b e c k e t t *
"I think we have a pep rally today." Sarah, one of best friends says.
"Ugh," I say, rolling my eyes. We walk past one, if not the, most popular guy in school, Camden Williams.
"Ooh!" Sarah says when we walk past him.
"What?" I ask her. "
"Did you not see Camden looking at you?"
"No..."
"Oh my, he was staring you down!"
"Are you sure it wasn't you?"
"It most definitely was not me, Beck. I think he likes you."
I roll my eyes. "Yeah, doubt it,"
➳
"Attention students!! ALL students MUST report to the gymnasium!!" The principal says over the speaker.
On the way to the gym, however, I get stopped.
"Hey, Beckett, can I talk to you?" A voice asks from behind me. I turn around and find that it's Camden.
"But the--" I begin.
"It'll be okay,"
He grabs my wrist and pulls me into an empty classroom.
"Look, I'm not really sure why I'm telling you this because it makes me jealous, but Kieran Daniels likes you." He says once we're in the classroom.
"Did you just say it makes you jealous?" I ask him.
"...Yeah,"
"Why?"
"I like you, Beckett,"
"Why?"
"Because you're cute and nice and funny and sweet and kind, and---well, you get the drift. Would you maybe wanna go out sometime?"
"So you can kiss me in private, and bully me in public? Yeah, no thanks, Camden,"
He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. I turn around and leave the classroom, hearing him call my name.
"What was that about?" Sarah asks me when I find her and the seat she saved for me on the bleachers.
"He said that Keiran Daniels liked me, but he was jealous--" I begin, but she cuts me off.
"He said what now?"
"Let me finish, please. He said he liked me and asked me out."
"What'd you say!?"
"No."
"What?! Why?!"
"Because I know that type of guy. He's going to be all about me when we're together in private, but he's going to act like he doesn't know me in public. And I'd rather be with someone who is going to want me all the time, and not just when we're in private."
"Beck, you should at least give him a chance--"
"No, Sarah, I--"
"Beckett, please." Camden says, approaching Sarah and I. "Please give me a chance. I swear I'm not--"
"No, Camden. Look, I appreciate it, I do, but I know how popular guys work, and I just--I can't do that. To you or myself." I tell him. His face falls and he walks away and to his friends.
"Beckett!" Sarah admonishes.
"Sarah!" I retort. "I'm just trying to save both of us."
"From what, Beckett?" Sarah asks, shaking her head. "You won't even give him a chance. That is not what my best friend would do."
She gets up and moves.
"Sarah!" I shout after her, but the pep rally is getting ready to start and she doesn't turn back.
She goes over and sits beside Camden, who I realize a little bit into the pep rally are whispering about something, occasionally looking over in my direction.
➳
"Does anyone else have anything they'd like to add? Anything that they'd like to say?" Principal Adams asks after he's finished talking. Camden stands up and goes to him.
"I have something I'd like to say, sir," he says and then he looks at me.
"Hi guys," he starts. "Most of you all know me, I'm Camden. I just--I encountered a situation earlier that made me think a little bit. Um, so there's this person..."
He is not doing this in front of the entire school.
"And I really like them. And, when I told them about it, they said they didn't want to hurt themselves or me, and I think by 'hurting me' they meant 'hurting my reputation' and I don't ever want that to be the scenario. I want to tell you guys, as well, that this person is a 'he'. So, I-uh-I hope that by doing this, it truly shows him how much I want to be with him." He finishes.
I look over at Sarah, who is watching me.
Principal Adams thanks Camden and then dismisses everyone. I wait for it to clear out a little bit before getting off the bleachers and filing out of the gym. I look for Camden but I can't find him anywhere. Until I walk out of the gym. I find him standing by the first couple of lockers on the wall. One of his friends elbows him and he looks up, catching my eye. Instead of walking past him, as my nervousness wants me too, I walk up to him.
"Hey," I say softly and nervously. I hear (and feel) my voice shake a little bit. "I just wanted to apologize for earlier, I didn't think you would do that."
He smiles. "I understand, I'd probably do the same thing if I was in your position, to be completely honest with you. I just--I really like you, Beckett," he says.
"I-I like you too," I admit. The truth is that I've liked him since seventh grade, but I always tried to play it off because he was popular and I wasn't.
He grabs my face with both hands and presses his lips to mine gently. In the hallway. Movement and noise both seem to just...stop. He pulls back a few seconds later, looking into my eyes.
"I promise to give you everything. All of me. I promise that I'll treat you the same in public and in private. I promise that I'll-" He says, but I cut him off.
"I'll go out with you," I say softly.
"Really?"
I nod. He smiles and wraps his arms around me, hugging me tightly and pressing his lips to my cheek.
