He Loves Me Not *Under Editing*

The Dream.

I woke up in a cold sweat. Alex would never do that. And I would never be that evil. And best of all, Cameron and I would never be anything more than friends. Cameron would never do that to Alex. They had become best friends since Isaiah had Exchanged Worlds (thanks to me). I have to admit, I felt a little bubbly inside at the possibility of Alex being that torn up over hurting me. I checked my retro clock and saw that it was only four thirty a.m. I was in no mood to go back to sleep for two more hours so I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my Instagram feed. More people bragging about doing drugs, more complaining about there life. I sometimes wondered why I followed half these people. My Instagram, he_loves.me_not was my personal diary and my 1000 followers faithfully viewed my page.

I added the details about my date for today and got out of bed. I was ready an hour early due to my shocking dream so I decided to have a rare-morning-breakfast. I poured the cereal in my bowl first then a generous amount of milk. I sat at the table and ate while scrolling through Twitter. Nikki Minaj has to stop twerking for the public. After I was done I rinsed out my bowl and put it in the dishwasher. I grabbed my backpack and headed out the door.

I decided to walk to school instead since I had so much extra time. I made it by the time the doors opened to let all the kids into the building. I went straight to English not stopping to talk to anyone. "Please tell me you are not wearing that on our date."

I looked down at my jeans and hoodie. I was tiny and swimming in my sweatshirt but I didn't care. I was comfortable and it was easy to change. I turned to see Cameron there instead of Alex. "I'm not going on a date with you Cameron."

"Yeah you are."

"No, I'm going out with Alex tonight."

"Exactly, and I'm coming."

"Why?"

"Because you are going to my favorite restaurant and I have no life." I consider his answer for a second. A football player with no life. I found that hard to believe, but Cam never lied. He had been resorting to the lifestyle of a hermit since his girlfriend smashed his heart into little pieces. No doubt she got the idea from Laurie. "Hm, are you ready to start dating again?"

"Are you suggesting that you blow off Alex and hang with me?"

"No! I would never do that to him. I was thinking that you ask Chyna out tonight and we make it a double date." He beamed at that new idea. Chyna had mentioned occasionally that he was very good looking and kind. She would no doubt say yes. "Well slick, I think that is a damn good idea."

Cameron had been in my microscopic triangle of friends for a year. He was the only one that knew beside Chyna. I don't think I would have made it through last year if he wasn't here. He told me that he would come by at lunch to ask her since I would no doubt be there. He knew about Alex's car and didn't even mention that he would be taking his own. It was implied in the invitation. The final bell rang, but no Alex.

In the middle of writing an outline for an upcoming essay that was due, he burst through the door apologizing profusely for being late. I glanced at the clock and saw that we only had twenty minutes left. I knew that Alex and I were going to talk the whole time so I put my things away and turned to face him. He also knew the same thing and looked back at me. "So Cam is coming on our date?"

"Oh yeah, that. He begged until I gave in. I can tell him not to come if you don't want him to."

"No, it's fine. I suggested that he asked Chyna out so we could make it a double date." His face had a pleasant smile on it and I returned it. "So, you're wearing that tonight are you?"

"Cameron asked the same thing."

"I don't care, but you look like you're about to drown." Just then Laurie piped up, "Ms. A, I can't study with people talking."

Ms. Anderson got up and went to look at Laurie's paper. She stared at it, grabbed it, and flipped it over. She adjusted the glasses on her face a couple times and squinted as if trying to look for any work. "Laurie, if you want to get people to stop talking because you can't study, you might want to do some actual work first. Ms. Thompson has actually done her work and Mr. Peterson got here with not enough time to do anything. You, on the other hand, have done nothing. For an hour."

I looked at Alex and grinned. He tried to muffle his laughter as his ex flushed a bright shade of red and started picking at the papers on her desk. I swore to him that I wouldn't be wearing my swimming pool on our date. He laughed and held my hand as we walked to math. I could seriously get used to that. His hand felt so nice and warm in mine. I know it sounds cliche, but it's like our hands were made for each other.

We talked a little more in math as he helped me with the worksheet. At the end of class, he gave me a hug and kissed me on the head saying he couldn't wait until tonight. I went to math and saw a familiar face standing in front of the door with their arms crossed. "I thought I told you to back off."

"On the contrary, you didn't. You said he was yours."

"And you said I could have him. So what changed?"

"He keeps pursuing me and not you. I thought that would send a hint."

"I hope you realize that I am the best thing that ever happened to him and you are nothing."

"At least I don't cheat." She gaped at me but stormed off. I went into class a few seconds before the bell rang and found one of the only empty seats left. It seemed like the slowest class of the day as I waited for noon to come around. We had to write two paragraphs using the preterit tense. I grew so annoyed and wrote 'I died yesterday' in Spanish fourteen times to make a full paragraph. The teacher read it and wrote a smart alack comment back. He said, 'I know you were, I seriously thought someone had dug up your grave and stuck you in my class.' I gasped at his response and he smuckled. (smirk and chuckled at the same time).

The bell rang and I practically flew to lunch. I had no idea when Cameron would get there and I couldn't miss this. I found Chyna right as Cameron started to approach the table. He sat in my seat as I was still making my way over to them. We had a strict seating arrangement and he knew it. I just cleared my throat and he moved over so I could sit down. "So Chyna, I hear Cam has a little question for you."

"Yeah I do." Chyna tried to look calm and confused but instead anxious and hopeful showed. "What is it, Cameron?"

"Well, ya see, since Cyd and Alex are going on their little date today. I was wondering if you would like to help me crash their inevitable love story and make it a double date."

"Do I have to pay?"

"Of course not."

"Then I'll be there."

"Do you know where?"

"Dino's"

"How did you know?"

"Cyd." Cam accepted that answer with a nod of his head and stalked off. After he was out of hearing range, Chyna giggled like a little schoolgirl. We ate our lunch and since she didn't have any after school classes either, we drove back to my house. I was the only seventeen years old that had no desire to get a car. Then again, considering what happened before, it was understandable. I had whiplash of the mind and no intention to get behind the wheel for awhile.

She texted Cam and told him to pick her up at my house since this was going to take awhile. We went through every outfit I owned. We were both the same size so we wore each other's clothes a lot. We had forgotten who's was who's. I settled on a pair of skinny jeans that did amazing things for my legs with a pink flowing shirt that draped nicely off my shoulders. Chyna decided on my lace dress with buttons all down the front and a jean jacket. I put on my black leather biker's jacket and we both put on a pair of simple converse. We did each other's makeup and waited for the boys to get there.

They were supposed to be here by five thirty. We were ready at three so we waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some more.