Awkward Confrontations
Contrary to popular belief Cammie Morgan did not despise shopping. It wasn't that she didn't like shopping, in fact she found being out with her friends and browsing stores to be quite relaxing, it was just that she didn't have the time do it very often or the motivation to arrange such a trip. She knew that shopping sprees were expensive and sometimes she couldn't afford such a day out. However even though Cammie did enjoy shopping, she also knew that her dear friends Bex and Liz loved it. They could spend hours in one shop and walk out with either four bags full or… nothing. She didn't want to let on how much she liked the activity because she didn't know how long that would last if they made an event of it every other weekend. And Cammie Morgan didn't want to not like shopping.
Cammie entered the Palace Mall between the blonde and the brunette. She had her grey satchel purse hung on her shoulder and her pale pink jeans and floral button up shirt gave her a glow and her light blonde hair in a side braid just screamed adorable. It was such a contrast to Bex's black torn jeans and army green tank top. Liz's grey maxi-dress would have looked awful on anyone but her, but somehow she seemed to have found one that fit her small frame. They looked like the oddest trio in history and yet, Cammie loved it.
"Okay girls. We have to focus on our goal." Bex's voice cut in as they started to walk through the entrance. "We need to find a dress for Cammie." They all nodded
"Do you guys have dresses?" Cammie asked looking at Bex who rolled her eyes.
"Yes Cammie, I have my dress. Although I do think that Liz could use something new. No offense Lizzie," She said and Liz shrugged
"No I'm all for it! I brought my debit card just in case." She said with a little Liz smirk. "I need something in yellow." She said and Bex frowned
"Yellow?"
"Yes, I took a test online to find my color and apparently yellow suits me." She says as though that is was a great achievement. Bex rolled her eyes
"Okay Liz, sure." But the sarcasm in Bex's voice only made Liz smile brighter. Cammie chuckled at her friends as they turned into the first boutique.
"I absolutely love Missy's." Liz said as they started through the racks of dresses. The cream walls of the shop were decorated with pale pink polka dots and framed dress sketches that were lightly water colored. The chandelier in the center of the room emitted a bright light and its pink teardrop crystals scattered the light around the room. Cammie had been to Missy's a few times over the summer with the girls and fell in love with it the moment she stepped in and the vanilla scent of the store consumed her. Not to mention that the dresses and shoes and clothes were to die for. The girls drifted in separate directions after greeting the girl behind the register. Cammie fingered through the different fabrics and colors. She needed something perfect for her evening with Zach. She wanted something that he hadn't seen before, since he had seen her in basically all her dresses now. Cammie wanted the night to be perfect. She wanted him to know how special he was to her, not that she didn't always tell him, but you know what they say; actions speak louder than words. She should know that more than anyone by now. She had the perfect gift for him, Cammie smiled as she thought about the envelope she had back at the house. She and Zach had decided to start again after last year. They wanted to put all the rules and lies and fights behind them because even though Cammie loved Zach, she knew that that relationship just wasn't healthy. It still hurt to think about how it felt without Zach. Cammie had never been in love before that. She thought she had, but she had mistaken hormones and crushes for love.
Cammie continued through the racks of dresses pausing every once in a while to inspect one that seemed to catch her attention. She grabbed a minty green sweet heart neckline and a grey sparkly one. It seemed rather simple with spaghetti straps and v-shaped neckline. After picking her sizes she headed towards the accessory section of the store. The wall of shoes and bags were nearly mouthwatering.
"Found anything?" Liz asked coming up behind Cammie. She couldn't quite find a nice yellow dress in this store and so she had decided she would somewhere else for that color. Cammie shrugged and shook the two hangers so the dresses rippled.
"I think these two look quite promising." She said and Liz nodded eyeing the two dresses. "I'm just looking for some shoes to go try them on with." Cammie continued turning her attention back to the wall. She spotted a pair of silver healed sandals, which would work for both dresses.
"You want to come help me choose?" Cammie asked as she adjusted her grip on the sandals and smiled at Liz.
"Absolutely!" They hurried towards the fitting rooms.
Cammie slid the pink silk curtain shut and closed herself into the small cubicle. There was a floor length mirror and a single chair to put her bag on. Quickly slipping off her jeans and her top she tried on the green dress first. The shoes gave her legs that extra height that she craved for them. They seemed too stubby to her when bare. Fluffing up her hair a bit and twirling for herself in the mirror a few times, she then stepped out so that Liz could give her opinion. Cammie smiled as Liz's eyes lit up,
"Cammie that's so pretty!" she said, Cammie sucked her lip into her mouth and tried not to look too happy. She did like this dress and she had never worn this color around Zach before… it was so different from anything she owned. It brought out her eyes and matched her light coloring nicely. She spun around to face the mirror at the back of her dressing room and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. The dress was a little longer than expected though as it finished right at her knee. She pursed her lips.
"You think it's too long Liz?" she asked and Liz leaned her head back to get a look from a different perspective. Suddenly a British accent took over the silence
"Yes. Too long, go try on a different one- look here I found you this one too." She thrust a little red number into Cammie's arms and pushed her back into the cubicle.
"Change." She demanded and Cam nodded shutting the curtain and hanging the red dress up next to the silver one. She slipped out of the smooth mint fabric put on the red one on. It clung to her body, hugging all her curves. The sleeves were off the shoulder, but the neckline wasn't deep and made up for the bare shoulders. It cut off about three inches above her knees. She turned around and felt a breeze through the triangle cut out on her lower back. When she emerged her friends stopped mid sentence "Bloody hell…" Bex whispered under her breath, as she looked at her friend, she broke out into an all out grin "You're welcome." She said and Liz elbowed her in the side.
"Cammie… you look-"
"Hot." Bex said
"-gorgeous." Liz finished. Cammie bit the inside of her cheek.
"Thanks guys."
"Zach will drop dead and roll over in his grave when he sets eyes on you, Cammie." Bex said smugly, as though the idea of the green-eyed boy dying was so very satisfying. To some people it probably was… The girls walked out of Missy's 20 minutes later. Cammie had a pair of black patina heels and both the red and silver dress in her bag. She had tried on the other just to see how it was and although she knew she was going to wear the red one, she decided that the silver could be a good back up so she wouldn't have to do this next time she needed a dress quickly. Bex had picked up a pair of shoes too, but Liz said she was going to keep looking for her yellow dress. Bex rolled her eyes, she didn't think that anyone would look good in yellow, but didn't say anything.
Cammie wandered around with her friends looking at the pretty dresses and feelings the expensive fabrics. When Bex and Liz entered the fifth boutique she headed across to a casual store that looked like it would have some cute leggings and sweaters for the up coming colder months. Her mind was bouncing around as she wandered around, mouthing the words under her breath to the song playing in the store. She found herself thinking about Zach. Not that it was a surprise to find him in her head; he was always there some way or another. She was both excited and nervous for Zach to see her in her red dress. She hopped he would like it, but worried it would be too much. She really wanted Zach to have a good birthday before the school year really kicked into full swing. She knew he was going to be stressed with football this year, he was depending on a scholarship to get into collage since he had pretty average grades in his academic classes, it wasn't like his parents couldn't afford any collage he wanted to go to though and with Colleen so much younger than him it wasn't like there would be two kids to send at similar times.
Colleen… Cammie's stomach knotted as she thought about the little girl. When Zach went to collage she wasn't sure what would happen to her. She hadn't thought about it before, but now she was worried. She couldn't stay in that house alone, sure, JP was there, but he was a German Shepard not a person. It was illegal to leave an 8 year old home alone. What if she had to get a nanny? The though of Colleen having to spend time with a wrinkly, sour woman with greasy gray hair and a tight bun made Cammie's heart squeeze. Was there anyway Zach could take Collie to collage with him? Or… what if Zach's parents came back properly?
Cammie frowned and picked up a powder blue knit sweater that came down to mid thigh. It was soft and the pair of black leggings she had in her hand would go with it nicely. Sure she had some back leggings, but every girl needed a new pair for the winter months. She searched for a small for the sweater and took the hanger off the rack and then continued browsing.
The party on Friday was going to start at 7 and was taking place at Cammie's house because apparently people liked hosting parties there, and of course, for some reason people liked attending parties there. Paisley was going to have Conner over and a few other friends. They were all syked to be attending a senior party. Especially Zachary Goodie's and Cammie Morgan's. Paisley had suddenly had people who never spoke to her sending her smiles and asking for her phone number, boys and girls. Little freshmen-wannabies. Paisley of course found it all hilarious because she wasn't going to have people use her and her sister to get popular. Besides if she decided to change her mind, there would plenty of future parties' people would also try to use her to get into. There were of course other kids who had sibling seniors, but they were either uncool seniors who weren't invited anyway, not friends of Zach or Cammie or weren't allowed to invite their freshmen brothers or sisters to the parties because Bex had made it impossibly clear she didn't want underclassmen at this party or any future party she attended and nobody messed with Rebecca Baxter. Cammie cracked a smile at the thought of her friend taking a tiny 9th grader and dragging them out of her house.
A pair of little grey ankle boots caught Cammie's eye and she started towards the shoe wall. They were shiny and made to look like short riding boots. She didn't really have anything like them. She reached for them and kicked off her flats and slipped her right foot into the shoe. She loved being a size six because it was the display size in almost every store.
"Can I help you?" Cammie spun around at the unfamiliar voice. There was woman stood there, who looked to be around her early twenties. Her black hair was cropped around her shoulders and half of it was swept up into a small bun. Her winged eyeliner was art and her red lips could be Snow White's. She was smiling politely, her hands behind her back. Cammie mirrored her smile.
"Uh- no I think I'm okay, thanks." She said and the woman nodded.
"Those are supper cute." She nodded down to the boot on Cam's foot. "I bought them in navy last year." She took a step forward and Cammie caught site of a nametag. It appeared her name was Kelsey.
"Yeah, I like them."
"They're great because you can wear them in all weather. They're really durable." Kelsey said. Cammie glanced down at them. That would be useful in England. She knew it rained a lot there.
"Well that'll be handy in Europe." She said and Kelsey's eyes widened.
"Europe? You're from Europe?" she asked quirking an eyebrow. Cammie laughed.
"No, I'm not. I am going over to England for Winter Break."
"No way, that's so cool." She said "I've always wanted to go there. My sister is actually living abroad in France."
"Really? That's on my bucket list of places to visit along with Italy, Greece and Australia." Cammie replied and Kelsey grinned.
"I like you. What's your name?"
"Cameron, but my friends call me Cammie." She said.
"I'm Kelsey, or Kels whatever."
"Nice to meet you."
"You too." Kelsey smiled that could knock a guy off his feet. Cammie smiled back. She seemed so innocent to Kelsey, so angelic with her features, but she didn't know the heartbreak and misery that she had been through, the pain that would always lay deep within.
"I think I'm going to take the boots and these." Cammie said holding up the leggings and sweater she had picked up. Kelsey nodded.
"Sure, I'll meet you over at the counter." she turned on her heel and headed for the register. Cammie took the grey book off her foot and plucked a size 6 box off the shelves before heading in the same direction as Kelsey went. The girl wrung her up and they continued casual conversation. It turned out that Kelsey was 22 and that she attended the same college as Jace's brother Daniel, when Cammie mentioned him Kelsey's eyes widened and she said that she knew him, but didn't elaborate.
When they conversation came to it's final lull they said cheerful goodbyes and Cammie made her way out of the shop.
Cammie checked her phone for the time and it seemed she had been in the store for around a half hour, but she could still see Liz and Bex going through the racks in the boutique across the way. She sighed and pursed her lips. She still had more time to kill, great. At first she was just going to go sit on a bench by the potted tree and vender selling phone cases, but her settled on a coffee house a little further down on the corner with a seating around out in the Mall. She shot both Bex and Liz a quick text about where she was going, the last thing she needed was for them to get separated, and then she headed for the coffee house.
Just as she was about to get on line to order a flash of red hair caught her eye and she turned her head in it's direction, dread and queasiness taking over as she caught sight of the two girls sat in the corner.
Dread set in and she was stunned to the spot for a moment.
Alana and Macey sat, drinking coffee and chatting.
I couldn't believe it.
Alana and Macey?
Since when were they friends?
Since when did Macey stop spitting on the ground that Alana walked on?
Cammie's mouth slowly opened as the real shock of the sight set in.
This must have happened during the summer months, even in school Cammie hadn't seen her with Alana.
She had been hanging around with Olive Benson and that group of girls, although now that Cammie thought about it, Olive's group did mix and mingle with Alana and her minions. Did 3 year of friends ship mean nothing to Macey? Did last year and the things that Alana had done to make Cammie's life a misery mean nothing to Macey?
Because Macey had been there through it all, she had been right there next to Bex ready to rip the red haired girl's hair out. Apparently now they were close enough to get together out of school for coffee.
The ache went deep through Cammie's chest. She had still hoped, even if it had been a little part of her, that she and Macey would work things out, but this… this seemed to be Macey drawing a line between them.
In all Cammie's staring and thinking she had failed to step out of the two girl's lines of sight and now her blue eyes were locked with Alana's.
Alana's face held nothing, it was unreadable, not trace of bitterness or hatred that once burned in them.
She smiled at Cammie and stood up, striding toward the small blonde.
When Macey saw Cammie she couldn't explain the irritation at seeing her ex best friend's face. She didn't even fully comprehend where the emotion came from, it was almost as if she couldn't stand the sight of her, but Macey had always been one to hold grudges and so she didn't fight it. After all she was here with Alana for a reason. Macey stood up an followed after Alana who had now stopped in front of Cammie.
"Cameron, funny bumping into you here." She said her tone coated in the familiar, sickly honey that Cammie knew so well. Cammie didn't even try to force a smile as Alana smiled at her. This surly couldn't be good. "Are you here alone? Pity." Alana said. Cammie shook her head.
"No I was just grabbing a coffee," he eyes flickered to Macey's briefly "Liz and Bex are next door." She finished. Macey didn't react. Alana nodded.
"Oh how nice, you doing last minute birthday shopping for Zachary? You know I was a little hurt not to get an invite to the party." Cammie's heart was hammering in her chest. She didn't like the crawling sensation in her skin she was having. This was an awkward confrontation.
"The door won't be locked, Alana. No one can stop you from coming." Cammie said and Alana's smile broadened.
"Lovely!" she looked over at Macey, "Isn't that nice? We've been officially invited now. I was beginning to worry it would never happen. Lucky we happened into you then." She said. Cammie didn't reply.
"Shame we couldn't see Rebecca and Elizabeth, maybe we'll bump into them on our way out."
"Maybe." Was the only response Cammie could muster. She knew she would regret this. She knew she would kick herself later for being so transparent with how uncomfortable she was right now, but she could help it.
"See ya later, Cameron."
Alana had to resist the urge to smirk at Cammie she smiled and turned to leave Macey hot on her heels. The girl hadn't said a word to the blonde the whole time they had been stood there. Good, it meant that they really weren't friends. No backing out of their arrangements and now they finally had been invited to Zach's party, okay maybe 'invited' wasn't the right word, but Cammie hadn't objected when she used it. Oh yes, things were unfolding nicely.
A/N- OKAY HELLO EVERYONE!
OFFICALLY BACK TO SCHOOL AND I'M SO TIRED ALREADY I CAN'T EVEN FUNCTION. THIS CHAPTER HAD BEEN SITTING ON MY COMPUTER HALF DONE FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS AND I FINALLY DECIDED TO JUST FINISH IT AND GET IT UP.
THIS STORY HAS BEEN AT A STANDSTILL FOR ME BECAUSE OF A COUPLE THINGS.
ONE) THERE WERE A FEW ISSUES WITH THE PLOT THAT BOTHERED ME AND HAVE TO BE STRAIGHTENED OUT WITH TIME AND EFFORT AND PLANNING.
TWO) I'VE WAS WORKING ON MY OTHER STORY POSTED AND FOCUSING ON THAT –IT TOO NEEDS TO BE UPDATED-
THREE) I'M JUST LAZY :)
SO WITH THOSE FANTASTIC REASONS I AM GOING TO APPOLOGIZE TO YOU ALL.
I'M ACTUALLY WONDERING IF I'M GOING TO KEEP WRITING ON THIS SITE… I'M WORRIED THAT THIS YEARS SCHOOL WORK WILL BE VERY IMPORANT AND TAKE AWAY FROM MY TIME FOR WRITING, WHICH ALREADY NOT VERY MUCH ANYWAY.
DON'T WORRY I DON'T THINK I'LL REALLY LEAVE YOU GUYS, BUT JUST SOME SERIOUS SCHEDUAL CONSIDERATION MAYBE.
OH EXCITING NEWS! I GOT ONTO THE STAFF OF THE LITERARY MAGAZINE AT MY SCHOOL (WE'RE AN AWARD WINNING MAGAZINE) AND I SUBMITTED A SCENE FROM LOVE LETTERS TO MAYBE BE PUBLUSHED IN IT! I'M SUPER EXCITED ABOUT IT AND I HOPE IT GETS IN XD
I WON'T BE REPLYING TO REVIEWS FOR THIS SIMPLY BECAUSE THE REVIEWS ARE SO OLD YOU GUYS PROBABLY DON'T HAVE THE FAINTST IDEA WHAT YOU WROTE, BUT I'LL REPLY TO THE NEXT CHAPTER (WHICH I HOPFULLY WILL GET UP SOON)
FINAL POINT: GO CHECK OUT THE POLL ON MY PROFILE FOR WHAT STORIES YOU WANT ME TO UPDATE
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING! REVIEW THE WORD JELLY IF YOU LIKED THE CHAPTER, BUT ARE READY TO KILL ME FOR BEING GONE FOR SO LONG!
