"You have?" I tried running my mind through all the memories I had walking here with Brown, to see if I'd at least seen him once. I scanned his face to try to find even a small hint familiarity but to no avail. I hadn't seen him before.
"Yeah." Cameron said sheepishly, reaching to rub at the nape of his neck. "A few times actually." Maybe I had to observe my surroundings more than I already did. Then, maybe I would've seen him and maybe I would've caught onto the signs of a storm coming.
"Well, now I've seen you." I said jokingly. "All it took was a heavy never-ending rain." I raised my hand to wave pointedly at the dripping rain.
He chuckled, threading his hands together, fidgeting with them. His hair bounced with the motion of his laugh, only just a bit damp now. "I'm glad." He mumbled, placing his palms against his sweatpants then turned them so that the back of his hands were against the cotton material.
He looked like he was checking the dampness of his pants, which I could tell were still slightly soaked in water. His shirt was drier than before, however his hoodie that hung limply on the bench he sat at was still soaked in water, some water droplets falling from it onto the wooden gazebo floor.
I hoped he wouldn't get sick for staying in his wet clothes. That would be too bad.
"How long do you reckon this ran will last?" I asked, absentmindedly playing with the blonde ends of my dirty blonde hair that hung barely past my shoulders.
"I hope not too long. I need to change." To emphasise his point, he pinched the front of his shirt right where it stuck onto his chest and peeled it away from sticking to his skin.
"Me too. I mean, I don't have to change, but I want to get home and for you to change into dry clothes."
-
It'd been a while of Cameron and me talking before a sudden rumble of engine overpowered the sound of rain. I met eyes with Cameron who'd looked as hopeful and quizzical as I was. When the rumble of the engine disappeared, I deflated, holding Brown in my arms.
The latter was sleeping, what a lucky dog, while I stroked her fur softly. Her body was warm against my chest and she looked adorable. I didn't know how Holden even left this cutie alone without thinking twice.
"Heather, hey, do you know those people?" My head snapped up at him and then towards the direction his finger was pointing at. Right by the gates were my parents, dressed rather elegantly; my mum wore a navy cocktail dress and my dad sported a white button up shirt paired with a pair of dark slacks.
They were both blonde, just like me, their eyes shades of blue that mixed together and formed mine, a grayish blue. Both of them were ducked underneath an umbrella, my mum barely balancing in heels on the slippery wet ground, my father holding onto her waist with one hand, the other curled around the handle of the umbrella.
"Yeah," I trailed off, surprised. "Oh my gosh!" I stood up abruptly to the entrance of the gazebo and cupped my hands around my mouth to amplify my voice. "Mum! Dad! I'm here!" Somehow my voice slipped through the loudness of the rain and both their heads snapped into our direction.
Even from this far away, I could visibly see their relief; My mum's shoulders slumped and a smile broke out onto her face; My dad rolled his eyes playfully and his mouth moved, mouthing words, probably saying something to my mum who nodded. They disappeared for a while, hidden by the walls surrounding the park.
Sometime between that Brown had woken up. She had seen the whole encounter and she seemed as excited as I was to see my parents; Her tail wagged with joy and it was hard to keep up with the way she was moving like she wanted to walk.
I let her go on the ground, and she spun around as if she was chasing her tail, releasing a bark at my dad. The latter was left of both my parents, I assumed that my mum was safely in the car so that she didn't have to walk in those really high heels of hers.
Cameron was still sitting on the bench, his glasses went askew on his face as he rubbed at his eyes. On his pale skin, I could see that his nose was slowly turning into a shade of pink. I frowned. He was probably going to catch a sickness if he stayed here any longer.
I didn't want him to stay here any longer even if he wasn't catching sickness anyway. He stayed close to us so it wouldn't affect us much if we helped him home. Plus, I figured that we were slowly forming a friendship. A friendship that started in a weird and unusual circumstance, but a good one nonetheless, I thought.
My dad was already in front of the gazebo, his features crinkled in a smile. "I called you." He stated, he didn't sound mad nor did he sound like he was disappointed, his tone purely filled with amusement. "Twenty-three times." He added, raising a brow.
I feigned a pout. "I left my phone at home."
He laughed and shook his head, "come on, let's go home." He nodded his head in the direction of the park gates.
My head instinctively turned to Cameron and I waved him over, looking at him expectantly. The black haired boy looked at me with confusion before his expression changed when it dawned on him that I was calling him over and stood up.
My dad had watched the whole exchange with a raised brow. He looked between us before his gaze settled finally on Cameron, his other brow raised now as well. "Who's this?" He nodded his head at Cameron whose cheeks immediately turned a dark shade of pink.
"He's Cameron." I introduced. "He lives around here and he's soaked from the rain." I explained, moving over to Cameron himself, planting a hand behind his back and gently pushing him forward. His shirt fabric was only a bit damp but still wet nonetheless.
It would definitely be better if he went home now.
"Oh," my dad let out of his lips before he nodded understandingly. "Cameron, son, you can come with us. We'll help you home." My dad said, switching the umbrella to his other hand. "I can only have one person under this umbrella, so one of you have to come with me and I'll come back to get the other."
Without thinking, I nudged Cameron forward again. He turned and gave me a wide eyed look but walked forward anyway, picking up Snow and going straight underneath of the umbrella, safe from the falling raindrops.
"Is it okay if my dog's in the car?" Cameron asked politely, however, his cheeks were still painted in a prominent pink.
My dad scrunched his brows before a deep laugh bellowed out of him. I figured it was probably already because we had a dog and Cameron didn't have to worry.
Dad brought his free arm over Cameron's shoulders, which tensed up immediately. My father began walking forward which automatically made Cameron get carried to that direction too, caged by my father's arm.
I could barely make out a snippet of their conversation as I swept Brown back up in my arms, she was a lot more calmer now, and scanned my eyes over the gazebo. They landed on Cameron's soaked hoodie and I grinned in amusement that he'd forgotten about it.
I took it in my arm as well, one arm wound around Brown, the other occupied by the semi-wet jacket.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
This chapter is pretty uneventful, so... To celebrate the wonderfulness of all Mondays, I'll be double updating today!
