Bittersweet

Chapter 3

I arrive home that day tired, though I'm not really sure what I did that made me tired. I go straight to my room and take a nap.

I wake up an hour later. I automatically fumble the bed for my iPod Touch. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I blink a couple of times and see that there is a notification from Facebook Messenger.

Cameron sent you a message, it says.

My eyes widen incontinently. Why would Cameron send me a message? Curious, I open the message.

Hi, the message said.

A hi. From Cameron. This is weird. I look at the time he sent this, and find out that it was sent 30 minutes ago. What am I going to say?

Oh, Sica. You're making a big deal out of a hi from some guy, I think to myself. I heave a sigh.

Hello, I begin to type. Then I tap Enter. I wait for him to reply. But then after 10 minutes with no reply from him, I decide that it's going to be useless to wait, and close the chat window.

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Days pass by swiftly, and before I know it, it's already Friday. The so-called Lively Pep activity is going to happen later in the afternoon. I am going to be with Cameron again. Should I ask him what his greeting was for?

Maybe I shouldn't, I think to myself. What's the big deal, anyway, right?

"Jess?" Amy says, then raises an eyebrow.

"What?" I snarl, irritated by the look on her face. "Why did you call me by that name? It sounds weird to me."

"Uhm, I have just been calling you by your common nickname for 10 seconds now," she says. "You wouldn't respond, so I called you by your other possible nickname. I have to say, it worked."

I roll my eyes and cup my chin with my hand. I look at Sarah, quietly munching on a cheeseburger. "Can I have a bite of that burger, Sarah?"

"Uh, sure. Here." Sarah says, then hands me her food. I take a bite and give it back to her.

"I'm just going to get a drink." I say to the 2 of them. I get up demurely, not looking ahead. And because of that, I unwittingly bump into someone.

I look up, and recognize the person in no time.

Cameron.

For 2 seconds, my mouth was open, taken by surprise. I shake my head, embarrassed of my reaction. "Sorry," I manage to bring out. "I wasn't looking at my-"

"Yeah, I get it," Cameron says with an unreadable expression on his face, interrupting me. "It's nothing." He then continues walking to his table.

I stand still for another couple of seconds before I proceed to what I was really about to do.

What what what what did you just do, you stupid mutt, I think to myself. You made yourself look like a fool. Ugh. This is getting bothersome.

"Hey, what do you want?" the vendor asks me a little fiercely. "You've been standing there for minutes, obviously preoccupied by some thought."

"I'm sorry," I say, heaving. "One Cameron please."

I glimpse the vendor and see the bizarre look on her face. Then I realize what I have just said.

"I meant water! One bottle of water!" I snap pronto. I can feel my cheeks flushing red. I look around and see only a few people, fortunately. I pray in my head, hoping that none of them heard my mistake. The vendor hands me what I ordered. I spin around in a hurry, agitated.

"I know that guy, you know." The vendor says before I could even walk a couple of steps. This time, she doesn't look so angry anymore.

I look back at her and put a finger on my lips, then continue walking hurriedly.