A/N: Sorry for the wait. I had a lot more of a social life this week than i had anticipated. Thank you for your patience. I love you for it! Anyway this chapter is a bit longer, and kind of uneventful. I need to work on being a better writer because honestly, I suck at it. Okay so readers, please continue to review and give me suggestions, because I love to include what you want to read. Thank you to all of you! Also, if you like this pairing check out "You and I" by ChemicalPanik. It's such a great story, and the only other Cam and Clare story! Enjoy the chapter!
When we arrive back at the house I notice that Kathleen's care is in the driveway. We go through the door, and Kathleen walks over to us with a smile. "Hello girls! You must be Alli!" she says holding her hand out to shake Alli's hand.
"Yep, and you must be Kathleen!" Alli responds grabbing her hand, and giving it a quick shake.
"Thank you so much for letting me come visit. I already missed Clare so much, and your home is beautiful." Alli says in the polite tone she uses with almost every adult.
"Oh. We are so glad to have you, and thank you! Did you meet my son Campbell yet?" Kathleen asks kindly. "Campbell, could you come out here a minute!" she calls before Alli has time to respond to the question.
Cam emerges from the hall doorway, and says "What do you need mom?" with a slightly annoyed tone. Surprisingly, Kathleen does not grill Cam on his tone, but instead calls him over eagerly "Come meet Clare's friend!"
"I met her earlier, but okay…" he says walking over to us. "Hi again" He smiles at Alli who grins back at him "Hi"
"So guys, I was thinking we could go out for dinner tonight as soon as Randall gets home. You guys should figure out where you want to go." Kathleen tells the three of us excitedly.
Cam looks at her confused. "I thought I was grounded?"
Kathleen sighs and furrows her eyebrows. "Oh. I spoke to your brother about the incident, and he told me not to worry. He's coming over later to talk with you about it, but you're ungrounded." She announces creating a huge grin on Cam's face.
"Thank you so much mom! I promise I won't let you down again!" he says hugging Kathleen quite tightly. She hugs him back warmly.
"I know you won't, because you're my baby boy." She said messing with his hair, and pinching his cheeks in a way that made Alli and I chuckle. "Mom!" he groans in embarrassment causing her to back away from him.
"Cam, go help them choose a place to eat while I change out of these scrubs." Kathleen tells Cam as she heads toward the stairs. Once she is up the stairs Cam looks at Alli and I. "So ugh. What kind of food do you guys want to get?"
"Well, I am probably not the best person to ask, because I like McDonalds." Alli says in a completely sincere tone.
Cam furrows his eyebrows and replies confused. "Okay… What about you Clare?"
"I don't know… I like Italian food, but I'm cool with whatever." I say skeptically not wanting to have to decide for everyone.
"Perfect! My mom and I like Italian food best too." He says with a laugh. "is that okay with you?" he asks Alli politely.
"Yeah" she says nonchalantly. "Cool. I'll tell my mom we are going to Giovani's" he says in a fake Italian accent. I grab his shoulder as he turns away. "Are we cool then? I mean since you're not grounded?" I ask him inquiringly.
"I guess we have to be. Right sis?" he says with an awkward smile as he walks away. When he disappears up the stairs I turn to Alli "Oh my god he just called me sis!" I say annoyed.
"Well… come on Clare, you can't get mad when he is going to be your step- brother like soon." Alli says confused at why I'm irritated.
"Ugh" I sigh loudly "I don't like it when Jake calls me that and I don't like when Cam calls me that! They are not my brothers! The one sibling I had is gone, and therefore no one is allowed to call me 'sis' ever!" I snap.
"Whoa… Calm down. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." Alli says reassuringly.
"I know. I know. Let's just go get ready. My dad will be home soon I'm sure." I say changing the subject.
We go into my room, and change into something a little more appropriate for going to dinner. I assume the place is casual, and honestly if it's not I have nothing to wear. I did not bring fancy clothes with me nor had Alli.
When Alli and I are pleased enough with our appearance we walk out of my room to see that my dad is home, and that Cam is sitting in the living room waiting for everyone else.
"Hey Cam!" Alli says waving at him with a grin. "Hi?" he says in a confused way.
"So I have a question. Are we dressed properly for this place?" Alli asks inquiringly gesturing at her clothing.
"I guess. I don't think it really matters. Giovani's is nothing fancy."
"Kay thanks!" Alli responds excitedly before sitting on the couch across from him. I join her, and we wait for a few minutes before my dad and Kathleen are ready to go.
I am forced to sit in the middle seat next to Cam and Alli, and it is extremely awkward. My father's car is very small, and my leg was brushing against his for almost the entire ride. When we enter the restaurant it's obvious that it is a very casual family restaurant. We are seated at a table where I sit between my dad and Alli. Across from my dad sits Kathleen, while Cam is across from me.
"So girls, I was thinking that this weekend we could go to the beach, and Whimsy World, and then I took the day off on Monday, and I can take you girls wherever you want." Kathleen says energetically.
"Clare doesn't do beaches." Cam interjects looking at his mother.
"Maybe not, but I do, and Clare will deal" Alli says with a laugh.
Kathleen looks at me, and I nod in agreement to go to the beach with them. The waitress comes up, and we order what we want to eat.
"So how have you been Alli?" my dad asks my best friend politely.
"I've been super Mr. Edwards. How about you?" she asks my father back.
"I can't complain." My dad responds. "Well that's good. It's great to see you again Mr. E. You always have been my favorite friend's dad." She says sincerely
"Really?" my dad says with furrowed eyebrows. "Of course Mr. E you're the coolest." Alli says as if it's obvious.
"See Clare! I told you I was cool!" my dad comments making the word "cool" sound really uncool. Everyone at the table laughs at the comment, and our food arrives.
"What did you guys do today?" Kathleen asks all of us teenagers at the table.
"Alli and I went to the park with Lucy." I say with a slight grin. "and I went to Hockey practice and then sat at home" Cam said as soon as I finished my statement.
"Oh. How was the park, girls? I assume no one got pushed into a fountain this time?" she says giggling slightly.
"No. We steered clear of the fountain." I say laughing. "We did see the boy who pushed her n the fountain though." Alli says nudging me with her elbow. "Clare here just could not stop blushing!" All said to Kathleen jokingly causing Cam and my dad to look at me with wide confused eyes.
Kathleen smiled at me in a weird way, and the moment felt really awkward. "I was not blushing!" I say trying to get them to stop staring.
"Come on Clare, you know you like Eli!" Alli accuses.
I can tell now that I am blushing and it is obvious that I do, but still I deny. "I do not like him Alli! Drop it!" I say in an unintentionally hostile tone.
"Okay… okay. Sorry!" Alli laughs.
Our food arrives and we start eating in silence until my father asks Cam "How was hockey practice today?" before taking a sip of his water.
"It wasn't so bad today. The drills are never really fun. I'm just excited for the season to start." Cam states before taking a bite of his spaghetti.
"When is your first game again?" my dad questions curiously.
"September 5, I believe." He declares with a slight grin. Before I even get a chance to think about the significance of that date, my father interjects "What a coincidence… That is Clare's birthday!"
I put a smile on my face and nod, as Kathleen stares at me enthusiastically. "Oh how exciting Clare! I had no idea your birthday was coming up so soon… How do you want to celebrate?" Kathleen questions in a joyous tone.
I finish chewing the food I have in my mouth, before mentioning "I was thinking I would go home to celebrate that weekend, but I haven't thought about it too much."
"Come on Clare… I haven't had the chance to spend your birthday with you in ages." My dad adds looking disappointed.
"You guys are going to be busy with Cam's hockey stuff that weekend, and I don't want to take away from that. It's probably best if I just go home." I add genuinely not wanting to steal any glory away from Cam.
"Oh it wouldn't be a bother at all. We could all go to Cam's hockey game, and then out to dinner. You could bring a friend and everything! It'll be fun!" Kathleen declares happily.
I give a small smile "Well, I'll have to think about it."
By the time we make it home it is almost eight. We had talked with Kathleen on the way home, and decided that our Saturday would be spent at the beach, and our Sunday at the amusement park. I am not really thrilled to be going to the beach, but Alli wants to go, and she is the one on vacation.
I stand in front of the mirror brushing my hair, while Alli paces the floor talking about life back home over the last couple weeks.
"So, like on Tuesday, we were at the dot, and he was acting really weird. I thought he would miss me since he was away at camp for a week, but his attention was on something else. He went to the restroom, and his phone started buzzing. I took a look and it was a text from a girl asking why he just slept with her, and ignored her. When he got back I asked him about it, and he didn't even try to deny it. It's just so... ugh… you know?" she ranted clearly annoyed.
"Oh my gosh Alli, I can't believe he did that to you!" I say clearly concerned.
"I know! I am so mad at him! Now he won't stop texting me telling me how sorry he is, and he doesn't understand. I don't want to talk to him!" she blurts out angrily.
"Why didn't you call me?" I ask in a sympathetic tone.
"I don't know. I didn't really want to talk about it." She says sadly. I turn around, and embrace my best friend in a hug. "Alli, it'll be okay." I say rubbing her back.
She sniffles before pulling away from the hug. "Do you think I could take a shower?" she asks changing the mood of the conversation from serious to a much lighter one.
"Nope! Sorry Alli, you are not allowed to bathe at all while you are here." I say in a sarcastic tone.
"Haha! Come show me how to work it. I feel gross!" She says grabbing my arm and dragging me into the bathroom between mine and Cam's bedrooms.
I hang out in the living room with the rest of the household while Alli is showering.
"Hey Clarebear!" my dad greets as I sit down on the couch next to him. I cringe at the use of my dreaded childhood nickname, and notice Campbell snickering at it. "Dad...really?" I comment annoyed.
"Sorry. I forgot… Hey Clare" he declares correcting himself from before.
"Awe, what's the matter Clarebear?" Cam says still laughing. I take a deep breath, and hold in my irritation.
"So, I was thinking that we would have a little picnic at the beach. We can invite Justin, Kristine, and the baby. It'll be really fun." Kathleen announces with a grin. "I mean you kids can go off and hang out with people your age and all, but Clare I think your father and I would feel more comfortable if you and Alli stuck with Cam. We don't want you getting lost or anything." She says with a smile.
"Okay" I nod with a smile. "What time are we going?"
"Umm… don't know maybe 11. Don't worry it's flexible." Kathleen replies.
"Kay, I'm going to see if Alli is done. I'm kind of tired. Night everyone!" I say exiting the living room.
When I get to my room, Alli is inside getting ready for bed, and I join her. When we finally get laid down it seems that Alli instantly falls asleep. I guess she had a long day with the traveling and everything. I lay in the dark silence and slowly doze off.