Dear Cam Saunders,
I hope you don't mind receiving this letter, it's just that I have been thinking about you constantly lately, and no matter what I do, your image remains in my mind. I was wondering if you wanted to go out on Friday night for a Valentine's dinner at The Dot. Meet me at 6 p.m., sharp! I'll be the one on the right just as you walk in, looking all stylish.
Yours truly,
Don't go breakin' my heart.
Campbell Saunders was reading a secret love-letter while heading to his next class. Tristan and Tori were at their seats, sitting side-by-side as always, staring at Cam as he walked in with a rose in hand.
"Um, excuse me. Where did you get that?" asked Tori, closing her folder, concentrating on how to get Cam's attention.
"Uh, me?" Cam uttered in response, glancing back and forth between Tristan, who was bashing his eyelids, and Tori, whose mouth extended practically to the top of her desk.
"No, the lovely Miss Oh behind you," Tristan exclaimed, sarcastically.
"Never mind that," Cam started, "have you seen Maya around? I have been trying to find her this whole week."
Tori and Tristan shared a glance and Tori took over, responding, "No, didn't she tell you? She has a cello audition for the community symphony band, and has taken time off of school to focus on practicing."
"But…she will be over Tori's house this night if you want to drop by," Tristan remarked, with an overbearing smile on his face.
"Tristan!" Tori nudged, as Tristan begged for agreement. "Yeah…you should come over, Cam."
The bell rang. Cam took his seat that was far in the back, and Miss Oh shut the door behind her.
As classroom instruction began, Cam took out the letter and rose from his backpack. He wasn't sure if Maya had sent him this, and thought that maybe he had a different secret admirer.
…
School had ended, and while Cam was practicing a few swings for the game on Friday, Tori, Tristan, and Zig were cleaning up Tori's room.
"So, who's idea was it that Cam comes over?" Zig asked, burdened with the look of Tori's room. "Is he even coming in here?"
"No," Tori replied, "but you could be a good boyfriend and help me out. Besides, Tristan is the one to blame for this fiasco." She stuffed a pile of sweaters in Zig's arms. "Fold, please."
"These are dirty," began Zig; Tori looking blank-faced with her eyebrows raised.
"Oh, Tori, doll-face, let's not point fingers, now. How was I supposed to know you didn't want Maya's boyfriend over?" Tristan interrupted, throwing one of Tori's pink scarves over his shoulder, playfully.
"Give me that," Tori demanded. "Because he's Maya's boyfriend. Not…wait a minute," Tori stopped, "you are so not going to flirt with him while he's here."
"Wait, you like Campbell Saunders?" Zig chuckled. "Isn't he already macking on Maya?"
"That's not the point," Tristan countered. "I have my own justifications for wanting to meet with him. You could call it redemption. Didn't Maya tell you that I practically froze when he came up to us the other day for a group project? Apparently not."
Tristan flopped on Tori's bed, covering his face in humiliation.
"Well, that's over now," Tori reassured, "but he and Maya, his girlfriend, are going to be here any minute, so will you get a hold of yourself and help me finish?"
Before Tristan could get up from the bed, the doorbell rang.
"Oh god, hide me!" Tristan chirped, stuffing himself inside Tori's closet.
Zig and Tori took each other's hand and walked to the front door. As Tori opened it, she found herself standing in front of Maya.
"Hey guys, what do you have planned tonight?" asked Maya. "I got four free tickets to go see The Hunger Games, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me." She let herself in the door, and sat down on the couch.
"Oh, The Hunger Games! I've been dying to see that," Zig said excitedly.
Tori elbowed Zig, saying, "We can't. Don't you remember we ordered a pizza?"
"We didn't order a pizza," confessed Zig.
Maya, frustrated, got up from the couch and announced, "Oh, but I can't let these tickets go to waste. I think I'm going to call Cam and ask my sister and Jake if they want to double-date."
Before Tori and Zig could come up with any other excuses, Maya had left, closing the door behind her.
Zig turned to Tori, asking jokingly, "So, when is the pizza coming?"
Tori rolled her eyes, and headed towards her closet. "Tristan, get out! That was Maya, and she apparently has other plans…with Cam."
Upset by the news, Tristan opened the closet door and crawled out. "That completely ruins what we had planned tonight," said Tristan, pouty-faced.
"Why don't we all go out for some ice-cream?" presented Zig, hoping to change Tristan's attitude.
"Yeah, come with us, Tristan," agreed Tori.
"No," Tristan began, "I think I'll stay here and drown in my own agony. That is, if you don't mind, Tori."
"No, of course not," Tori replied. "My house is your house. Just let my mom and dad know where we are if they come back early, okay?"
"See you later," Zig said, waving.
Tori and Zig left Tristan in the house by himself, and after a few minutes of reflective thought, Tristan heard a knock at the door. Getting up, he went to check who it was.
"Hey, Cam?" Tristan greeted, surprised to see him.
"Hi, sorry I'm late. I was going to text someone, but I guess I left my phone in my hockey locker. I hope I didn't miss anything." Cam looked down, shuffling his feet.
"Oh, of course not, silly, come on in. Tori, Zig, and…well, they all went to the store to pick up some…chicken. They'll be back soon," assured Tristan, excitedly.
"Ah, cool," Cam smiled, as he entered the house and sat down on the couch.
Tristan joined Cam, sitting a less-than-safe distance away with his body turned towards him.
"So, how was the rest of your school day? Any plans coming up for Valentine's Day?" asked Tristan, hoping to break the ice.
"Uh, good, I guess. Someone left me a note and flower to meet with them on Friday. I'm thinking it was Maya, but I haven't seen her." Cam glanced at Tristan, and looked down.
"Let's not talk about Maya. I mean, she will be coming over soon, and, well, I thought we could talk about us," Tristan confessed, cutting Cam off.
"Us?" Cam gulped, raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah, don't you feel a spark between us?" Tristan proposed, scooting closer to Cam.
"I-"
Before Cam could collect his thoughts, Tristan leaned in, grabbed Cam's head, and kissed him.
"Whoa," Cam pulled away, "I have to go." Cam got up, walked to the door, saying, "Please tell Maya that I had chores to do tonight."
"Wait, don't leave," pleaded Tristan, "I-"
Cam shook his head in confusion and shut the door behind him as he left.
…
The next day at school was a mess. Maya's return after a week had caused a lot of awkwardness with her and her friends. Tristan barely even looked at her as they passed each other in the hallway, going to class. Cam stayed close to his hockey teammates, doing his best to avoid Tristan, and Tori and Zig were in their own world after a romantic date-night at the ice-cream parlor.
All of the silence would soon come to an end. It was presentation day in History class, and Tristan, Maya, and Cam had to get up in front of the class and give a report on what they learned about the Mayans. The bell was about to ring, and everyone was in their seats waiting to present, except for Campbell Saunders.
"Alright, today is presentation day!" Ms. Kilpatrick announced. "What group would like to present first? Any takers?" The teacher looked down at her list of groups while Maya and Tristan slouched down in their seats, praying she would not call their group's name. "No one is volunteering…figures! Okay, then, will Maya, Campbell, and Tristan come up to present their project on the Mayans?" The teacher looked around, seeing if she could spot them.
Tristan and Maya reluctantly got up from their desks, bringing with them a stapled essay to discuss in front of the class.
"Thank you," Ms. Kilpatrick started, "and where is Campbell Saunders?" She looked behind Tristan to see if he was there, but no luck.
"Well, you see Ms. Kilpatrick," Tristan began, "Cam had a…a…an interesting ni-" he froze, fearful of releasing too much information.
"He had an interesting case of the sniffles this morning," Maya cut in, "and is at home getting some rest." The two of them went to the front of the class and gave each other a look of uneasiness.
"I see," the teacher agreed. "Well, the show must go on, I suppose. Start whenever you are ready."
Tristan took in a deep breath, and began to talk.
"Our report was on the Mayans, and they were a fun group of ancient people," said Tristan. "They would never take offense to someone randomly kissing them, that's for sure."
Maya's head turned to Tristan in disbelief; she couldn't believe what came out of his mouth. She knew she had to make sense of this "kissing" comment.
"What Tristan means to say," Maya giggled, "is that the Mayans were an open, creative, and hardworking group of people who constructed many architectural masterpieces that we travel to go see today."
As the presentation progressed, Tristan was able to refocus and contribute related material, bouncing back from his beginning statement. Maya took charge of the PowerPoint slides that had photos of the Mayan civilization, and they managed to pull their assignment together.
"Great job, with quite the attention-grabber!" remarked Ms. Kilpatrick. "Great transition from kissing to a civilization that worked openly and constructively. Beautiful work."
Maya sighed in relief, and whispered to Tristan, "What was that all about?"
Tristan bit his lip, "Maya, there's something I need to confess." As they both walked back to their desks, Tristan said, "We'll talk at lunch."
"Will you two let Cam know that he will have to present his portion of the group project by himself when he returns?" the professor declared.
"Yes!" replied Tristan and Maya, simultaneously.
…
As the bell rang, Maya went with Tristan into the hallway, saying, "I can't do lunch today."
"But what I have to tell you is crucial," explained Tristan. "What other possible thing can be more important than this?"
"Cello practice, actually," Maya defended. "Can't you just tell me now?" she pleaded.
"Well…Cam…" he started, "wants you to meet him at The Dot tonight at six. It's a Valentine's Day surprise he wanted me to share with you."
"Aw, that's so sweet," Maya suggested. "For some reason I couldn't get a hold of him last night, so it's good that you're telling me. I was worried he was ignoring me." She checked her phone, responding to a text, and continued, "But we'll have to discuss it later. Can you let Cam know that I'll be there?" She scurried to the band room, leaving Tristan to ponder the question.
"Sure," he said unenthusiastically, worried about having to approach Cam after last night.
As Tristan approached the lunch table where Tori and Zig were sitting, he noticed that they were being all touchy-feely with each other.
"Oh, I see how it is," Tristan remarked, setting his tray on the table. "Why do you guys get to be all lovey-dovey with each other, and I have to wait in misery for Cam to notice me." He pulled out a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich from his lunch bag, and looked up at Tori and Zig, flirting with each other. "Hello, am I just invisible?"
"Wait, what?" Zig replied, smiling.
"No, you're not invisible," Tori reassured. "Anyway, why did you leave my house so early?" asked Tori, now focusing on her best friend.
"So, yeah, that's something else I need to talk to you about," Tristan confessed. "Last night, Cam came over-" he explained.
"But Cam was out with Maya at the theater," Tori noted.
"I'll be back. I'm going to get some chocolate milk," Zig interjected, kissing Tori on the cheek as Tristan rolled his eyes.
"You see, that's what I thought," began Tristan, "but I guess he left his phone inside of his hockey-locker and didn't receive any of Maya's texts."
As Tristan continued talking, he saw Cam at the corner of his eye, walking with the rest of the Ice Hounds, getting ready to eat together.
"Oh god, hide me!" Tristan covered one side of his face with his hand.
"Okay, Tristan, you really need to stop with that," Tori responded, looking directly at Campbell Saunders, as he turned away trying to make it seem like there was no eye-contact.
"I kissed him last night," exclaimed Tristan.
"You kissed Maya's boyfriend?" Tori said, shocked by Tristan's news. "At my house?"
"Yes, but that's not the point," Tristan replied, redeeming himself. "I have to tell him that Maya will meet him at The Dot tonight, but I can't face those jocks after last week, and especially after last night. What humiliation!" Tristan remarked.
Tori got up to throw away her banana peel, turned to Tristan, and said, "Look, if it's going to kill you, I will go over there and let him know."
"No wait, I'll do it," Tristan said, coming to his senses. "If I keep up with this awkwardness, I won't be able to go up in front of hundreds of people for Romeo and Jules. No, I have to do it."
Tristan went over to Tori, walked her back to her seat, and approached the hockey team.
"Well, if it isn't Cam's little boyfriend," remarked Luke, as Dallas and the other teammates laughed. Owen remained annoyed, but silent.
"Shut up! I don't even know this kid," corrected Cam. "I think you have the wrong table," said Cam.
Tristan's face was blank, covering up the irritation that was boiling inside.
"Whatever," Tristan rolled his eyes, "I just came by to let you know, Campbell Saunders, that Maya will be meeting you at The Dot tonight at six, and you don't want to disappoint her."
"Aw, our all-star player has a boyfriend and a girlfriend," Dallas announced, clapping his hands and shaking his head in approval.
"Shut up, okay!" Cam barked. "I have a hot girlfriend, and I have a date with her tonight," confessed Cam.
"I hate you," Tristan said, looking directly in Cam's eyes. "That kiss meant nothing last night. You are a terrible kisser," Tristan claimed.
"I don't know what fantasies you have had about me," began Cam, "but you can only wish that I kiss you." Cam smirked at his teammates, doing his best to cover up and fit in with the rest of the group.
"Ho, ho!" rooted the hockey team, as Tristan turned his shoulder and walked back to where Tori was seated.
"I officially hate Campbell Saunders," commented Tristan, as he walked past Tori and ran into Zig, returning to his girlfriend.
…
In the band room, while Maya was finishing up with her rehearsal, she felt a buzz from her phone. She pulled it out of her pocket, and noticed a Facerange notification from Cam:
Team won! Scored two points, and ready to go on a date with my hot girlfriend, Maya Matlin.
The expression on her face seemed like she was both flattered and embarrassed, only because she knew they weren't Facerange official in terms of being in a relationship together.
After practice, Maya went home to quickly change her clothes, and ran into Katie.
"Is Campbell Saunders going to be there this time?" Katie presumed. "If that kid stands you up again, I'm going to have to take action and punch his little face." She went up by Maya in front of the mirror and fixed her hair.
"No worries," Maya began, "I'm pretty sure he will be there." Maya picked up her phone from her vanity table, and showed Katie the Facerange update Cam had wrote.
"Whoa. Well, if this isn't evidence, I don't know what is," Katie replied. "Are you okay with him writing this?" Katie asked.
Maya sighed, "I mean, at first I was a little embarrassed, but I think it has a cute element to it." She put her phone in her purse, and walked towards the door. "Besides, it seems like he is really excited to see me tonight," she finished.
"Just make sure you text me if he doesn't show up," Katie responded. "I'll come get you." She sat down on Maya's bed. "Jake is coming over soon, so if need be, he can pass some punches at the kid," Katie joked.
"No, I don't think that's necessary," said Maya, "he's a genuine guy, I can tell." She opened the door, stepped out, and finished, "I'll call you if he's not there."
Upon arriving The Dot, Maya could see Cam sitting down at a booth that had a glass siding. He was dressed up head-to-toe in a nicely fitted suit, wearing a ruby-red tie, and his hair was parted to the side.
"Red, I should have known," Maya said to herself, "it's Valentine's Day." She looked down at her baby-blue skirt, and shook her head.
As she walked in, Cam got up from his seat and greeted her with a lovely rose in hand.
"Wow, Maya, you look beautiful," Cam said, smiling, as he handed her the rose. "Our table is over here," he gestured his hand to her, as she did the same, and they both walked together.
Once seated, Cam apologized, "I'm sorry I didn't respond to any of your texts or phone calls. I had left my phone in my hockey locker after practice and wasn't able to get it until school the next day." He looked down, and then looked up into Maya's beautiful blue eyes.
"It's okay," Maya replied, "I just figured you were busy with something else." She picked up the menu and shifted her eyes across its contents.
"I also want to apologize for my Facerange status. I can delete it if you want me to," he noted. "I thought about it, and I guess it could come off as embarrassing for you." Cam pushed Maya's menu down, attempting to get her full attention.
"No, no, it's charming, actually," Maya responded.
Zig approached their table, with a pen and paper in hand. "What can I get you lovebirds?"
"Zig? Shouldn't you be with Tori?" Maya asked, surprised.
Cam looked around the restaurant to see if he could see Tori, or worse, Tristan.
"Nah, I'm meeting Tori after my shift ends," Zig began, "which is in about an hour. Anyway, are you ready to order?"
"Could I have the spaghetti platter, please," Maya answered, smiling back at Cam, him looking a little anxious. "I'll have a water with lemon, also," she finished.
"Okay," Zig said to Maya, turning his body to Cam. "And for you, sir?"
Cam cleared his throat and took a deep breath, "Oh, right, I'll have the same thing, please." Cam shut his menu, collected Maya's, and handed them to Zig who looked like he was in a hurry to get back to Tori.
"So, congratulations on the game," Maya said, waiting for Cam to look at her again. "Is there something wrong?" Maya asked. "You weren't in class for the presentation today, and Tristan and I-"
"I had to talk to my coach," Cam interrupted. "He wanted to make sure I knew the game plan for today's game, and I did, apparently," he continued, doing his best to stay off topic of Tristan.
"Ms. Kilpatrick wants you to present your portion of the presentation on Monday," Maya responded. "I just didn't want to forget to tell you," Maya confessed.
"Here you go," Zig interjected, laying down the spaghetti plates and waters in front of them. "Enjoy." He smiled, stood there for a minute, and realized that he was getting the cold shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything else," he added, walking away.
"Thank you, Maya," Cam said. "You look stunning tonight." He took her hand, kissed it, and announced, "Let's eat!"
Maya smiled, picked up her fork, and began eating her spaghetti. "This is really good," she said, smiling. Cam smiled back, swallowing his food, and leaned in to press his lips against Maya's. Maya dropped her fork, extended her hand out to Cam, and the two engaged in a passionate kiss.
"I am so glad I leave here in five minutes," Zig interrupted, putting the bill on the table. "I suppose I don't need to wish you both a happy Valentine's Day," Zig chuckled, "you're already there." Zig slowly backed away, giving them there space. "Off to see my Tori," he sang.
Cam, still kissing Maya, let out a laugh. "Wow," he admitted, "this was nice."
Maya cleared her throat and agreed. "I should probably be getting home," she responded, "Katie might be worried about me."
"Oh, of course," Cam replied, "let me just pay the bill." As he pulled out his wallet from his jersey-jacket, the love note he had found the previous day fell out with it.
"What is this?" Maya asked curiously. She picked up the letter before Cam could figure out what she was talking about, and identifies the writing as Tristan's.
"That?" he responded. "Yeah, I figured you had sent me that," Cam said, scratching the back of his head, "but you can hang on to it if you want." He pulled out a twenty and some singles, and placed them on the table.
Keeping quiet, Maya puts the letter in her purse. "Thank you for dinner, Campbell, it was delicious."
"In more ways than one, right?" Cam replied, giving a seductive look back at Maya.
Maya laughed, shooting her face to the ceiling. "Yes, in more ways than one."
Cam got up, put his jersey-jacket on, and escorted Maya out of The Dot.
…
On the drive back, Maya was pretty quiet. She hadn't said much to Cam, and nearly shook her head and said, "Mhm," every time Cam said something. She couldn't help but think about that letter, and why Tristan didn't tell her he was sending love letters to Cam. She found it even more curious that instead of him being at The Dot to meet Cam, like the letter said, it was her, and she was beginning to piece everything together.
"Thank you, Cam, it was a great Valentine's Day," said Maya, opening Cam's car door.
"Wait," he said, as he scooted closer to Maya. He put her hair back, put his hand delicately on her neck, and softly kissed her. "Thank you for coming tonight," Cam finished.
"Of course," she muttered. She got out of his car, shut the door without waving or saying goodbye, and walked a few houses down to Tristan's house.
Tristan was sitting on his bed, listening to music and doing his homework. He flipped through his notebook, and soon heard a knock at the door.
He got up, opened the door, and saw Maya staring at him blank-faced.
"Maya, what a surprise," said Tristan, giving a worried laugh. "How was your date?" He gestured her inside the house, and they both went into his room.
"I thought my date was really romantic," Maya remarked.
"You thought it was romantic?" Tristan responded, giving another anxious laugh. "Why, what happened?" He went to his computer and turned off the music.
"I think you know why, Tristan," Maya said, pulling out the love note she took from Cam. She placed it right in front of Tristan's face.
"Where did you get that?" wondered Tristan, looking guilty.
"It fell out of Cam's jacket at The Dot," answered Maya. "I thought you were over him," Maya exclaimed, sitting down in disbelief.
"Maya, I have to tell you something," reasoned Tristan, doing his best to keep her calm. "Something I should have told you as you were going off to symphony practice."
Maya shook her head in frustration. "What?" she asked, already annoyed by the suspense.
"The night you invited Cam to go see a movie, he went over to Tori's," Tristan replied.
"Why was he at Tori's?" she asked, curious about what else Tristan had to say.
"He thought you were going to be there," Tristan said nervously, "and that we were all going to play a game of Scattergories. "
"Scattergories…wait, what?" Maya put her hand on her forehead in confusion.
"You see," Tristan started, "it was a crazy idea planned by Tori…well…I guess it was mainly me, but still," Tristan continued.
"Will you just tell me what is going on," Maya reasoned, "without the drama antics?"
"I kissed Campbell Saunders," confessed Tristan. "Here it comes," he muttered.
"Wow," Maya replied, "I was not expecting that." She stood up, put her hands on Tristan's shoulders, and said, "Look, if you like him-" she started.
"But I don't!" Tristan exclaimed, removing Maya's hands. "He's a repulsive douche-bag, just like all of those other hockey players," he proclaimed. "I went up to him, and the rest of the teammates—my brother for goodness sakes—and he was all like, 'You're at the wrong table,' again, and 'You wish you could kiss me.' I'm sick of the same thing happening with him, and so it's over," Tristan reasoned.
"That doesn't sound like the Cam I went out with tonight," Maya defended. "Are you sure there is nothing else going on with him?" Maya went back to sit down and checked her phone. "Did you see this?" Maya asked, holding out her phone to Tristan, showing him Cam's Facerange status.
"No, we're not friends on Facerange, remember?" Tristan responded, and read what Cam had wrote. "Hm, he seems pretty fond of you, hottie," Tristan said playfully. "But, maybe he is trying too hard to prove himself to his hockey team," Tristan added, redeeming himself.
"Yeah, you're right," Maya agreed, "but I can't let this go on if that is all this is for." She stood up, gave Tristan a hug, and walked to the door. "I'll see you Monday in class when Cam presents his part of our presentation," Maya said, contemplatively.
Walking out, Tristan ran up to Maya and confessed, "I'm not going to lie, Maya, I like Cam a lot more when he is not with his hockey team. I just think he is confused with what he wants."
Tristan waved to Maya as she stepped outside, and smiled back, "Thanks for making sense of all this," she started, "I think you're right about Cam needing more time to figure things out."
Tristan nodded. "See you Monday," he said, ending the conversation, and closed the door.
…
After a weekend of long thought and reflection, Maya knew what she had to do.
When Monday approached, Tristan greeted Maya at the front of the school, and the two of them went to class together, passing Tori and Zig in the hallway.
"Hey, Maya," Tori began, Tristan shaking his head in disapproval. Tori knew what that head-shake meant, and so she withdrew from asking about the date. "How…is symphony practice coming along?" she asked strategically.
Tristan put his thumb up in agreement, and responded, "It's going great, right Maya?"
Maya couldn't speak. She was so focused on getting to class, and telling Cam what it is she wanted to say, that everything else seemed irrelevant.
"Earth to Maya…hello," Tristan waved his hand in front of her face. Maya ignored everything, pushing Tristan's hand away, and walked to class.
"That's so not like Maya, blowing everyone off like that," Tori confessed, worried about her friend.
Tristan backed away, heading in direction of his class, and replied, "I know. I have a lot to tell you." Tristan blew a kiss to his best friend, and Tori and Zig continued walking across the hall.
Ms. Kilpatrick awaited her students at her desk, and while the students filtered in, she announced, "Today is catch-up day. Those who have not yet presented, or want to redeem a few points from things they missed, now is the time to do it." She got up, picked up a dry-erase marker, and wrote "catch-up day" on the board.
Maya was in a daze, and as Tristan walked passed her, he scanned the room to see if Cam had arrived.
"He's not here," Tristan murmured as the bell rang.
Just before Ms. Kilpatrick began to talk, Cam strides through the door.
"Thank you for joining us, Campbell," Ms. Kilpatrick said, writing in her attendance book. "I'm glad to see you are feeling better," she continued, "and I hope you are ready to present your part of the project that we missed out on when Tristan and Maya presented on Friday."
Cam smiled at Maya, but didn't receive any response. Her face remained blank as she stared at her desk, and Cam squinted, looking down, responding, "Yeah, I'm ready."
"Are you?" Tristan blurted out. "Could've fooled me," he said to himself, still audible.
"Is there a problem, Tristan?" asked Ms. Kilpatrick, annoyed by the disruption.
"No, not at all," responded Tristan, nodding his head in reassurance.
"Cam, since you're ready, you can go first," declared the teacher, sitting down in one of the students' seats.
"Okay," he replied in agreement. "As I'm sure Maya and Tristan noted, the Mayans helped cultivate many architectural and linguistic advances," Cam started. "They even made advancements in writing, epigraphy, and believe it or not, the calendar," Cam claimed.
He walked over to the computer, plugged in his USB flash drive, and uploaded a colorful and detailed PowerPoint presentation, full of pictures and words to be defined.
"Remarkable work," commented Ms. Kilpatrick, jotting down some notes on her grading sheet. "I like how you organized the presentation, it shows you spent some time on it," she added. "That's what I like to see! Thank you, Cam, you can take your seat," she applauded.
"Thanks," Cam responded, smiling back at the teacher, and then to Maya, who was still expressionless. He walked to his seat in disappointment, even after giving an excellent presentation. He put his head down and covered his ears with his hands. "I don't get it," he muttered.
Tristan turned his head and saw Cam positioned the way he was, and then to Maya who didn't say a word all day, motionless. Feeling guilty, he began typing a text to Maya:
Hey Maya, I feel bad about this whole thing. I hope you can forgive me.
Maya felt a buzz from her hooded sweater. She jumped up, finally moving, and checked her phone. After about a minute of reading it and shaking her head, she turned around and gave Tristan a subtle smile. Tristan smiled back, but knew that the drama was not over.
As class came to an end, Ms. Kilpatrick applauded and congratulated all of her students, dismissing them a minute early.
Cam ejected himself from his seat, walked passed everyone without saying a word, and was the first one out of the room.
Maya was next, chasing after him, and managed to meet him at his locker.
"What do you want?" pleaded Cam, his eyes all watery.
"Listen, Cam," Maya responded, "there is just way too much going on with you." She looked to the floor, unsure of how to confess what she had to say.
"There's just so much pressure, Maya," he whined, putting his head against the locker. "The Ice Hounds, my family being far away, school…you," he said, a tear dropping from his eye.
"Which is exactly why I need to give you your space," she replied. "That letter you had was not written by me," Maya added. "Tristan wrote it."
Cam turned his head in disbelief. "But you were the one to show up at The Dot," he reasoned, still perplexed by Maya's confession.
"Yes," Maya began, "but Tristan told me he…kissed you, and…well, I don't know what to believe anymore," she said, staring straight into his eyes. "I need some time to think over this, and you need some space to work things out. See you in class, Cam," Maya finished, walking past him.
Once Maya was out of sight, Cam slammed the side of his fists upon the locker, crying.
…
Tristan had no idea of what was about to go down during lunch. Before going to meet with Tori and the gang, he went to his locker to get his lunch bag. Once he closed the locker, he found himself standing in front of Cam.
"Don't you ever kiss me again," Cam said, holding back his frustrations. "Got it?"
Tristan batted his eyes. "After the other night," Tristan remarked, "I'd say it's safe to say that that could never happen again." Tristan lifted his hand and pointed at the lunch bag, saying, "Now, if you don't mind, I have some food to consume."
Cam shook his head in disgust, walked away, and left Tristan standing there.
"Why is he such a good kisser," Tristan sighed, sliding down the locker to meet the floor. He turned his head to Cam as he walked away, with a hopeful look on his face.