cameron sits on a pillow on the floor and stares at me.

"Kitchen?" He points in the opposit direction of the stairs and I follow his finger. I walk into the beautiful kitchen and see my mom frying bacon. I walk up behind her and hug her.

"Hi baby." She says, smiling. I just smile as she turns to face me. "Do you have any ideas for your room?" I'm so glad she asked.

"I was thinking," she giggles. "like a dark-ish blue for the walls. The carpet is ok. Maybe a bigger bed than I had back home?" She nods and pulls bacon out of the pan and onto three plates. She next cracks some eggs and begins frying those in the bacon grease.

"Cam!" The thumping starts and I jump onto the counter. He plows into the kitchen. Mom holds out her hand. "Orderly, please." I smile. He stands up straight and waits 'patiently' for his food. After getting that, he walks calmly back into the living room and sits down.

☆☆
At this big store, which I've forgotten the name of, we head to the paint section.

"Pick out your colors." She tells me. I look at the colored pieces of paper on the section of wall. I'm thinking a midnight blue for my room, even out the light and dark colors, and then an off white for my bathroom, keep it simple. I get my color strips and turn.

"These ones."

"I like that blue." She grabs my wrist and takes me to the front counter. I lay them down and wait. Behind the counter, there is a lady and a can of paint shaking violently in a machine. She grabs the can and shows it to my mom who nods with a delighted smile.

"And what can I do for you?" I point at the blue first. She nods her head and bends down, bringing up a bucket of white paint and opening it. She then takes this coloring thing and puts a few drops in the white paint. The lid sits on top of the can as she turns to the machine, changing the settings before pounding the lid back on with a mallet and sticking it in the machine.

"The other is just white." I say. She smiles and brings up a can of white paint again.

When my blue paint stops shaking, she places it on the counter and opens it for me to see. My eyes widen and my mouth stretches into a smile. The perfect color.

"Thank you." I say.

☆☆
We picked out colors for Cameron's rooms, the kitchen, and the living room. We now stand in the living room with mom as she demonstrates what to and what not to do when painting. We wear old clothes so our good clothes don't get paint on them.

"Do we understand?" We both nod and start up the stairs.

"Dont start until I've laid something on your floors!"

Across the hall from my room is Cameron's. He stands, staring at the walls. Paintroller in one hand, the can in the other.

"Go ahead and open your paint, baby." She looks at me then walks to Cameron. I gently open the paint and pour some of it into the pan.

"If, at anytime, he needs help-"

"I've got it mom." I smile assuredly.

There is this giant sheet of clear tablecloth like thing spread across our floors and scotch tape lining the windows and ceiling. As I get to work, I realize the paint looks even better on the walls than I thought it would.
"Cam, how's it going?" I ask, turning around to see his response.

The back story on this kid: Ever since our father's passing, he hasn't spoke like normal. He used to speek all the time, even to the t.v. when he knew it was speaking nonsense. On that tragic day, he didn't speak a word until dad spoke to him. The last words you wish to hear out of anyone's mouth when you know they're dying, 'I love you.' And with a smile, they both vanished. Now Cam is a quiet but very intelligent boy who gets bullied. Well, hopefully not here at our new school. I hope he comes back out of his shell here.

He holds his thumb up and keeps painting, doing a very good job.

☆☆
The rest of the day was devoted to putting our furniture in our rooms and decorating them. Now is sleep time. So relieved, I crawl into bed and stretch before falling into the world of dreams.

As I woke up early Christmas morning, I couldn't figure out why I was so excited. I looked at my calendar behind me and smiled, running into my parents' room and jumping on the bed. 'Santa came, Santa came!' I chanted. They must've already been awaiting my presence because my dad shot up, seemingly wide awake. 'Really!' He shouted. We ran down the hall to our living room where the lit up tree stood. 'Look at all the presents!' I gasped excitedly.

Bzz bzz

Wait...

Bzz bzz

I wake up and look at my phone. It shows midnight and that someone is calling me.

"Hello?" I say half asleep.

"Riley!" The voice shouts. "Where are you!?"

"South Carolina, Grace. Why?" I've totally forgotten about our fight, and maybe her existence?

"South Carolina?" She asks. "Why are you in there?"

"My mom wanted to move. Make a new start since dad..."

"Oh. So how are you?"

"Hey, can I call you back later? I'm kind of sleeping."

"Oh yeah! Oh yeah, sorry. It's pretty late, huh. Well have a nice sleep." She cheers before hanging up the phone.

☆☆
Today is the day I have decided to go out and have a look around our town. I walked down the beach and out to a line of little stores that consisted of a book store, game store, and some grocery stores.

I walk into the book store, smiling at the little bell ringing above my head. I look over at the receptionist who smiles.

"Hello, how are you today?" She cheers.

"I'm good, thank you." I smile as I walk toward the many shelves. Scanning through the books while rubbing my fingers over the binding, I see many books that I've read before. I stop when I find Love, Aubrey. I've wanted to read this book for so long now so I excitedly grab the book and take a seat on the floor.