Serendipity

Chapter 3

Nobody liked Mondays. Nobody sane, did, anyway. You just spent your entire weekend waking up when you wanted, doing what you wanted, actually having the time to breathe, not having to put up with stupid peers or teachers, and now suddenly you're opening your eyes again at 5:30 in the morning to the same old alarm you've had for ages, already cursing everything there is to curse because now you have to get up and you already know it's going to be an awful day. Because it's a Monday. Or at least, that's what Kay thought. Call her cynical. Every single Monday, in fact, she woke up already hating the day. Every. Single. Monday.

Except...not this Monday.

She was actually excited to get up, today. Or...not excited, but...but she wasn't hating the fact she had to get to school. She got up easier, not even pressing snooze on her alarm. She got up and got dressed and had breakfast all a little faster than normal. On the way out she hesitated...flopped a little back and forth...until she eventually came to the conclusion that maybe...wearing her glasses to school wouldn't be an entirely horrible idea. Just this once. Because her new contacts hadn't come in yet, and...well there was just no harm in wearing them.

She got her keys and slipped outside, locking the door behind her. She got in the car and turned up her music a little bit louder than normal as she pulled out of the driveway, and for once, she wasn't still trying to wake herself up as she drove to school. She was already awake-- she was already wide awake. There was more bounce to her step when she parked and walked up to the school. She hurried to her locker to get her things. All the while, subconsciously looking through the halls, trying to see if she could see Cameron. Usually, he was hanging out with people before classes started. Sometimes he was by her locker...a lot of the times, he was at least around her locker. She knew Jonathan started out the day in the library, unlike him. Maybe he was there because she wasn't seeing him anywhere else.

Nevertheless. She walked to her first hour briskly. And the second she was walking over the threshold, she was biting back a tiny smile when her eyes landed on Cameron. He was already sitting down for class, in the desk beside hers. It wasn't ever where he typically was, but it didn't matter. He was sitting there now, and she found herself smiling as she went over to take her own seat. The last time she'd seen him, was Friday.

She'd thought about texting him...but she got too in her head, and overthought it in her head, eventually just giving up on the idea because she was too awkward to know what to say. He'd never texted her either, so they just hadn't talked. She was still a little nervous after the way it had ended...every step she took closer to him, her stomach was gnawed a little more with apprehension. But she remembered all the other stuff, too. All the other stuff that vastly outnumbered and therefore outweighed the one odd ending to the night. How he had called her cute, had told her she was smart...how he'd given her the best, most fun night she'd had in quite some time. She reminded herself of those, too. Saying they were important, too.

Just like she had been telling herself that all weekend.

She rounded her desk and sat down. Cameron was on his phone. She didn't know what he was doing on it, but he seemed very focused on the screen; he didn't even look up at her. He was propping his head upon his hand, covering his mouth in the process. He was hunched over his desk a little bit. He looked tired. Like he hadn't been looking forward to this Monday at all, unlike her. He looked more like her typical reaction to the start of school weeks: already finished. She thought it was a little odd...he seemed to look a lot more tired than he should be. Unless he was out partying every single night after he'd left her. There were unnatural shadows under his eyes.

She waited a couple of seconds, which seemed much longer than just that. He didn't glance at her. So she cleared her throat a little awkwardly. He straightened a little, but still seemed intent on whatever he had pulled up. She took the last step, her apprehension beginning to grow. "Hey...Cameron," she smiled. His eyes flickered over to her. There wasn't the usual funny, eager look in his eyes. There wasn't..anything, really, when he looked at. Truthfully, if someone leaned over and told her it was actually Jonathan sitting beside her right now, she'd believe them more than she was believing herself at the moment. Because he seemed as blank as a slate. "Happy Monday," she tried, pulling out the most 'Cameron' thing she could think of to say. Silently hoping he would follow her lead.