Shards of a Heart

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Then

In most schools, the popular sport is football. It's every girl's dream to date the quarterback, who is always the hottest guy in the school. Football games are not really sporting events but social gatherings. Half the people who go know nothing about the game and just come to watch guys get tackled or not even watch the game. In our school, the craze was basketball. The Seattle City Cougars, our school's team, were claimed to be one of the best in the state. You were considered a social outcast if you didn't attend as many basketball games as you could. I don't think I've missed a single one.

    Camdom plays on varsity, and has a high chance of getting a scholarship for it. He is one of the best, a natural player, not the tallest but still in perfect shape to push his way to the basket. And if he can't, he makes almost every shot he takes. That's great, because he can barely keep his grades up no matter how hard he works. He isn't the brightest kid, but he makes up for it with his big heart.

    On my white T-shirt, a big letter 'G' is painted in navy paint. Jade stands next to me, her T-shirt decorated with an 'O'. All down the line of bleachers, Camdon's friends each have a shirt with a letter that spells out 'Go Cougars'. The idea was Camdon's friend Tyler, who had to sit out the season because he had broken his wrist skateboarding. Tyler is actually the only other junior on varsity, so Camdon was quite disappointed when he heard the news.

    At the moment, there's 7 seconds left in the game, and we are winning by about 38 points. It's our ball, so the point guard takes it out slowly and just passes it around to run down the clock. By this time, the opposing team has no motivation whatsoever, and just watches as one of our players takes a shot when the buzzer is about to go off. He makes it, and we all cheer as the game ends. The boys line up to shake hands with the other team, then run off to the locker room.

    I pull on a sweatshirt and stretch my back. It's late, and I am somehow always tired after games. Some people party after the games or hang out with friends. I go to bed. 

Jade shrugs on her light jacket, keeping a conversation with the guy next to her wearing the 'C'. I step up onto the bleacher next to her as she finishes talking with a quick giggle. The 'C' guy smiles really wide and blushes. I try not to snort when he almost falls turning around.

    "Well he's interesting," Jade declares after he leaves, stumbling down the middle of the bleachers instead of taking the stairs. We step down the stairs towards the doors. I laugh at the face she gives, her eyebrows raised and a huge smile with no teeth. "He was talking about the statistics behind our team and who would win if there was a team exactly like ours." She shakes her head. "The thing is, I don't even think he goes to our school. He must be Cam's cousin or something"

    "Cam did say he has a weird family," I comment as we stop at our usual spot in the main entrance of our school.

The whole front entrance wall is three stories of glass with support beams zigzagging through. I look up to the very top where the school flag hangs. Just last week I had helped set it up after school. I wasn't allowed off the ground, but I helped them make sure it was straight. The art students had made it last year, but never finished painting the head of the cougar until this year. Camdon's aunt was an art teacher, and had asked for our help.

    The parking lot lights up as people leave, and the headlights illuminating the dark entrance. The founder of the school had made a point to only use electric lights in the gym and a few of the classrooms, so we had giant glass windows for natural light in every classroom. It gets annoying in the rooms that face east, because in the first hours of school, we are blinded on sunny days. I thankfully only have one class like that, and it's my drawing and painting class, so I can deal.

    Damp, strong arms wrap around me breaking my thoughts. I scream and push them off, stench filling my nostrils. Camdon laughs and shakes his hair, sweat spraying out.

    "Cam, you could have at least dried your hair so you aren't dripping," Jade smiles.

    Cam shrugs. "I ran a towel over it." I roll my eyes as a few of his teammates walk past. They slap Cam on the back, distracting him. He slaps them back, following them towards the door, engaging in some weird conversation.

    "Cam!" I call after him. He turns his head, a cheesy smile playing on his lips. I can't help but grin, rolling my eyes. "You're my ride, remember?"

    "Of course" He says something to his friends, then walks back to where Jade and I are standing.    

Have you ever seen the movie The Princess Bride? In it, Wesley's famous line throughout the whole movie is 'as you wish'. Whenever Buttercup asks him a question, he responds saying that. When Camdon says 'of course' it always reminds me of that movie because he says it in the exact same way. It's his own famous line.

In some ways, he reminds me of a dog, but not in a gross or mean way. He's loyal, doesn't judge, and is selfless, always putting others before himself. Making friends comes easy to him, but he only has a few close friends. I like to consider myself one, though I'm not sure yet. I still don't know his deepest darkest secrets, but that could be just a girl thing. Plus, he doesn't know even half my secrets yet.

"You guys ready?" Jade asks after Camdon makes his way back. I nod.

We part ways in the parking lot, Jade heading over to her brother's car. He's already sitting in the Mini Cooper waiting, so she jogs the rest of the way. I slide into the seat of Camdon's jeep and turn on the heat routinely. It's getting colder each day as the season changes to winter. Camdon starts the car and backs out slowly.

When Jade drives, I hold onto my seat and pray that I don't die. Camdon on the other hand, drives like a mom.

We ride in silence for a while, the radio playing tunes I don't recognize. Old songs. Camdon loves those. After a few minutes though, he turns them down so they become background noise. I wait for him to say something. He doesn't for another minute, but when he does, I can tell he's thinking hard.

"So, you going to tell me why you made a promise with Jade but refuse to promise even the simplest things to me?" Camdon looks over at me. This had to have  been bothering him for a while, because his question seems rehearsed.

"Do I have to explain it all?" I ask, hoping he'll take that as an answer and leave it be. Conversations similar to this have happened before, and he's dropped it before I had to explain. Maybe tonight will be like that?

"I know you're not telling me something Cee, and I think it's time I should know what. I've always let it go in the past, but I can't do that anymore. Is it something I did?" I cringe at the last part. I don't want anyone thinking it's there fault for how I behave.

Shake my head, I answer. "It's a long story"

"We have time." The car stops at a stoplight and he stares holes into the side of my head. I close my eyes and put my head down.

"Fine. Only Jade knows though. You won't repeat it to anyone?" I open my eyes and look at him. The light flicks green and he faces the road again.

"Of course"