Not the Same

Chapter eight

"So are you going to tell me what happened between you and Adam at the party last night?"

"Nope"

It's Saturday, the day after the party and I finally decided to ask Hailie about what happened. I didn't ask any questions about it when we got back to the dorm or at breakfast this morning, so I figured now seemed like an okay time.

"I don't want to pressure you into saying anything you don't want to, but if you need to talk, I'm here." This is how our relationship works. We address the problem, see if the other person wants to talk about it, respect what they decide and then take it from there.

"All you need to know is you're brother is an idiot and he did something idiotic. End of story" Hailie says while turning on the tv.

We watch reruns of Full House for a couple of hours while doing some homework. We've agreed that if we had to pick a character that we're most similar to, I would be DJ and she would be Uncle Jesse.

During our marathon, I get a text from Cameron asking if Hailie and I wanted to get dinner with him.

"I'm not really feeling up for it. You two go, have a date night," Hailie says slyly.

"It is not a date," I state while playfully glaring at her. "Don't worry, I'll bring you back some food."

"This is why we're best friends," Hailie cheers as I walk out of the dorm.

As I walk into the food court, I see Cameron waiting for me by the door. Sensing my arrival, he pushes himself off the wall and stands up straight. We make our way into the food court. I'm a little shocked when Cameron holds the door open for me, but I don't let it show and just simply thank him.

We grab some food and find a table towards the back of the room.

We don't really say anything at first and just eat our food, but after a little while, it begins to get really awkward so I break the silence.

"Thanks for walking Hailie and I back to the room last night. We really appreciated it." After we left the party, Cameron refused to let us walk back to the dorm alone, which we were really grateful for.

"It was nothing," he says nonchalantly. This stuns me. Cameron is always so confident and sure of himself, but when I thank him, he becomes quiet? I don't get it. "How is she? How's Hailie doing?"

"Better. Definitely better." When we were walking back to the dorm, she couldn't stop crying. By the time we made it to the room, she was so exhausted and worn out that she fell asleep almost immediately. This morning when we woke up, she seemed a little out of it, but was slowly returning to her normal self.

"I'm glad" Cameron says genuinely which causes my stomach to feel some flutters. Maybe it's because I had him pegged as completely different kind of guy; the kind of guy who would never care about whether a girl was upset or not.

Someone like my brother.

But I think I'm slowly starting to realize that he's nothing like Adam.

After we finish eating, we start to head back to the dorms.

"So is your family coming up for family weekend?" Cameron asks as we nonchalantly walk across the quad.

"Ha, as if" I chuckle, not being able to hide the bitter tone of my voice. "My parents don't typically come to campus events. They think they're a waste of time." Family weekend happens ever year on the first weekend of October. The only time my parents had visited Adam or I at school was when they had to pick us up last year because we didn't have cars on campus. Realizing their mistake, they bought us both cars so they wouldn't have to come to campus at all. I try not to think about it because I end up getting sad and frustrated. "What about you? Is your family coming?"

"Yeah. My mom, dad and brother are coming up for the weekend," Cameron says, a small smile forming on his lips.

"How old is your brother?" I ask him. I didn't even know he had a brother. I don't really know much about Cameron Owens.

"Fourteen. He just started his freshman year of high school."

"Are you close?"

"What is this, twenty questions?" Cameron asks jokingly.

I shrug. "I feel like I don't really know anything about you, other than the fact that you hate my brother. As your girlfriend, I should probably know more about you."

"Okay, how about this? We each ask each other a question and we both have to answer it. So if you were to ask me what my favorite color is, I answer what my favorite color is and you answer what your favorite is. How's that?"

I nod my head in agreement.

"Okay, you go first," he says.

"What's your favorite color?" I ask him smugly.

"You can't ask that question, I just said it."

"But you didn't answer."

"It was a hypothetical question."

"So answer it hypothetically."

"My favorite color is green," Cameron mumbles trying to act frustrated with me.

"Mine is yellow."

"What is your favorite animal?" Cameron asks me. "I like bears."

"Your question is much more creative than mine was" I say sarcastically. "I like starfish."

He pauses. "Starfish?"

"Yeah, I think they're cute!"

"Do starfish even have faces?"

"Well not exactly, but-"

"Then how can they be cute?"

"You don't need a face to be cute!"

"So you think I'm cute?" Cameron says to me with a sly look on his face.

"That's not what I meant," I defend, my cheeks getting red.

Cameron leans closer to me. His face is inches away from my face. "But you're not denying it."

"Okay, new question." I say, putting some distance between us causing Cameron to laugh.

We continue to ask each other questions as we walk back to the dorms. I found out that Cameron's favorite season is winter, he loves to ski, he wants to visit Greece someday and his favorite show when he was younger was Rugrats.

Cameron walks me up to my dorm. He turns to me, looking slightly nervous. "Would you like to spend family weekend with my family and I? Or at least part of it? Afterall, my parents should meet my girlfriend."

"I would love to." A happy, giddy smile spreads on my face as I enter the room. Hailie eyes me suspiciously, but doesn't say anything about it. Cameron actually wants me to meet his family. He wants to introduce me to them, which terrifies and excites me at the same time.

As I get ready for bed, I can't help but feel happy and light. I twirl around a little and don't try to hide the smile that's been on my face since dinner.

As I lay down, ready to go to bed, it sinks in that he doesn't actually want me to meet them because he likes me romantically, but because we have to keep up the dating façade.

This is all just some ploy to make Adam angry. All I am to him is someone who can make the person he hates most angry.

And I can't help but I feel a crushing sensation in my chest as I close my eyes and wish that so many things in my life were different. 

Author's note:

Hi everyone!  Thank you so much for reading, commenting and voting on my story!  It seriously makes me so happy to have been getting such positive feedback!  Please keep voting and commenting!  I LOVE reading your comments so keep them coming haha.

Also, anyone have any couple names for Cameron and Avery? 

Cavery? Camry? 

Haha, I want to know which one you think is best!

xoxo, Letthegamesbegin_