iii.
Cameron was all Thirteen could think about after their encounter in the café, and when that stupid class rolled around week after week, it was obvious that Cameron was enjoying every second she spent antagonizing Thirteen. First she unbuttoned a shirt button that had no business being unbuttoned in a room full of students and deliberately sat in front of Thirteen as to give her a perfect view of what she was missing out on for the entire lecture.
Then the next week, Cameron wore another low cut shirt, only this time she ran her fingertips through her long, softly curled hair before callously glancing back at Thirteen and catching her looking at her. Amused, Cameron rounded out her teasing with a seemingly innocent, catch-me-if-you-can smirk.
Lifting her right hand up from the papers on her desk and directing the back of it to face Cameron, Thirteen cocked her head to the side and flipped her off. "Fuck you," she mouthed silently to the shameless blonde sitting in front of her.
"You wish," Cameron replied before turning back around in her chair and continuing to take notes with a haughty grin plastered to her face. This was going to be almost too easy.
Then Cameron started wearing skirts to class; something she'd never done the entire blisteringly hot summer they'd spent together even though Thirteen had practically begged her to once. She never even wore a skirt on the extremely rare occasions when Thirteen was guilt-tripped into taking Cameron out on a real "date." Nope. She only wore them now, on Wednesday afternoons in Organic Chemistry 303, Sect. 5.
Annoyed with Cameron's obvious attempts to instigate her, Thirteen leaned forward in her chair and surprised the little nymph with her closeness when a lock of her dark brown hair fell against Cameron's pale cheek. "You think just because you're wearing skirts now that I'm going to suddenly change my mind and ask you out?" She asked, keeping her eyes away from Cameron and focused on the professor. "It's not going to work," she whispered as she sat back in her chair, even though it was a total lie. It only took one quick look down Cameron's long, smooth legs crossed and tucked underneath her chair for Thirteen to realize that her tactics were totally working.
Clearing her throat and tossing her hair back over her shoulder, Cameron shifted her eyes back to Thirteen then quickly looked away. "Almost believed you that time," she snickered with a clever smile before returning her attention back to her notes.
Thirteen scoffed quietly and shook her head at Cameron's unending audacity when it came to getting what she wanted. Later in class, everyone broke up into groups and it was around the time that Cameron started blatantly flirting with one of her lab partners that Thirteen realized that she didn't have to take this shit from her anymore. It was just appalling and desperate of her, really. He wasn't even her type. And even though Thirteen knew this was just a stupid game, it still pissed her off to high heaven that he was getting more attention from Cameron than she was. Still, if Cameron wanted to play dirty, Thirteen could easily raise the stakes and have the brazen little flirt eating from her hand in no time. Only one would win at this game and Cameron had no idea who she was dealing with.
The next week, Thirteen showed up for class looking like she hadn't actually just rolled out of bed. Under her long white pea coat, she wore a dark brown academic v-neck sweater with a tan, collared shirt peeking out of the top. Simple enough, she thought while tying her hair back into two low pigtails that morning, but then she added a loosely knotted, moss green necktie and carefully tucked it into the plunge of her sweater. Applying a lychee-tinted lip-gloss before class and smirking at herself in the mirror, Thirteen was confident that this would ensnare Cameron quicker than anything she could possibly say to her, and she was right.
When Cameron first caught eye of Thirteen hanging up her coat on the back of her chair, she almost visibly tripped over herself. Tightening her lips to avoid gaping, Cameron took her now usual seat in front of and one seat over from Thirteen, got out her lecture materials, then sat perfectly still and facing forward. Like clockwork, a moment later Thirteen propped up her tattered old black Converse sneakers onto the back of the seat beside her. Cameron tried to sit still and ignore her, but soon enough, she took the bait. Crossing her legs towards Thirteen and turning around, she ended their month-long stand off.
"Finally ran out of over-worn and under-washed hoodies, I see," Cameron joked in an effort to hide her inexplicable fascination with Thirteen's chosen attire. She looked incredibly smart. Genteel even.
Thirteen superciliously smiled at Cameron, sensing victory...again. "Do I know you?" She asked, playing along while pretending to ignore Cameron's ever-critical exploration of her from the corner of her eye.
"Funny, I was just asking myself the same question about you," she said with a glint of hope in her eyes. Thirteen was clearly interested in taking their little tango to the next level. Now all Cameron had to do was close the deal and get Thirteen to ask her out. Game over, Thirteen. Victory is nigh, she thought. "You look…" fucking hot "nice," she admitted with a coy smile.
Mulling over an appropriate response, just in case there were strings attached to the compliment, Thirteen settled on a simple "thanks."
Cameron's smile brightened as she returned her attention back to the front of the class when the professor made his appearance and began lecture.
Cameron's reaction was far more than Thirteen had expected and now her resolve against sleeping with her again had been completely obliterated. What was she doing?! Cameron had baited her into this and now Thirteen was not only playing along, but had clearly struck an unexpected nerve with her. Nothing good was going to come of this, but on the other hand, it felt so good to play again. It'd only been a year and maybe two months since she'd slept with Cameron, but she'd forgotten how much she enjoyed the tug of war that always preceded it. Maybe this could work. She would never likely meet anyone that enjoyed the banter of foreplay as much as Cameron did, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to.
"Remy?" Cameron asked, now standing beside her, a puzzled look on her face. Thirteen looked around and watched the procession of students filing out the various exits in total disorder. Was class over? By the looks of things, it was, and by the look of the blank page in front of her, she'd been sitting there daydreaming for the whole class. "Rem," Cameron addressed her again a little louder, chuckling this time as she playfully flipped one of Remy's pigtails against her face.
"I'm sorry, I was…" she drifted, looking up at Cameron and finding herself unable to speak at the sight of her. Those soft green eyes of hers could cure any ailment. If only that were true, she wished. "Uh, never mind," she said blinking a few times to snap the fuck out of it. "What's up?"
"Nothing," Cameron said, taking a few steps up towards the back of the lecture hall and half waiting for Thirteen to follow her, even though she wasn't moving from her seat. "Class is over, Rem," she said once she'd reached the door.
"Oh," Thirteen replied, disappointed. She was hoping for an invitation of sorts. Picking up her bag that had gone completely untouched during class, Thirteen stood up and prepared to leave. "So do you maybe want to meet up somewhere tonight?" She asked on impulse as she pulled on her coat, but quickly realizing that Cameron had ditched her. "Cameron?" She asked, looking around.
Rushing out of the empty classroom, Thirteen looked down the long corridors until she spotted Cameron just as she was wrapping a light pink scarf around her neck and pushing the door open to go outside. Shit, Thirteen thought while running like a fool down the hallway. It wasn't like she would never see her again, but waiting another week suddenly seemed like an eternity.
"Cameron!" She yelled, out of breath and colder than she'd expected to be once she'd made it outside.
Cameron stopped walking and turned her head to the side, unsure if her ears were deceiving her or not. But then she heard Thirteen call for her again and a huge, narcissistic glow ignited within her. She'd won. Trying to hide her pride before turning around, Cameron waited for Thirteen to catch up. "So we're back to nicknames, I see. Does that mean that you want me to come over tonight?"
Yes, Thirteen thought. "No."
Cameron scoffed at the blatant rejection. "Then what?" She asked, perching a hand on her hip to make sure Thirteen was well aware of her indignation.
Thirteen laughed, defensively raising her hands from out of her coat pockets. "Whoa, it's not that I don't want you to come over…" Hesitating for only a moment, Thirteen slinked up to Cameron and took the ends of the pink scarf into her hands, fingering the delicate cashmere fabric for a moment before lifting her impossibly bright viridian eyes to look back at Cameron. "Because I do…but I'd rather you pick me up first. Say…maybe 8ish? On Friday?"
"Are –" Cameron stumbled, "Is this one of your fucked up jokes?" She asked cautiously. "Or are you really asking me out?" She could almost hear her heart bursting from its cage and her lungs simultaneously giving out on her from just the possibility that this was really happening. Thirteen had made it abundantly clear a year ago that she didn't date anyone, but here she was asking Cameron out on a date. She couldn't believe it!
"Well I'm trying to, but you're not exactly making it very easy on me," she replied, tucking a fallen strand of hair back behind Cameron's ear.
Stunned by Thirteen's change of heart and sudden sensitivity, Cameron couldn't come up with a clever enough quip to deflect what this might really mean. It wasn't like this was the first time Thirteen had swept her off her feet, but the last time she was being commanded into a well-lit room and stripped of her clothing – and dignity – in less than 10 minutes. This was entirely different. Her knees were weakening at Thirteen's willingness to be vulnerable and emotionally available to her. She hadn't felt like this since she'd fallen for…
She stopped herself from comparing the two any further. They were different people and she was not in love with Thirteen like she had been with her husband. She couldn't be. But she was lonesome and being with Thirteen had always dulled that constant fear and pain of being alone and…unneeded.
"I don't even know who I'm talking to right now," Cameron whispered.
"Should I just take that as a yes then?" Remy asked, looking straight through the scared, brick wall that Cameron had quickly built between them. When Cameron nodded, a shy smile and subtle glow coming to her cheeks, Thirteen let go of her scarf and respectfully took a step back from her. "Wear something nice. A skirt," she suggested with a wink, though it was really more like a request.
When Thirteen turned to leave, she shoved her hands back into her pockets and listened as her Converse sneakers crunched and squeaked quietly against the snow-dusted brick sidewalk until she was back inside the building and on her way to her next class. Never once did she turn around to see Cameron standing there in the snow, dumbfounded but ever skeptical.