THE GUYS' girl

Chapter 12

Part two of this really long chapter...

Song Vibes: Kiss You by One Direction

"So, you were going to go to Duke then?" I returned to my original line of questioning after we cleaned up the even bigger mess we'd made from our water fight. It was worth it though, especially the part when Cam had wrapped his arms around me from behind. Of course, that act had been followed by soapy water squeezed into my hair, but like I said... worth it.

He shook his head. "I wish. It's so competitive to get in and then super expensive once you're accepted. I was actually settled on UNC Wilmington when I got this chance to be in the band."

"No way! I've always wanted to visit that campus. Do you even know how many amazing shows have been filmed in Wilmington?"

Cam rolled his eyes. "Girl, don't question my One Tree Hill knowledge because I'll school you."

I laughed. "I had no idea you were a closet fan! I swear I want to do a campus tour just to see if I can identify the scenes. Have you ever seen that old teen drama Dawson's Creek? It was filmed there too. Oh, and Safe Ha-

"You watch a lot of TV huh?" Cam interrupted.

"Shutup, I do not! Well, maybe I used to. Come on, I was a kid on a farm in Kentucky. You tell me what else I was supposed to be doing on weeknights in the winter?"

"Fair enough. So you're definitely sold on the college track, right?"

"Yeah, I've always known I was going to college. We can't all be teenage superstars!" I teased him. "Aiden would have tolerated college if my parents had forced him to give up on this dream. Thankfully, they aren't those kinds of parents."

"Yeah, your parents are awesome. So, do you have any schools in mind?"

I nodded my head energetically. This is why I appreciated Cam's friendship so much. I'd recently begun a lot of college research and hadn't had anyone to talk about it with. With Meg's schedule conflicting with my own and my parents so busy trying to keep up their jobs remotely, I normally would have turned to Aiden. As much as I missed Aiden's daily insight into my life, Cam made a pretty good consolation prize.

"Up until this summer, I just always assumed I'd go to the University of Kentucky. It's just a few hours from our farm. And they just built all brand new dorms and a new student center. Meg wants to go there too for Equine Science, so the two of us planned on rooming together."

"And now?"

"I'm starting to understand the different options here in Florida. Although, the reality is, we may not even be in Florida by the time I graduate. If Leo has anything to say about it, you guys will be on tour. If my mom has anything to say about it, we'll be with you all."

He smiled. "I love that about your mom."

"Yeah, she's not so bad," I agreed.

"So, how will that work? How will you finish high school from our tour?"

"The plan has always been for me to transfer my coursework to an independent study high school that offers online classes. I can even earn a high school diploma through one of them. But... I won't be able to keep up my volunteer work for college applications - which is why I'm killing myself now while I can."

"Independent study? So you'd be teaching yourself the material and then testing on it? That sounds hard."

"I've read up on it. The courses have online instructors you can contact for questions. I'm not too worried about it. I've always been the type to actually read my textbook, so I think I could handle the whole independent part."