Champagne Problems
Summary: Tired of the awkwardness between her two best friends and wanting them to fix things before they start college in the fall, Trina hatches a plan to get them to talk.
Trina rolled her eyes as she saw Josslyn freeze in her spot as Cameron came up to them. The two still hadn't made up and it was truly getting on her nerves. They'd just graduated and they'd be heading to PCU in the fall. In her opinion, it made no sense why they hadn't made up when the two hard headed, stubborn teens obviously missed each other desperately. Deciding to break the tension, Trina finally spoke. "Hey Cam!" She said with a grin. "Are you coming to DJ's party tonight?"
Cam finally broke eye contact with Josslyn to speak, smile curving his lips. "I am! I'm pretty sure DJ invited everyone in our graduating class." He joked, gaze flickering back to Josslyn who refused to look his way. The grin wilted off his face and he stared down at his shoes.
"I'm going to go talk to Caleb." Josslyn told them, blue eyes spotting the tall, handsome football player and obviously seeing a good excuse. She hurried away from her two best friends and over to the boy in question who turned to face her immediately.
"Wow." Cameron scoffed. "She must really hate me." His eyes were locked on Josslyn sadly, watching her laugh and smile up at Caleb who seemed to preen under the attention of the girl he'd been flirting with for months now. He saw how the other boy put a hand on the wall and leaned toward Josslyn, smiling down at her in a way that was obviously supposed to be charming. Cam had to look away quickly at that.
At that, Trina felt her heart ache. "She doesn't hate you, Cam." She soothed, reaching out to rub a hand up and down his arm. "She's just stubborn. You both are."
"Yeah, but at least I went to see her. I tried to apologize. She didn't want to hear it. Even after I apologized to Jason, she doesn't want anything to do with me." With that, Cam turned sad eyes onto Trina, said a quick goodbye and then bolted towards his mother who he saw talking to one of his former teachers in a corner.
She'd only been by herself for a few moments when she felt someone step behind her and she whirled around, coming face to face with DJ. "Are those two still ignoring one another?" He asked incredulously, his hazel eyes wide.
Trina snorted. "Yeah. It's really annoying, actually. They obviously miss one another but they refuse to talk."
"Hmm..." DJ mumbled before finally speaking. "You know, I could try to get them to talk tonight at the party." He offered. His breath caught in his throat as Trina whipped around to face him her tight curls bouncing on her shoulders and her dark eyes wide and hopeful as they met his.
"Really?" She asked curiously, crossing her arms under his chest. "What's your plan?"
DJ got a hold of himself and smirked. "Easy." He answered. "Truth or Dare. We use one of their dares to get the two in a room alone so they'll actually have to talk, no running away from the problems."
Trina grinned. "You know..." She thought for a moment. "That might actually work." At least she hoped it did. She was tired of seeing the wounded looks that Cam would throw at the mere mention of Josslyn's name or how Josslyn would quickly change the subject if Cam was mentioned. She wanted things fixed before they all went to college together.
"Okay! Now that we're all here, who wants to play a game?" Ever the showman, DJ stood on a table in the middle of the room, looking over the crowd, grinning wildly when people cheered.
"Oh great." Cam huffed, pretending to be annoyed from where he stood next to Trina.
Back at the front of the party, DJ laughed. "So I was thinking that we could all play truth or dare. The rules are obvious. You're asked truth or dare and whatever you choose, you have to either answer honestly or do what is asked. If you refuse to answer or don't do the dare, you have to take a swig of vodka."
A few feet away from them, Josslyn shuffled her feet nervously even as Caleb hugged her closer as he cheered. Of course, there was no reason why Josslyn couldn't say no to the game. It's not as if she could be forced to play. And yet she knew she wasn't going to do that. It was the Spencer in her after all. So she allowed Caleb to lead her over to the middle of the room where the game was going to be played, her blue eyes flickering over to Cam who appeared slightly nervous and Trina who had a suspicious smile on her full lips.
"I'll start!" DJ exclaimed cheerfully. "Caleb, truth or dare?" He asked, crossing his arms under his chest, tilting his head to the side and looking at the other boy.
Caleb gave a smirk. "Dare!" He replied, setting down the beer he had. The arm he had casually tossed across Josslyn's bare shoulders stayed there.
"I dare you to kiss the most attractive person in this room!" DJ ignored the daggers that Trina threw at him. He knew that it seemed dumb, but he had a plan and this was part of it.
Josslyn expected it when Caleb leaned down to kiss her and she allowed it to happen, even enjoying it. It wasn't like Caleb was a bad looking guy. In fact, she could admit that he was one of the most attractive ones that she'd seen. As Caleb pulled away from her and her eyes opened, she saw Cam over her partner's shoulder, his hands clenched into fist at his side as he stared at them. Her attention snapped back to the front of the room as she realized that Caleb had obviously given one of his basketball teammates a dare judging by the laughs she heard.
They played the game for a little while longer until DJ had admitted his truth and then turned his eyes onto Trina. "Trina, truth or dare?"
Trina shifted in her seat and declared loud and clear, "Truth!"
"Does it bother you that Josslyn and Cameron aren't getting along?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Trina saw Josslyn sit up straighter, her nails tapping against her soda rhythmically as her head ducked down. Trina's gaze slid to Cam who sat beside her, staring at her with wide eyes. She took in a brief, steadying breath before nodding. "It does." She admitted. "They've been best friends for over a decade. Since they were babies. I mean, they were friends when I came into their lives. It bothers me that they're willing to give all of that up after one fight." She heard Cam let out a breath next to her but she paid it no mind. Taking in a breath, she looked toward Josslyn who had pulled away from Caleb, hey eyes huge and glimmering with tears. "Josslyn, truth or dare?"
Josslyn breathed out shakily. "Um...dare." She answered, voice sounding rough to her own ears as she tried to hold back the tears. She felt guilty. She hadn't even considered how she and Cam's fight might be affecting their other best friend.
"I dare you to talk to Cam. Really talk to him. None of that bullshit the two of you did last time you talked. Tell him how you feel and why you're so mad. Make him listen." The other girl told her, voice firm as the two of them locked eyes.
"You know, I have a room where you can talk." DJ offered helpfully as he stood to his feet, watching Trina, Cam, and Josslyn do the same. "It will be private." He stepped away from the others at the party, ignoring the murmuring around him and the dirty look that Caleb threw him as he led the way out of the living room, down the hall, and to the basement that his parents had done up into a nice apartment for when family came to visit. He held the door open for Josslyn and Cam, watching them head down the stairs. His hand reached out to stop Trina from trying to following. He shook his head silently and pulled her back through the doorway, slamming the door behind him and locking it. He could feel Trina staring at the side of his head and he ignored it for a moment as he heard Cameron stomp up the stairs and try to turn the knob.
"What the hell, DJ?" Trina whispered frantically, punching his arm lightly. "You didn't say anything about locking them down there."
He snorted in reply. "Do you really think they'd have talked if they weren't forced to?" He asked dryly.
She winced at that. "I suppose not." She answered reluctantly. After all, if her friends were anything, it was stubborn. Especially Josslyn. "But what if it makes things worse?"
DJ stared down at her incredulously. "How much worse can it get? They're already not talking." When he saw that the girl in front of him still looked torn, he continued. "Look, if they do get angry, I'll take the blame, okay? You really don't need to worry." He tried to give her a reassuring smile, relief flooding him when she finally nodded. With that, he put his hand on her back and led her back to the party.
"I can't believe they've locked us in here." Josslyn growled as she stalked from the sofa where Cam sat to the steps, her heels clicking against the tile floor.
Cam gave a bitter laugh as he sank farther into the cushions of the sofa, crossing his arms under his chest. "Wow Joss. I didn't know being around me was such a torture." He spat it out angrily as he watched her head into the kitchen area of the basement to pour herself a drink.
She whirled around, golden hair escaping the glittering clip it was in and falling about her shoulders gently. The skirt of her white dress fluttered around her. "Well what do you expect, Cam?" She snarled. "Did you think everything would be okay just because you apologized to Jason?" She gave a laugh that sounded wild even to her own ears. "You were still ready to kill him. You still treated Jake and I like crap for not agreeing with you. And might I remind you that you told me that I wasn't your friend if I didn't agree. I kept my mouth shut about what I thought until you started throwing accusations my way. And you didn't even do it to just me! You did it to Jake as well, have you even apologized to him?"
He looked away from her then, swallowing guiltily.
Josslyn sniffled. "I didn't think so. Listen, Cam, you're important to me. You've been one of my best friends since...forever. But the way you treated me isn't okay. Especially since you expected me to immediately forgive you because my godfather did. My hurt and anger at you wasn't and isn't just about what you almost did."
"I really am sorry, Joss. I was hurt and angry about what happened to Franco. Even if I did think that Jason had killed him, it wasn't right for me to treat you or Jake the way that I did."
She walked over to the sofa, sitting next to him. She reached down to unfasten her heels, taking them off. "I'm sorry too." She replied, wiggling her toes. "I should've told you from the beginning. I don't know why I didn't." Turning her head, she looked at him. "You know, I really have missed you. You've always been such a huge part of my life, it's felt wrong not having you around."
Cam grinned at that, feeling tears sting his eyes. "I've missed you too." He admitted before he opened his arms hesitantly, unsure if she'd take the offer. He held back a gasp as she through herself into his arms, burying her face in his neck. His own arms wrapped around her back as he kissed the top of her head, comforted by the scent of her rose shampoo. It felt good having her in his arms again and he couldn't help but grateful to DJ and Trina for their obvious plan. "Could we promise each other something?" He wondered finally, still holding her. "The next time we fight, can we talk about it first thing instead of waiting so long?"
Josslyn pulled back to look at him, nodding her head. "That sounds like a good plan." A laugh escaped her lips as she stood to her feet, helping him up. "So, how about we get Trina to let us out of here and tell her the good news?"
He beamed at that. "Okay." He said, feeling his face light up as she reached for his hand squeezing it gently. He was positive this wouldn't be their last fight but after their conversation, he was sure they'd handle it better than they had this time. For now, he was grateful that things were back to normal and that things felt right once more.
The End