Chapter 3: Living on a Prayer
She decided that she was in love with his smile and Maya wished she had seen more of it before Isabella transferred to Degrassi. She couldn't believe all that had happened in the last twenty minutes. He had an extra spring in his step, she noticed, and his radiant smile never once faltered from his face. She couldn't help but smile herself. She had helped him even when she thought it couldn't be possible. Her thoughts had been interrupted when Cam pulled her away from their classroom and onto a nearby locker. The next few minutes had been a whirlwind as he pulled her close and kissed her with everything he could muster. Not that Maya was complaining. This Cam was a whole new side to him and she'd be crazy not to think that this had nothing to do with her involvement in getting Isabella to Toronto and enrolling at Degrassi. She smiled as he kissed her, her hands roaming freely in his hair. I should meddle more often, she thought to herself as she allowed his tongue access into her mouth. She had never done this with a boy before: skipping class and having an intense make-out session. But, she liked this feeling; the feeling of being wanted by someone. It was in that moment that she knew they could survive anything as long as they had each other to catch them when they fell.
She felt his hands cup her face as he pulled away for air. She looked up at him and blushed. Six weeks ago, she didn't even know what she was doing. Now she was having full blown make-out sessions in the hallway and ditching class. She watched as Cam rested his forehead on hers, the boyish grin returning to his face. She could tell he was just as embarrassed as she was but she didn't care. For the first time, Maya Matlin was falling in love and it had been the most exhilarating and terrifying feeling that she had ever experienced. Placing her arms around his neck, she gave him a grin that matched his.
"I'm so happy, you're happy," she whispered, placing a kiss on his cheek. She felt his hand slide down her back only to find its way onto her hip.
"It's all because of you. Even though I should be mad at you for meddling," he chastised jokingly. She chuckled at his joke. Thank God I did meddle or I wouldn't have experienced that, her subconscious relished.
"Who are you kidding? You can't stay mad at me," she said, raising an eyebrow. Cam shook his head before placing a kiss on her forehead. Damn, he was falling for her and falling hard.
"Very true but think about it this way. If I was to be mad at you, I think the makeup would be a hell of a lot more fun," he said seductively, his face extremely close to hers. Maya raised an eyebrow, pursing her lips together. Did she say how much she really, really liked this version of Cam?
"Well if the makeup was half as fun as what just happened then I guess you can be mad at me anytime you want," she teased with a shrug of the shoulders, closing the gap between them. Cam had never seen her this way and he had to admit that he was definitely liking this version of Maya. He had been so grateful for everything that she had done for him and was even more grateful for everything she would continue to do for him. Six weeks ago, Cam had never had a girlfriend. Now, he had the most beautiful girl in school and no way was he going to lose that.
"Thank you for everything, My," he said breathlessly, a single tear falling freely from his eyes. With a soft smile, she brushed the strands of hair away from his face and wiped the tear off his face. She watched as he chuckled in embarrassment.
"Those better be happy tears and you're so very welcome," she told him, pulling him into a hug. Due to their height difference, she found her head laying on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat and sighed in contentment. His heart was beating extremely fast and a faint smile formed on her face as she felt him kiss the side of her head. In that moment, she didn't want to let go because she was perfectly content with staying like this forever.
~Degrassi~
As he walked into the apartment, Cam set the final box down on the floor in his new room. He looked around at his new home in his sister's apartment. After his parents spoke to his billet family, Cam and Isabella had packed his things and moved them into the new apartment within the last hour. For once, since he moved to Toronto, Cam felt like he was home. He didn't feel like he was intruding anymore, even though the Clarkson's always made him feel welcomed. He craved this change and now he finally got what he wanted. He looked around the apartment. It was small, but comfy, and he finally had a room that he could call his own that not situated in an attic. He couldn't wait for Maya to see the place.
"Look I know you're sort of out of commission but are you going to stand there all day or are you actually going to help with moving?" Isabella asked jokingly. He watched as his sister walked across the room with a box in her hands. He shook his head and laughed.
"One arm remember," he said, shaking his cast in her view. Isabella rolled her eyes.
"You may get away with that with your hockey goons but, in this house, I'm the boss of you. Oh that feels so good to say!" Isabella stated excitedly. Cam knew his sister wasn't going to be strict on him. She was always telling him to make the most of his younger years, even though she wasn't much older herself. After unpacking their belongings, the two finally sat on the couch with a bowl of Kraft Dinner in their hands, their feet sprawled out on the table in front of them.
"So... I saw you and Maya making out on the lockers today. Didn't think you had it in ya, little brother," Isabella said, nudging him lightly on the shoulder with her elbow while wiggling her eyebrows. Cam groaned.
"Oh my God! You weren't supposed to see that!" he exclaimed, placing his hands over his face and tilting his head on the couch. He could hear his sister snicker. The disadvantage about having older siblings was that no matter how old you were, they'd always find something to pick on you for.
"Oh relax, it's all part of the human experience. Besides wouldn't you rather it be me then mom. Now that would be embarrassing... I would know," Isabella told him as she remembered the time she got caught making out with Josh, her boyfriend from back home. Well... ex-boyfriend now.
"Oh yeah! I remember that. Mom walked in on you and Josh making out on the couch. How is my future brother-in-law anyways? He must miss you like crazy," he asked. He saw her face falter and he knew something was wrong. Josh was never a touchy subject with Izzy. Hell, he and half the town expected them to be married within the next ten years. She probably just misses him, he thought to himself.
"Um, I'm going to assume he's fine," she stated quickly, staring directly at the television. Even Cam knew when something wasn't right even though he was oblivious to girl problems most of the time.
"What do you mean, you assume he's fine? You talked to him, right?" Cam questioned curiously. He saw her look down at her empty bowl, tapping the fork lightly.
"We broke up, Cam. A few weeks before I came to Toronto," she confessed as Cam shot her a look of surprise. Golden couple of Kapusaksing, Isabella Saunders and Joshua Thomas, split? Why hadn't she told him? He felt a lump form in his throat. Josh and Izzy had been dating since the seventh grade and even they couldn't survive it so how were he and Maya supposed to?
"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked. He internally pleaded with himself that it wasn't because of everything he had been dealing with.
"Nothing really to say about it. You know today when I saw you and Maya, I remembered what that felt like. It was new and exciting but when I was with Josh it stopped feeling like that. It was just so much pressure to meet everyone's expectations and then I thought to myself: 'what's going to make me happy?' And in that moment I realized I forgot what it meant to be independent. I had been in a relationship for so long that I forgot what it meant to be me. I never wanted that for myself," she explained. Cam lingered on her words:
"It was just so much pressure..."
"'what's going to make me happy?'"
"I never wanted that for myself."
Lately, he had been asking himself the same things. He looked over at his sister, who had turned her attention back to the television. She could have been so broken about this but she chose to do something about it. Maybe that's what he should start doing. Maybe he should just eliminate the problem. He needed to be honest with himself and what was going to make him happy. Hockey always made him feel special: like he was destined to do something great. But how was he supposed to be great when he couldn't handle the pressure? He couldn't even handle reporters! He would never make it as a professional player if he couldn't answer a few simple questions or deal with pestering teammates without having a panic attack. Hockey was his life. Now hockey just seemed like a distant memory.
"How did you deal with the pressure?" he asked quietly. Maybe, she'd have the answers to all his problems.
"I shopped," she joked causing the both of them to laugh, "Honestly, though. When things got rough, I'd just close my eyes and think of a happy memory and everything else just seemed to disappear. I also remembered who I was doing all this for: you, mom and dad, Justin, Carly and Dylan." Isabella saw Cam grow silent, looking deep in thought.
"This is about hockey isn't it? You're forgetting why you love it," she declared. He glanced over at her. Sometimes his sister just knew exactly what was going on with him. It was one of the main reasons they had been so close.
"Hockey is my life and I've spent all of it training to do this. But, lately, I just... I don't know what to think of it anymore," he expressed, Isabella placed her hand on top of his and squeezed it gently.
"Hey..." she said looking down at him, "you are the Campbell Saunders. The same kid who broke every record in Kapusaking. But you don't need hockey to be great, Cam. You don't need hockey for the people who matter to love you any less than they already do. Just don't throw away all your hard work because of the bone-heads on your team or because you can't deal with the press because you're scared. You're fifteen, Cam. You're not supposed to have all the answers. Now come here," She said as Cam leaned into her. She wrapped his arms around him and kissed the top of his head.
"You're always going to be my little brother. And whether you're playing hockey professionally or not, I'm still going to love you and so will everyone else. Play because you love the game and not because its what is expected of you," she stated. He nodded his head, her words playing in his head.
Play because you love the game and not because its what is expected of you.
Yeah, his sister always knew how to make him feel better.
~Degrassi~
Isabella surveyed her surroundings as she stood on the steps outside of Degrassi. She'd never done this before. She never, ever was the new kid. She didn't know how to be the new kid. She watched as the students filed into the school and drew in a breath. You can do this Is, she told herself. Shifting her knapsack onto her shoulders, she looked down at her outfit: her black, heeled boots, skinny jeans, tank-top and leather jacket were all in tact. She tightened her ponytail and headed inside towards her locker. The mass of bodies began to overwhelm her and she found herself completely disoriented. Just get to your locker and into homeroom, you'll be fine, she reassured herself. Looking down at her paper, she knocked into someone.
"Oh my God, I am so sorry," she uttered, causing her to look up at the person she had struck. She noticed a girl with jet black hair and front bangs. Isabella awkwardly smiled at her, attempting to relieve the tension.
"Hey, no worries, it happens in crowded hallways. You must be the new," the unnamed girl stated. Giving her a small smile, Isabella nodded her head.
"Yeah, I guess knocking into you and looking at my schedule kind of gave it away huh," Isabella joked. The girl laughed. Well, at least she was making a good first impression with someone.
"Here, let's take a look. Ah, you got homeroom with me and I can show you to your locker. It's right next to mine. I'm Katie Matlin, by the way," the girl responded. Wait... Did she just say her name was Matlin? Weird, that's Maya's last name, Isabella thought to herself.
"Wait... Matlin? You wouldn't happen to know a Maya Matlin... would you?" Isabella asked.
"What did my sister do now..." Katie trailed. Isabella put up her hand to stop her and shook her head.
"No, no, no she didn't do anything wrong. It's really nice to meet you, Katie. I'm Isabella. Isabella Saunders," Izzy said trying to see if Katie could catch on to the hint she was dropping. She saw Katie look up at her in surprise.
"Oh, I didn't know Campbell had a sister. It's nice to meet you. Small world," Katie noted. Isabella muttered a 'yeah' under her breath, laughing lightly. The two stood in an awkward silence, smiling at each other to relieve the tension as neither knew what to say. Just as Katie was about to speak, she watched the Ice Hounds pass by them. Katie had taken notice to Isabella's eye roll towards them.
"Take it you don't like the Ice Hounds either," Katie noticed as Isabella was looking in their direction.
"They're not better than anyone. They're pretty pathetic if you ask me," Isabella snorted in disgust.
"I like you already. Come on new friend, let's go to class," Katie smirked, linking arms with Isabella. Isabella smiled to herself. Not even five minutes into school and she already made a new friend in the form of her brother's girlfriend's older sister. Degrassi was starting to look better and better.
|Degrassi|
Hello my lovely readers! Thank you all so much for your amazing reviews and adding this story to your favourites. This chapter I gave you some sibling love, new forming friendships and a little taste of the relationship between the Saunder siblings. I really hoped you guys enjoyed it and what better way to do that then to leave me a review! Also, feel free to drop me a message if you're too shy to leave a review. I love hearing from you all. Updates may be few because I'll be going into my third year of university this week (so, so crazy!). So all you readers going back to school tomorrow, have an AMAZING first day! To those starting high school, always be yourself and never settle for anything less than you deserve. Four years goes by fast so enjoy it! To high school seniors, walk into school with your head held high because you're seniors BABY! And to anyone starting their first year of college or university, welcome to adulthood! Haha. Don't stress and do the best you can do! It's your life after all. And lastly, to my readers who already started school hope you guys had a great first day back! All the best guys and keep on reading!
- Sam