Sudden Departure

Chapter Six

I leaned back into the uncomfortable, plastic mall chair and stared at my friends. It just hit me again how different we really are.

We had Ally, a pretty, girly-girl with golden curls and caramel low-lights. She always wore the latest fashion trends, had the most followers on social media sites, and drank Starbucks. She had a rotating chain of boyfriends that were all captains of the school teams and liked her because of her status as head cheerleader.

Among our group there was Jamie. She was our spiritual guide. Jamie was one of those hippy girls that weren't actually "stoners." She was always flip-flopping back and forth from different phases to suit the well being of her (and everyone else') spiritual and physical state. She always kept her mousy auburn hair in a messy bun on the top of her head and kept her thick-rimmed glasses clinging to the tip of her nose.

C, despite her unconventional name, was actually the most normal out of us all. She had a petite frame and bright blue eyes that were surrounded by freckles. C listened to average music, had good grades, wore normal clothes,and was altogether normal.

Jane. Her appearance was very misleading. She thought herself to be the punk-queen, she wore extreme amounts of black, dyed her hair regularly, pierced almost every major feature of her face, and listened to mainly heavy rock and "screamo" music. On the inside, though, she was a softy. Jane always had a soft spot for us and her family, she showed it rarely, and when she did it was a grand gesture.

And then there was me. I, honestly, was a mess. I never really thought that I belonged anywhere in particular. I listened to music that wasn't "mainstream," wore mainly jeans, hoodies, and graphic tees, painted my nails black and wore lots of bracelets. I was loud, but really introverted . I usually kept my red hair tied back into braids and pony tails mostly and covered up any freckles I had.

I leaned back and continued to analyze our obvious differences when I felt a gentle tugging on today's french braid. I shifted uncomfortably and shook my head. I felt a someone bring their head closer into mine and whisper into my ear, "Sh... This won't hurt a bit."

I snorted loudly and brought my arm up to slap the side of Cameron's head. "Yeah, but it'll hurt you."

"Ouch," he exclaimed as he stood up and rubbed his face.

I rolled my eyes and stood up to him. I slapped a smirk onto my face. "Aw," I cooed sarcastically, "Do you want me to kiss it?" 

Cameron stood up straighter and glared at me jokingly. "Yes. Yes, you should. I am entitled to a kiss since you slapped me."

"Come here you, big baby," I said as I pulled his cheek to my mouth and kissed it. "Besides, I didn't even hit you that hard. It was more of a... pat."

"Cameron," Ally interrupted with a sing-songy voice. "Aren't you forgetting something, a love intervention, maybe?" She folded her arms and drummed on them with her fingers.

Cameron smiled a wide grin and laced his fingers together. "I'm sorry, ladies, but I really must split up this party. You see, I have to escort Ms. O'Laughlin to church." 

Ally uncrossed her arms and sighed, "Alright, since it has been an hour and a half that you have both stayed faithful to our agreement , you may leave. But! But, only because you have to go to church. If you didn't have church we would make you stay." 

I entwined my fingers with Cameron's and waved with my other hand as I turned and left. I let out a sigh of relief and leaned against his arm.

"So, you had fun?"

I snorted again. "Yeah, sure. It turns out, they had this pre-planned. They had reservations at nail salon and everything."  I waved my newly painted nails at him as an example.

He chuckled, "I believe it. We went to laser-tag."

The automatic door slid open and a breath of cool, fresh air flew at us with frozen force. Cameron stopped and pulled on a giant winter coat and zipped it up, beside him, I pulled my jacket closer to my body.

"You are ridiculous."

I scrunched my face and looked at him puzzled. "What?"

"It is gonna snow within the next week and you're standing here with just a hoodie on."

I smiled and whipped my braid off of my shoulder. "The cold never bothered me, anyway."

He laughed, wrapped an arm around my shoulder and we continued into the bleak parking lot.