Authors Note: I guess people didn't like the last chapter? Because I had twenty reviews for the last couple . . . and I only got ten for that chapter. It was one of the big turning points in the story, too. *Sigh* Oh well . . . Thanks to all that did review though!
Chapter Twelve
- Embarrassment -
To say I was surprised would be the understatement of the century. Even going as far as to assume I was shocked would be wide from the mark. Try mortified . . . and extremely astounded. Flabbergasted and utterly paralyzed by his stunning request.
Never in my two days (that, give me some credit; seemed like forever) of knowing him had I ever imagined Cam Ravenbeck wanting to be my friend.
He was still staring at me with those fathomless dark eyes, boring a hole into my sluggish mind. His expression was carefully unreadable, and I knew he was prepared for the rejection he thought was sure to come.
After a few more minutes of my wordless answer he ducked his head in embarrassment, shuffling his feet awkwardly.
"I'm going to take your silence as a no."
My brain was trying furiously to process his statement, but I was still too abashed to think clearly.
With a sigh he said, "I kind of figured that would be what you said . . . or rather what you didn't say. I thought I'd at least try though."
With a nod in my direction he turned his back to me, sticking his hands in his front pockets and walking down the long stretch of side walk. His head stayed bent, his shoulders hunched over in defeat. I knew that this was going to be one of the few times I saw him looking so . . . vulnerable.
"You're not kidding, are you?" I called out after him in a surprisingly calm voice, still rooted to the spot.
He paused, one foot still suspened in mid air. Slowly he turned to face me once more, giving me a quizzical look. With his brow furrowed he asked the most obvious question a person would in such a situation.
"What?"
"This isn't just some sick joke that you all formulated?" I demanded, frowning to myself.
"They're not that smart Max, we both know it."
I nodded, mulling his preposition over in my mind.
"So you want to be . . . friends?" I inquired, just checking to make sure my hearing wasn't completely out of whack.
"Uh, yeah," he muttered stiffly.
Friends, I thought over and over again. Me . . . and Cam. Friends. I kind of liked the sound of it. It had a certain ring to it, I suppose. It was an occurrence right out of an alternate dimension. Besides, who was I to defy all logic by saying no to this most innocent request?
"I think . . . I think I'd like that," I admitted, giving him a small smile.
Now in any normal circumstance, the person representing Cam would let out a whoop of joy and grin broadly while running to my side and picking me up in a huge hug. Maybe even twirl me around a bit . . . and then slowly but surely, he would fall in love with me.
But this was Cam . . . and that was extremely uncharacteristic for him, which was why I got the faintest flicker of a smile, and that was it.
Wonderful.
"So . . .?" I said slowly, glancing at my feet awkwardly.
I got a small shrug in response.
"Do you . . . uh . . . do you want to come inside?" I asked cautiously, biting my lip anxiously.
He hesitated, a brief look of doubt crossing his features. His brow furrowed, his eyelashes casting elongated shadows across his cheek bones. God, he was gorgeous!
What the-!?
"I mean, friends do that . . . right?" I inquired, crossing my arms over my chest self consciously.
"Uh . . . yeah, I guess they do," he agreed.
"So do you want to come inside? My mom won't be back for awhile." All too late I realized what my words might imply and I flushed profusely before stammering quickly, "The only person home will be my sister."
"Okay," he replied after a moment of thought. "Sure."
It took all my willpower not to sigh in relief.
Slowly I turned and began walking to the front door, checking back over my shoulder every second or so to make sure Cam was still dutifully following after me. I kept expecting him to disappear into the dusk, but surprisingly enough he was there behind me every time. He seemed to sense my feelings because after the first few glances he began to smirk, and then finally he sighed and said, "I'm not going anywhere Max."
I laughed shakily, doing my best to explain; "It's just that . . . well . . . you seem kind of . . . flighty for some reason? That and I keep thinking that maybe you're going to realize you made some huge mistake and disappear."
This made him frown, but he made no comment.
I looked away awkwardly, fishing the key to the house out of my pocket and fitting it easily into the lock. When I had pushed the door open I heard my sisters voice calling from the living room.
"Max, is that you?"
"Yeah," I shouted back, rolling my eyes at Cam before slinging my bag onto the small table. One corner of his mouth quirked up the slightest bit.
"Thank God! Did you know there's virtually nothing to eat in this house?" she asked as she rounded the corner. "I was hoping maybe we could run and get somethi- Oh . . . who's this?"
I wanted to die then, from the look she was giving me . . . then him . . . then me again.
"This is my friend," I muttered, putting obvious emphasis on the word friend.
"Right, right. Well I'm Ella, Max's sister," she said brightly, holding out her hand. Cam stared down at it, not making a move. Finally Ella got the hint and dropped it to her side with a faint blush.
"This is Cam, Ella. Cam Ravenbeck," I introduced him, since it seemed he didn't feel the need to elaborate further.
"Ravenbeck!?" Ella gasped, her eyes wide.
"Is that a problem?" he asked quietly, glaring slightly.
"What? No . . . it's just that . . . well aren't you, like 'it' at the high school."
"You could say that," he said, amused.
"But Max, didn't Alison say you got into a fi-"
"Argument. I didn't get in a fight with her," I insisted, shooting Cam a quick glance. My statement seemed to only make him smile more.
"Well," Ella said in exasperation. "Didn't Alison say you got into an argument with someone from the popular crowd?"
Cam began chuckling lowly to himself and I felt the need to reach out and slap his arm . . . so I did. He rolled his eyes and smiled, like for real smiled. I could even see his shiny white teeth. At that moment my . . . my world lit up like a million suns . . . just like in my dream.
Weird.
"Yes, actually I did. With his girlfriend in fact." I tried to sound light-hearted, but the thought of Cam being with Mallory made my mood darken dramatically.
Ella looked stunned and confused, like she couldn't for the life of her fathom this situation. With a shake of her head she turned around, heading back to the living room and her precious TV. I heard her mutter, "High schoolers," to herself as she went.
I laughed, grinning at Cam. He smirked in return, and I knew that this friendship wasn't going to be hard or awkward. I was going to be just fine with him. It would be ultimately effortless and comfortable, because for some odd reason . . . I already felt like I knew him.
I already felt like he was my best friend.
"Come on, let's go fix this 'no food' situation," I said, motioning for him to follow me into the kitchen.
"Good, because I'm starving," he admitted.
Yeah, we would definitely be all right.
- }{ -
If ever before I had previously thought my appetite was overly large, it was by some miracle that I would discover another who could practically inhale such huge consumptions of food.
It seemed that Cam was a never-ending surprise.
I stared at him incredulously as he polished off his third cheeseburger in about four bites; sucking down the last remnants of his second chocolate milkshake. All before I had had time to distribute Ella's food to her while taking a seat to dig into mine.
"What?" he asked self consciously, setting the empty cup down and folding his hands back behind his head.
I opened my mouth to say something but Ella beat me to it, exclaiming, "I never thought I'd see the day!"
"What?" he asked again, raising an eyebrow.
"Never in all my life did I think it was possible to find someone who could even compare in the slightest bit to Max and her eating habits . . . but here's living proof, right in my very own kitchen," she said in amazement.
Cam smirked, winking at me; where I was stupidly frozen, a bit of lettuce hanging out of my mouth.
"Oh shut up Ella," I mumbled around my mouth full of food.
Sure my mom must have taught me manners at some point in my life, but from the very beginning I had said to heck with 'em! Who needed proper table etiquette when I could stuff my face and be happy all at the same time? Who actually wanted to be all stiff and proper?
Not Max.
With a sigh Ella pushed her half eaten veggie burger away, putting her head in her hands and glaring distastefully at it.
"You'll have to remind me again of when you became a vegetarian," I said, pulling at my straw.
"A few months ago," she replied in a melancholy tone.
"Really? Because I'm pretty sure I saw you chomping on a steak at the Diner with William Hayes a week or so before we left," I insisted, giving her a wicked grin.
She gasped in shock, shooting up immediately. "Why I never-!" she exclaimed, looking harried.
"Oh yes you did."
"No! I lost a bet to Rebecca, so I had to go on a date with him. It was purely forced! I went against my own free will," she claimed, close to tears.
"Yeah right, Ella."
She got a mischievous gleam in her eyes then, and a grin slowly spread across her face. I tensed up immediately, giving her a defiant glare, as if daring her to say something.
"Oh really? What about Troy?"
I froze, my mouth gaping open. I shot a quick glance at Cam, who had perked up in interest.
"Oh yes, good 'ole Troy," Ella said teasingly.
"NO!" I shouted.
"Who's Troy?" Cam inquired innocently, though there was an undercurrent to his words, one which I couldn't exactly put my finger on. There was some emotion, but it wasn't easily identifiable.
"Ella stop!" I pleaded.
"Troy's Max's boyfriend," Ella said in triumph, relishing in my ashen expression.
"Ex-boyfriend."
"Yeah, that's right. You broke up with 'His Gorgousness' when we moved, you idiot!"
"I broke up with him long before that. He was delusional enough to think otherwise, the imbecile. He was such a jerk, and quite possibly insane. I don't know how you can worship him so much. He's not a freaking god!"
It was true. Troy Valdez was gorgeous, and he was seemingly perfect; with his light blue eyes and chestnut locks, and he knew it too, which made him a pompous fool. He thought he had me on a leash, but I wasn't someone who could be chained. I don't know how I could have ever fallen for him in the first place, but just remembering those charming good looks and the gentlemanly fashion in which he usually treated me made my insides melt just the tiniest bit. It was hard for anyone, even me, to resist that smile.
"Max, he was the hottest guy I've ever seen in my life," she insisted.
"Impossible," I stated.
"Oh really? Then name one person that's better looking."
"Easy," I said in an offhand manner, though really I was panicking inside. There was only one person I could think of that was even hotter than Troy, but I don't think I could take the embarrassment of admitting such a thing.
"You can't say Leonardo DiCaprio either," Ella said dreamily. "He doesn't count."
I couldn't help but shoot a quick glance at Cam, and I was surprised to find that he looked kind of . . . angry. It was like a shadow had passed across his face, and he appeared even more brooding than ever.
"Fine," I replied haughtily. "Cam is ten times better looking than Troy ever was."
I wanted to die as soon as the dreaded words left my mouth. Ella didn't seem so surprised, almost like she expected me to say something along those lines . . . but Cam . . . Oh Cam. His head snapped up in shock, and his eyes widened just the tiniest bit; which was enough to make me realize that he had truly not anticipated such a claim.
I'm sure my face was a bright cherry red, my mouth hanging open, unsure of what to say. There weren't really any proper words to mend a situation like this; one that I had plunged myself into without thinking it through properly.
"I- uh . . . I . . ." I stuttered.
Authors Note: Okay, I am officially Queen of Cliffhangers! Haha! Well, you know what to do to get the next chapter. REVIEW!
