Our Own World

Chapter Eighteen - New Boy In Town

I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the washroom. When I got back I couldn't fall asleep. Memories from the crash were bothering me. I kept seeing Ace's face when I opened my eyes for a split second while the police were trying to help us. He had glass pieces all over his arms which were causing him to bleed.

I got really nervous and had to walk around for a little. I sat in the kitchen and drank some water to get myself to calm down. I wanted to call Ace but I figured he needed a good sleep. I decided to call up Dakota and see if she was up at three in the morning.

"Hello?" She whispered.

"Dakota, can you come over? I'm really scared and I just need someone to talk to."

"For sure, I'll be there in a little while," Dakota yawned.

I waited for a few minutes - about fifteen - and finally got a text from her, asking me to open the door. I walk towards the door and saw Dakota outside in her pyjamas.

"Thanks for coming over," I spoke quietly so I wouldn't wake up anyone.

"No problem, it's what best friends do right," Dakota yawned again.

I brought her to the kitchen where we sat at the table talking for a little while. I got her some coffee so she wouldn't fall asleep on me.

We just sat and chatted for a while about everything. She told me about this new guy from school named Brett.

"He's super cute! And he mentioned that he just recently moved and his family was looking for a church so I invited him to ours!"

"Really, that's cool!" I smiled. All I could think about was what Ace was up to right now. He was probably sleeping.

"Who knows, maybe he could be the one," Dakota smirked.

"Yeah, maybe he is." I tried to sound excited but I really couldn't.

"Are you alright Cam? You don't seem yourself. You haven't really been yourself lately."

"Well, I mean the PTSD has been affecting my mood quite a bit lately. I've been thinking about heading back to school and swimming soon but I think it'll stress me out more and a lot of people will be asking a lot of questions. I just don't think I want to go there." I sighed. "I do miss everyone though."

"Yeah, I'm sorry this had to happen to you Camilla. We all really miss you at school. If you want, I could talk to some people and tell them to take it easy on the questioning when you get back?"

"It's fine, I know I'm going to have to face questions either way. I should be okay."

"Alright," Dakota smiled genuinely.

"I can't stop thinking about that night though." I sighed.

"It must be hard going through all that." Dakota sympathizes.

"And I have that feeling that everything is my fault. If I didn't get so lost in my thoughts-" I started but Dakota interrupted.

"Don't start Cam," she stated. "It was nowhere near your fault. It was that stupid drunk driver."

"But I could've avoided the crash." I exhaled.

"There was a reason God put you through that." Dakota uttered. "You just might not know it quite yet. And you might not find out for a while but God has a special plan for you. I know he does. And maybe, just possibly, God had Brett accidentally come into our English class for a reason."

"That's how you guys met?" I chuckled.

"Yeah, he sat beside me and when the teacher was handing out a sheet of paper that had the course code on it, Brett asked 'is this enriched English?' And I told him it wasn't and he awkwardly left without saying another word. After class, I saw him in the cafeteria eating alone and I sat with him. I started off the conversation by saying, 'hey! You're the guy who came into my English class thinking it was enriched, weren't you?' He said he was and we introduced ourselves. That's kind of how we started talking." Dakota laughed.