The Maplethorn Initiative (Book 1, The Maplethorn Series)

Nolo Contendere

Cam's phone buzzed with a text. "How did it go?" Prita wrote.

"You should start baking me a cake with a file in it," he answered.

"I'm coming over."

Cam looked at the clock on his nightstand. School would have just gotten out. "OK."

Less than twenty minutes later, Prita was standing on the Drexler's front porch with a yellow backpack slung over one shoulder. "How did it really go?"

Cam motioned her inside and shut the door. "Let's go up to my room, and I'll tell you."

Prita cupped a hand around her mouth. "Hello, Mrs. Drexler!"

"Hello, Prita!" Paula Drexler answered from the kitchen.

"We're going up to Cameron's room! Is that okay?"

Mrs. Drexler came around the corner, drying her hands on a dishtowel. "Of course!" she beamed. "And please tell your mother thank you for seeing us today."

"Will do. She's the best. Really."

Something about seeing Prita and his mom getting along so well was making Cam turn bright red. "Uh, we're gonna go upstairs now."

"That's fine." Mrs. Drexler waved the towel at her son. "Just leave the door open."

"Mom!"

Prita laughed and hooked her arm through Cam's. "I'll make sure he behaves."

•  •  •

Once they were upstairs, Prita dropped her backpack on the blue-gray carpet and sat down beside it. "You embarrass way too easy," she said, doing her best to suppress a smile.

Cam joined her on the floor, using his bed as a backrest. "Only because my girlfriend has no concept of social norms."

Prita's eyes narrowed. "Your girl-what now?"

The color returned to his cheeks. "Um, bad choice of words. I meant we're friends. You know? And you're a girl?"

"Save it, Cameron."

His lips became a flat line.

"Although..." Prita brushed the hair away from her face.

"Yeah?" Cam asked hesitantly.

"We're texting all the time, and you're not completely hideous."

He leaned forward, anticipating her next words. "So?"

Prita unzipped her backpack and pulled out her phone. "So, come here."

"Um, okay." Cam scooted in a circle until their shoulders were almost touching. "Now what?"

Before he quite realized what was happening, Prita's hand shot in front of his face, and she pressed the side of her head against his. There was a click, and the moment became immortalized in pixels.

Cam's eyes were like saucers, and his mouth was halfway through the word "what," but Prita seemed to think the photo was perfect. Her fingers danced across the screen. "Let me post it, and we're official."

"Awesome!"

"Awesome?" Her face compressed into a scowl. "Okay, Romance 101, Cameron. Awesome is what you say when someone shows you a video of a dog on a surfboard."

"I'm sorry, this is—"

"And stop saying you're sorry all the time!"

Cam closed his eyes and let his head slump forward. "Okay, I get it."