Of the Twisted and the Lost

Chapter 24:

The next morning, Sera rises when the sun does, emotions swirling within her like a tide pool. 

"First things first," exhales Sera. "I need to go talk to Cami." 

She decided, last night, that it would be better to confront her friend face-to-face, rather than over text. 

"Good morning," Sera calls out, as she walks down the stairs. 

"Someone's certainly cheerful today," Chen says, noting the ponytail Sera had gathered her black hair in. 

Sera shrugs. "I needed a change," she replies, before catching her stepmother's eye. 

Nyleve gives her a small wink, giving Sera no doubt that the conversation — that truce — had happened. 

Chen seems to notice the look Nyleve gives to Sera, a secret smile lingering against his lips. 

"I'm going to school early," Sera says as she flings open the door. "I'll get breakfast on the way to school."  

Chen nods his approval and Sera walks out, something bubbling through her. 

Happiness? Maybe. 

Who wouldn't be happy? The sun's out, the birds are singing, Sera has an understanding with her stepmother, Junjie kissed her just yesterday. . . 

Just Cami. 

"I just need to ask her what she's hiding," Sera murmurs. "Then maybe I can decide if this day is going to be a happy one." 

With a sigh, Sera sets off to Cami's house. 

All of yesterday's events — there's something about that seems too unreal, too perfect, too much like a dream. 

The touches. 

The kiss. 

The maybe-sorta flirting. 

Sera only calls it "maybe-sorta flirting" because she doesn't know how to flirt herself. 

Yet at the same time. . . 

"Junjie kissed me," Sera whispers as she turns to the right. "He kissed me. It was real. He kissed me and we're going on a wild goose chase to find some merman who doesn't exist." 

Some part of Sera wonders this: what happens after Junjie realizes that there isn't a merperson? 

Will they stop seeing each other? 

"Not that we were seeing each other in the first place," she chides herself. "Like, he never asked me to be his girlfriend." 

Honestly, how does it work? How do you know that you're someone's girlfriend or not? Do you have to ask, or do you know, deep inside your soul? 

"Shut up, thoughts," Sera growls, stopping at Cami's driveway. "You're embarrassing me." 

Sera exhales, as she walks towards her friend's door, the only sound in the silent neighborhood is the sound of birds and her shoes tapping against the cement. 

"Cami, she's hiding something. . ." 

But what is she hiding? 

There's a slight twinge of hurt that burrows inside of Sera, making a nest in her stomach. 

I thought we told each other everything, Sera thinks, before she knocks on Cami's door. 

"Cami!" she yells, banging on the door. "Open the do—" 

The door swings open, Cami squinting, blinded by the sun. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Cami grouses. "Seriously, Sera? This early in the morning?" 

Sera folds her arms. 

"What?" Cami asks. "Why are you looking at me like that?" 

"What are you hiding from me?" Sera demands. 

Cami stares at her, eyes wide, and in that second, Sera knows it's really true: her friend is hiding something. 

But what? Sera wonders. 

"I think you'd better come in," her friend says in a low voice. 

Sera follows Cami, unease dancing through her. There's something in Cami's tone that makes Sera worried. 

"Okay." Sera places her hands on her hips. "Spill." 

"The thing is. . ." 

And with that, the dam bursts. 

"I tried so hard to forget her," Cami whispers, her bottom lip quivering. "I tried so freaking hard. You know how I took Avelyn's disappearance the hardest." 

Sera nods, remembering. When Avelyn had disappeared, Cami had gone frantic, holed up in her room all day long. 

"But you hated her," Sera says. "So why would you miss her?" 

"Of course I didn't fishing hate her!" Cami yells, startling Sera, before giving her friend a sad smile. "Remember that saying? 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.' That day, when Avelyn had poured fish all over you, I was angry. I wanted her to pay, so I decided to keep her close and—" 

A sob builds up. 

"I thought she loved me!" Cami's face crumbles. "But then—" 

"Wait what?" Sera interrupts. "Back up. What did you just say?" 

Cami looks slightly confused. "'But then'?" 

"No, no, no. Before that." 

"'I thought she loved me'?" 

Sera sputters, staring at her best friend. "You're. . . wait. . ." 

Cami rolls her eyes. "Yeah, I'm lesbian," she says. "What'd you think I was?" 

"But I thought—" Sera is grasping for words now. "I thought you liked Sam!" 

"Ew. No. What the hell? Why the hell would I like Sam?" 

"You always— You— I thought—" 

Cami sighs impatiently. 

"But you—" Sera finally sputters out. "I thought you told me you liked Sam!" 

Her friend scoffs. "No," she corrects. "I said I liked his shirt." 

"Yeah, but doesn't that mean you like him?" 

"Honestly, I want to jab your head on that desk right now. Girl, seriously? Just because I compliment someone, doesn't mean I like them." 

"Okay," Sera squeaks out. "So you like Avelyn. Continue, please." 

"So I kept her close," Cami continues. "Until I realized that I actually kinda liked her. That underneath all that tough interior, mean girl act, she actually cared. I got to know her and she— I thought she liked me too, you know?" 

Sera nods sympathetically. 

"And then, we were planning on meeting up, near that cliff," Cami says. "She never came. I thought she, like, stood me up or something. How could she do something like this? I thought. Then again, maybe she really was a mean girl. I began to doubt myself, doubt us until— it was on the news when they said that Avelyn Roberts fell off a cliff, got amnesia and everything." 

Cami looks away. "Yeah," she whispers. "My ending's a sad one. I fall in love and she doesn't remember me anymore."