A/N: This was a short story I wrote for school. I decided to base it off of Crowfeather and Leafpool. Naturally, I changed the names and tweaked the personalities to my liking. Of course, this specific plotline (though cliche) was written by yours truly. If you want to know who's who, just ask. Enjoy!
The Warriors series by Erin Hunter was quoted once. Just so you know. I couldn't help it. It was too tempting.
I gently pet my cat, Candy, on the head. She purred softly in reply. Her pale gray, orange and white pelt was like silk. Candy nuzzled my hand, wanting me to pet her more.
"Sorry, CanCan. I have to work on my homework now." I murmured softly. But when I walked down the hall, Candy followed me. I sighed. "No, turn around and go hide somewhere or something. You distract me too much." The little cat paused for a moment, then sat down. I continued heading down the hall to my room.
Once I reached the doorway, I checked to see if Candy had moved. She hadn't. I closed the door and dropped my backpack onto my bed. I turned on the light and gazed around.
I'm not the kind of person to cover my walls with posters or anything like that. In fact, my room was very plain. The walls and ceiling were all a dull white. I had a bed, a desk, a nightstand and an open closet with a dresser. Nothing too flashy.
I flopped down onto my bed and got my homework out. No point in doing it, but I'm sure Ashia would say otherwise. I could hear Ashia's voice right now. I'd tell you what I could hear her saying, but the phrase includes some unsavory words.
Anyways, you may be wondering why there wouldn't be a point in doing my homework. It's not that I don't see the reason why teachers give homework. It's just that I'm switching classes. I moved the summer after 10th grade. I was in the advanced program. Now that I'm here, I wasn't put into the advanced program since there wasn't any space left. But one of the students moved away, so it was decided that I would transfer into the class. School started about three weeks ago. I would be leaving the familiar faces of my current classmates and having to meet all new people. Of course, there were electives, so I'd recognize some of them, but other than that…
I wasn't really excited about all of that. Not that I was afraid or angry about it, I just don't like being known by people.
Anyways, as I finished my homework, I heard a few clicks, then the sound of the door opening. Ashia.
"Cameron, I'm home!"
"I could tell." I sighed as I trudged out into the living room to greet her.
"Is your homework done?"
"Yes."
"Have you eaten?"
"No."
"Are you hungry?"
"No."
She asked me these questions every school day when she got home from work. There's probably something I should clarify, though. Ashia is my mother. I don't call her by her first name out loud, but I do in my thoughts.
"Well, tell me when you do get hungry."
"Right. Okay."
"Cameron…" Ashia turned away from me. "We all have our flaws. But we overcome them. And sometimes, it's our flaws that make us who we are."
"Where did that come from?" I asked. "Don't randomly quote book series about cats out of the blue like that."
Ashia blinked. "I'm just saying. Since you're switching classes… and this is your first year at this school."
"Whatever." I sighed. Ashia looked at me for a few more seconds before walking into the kitchen. I went back to my room and shut the door behind me.
I walked nonchalantly into the unfamiliar classroom. None of the students really paid attention to me. I walked up to the teacher, Mrs. Bolton. She was a small woman, with thick, curly blonde hair and dark brown eyes.
"Oh, hello. You must be the new student. Your name is…" She paused, searching her desk.
"Cameron Fournier."
"Right, right. You sit there."
Mrs. Bolton pointed at a seat second to the back row, at the far right of the class. I nodded and sat down, feeling slightly overwhelmed as more and more students entered the class. You're fine, I told myself. In a few days these people will lose interest. The bell startled me out of my thoughts. Mrs. Bolton walked to the front of the room and began calling off names. I didn't pay attention, though I probably should have, so I could learn everyone's name. I didn't care for the most part. Until one certain name was called. I'd never even heard of her before, but for some reason, it caught my attention.
"Leah Parady?"
"Here."
Leah. Her voice was quiet and soft, yet strong and confident. Don't question it. Her hair was light brown, long and straight. It was in a modest ponytail that she had thrown over her shoulder. I couldn't see her face, though.
Mrs. Bolton had gotten through the rest of the names fairly quickly.
"Class, this is Cameron Fournier." She gestured in my direction. "He just switched to the advanced program.
My new classmates turned to look at me. I scanned the different faces, recognizing a few. Leah hadn't turned to look. Her disinterest was refreshing.
Mrs. Bolton cleared her throat to bring the class's attention back to her. After explaining the lesson plans for the day and handing out worksheets, she let everyone get to work. After a quick exchange of words with Leah, she motioned for me to follow her. I stood up and suddenly realized Leah had gotten out of her seat and was following the teacher as well. Although I was startled, - not afraid - I was glad to get to see Leah's face.
She had round amber eyes and soft pink lips. Her skin was pale - compared to me, at least - and her eyebrows were neat and thin. Keep in mind that I may or may not be biased.
"Leah, may you take Cameron around to his classes?" Mrs. Bolton asked.
Oh, that's what it's about. I'm sure I'd be fine, but I don't want to say anything. Maybe I'll get to talk to Leah.
"Sure." Leah said. I felt her glance at me, but I kept my gaze on Mrs. Bolton, who smiled.
"Thank you, Leah." she said, then waved us away. "Now get back to work."
"Let's go. I don't want to be late for class." Leah called over her shoulder. She swung her backpack over her shoulder and waited for me next to the door.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming."
She lead me down the hallway, weaving through the crowd of students until we reached our next class. It was like this until lunchtime. It turned out that we both had first lunch. Not that it mattered. I sat with my friends, she sat with hers. Remember, I've been going to this school for the entire school year, even if it's only been three weeks, so I actually made some friends.
Let's skip forward a month. My life was basically the same throughout that month. Not very eventful.
"Do you want to be my partner?"
Our friendship started right then and there. We were doing some math exercise, and Mr. Perez, my math teacher, told us to partner up. I wasn't particularly close to anyone in the class, and I don't think Leah was either.
"Sure."
We finished the work in about ten or eleven minutes. Mr. Perez said that we could work on things from other classes or read. There were only about three minutes left of class, so Leah and I chose to do neither of those things and just talk. Leah asked me if I wanted to sit with her and her friends at lunch. I accepted. I wasn't that close to my friends, anyways. Class ended, and we went to have lunch.
Leah sat with three other people at lunch. Their names were Scarlet, Brian and Mabel. Let me introduce them to you.
Scarlet. Scarlet is actually Leah's fraternal twin. She's a bit shorter than Leah and has ginger hair. Her eyes are green and she has a lot of freckles. Brian is her boyfriend.
Brian is in 11th grade. He's Puerto Rican. Dark brown hair and eyes. Brian is also very tall, about six feet tall.
Then there's Mabel. She's in 12th grade. Her hair is blonde and and she has light brown eyes. Apparently Leah met Mabel in middle school, and they've been close friends ever since.
Leah introduced me to her friends and we all sat down to eat. I actually enjoyed myself. It was much better spending time with them than with my other friends. Before I knew it, lunch was over, and we went our separate ways.
I was just shutting my locker at the end of the day when Leah walked up to me. She already had her backpack, ready to leave.
"Hey Cameron… do you want to hang out after school? I mean, like, go to the park or something?" she squeaked. Her cheeks turned a pale pink.
"Okay. Let's go."
Leah looked caught off-guard.
"Don't you need to ask your parents or something?"
"My mom won't mind. I'll just text her so she knows."
Leah looked relieved. She then grabbed my arm and pulled me through and out of the school. Cedarview Park was little ways away to walk, but we didn't care. We walked along, side by side.
When we got to the park, we just sat on the swings and talked. Something about Leah was comforting. I'm not sure what, though. But something about her presence put me at ease.
"Cameron?"
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever dated someone?"
The question caught me off-guard.
"No. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious. Has anyone ever asked you out?"
"Nope." I turned to her. Leah looked surprised by my answer. "Why are you surprised? Do you find me attractive?" The last question just came out of mouth. I didn't even think about it. I swallowed. Do I really want to know? But Leah just rolled her eyes in amusement.
"Anyways, we should probably get going." She looked up at the sky. "It'll be dark soon. Do you live near here?"
She changed the subject.
"Yeah," I replied. "Do you?"
"Yep. I live that way." She pointed to the right of us.
"I live in the opposite direction. Of course." I let out an exaggerated sigh and threw my hands up in the air.
Leah smiled at that.
"Well, hopefully I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."
"Bye." I waved, then turned around and started walking.
I reached my house rather quickly and opened the door. Ashia was already making dinner.
"Hi, Cameron. Did you have a good time?" she asked glancing up from the stove to look at me. Not feeling like talking, I just hummed in reply. She smiled. "I assume that means yes."
I sat down on the couch and turned on the television. I played Mario Kart until dinner was done. I paused the game and sat down at the table with Ashia.
We ate in complete silence, like always. Just us. Maybe I should talk about my family a bit more.
My father was in the military. His name was David. He died before I was born. I had two sisters. We were triplets, in fact. Diane and Serena. They died too. In a car crash. They were eight. Ashia got really depressed and started drinking a lot. But I don't want to talk about that. Or write about it. Whatever. Naturally, it's somewhat of a touchy subject for me. Though I Leah and our friends eventually. But you don't get to see that. I will say that they were supportive and kind to me.
The first semester was coming to an end. Leah and I had gotten closer in that period of time. We had spent a lot more time together, mainly at the park. My feelings for her got stronger, too. But you probably expected that. But hey, she's one of the few people that didn't write me off as just some depressed sociopathic smart-alec. Not that those people are wrong, but it doesn't help.
You know what else doesn't help? Scarlet and Brian. They were always being all cuddly and stuff when the teachers weren't paying attention. It's so annoying.
Okay, maybe I'm being a little harsh. I'm jealous of how close they are.
Moving on.
Leah and I were at the park. I tried to steady my breathing. It felt like someone was pressing down on my chest, making my heart ache. I guess love does hurt.
"Hey, Leah…" I paused, trying to look at something that wasn't her. I raked my hair with my fingers as I felt my cheeks grow warm. "Do you want to, um…" My voice faded. I took a deep breath and prepared to continue. Leah gazed at me expectantly. What's wrong with me? I'm usually so calm and collected… Leah then narrowed her eyes and scanned my face. Then, without warning, she stepped forward and pressed her forehead against mine. She stared directly into my eyes. My face flushed. She smiled. Then she kissed me. It only lasted for a second. I stood there, dumbstruck. My brain was still trying to process what just happened.
"Yes." she said brightly.
"What?"
"The answer to your question. Yes."
I sighed in relief. See, it wasn't that hard. You totally nailed it, Cameron. Real smooth. You're such a sophisticated man. A total player. I couldn't help but hail myself with sarcasm. Leah took my face in her hands.
"You're so cute when you blush." she murmured.
"L-Leah..." I stammered. I arrogantly tried to stop myself from blushing and looked down at the ground. Leah giggled. She really ticks me off sometimes. I didn't mean that, really. But in the moment, being as flustered as I was, I just wanted to… I don't even know. I'd say that I didn't imagine her saying yes in my wildest dreams, but that would be a lie.
I wrapped my arms around her on instinct. I don't why. I didn't give it any thought. I just did it. She pressed her cheek against mine.
"I love you." she whispered. It felt as if my heart skipped a beat. I think it actually did.
"I love you too." It took a lot of mental strength for me to say that. I meant it. But it freaked me out to put trust in someone in that way.
A part of me just wanted to stay like that forever. I know that this is might sound really stupid, but I wanted to marry her. I'm completely serious. I was ready to stay by her side for the rest of my life.