And Then it Happened

27

"So, what did you and Cameron talk about a few nights ago? I never got to ask," Ashlyn probes, taking a swig of her vodka cranberry concoction. The bright sun's rays glinting off her brown hair.

A smile graces my lips, causing Ashlyn to raise any eyebrow. "He may or may not have asked me to prom?" I state innocently as I stretch out over my towel I had laid down upon the beach. It was our last day of Spring Break, so we were all soaking up the last few hours of the beach before we had to go back home. My pale skin had managed to get somewhat of a tan, although it would fade in a few days.

Ashlyn immediately spits out her drink and lifts her sunglasses to her forehead. "He did what?!"

"I know what you're thinking; I thought the same thing," I respond. "But Sydney talked to me a while back and said she's completely over Cameron and that she was okay with him and I hanging out again. Plus, it's kind of a mutually beneficial thing. Both he and I didn't have a date to prom, and you know how Sydney is. She was probably starting to scheme someone to pair me up with already."

I didn't think to tell her that when I had mentioned no guy had ever been interested in me, he had refuted it and basically hinted that he was interested in me. I'm still not 100% sure I even heard him correctly. He muttered it, so I could've just been imagining it for all I knew.

This causes Ashlyn to snort. "She totally was. I'm sure if Cameron didn't ask you, then Sydney would've had one of her many options from a list of other suitors to pair you with."

"What about you? Who's your date to prom?" I ask.

"Some guy from my history class, Tommy, I think?"

I throw my head back and laugh at my friend's nonchalance. "You might want to make sure you actually know your date's name before prom night," I advise. "You might break poor Tommy's heart if you call him the wrong name all night."

"Eh, we're seniors, I'll never see ninety percent of these assholes again after graduation," she replies.

"Ugh, and thank fuck for that, Cheers!" I say, clinking my drink with hers. I take a sip of my cold drink and sigh. Part of me was terrified to leave all my friends and everything I'd ever known to go to a new city for college, but the other part of me was ready for a change. A chance to reinvent myself and get away from all the high school drama.

Ashlyn and I fall into a comfortable silence; she scrolls through her phone and I take in the serene views of the ocean waves crashing along the shoreline. Eventually Makayla, Lily and Sydney join us. 

~

Coming back from our spring break and going straight back into school mode was just about one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long time. There's just something about drinking and partying on the beach with your best friends five days that makes it rough coming back to the "normal" world, where we all have duties and responsibilities.

The only things we had to look forward to now were prom and graduation; both of which were coming up quickly.

Back in Gulf Shores, Cameron asked me to prom, and I had said yes. When he had asked me to prom, he had made it sound like we would be going platonically, and that he only asked me because he knew I didn't have a date already.

I still don't know if I should feel offended by that or not.

Despite him asking me to prom, I still wasn't quite sure how to act around him. Are we friends again? Will we go back to normal? Before spring break, I thought he hated my guts.

I make the familiar walk to my locker, mentally groaning about the fact that I was here. What I didn't expect to have standing next to my locker is Cameron Sharpe.

"Hey," he says softly with a smile on his face as he sees me approach.

I give him a curt wave. "Hey back."

He shoves his hands in the front pockets of his denim Levi jeans. His dimple on his cheek is prominent, and his brown, shaggy hair lay across his forehead perfectly.

Ugh, I forgot how hot he was. Lord have mercy on me.

"So, about prom," he begins to say.

I instantly grow nervous and begin thinking the absolute worst scenario. Luckily, he continues and what he says next squashes any insecurity or doubt I had.

"I just wanted to make sure you still wanted to go with me. I feel like I cornered you on the beach, and I apologize for that. I still want to go with you, but I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page."

I immediately sigh in relief. "No, you didn't corner me. I mean yeah the rose petals spelling out prom was definitely a surprise!" I chuckle for a second before continuing. "But you didn't corner me, I could have easily said no if I didn't want to go with you. But I didn't say no; I said yes. So we're still good."

Cameron throws me another smile of his that makes me buckle at the knees and swoon internally. His eyes light up with happiness and I can't help but smile too.

"Okay, good, great. I'm happy to hear that," he says. "So are we going with your friend group or what? I'd like a rough idea of what I need to do. Do you have a dress yet? Does my tie have to match your dress? I can –" he rambles but I cut him off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there. Slow down bud, relax!" I put my hands up in fake surrender as I laugh at him. I think it's cute that he even cares enough to ask all these questions. "I assume we'd be going with my friend group. You have first hand experience with what Sydney is like. I'm sure she has the whole night planned out to a tee. I'll talk to her and see what the plan is and I'll get back to you. Second, no I don't have a dress yet. You can match if you want, but it doesn't particularly matter to me."

Cameron nods slowly in understanding. "Yeah, okay. Sounds good to me, just let me know."

"Will do," I reply.

I think he'll leave and go on his merry way, but he continues to stand in front of my locker for a few seconds more. His bright eyes boring into mine. I start to think he won't ever move until he speaks again.

"For what it's worth, Rachel, I'm looking forward to going with you." His voice is smooth and velvety, my name rolling off his tongue in ease.