THE PROM

Author: Nyrki

Chapter 5: Cameron's Gamble

Many thanks to my reviewers: olischulu, Sedgie, PSG1JOHN, XxDeathStarxX, arthur1920, Lsquare, EvilTheLast, CloudyShadows, Velhu, TCandBTLSluver and KevinInScotland. Thanks for your support and your valuable comments.

I haven't updated since a long time and I apologize. I've been very busy at work and helping a close friend lately. I also had a kind of writer's block following a very good remark from XxDeathStarxX who got me alter chapter 5.

Now I'm back, at least our protagonists.

Recap: At the party, Riley took advantage of a discussion between Cameron and her teacher in mathematics to take John away and try to seduce him. Unable to do anything about it and on Morris' insistence, Cameron tried and enjoyed dancing until Morris clumsily tried to make out with her. She slapped him, upset that he tried. When Riley went to the bathroom Cameron decided to follow and tell Riley to leave John alone. However, hesitating about what to do, she let Riley escape. Cameron knew that the inconclusive encounter will eventually make her face John's wrath. Has she lost him?

D-Day, Friday 10:17pm

Cameron was standing unnaturally still alongside the buffet with a face expression she wanted to keep blank, but eventually she was unable to hide the deep distress she was currently in. She considered that she was about to lose the risky game against Riley she'd started herself, and her advanced AI could not infer anything to prevent it from happening.

Her tactical systems raised an alarm to inform her that her current behavior was getting suspicious and that in the crowded area, she was suffering an 82.8% chance that somebody noticed it. For that matter, her systems informed her that somebody was heading in her direction. The full activation of infiltration routines was strongly recommended but Cameron did not comply.

She noticed a girl slowly walking over her. She was slender and elegant with a sporty look, long straight light blonde hair that flowed down to the small of her back and intense blue eyes that matched in color her classy dress. Cameron couldn't help but noticing her breasts too, not as big as Riley's vulgar ones, but ideally sized and shaped. She wished she had the same.

"Hello, Sweetie," the girl said with a light but very pleasant smile.

"Who are you?" Cameron flatly asked.

"My name is Cara," the girl replied. "I, um, not that I was spying on you, but I witnessed what happened with, um, the boy who, um, visibly undertook an unfortunate action with you…" she tentatively added.

Cameron tilted her head, not knowing what the girl was talking about and where she wanted to come to. "I don't understand. Be more specific, please," Cameron required.

"Well, I imagine the boy you slapped did something you didn't appreciate much," Cara explained.

Cameron didn't see any reason to refute, as the scene happened in a public area. "Yes, I pushed him away," she admitted.

"He tried to hit on you badly," Cara ventured.

"No. He wasn't that violent," Cameron replied.

Cara froze a slight moment in confusion. "He hasn't been nice with you?" she rephrased.

"Yes. He tried to abuse me."

"Welcome to the club!" Cara said sarcastically.

"There is a club?" Cameron asked, tilting her head again.

"You're funny. Look, um, what's your name, Sweetie?"

"My name is Cameron, not 'Sweetie'," Cameron corrected.

Past the strange initial contact, Cara sensed that Cameron needed comfort. "Listen Cameron, boys are assholes. All they want is to sleep with you, they don't even care about your name," she said while gently stroking Cameron's forearm, who didn't seem to take any offense at it.

Cameron didn't understand what so rude about an unknown boy wanting to merely sleep in her company, rather incongruous at the most. She saw no threat, even for a human girl. Besides, with her lack of need to sleep, she considered that this situation could never happen.

"I'm not concerned," she therefore declared.

Cara had to contradict the girl. "Oh yes you are." She considered that despite her age, the reckless girl seemed to underestimate, even disregard the risk of being abused. She thought it was her duty to warn an apparently weak and inexperienced Cameron about it.

"Why?" Cameron asked, still not seeing any threat in such a situation.

Cara opened wide her eyes, "You know… sex!" she casually said.

"Oh, thank you for explaining," Cameron said, realizing the misunderstanding caused by her lack of comprehension of yet another unknown human expression. She added the new entry in her thesaurus, never to make the same mistake twice.

"It's a pleasure to help, pretty girl," Cara greeted her, placing her hand on Cameron's. She found Cameron's skin very soft and thought it would be an even greater pleasure to take time exploring the beautiful body with silk-like skin.

Pretty girl? I don't understand. Maybe it's a specific expression of politeness during a discussion between two females. I have to reciprocate.

"Maybe they're not all like that," Cameron wished loudly, thinking about John. She didn't really know however, as John never asked her to sleep with him. He may have been sometimes rude to her, but at least he never tried to abuse her. Not that she would really complain if he did. She wondered why her attractiveness didn't seem to work on the only boy she wanted it to. She let out a sigh of frustration. What's wrong with me?

"Yes they are, I can tell you… at least in this school," Cara assured.

"You've tried them all?" Cameron asked in surprise, her logic telling her that if someone asserted something, then they had extended proof about it. She considered it would be a hard and long task, even for a tireless cyborg. Then she frowned at the idea John was attending this school too and she felt a pang of jealousy.

"Ugh no! I'm not such a slut," Cara defended herself with an overplayed fake outraged look on her face. "But I've been going out with enough boys to be able to draw a general conclusion about the male sex."

Cameron recalled her discussion with the drunken man, minutes ago. "That is correct. Sluts are women who have one night stands," she bluntly declared.

"Woah Cameron, you're too categorical. I have to disagree. You can have a one night stand without being a slut," Cara explained. "Well… this is what I think."

Cara's remark pleased Cameron. Cara just told her she wasn't a slut despite the fact that she was able to stand guard one whole night and therefore she wouldn't have to try all the school's boys. A relation with one particular boy was all she was interested in.

"Thank you for helping me, pretty girl," Cameron said with a small smile, placing her hand on Cara's.

Cara was pleased with Cameron's encouraging reaction. She thought that maybe she could make out with her.

"You're welcome. Only a girl can fully understand another girl. This is why I changed radically, if you see what I mean…" Cara said with a seductive look.

"No."

"Oh, come on Cameron, you're teasing me," Cara said with a slightly pleading tone. "Maybe you should try something different. Maybe you should look for somebody who really cares for you. I…"

"John…" Cameron whispered, looking down.

"Oh," Cara let out with a touch a disappointment in her voice. Too bad, her heart already belongs to someone else. She remembered Cameron calling the boy she slapped 'Morris' so she asked, "So if you want to be with this John, why going out with another boy?"

"I promised," Cameron justified.

"It looks like you made the wrong choice, girlie," Cara said. She couldn't quite believe it, but again, Cameron's naivety surprisingly suggested she was living her first love story despite her age and her looks. She seemed to have this John deep under her skin but something was wrong. She decided to carry on, she liked Cameron. "Do you love that John?"

"I think I do," Cameron offered without much conviction, as she didn't know herself if it was true. She didn't know exactly why, but sharing her emotional burden with somebody was somehow soothing.

"You think? Cameron darling, listen to your heart and when you're sure, just get him. Don't wait for him," Cara advised her.

Listen to my heart… I don't have a heart, so I will never know?

"But he is with another girl," Cameron said ruefully.

"Oh. I see."

"I know she's not right for him," Cameron continued, still in a crestfallen tone that suggested she didn't know what to do against it.

"But you think you are. So get rid of the bitch," Cara proposed.

Cameron stiffened. So even humans agree I should terminate her. "Get rid of the bitch," she softly repeated.

Noticing the weird stare Cameron had when she spoke, Cara felt the need to rephrase. "I mean, oust her."

Bummer.

"My previous girlfriend ditched me two months ago," Cara continued.

Girlfriend? Oh!

Cameron realized what kind of relation Cara preferred and with that the real significance of all the various ways she'd called her. She understood that she unintentionally encouraged Cara in the belief she would willingly engage such a relationship with her. Cameron felt flattered to be hit on by an attractive girl, but she soon started to wonder how she could clarify nicely the situation, as she didn't want to be rude with someone who'd listened to her. Again, Cameron found something reassuring discussing with the pleasant although pushy Cara. She wondered if appreciating discussions between girls was a common human trait or if she inherited it from Allison Young's matrix. She inwardly frowned at the counterexample that Sarah represented.

"The bitch ditched me for another girl and never dared to tell me face to face. I don't blame her though, as it was with my best friend. Well, my now ex- best friend. Can you believe it?" Cara explained, now visibly very upset. She was about to follow on as this question never required an answer but Cameron cut her.

"Yes I can," she confirmed with a serious tone on her face.

It made Cara chuckle as she was already getting used to Cameron's strange ways.

Cara resumed her little story. "Anyway, I know this is vain, but I stole my ex-girlfriend's cell to find the name and call my ex-best friend to leave a nice appreciation message. Then I called the time service and never hung up. It must have cost her…"

"Find the name?"

A plan brewed in Cameron's head. Maybe there was finally a way she could find out what Riley was up to with John. It was risky and she knew it could worsen the situation for what she would have to face John's wrath sooner than expected, but she decided the game was worth it.

"Yeah. I'm not very proud of what I…"

"Thank you," Cameron snapped her again with a bright smile and placed a quick peck on Cara's lips before swiftly leaving her. She'd seen people doing that in similar circumstances in certain movies, she thought it was appropriate to replicate. Besides, she felt it was something she should do, in a sign of both appreciation of and apology to Cara.

Cara recovered from her initial surprise and grazed her lips with her forefinger where Cameron's had touched hers. She smiled. She maybe couldn't date this pretty Cameron, but the girl was sweet and funny, she inwardly wished her good luck with her John. I really hope for you that I was wrong about boys, at least one of them, she thought, and then about herself that she would probably not be able to find another girl as pretty as Cameron tonight.

###

As soon as the night fell, Sarah and Derek decided to sit out on the patio, windows wide open to let the music out. They were relaxing – flopped would be a better description – on canvas chairs, and now a lot of empty bottles laid strewn on the ground.

Alcohol was starting to produce its effect on both of them, although they had a far greater resistance than average people. This was unexpected for the rather petite raven haired woman, but Sarah could deceive people about a lot of things.

"…and just when he wanted to close his fly, a triple 8 emerged right in front of him. Someone shot at it with his plasma rifle and it fell right on top of him. Jesus, it was like he was… well, you see… We called him 'metal maker' for almost a year." Derek slapped his thigh as he finished his story.

They laughed heavily at the funny story Derek told Sarah. She took yet another sip of her beer and frowned. "This beer tastes like crap. Don't you have anything better?" she threw to Derek.

"And you just waited all this time to mention that? How can you say, you're drunk!" Derek said.

"No I'm n… not," Sarah boldly asserted, lifting her chin up and peering at Derek with a 'who-do-you-think-I-am' look on her face but struggling to stay upright. "Bring in something more serious, would you?"

"Alright ma'am, I'm gonna see what I can get from my personal reserve," Derek answered. He gave a serious look to Sarah.

He stood up with difficulty and staggered back into the house. While waiting for his return, Sarah looked up at the bright stars and let her thoughts wander about various topics that concerned her. After a long moment, she realized Derek wasn't back, she called his name.

"Hey Reese! What are you doing?"

She heard a noise like something fell to the ground. A few moments later, Derek reappeared and sat back into his chair, almost falling over as he didn't aim properly. He put a bottle of Tequila and two small glasses on the little table between them. "Hum, sorry, I got distracted," he offered.

"I bet you fell asleep," Sarah ventured.

Derek nodded sheepishly and rapidly changed the subject. He poured the corrosive liquid into the glasses and said "Try this. I think you'll like it." It'll bring you down in no time.

Sarah took the glass and emptied it in one gulp, hardly wincing after that. "That's better, where does it come from?" she inquired.

Derek's jaw fell. Now I understand why she became a legend.

"Uh, Mexico. They told me it was the strongest they have," Derek said while looking suspiciously at the bottle. He started to wonder if he had not been swindled. Then he recalled about Sarah's past in South America and considered that she probably hadn't drunk only water there.

Apparently impervious to the effects of the strong beverage, Sarah went melancholic again. Or perhaps had alcohol this peculiar effect on her.

"I wonder how it is going for them?" she suddenly asked, looking at nothing in particular.

"For who?" Derek asked in return, his brain no more functioning at one hundred percent since a long time.

"John and Cameron," Sarah made clear. She hoped John was enjoying the moment. She found herself hoping that Cameron had a nice moment too for her own standards and that she could learn much about humans.

"I'm sure John is spending a nice evening with this Riley girl," Derek said.

Sarah smirked.

"And if the metal hasn't killed everybody yet, I bet it's making a nice demonstration of break dance," Derek sarcastically added. He might be drunk, but he could still save a little consciousness to say something nasty about Cameron. "I knew I was right to advice her to use some oil."

For some reason she didn't quite understand why she found Derek's remark inappropriate. She lied to herself again by putting her reaction on the effects of alcohol which otherwise tend to relax her.

John, Cameron, Riley. For different reasons, she didn't like any of the respective relationships between these three. Bad luck, they were precisely altogether out for the prom night and currently, there was nothing she can do. She made a silent vow that nothing bad happened.

###

Cameron looked over to see John and Riley standing alone against the wall. As she expected, John called her name right at the moment he saw her heading towards them.

"Cameron, come here," he summoned her.

Cameron calmly walked over him. "Yes John?" she replied innocently, passing behind Riley to face John, putting her hands behind her back, like a child about to be told off. Unbeknownst to John and Riley, she grabbed an item that was lying on the buffet table, right behind her.

John glared at Cameron. He looked upset. "Riley told me that you threatened her in the bathroom. Why did you do that?"

"We already spoke about this John. You know what I think," Cameron retaliated, now with a perfectly blank expression on her face, making it impossible to determine what she was thinking. She knew she couldn't convince him, but she didn't waste the occasion to remind him what was at stake, without giving anything away for Riley or setting John against her even more.

"Well, I do. But this is not your choice to tell who is right for me and who isn't. This is my decision. Mine!" John told with much anger in his voice as he forcefully stressed on the last word. "Stop meddling in my private life Cameron. Do I make myself clear?" he continued.

"Yes."

"And stay away from Riley. If I learn that you hassle her again then I'll bur–, um, make you regret it. Understood?" His anger almost made him slip but he caught himself just in time.

"Yes."

His message duly transmitted, John unceremoniously dismissed her. "Now you can go back with Morris."

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't go back with him?" John asked in surprise.

"I ditched him. He has been rude with me," Cameron said flatly, her face still blank.

"Is he alright?" John asked too quickly, fearing for Morris' health. He regretted immediately his question, as if something dreadful had happened, the party wouldn't have continued. Besides, he thought Riley would find it strange that even upset towards his sister, he didn't ask if she was alright instead. A brother was always supposed to protect his sister against indelicate boys. He was relieved that Riley didn't seem to notice. But before he could change his question, Cameron answered.

"Just a sore cheek," she said with a small grin. "He tried to touch my ass."

John relented a bit and he took the occasion Cameron involuntarily gave him to correct his position.

"He did what? I'm going to kill him! Cam, are you alright?" It was effectively the right question to ask in relation to their cover, but he soon found himself really wanting to know the answer. He'd promised himself to follow her development and tonight was a true test. He surely wanted to be with Riley, but he felt a bit guilty for not following Cameron's progress. He hoped that she would catch it and enter his game.

But Cameron was confused. Her infiltration routines informed her it was the most appropriate thing for him to say and according to the situation, it was illogical John would ask her about her well being. Despite the odds, she wondered if John was really concerned. She hoped he was so she decided to reply frankly. "I was upset he did. But I'm okay now, thanks for asking," she said with that trademark ghost of a smile, making it impossible for John to determine her actual train of thoughts.

Unbeknownst to the fake siblings, Riley rolled her eyes.

John's brows knitted. He couldn't tell if Cameron was acting for their cover's sake or if she really was upset. However, he concluded that it didn't change what she did to Riley.

The situation was becoming a bit too awkward for him between Riley and Cameron. He was torn between his desire to stay with the nice blonde girl who seemed to appreciate him and his confused budding feelings for the cyborg he still refused to admit. But upset by Cameron's fault and pushed by his hormones, he dismissed Cameron. "Okay. Now leave us alone," John told her. Besides, he thought it would be suspicious to keep Cameron nearby in the current circumstances as well.

"What shall I do now?" Cameron asked like if she was probing him.

"You're a big girl, you don't need me to tell you what to do," John cryptically answered. This might accurately sound a bit rude in Riley's presence, but he hoped Cameron would get it as an encouragement to experiment.

But Cameron wasn't in the mood to experiment. She was on a mission to save John and get him back to her, even against his will.

No you don't, she thought, and I hope I'm right because if I don't… She stopped as she was confused about what was the most annoying to her, failing her protection mission or losing John's confidence forever.

Riley inwardly smirked. She initially didn't know if it had been a good idea to tell John about her encounter with Cameron, but to her credit, she hadn't been quite able to hide the panic she felt. Now the machine's plan seemed to backfire on itself as she managed not to give anything away. She thought that at this point, she was close to a full success, winning John over the machine. She was sure John's concern for his 'sister' was fake for their cover's sake. Maybe in a couple days she could even pretend Cameron hassled her again, John wouldn't even listen to the machine's explanations, sealing her victory for good.

Cameron turned and headed towards the entrance, taking away the mysterious object. Even if the confrontation was part of her plan and that thanks to her infiltration protocols she didn't appear to back off, she didn't feel pleased and reassured at all. Having an argument with him was something she never liked.

She went outside the ballroom and the building and headed towards a spot where nobody could see her. She took a look at the object she'd stolen a minute ago. It was Riley's purse. She'd faced John's anger just to be able to get it and therefore, now she hoped her salvation would really be inside. Without further delay, she went through it and found some items.

A credit card. She casually dropped it to the ground, hoping that somebody would find and use it.

A red lipstick. She threw it away. A few seconds later, a car's alarm started to blow in the parking lot.

A condom. Cameron smirked. It only confirmed what she'd suspected in the limo. Yes, Sarah would definitely say she's a whore.

At last!

Riley's cell phone. Cameron could at last verify her hypothesis. She browsed the contacts directory. Foster parents, social services, school, some friends and then… 'Jesse'.

She hit the recall button and waited.

"Yeah?"

Cameron mimicked Riley's voice. "Jesse Flores?"

"Damn Riley, I told you never to call me by my name. What's wrong? You seem… Oh shit!" Jesse immediately hung up, realizing she'd been tricked by the machine and therefore unmasked. Unfortunately for her, it was too late as Cameron could snatch the information she needed. Her lips curled up into a hint of a smile in satisfaction. However she wasn't quite sure about what she was most satisfied with, mirroring her previous fears: Finding out about the plan and assuring her protection mission or eliminating Riley and having the possibility to get closer to John. She made a mental note to analyze these different options later.

Cameron sighed. Although she now had all the cards in hand, she still felt uneasy. She was soon going to unmask Riley, but she didn't know how John would react. Or more exactly she perfectly knew how he would react at first. She had no idea how the events would go on after she'd explained what she knew about the plan. She found this certainly far more difficult to handle than the issue of a battle against another terminator. Yes, the fact was, she dreaded facing John more than a terminator and she was confused about it.

On her way back to the ballroom, she went along the parking lot and spotted their SUV.

###

Derek's Tequila bottle didn't live long. The bottle that now lay on the table was empty since long ago and so were the canvas chairs. Upon Sarah's insistence, they returned into the living room and started dancing when the music turned softer.

Derek had his arms around her waist while she was resting hers on his shoulders. They were slowly moving almost in accordance to the music rhythm. Their current condition wouldn't allow them to handle anything faster.

Sarah had seldom been physically so close to Derek and that'd been in the heat of the action. During more quiet moments, she'd always kept a certain distance with him, as she didn't quite appreciate his manners, or more exactly his lack of manners. But tonight was different. She didn't know if it was the effects of alcohol or Derek himself, but she noticed he was holding her with care, like if he wanted not to get into her personal circle without her agreement.

This demeanor reminded her of someone but her fuzzy brain didn't immediately put a finger on it. Wait, not so many men have been so close to me… Kyle! Sarah recognized some of Kyle's mannerisms in Derek's. Blood is thicker than water, the proverb had never been so true, she thought. She felt she was into friendly arms and she did something she very scarcely allowed herself to do: she relaxed and let her guard down, relishing the benefits of the self-indulgence. She let her head softly resting on his shoulder.

When Sarah had asked him moments ago to have a dance with him, he initially declined, pretending he didn't know.

"C'mon Reese," Sarah pleaded, "I'm sure you had parties before J-Day and I'm sure you were no wallflower. Don't be shy, we're alone, there's no one to laugh at our clumsiness."

She was right, but it had rather been Sarah's soft mood and apparently genuine desire to dance that eventually convinced him. So he gently snaked his arms around her and made his best no to make Sarah uncomfortable and be a gentleman to her. Sure it was harder due to all the alcohol he'd gulped down, but it was also what precisely allowed him to do it. If he'd been sober, he would have probably felt much more embarrassed and awkward.

He felt Sarah gradually relaxing and eventually resting her head onto his shoulder. He realized she let go all of her defenses and he could glimpse a very sensible and vulnerable Sarah. He focused on her, gently moving in unison with her and the music. There wasn't anything left in their small world.

But in reality, there actually was. Derek stumbled over the couch which hadn't been put away properly. In her initial mood, Sarah didn't have time to prevent him from falling back and he hit the back of his head against the corner of the table. He screamed in pain.

Sarah hurried to help him get up and sit on the couch. Derek passed his hand on the back of his head and looked at it. There was blood on his fingers.

"Shit," Derek growled.

"Stay there," Sarah said, hastily heading towards the kitchen to fetch the first aid kit. "I'm gonna fix that." She got back with the small white suit case with a red cross on it.

"Take a look down there," he vaguely indicated with his hand waving.

She sat on the couch's armrest to be more comfortable to examine Derek's head. She took absorbent cotton, poured some disinfectant on it and undertook examining Derek's wound. She moved Derek's hair apart and stopped.

"What? This scratch?" Sarah called.

"Come on, it hurts like hell," Derek replied.

Sarah sighed and tended to the wound. Every time she tapped the cut with the cotton, Derek let out a small cry of pain. "Ow! Ow! Careful!" he complained.

"You poor little boy," Sarah said while finishing. She soon inspected farther.

"Oh, is that a knife cut scar?"

"Yeah, I got it the day we attacked Century camp. A triple 8 nearly chopped my head in two," Derek told.

"Really? I've got one nice cut scar too," Sarah said joyfully. She removed the right strap of her dress and turn to show him the back of her shoulder, crossed by a 3-inch vertical strait scar. "That bastard liquid terminator did this to me when I escaped from Pescadero. It stabbed randomly through the elevator's ceiling."

Derek passed his finger over the scar. "Pretty! You've been lucky to get through. But a cut is not worth a bullet wound. Look." He opened his shirt and showed her the scar in the middle of his chest from the bullet he received just after they rescued him. "22. Almost got me, you know that."

"Yeah, I remember. I see it left quite a nice mark," Sarah appreciated. "Okay. I have a bullet hole in stock too," she retaliated. She rode her dress up to the top of her left thigh. On the inner side of her leg was the mark of her visit to Desert Heat & Air.

"I don't know if reckless injuries count," Derek said, his gaze leaving the mark to linger over the rest of Sarah's tonic thigh.

Sarah knocked Derek on his shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You're the reckless one. Stop checking out my legs," Sarah scolded him in a frown. However, he didn't fail to notice that Sarah did not put back her dress in place afterwards.

"Hey, I wasn't…" Derek started before realizing he'd been as much discreet as a wart on the nose when he did, so it was useless to argue. He rapidly resumed their little game, hoping she would let it go. "Anyway, you can't have one like this," he said. He removed his shirt and turned to let Sarah see a large burn on the lower left side of his back.

"Woah! What is it? A burn?" Sarah inquired.

"From a plasma rifle shot, yes," he confirmed.

Sarah couldn't help but touch and feel how rough and uneven his skin had become under the fire of an arm that didn't exist yet. She briefly remembered the tales of battles Kyle told her so many years ago, while Derek explained, "I got this shot during the Serrano Point battle, but damn, we had to do it."

Sarah was surely impressed by Derek's war wounds, but she was determined not to let him win their ridiculous teenage-like contest. "Remember, you're not the only one to get battered by machines! Check this out." She removed the other strap of her dress and lowered a bit her dress just over her breast, revealing a perfectly round mark.

"Another bullet?" Derek asked.

"Nope! T-1000 again. It changed his finger into a blade and pierced through my shoulder." She briefly turned to show a similar but slightly smaller mark in her back.

"Ugh! That's gotta hurt," he said while he gently brushed the scar with his fingers. He realized how much she'd suffered over the years. "That's gotta hurt," he repeated much softer, almost in a whisper. Never breaking contact with her soft skin, he brought his hand up behind her neck and started pulling her slowly, intently staring at her. Alcohol, closeness, admiration, he lost control of himself.

Sarah noticed Derek's change. She saw the same mix of determination and kindness into Derek's eyes as she did in Kyle's, yet they were different. His touch was soft, relaxing. Alcohol, closeness, admiration, she didn't resist Derek's gentle pull, although perfectly aware of what he was up to.

Their lips made contact into a small, gentle kiss, almost a mutual assessment, more a promise for later.

Sarah broke the kiss. "No shenanigans," she whispered, looking down for a moment. Just when Derek started to feel uncomfortable, Sarah suddenly straddled his lap, cupped his face with her hands and forcefully kissed him. He reciprocated and they let themselves fall on the couch in a passionate embrace.

The sexual tension was palpable. Soon, they started making their way up to Sarah's room, never stopping exploring their bodies and kissing, leaving bits and pieces of their clothes all the way up.

###

Since Cameron had left them, John and Riley had danced for a moment, striving to forget the unhappy event, and eventually returned to the buffet. John offered Riley a glass of orange juice.

"Riley, do you feel better now?" he asked with concern.

"Yes John, I'm alright now, thanks to you. I don't know why your sister hates me so much."

"She's very protective over me," John explained. "That doesn't give her the right to behave like she did anyway. I'm upset with her," he then let out.

Excellent!

"Let's forget about her now." Riley quickly changed the subject. She suddenly reached and hugged him, her head resting on his left shoulder, close to his heart. "John, I feel good when I'm in your arms. It's like nothing can happen to me."

John spread his arms in surprise when she hugged him, but he soon hugged her back, gently resting his hands in the small of her back. They remained silent, locked in a tender embrace for a long moment, until he felt something soaking his shirt. He looked over to find tears dripping from Riley's eyes.

"Hey! It's over. You're with me. Let's forget it happened," John softly said in order to comfort her.

"I know." Riley just responded between two sobs. She couldn't bear it any longer so she broke down a little. Her tears were real, as well as the sensation of security in John's arms. She was suffering the aftermath of her dreadful encounter with the machine, she was almost sure it would have killed her, would have they not been disturbed by someone. She found comfort in the idea that the machine couldn't attempt anything as long as she would be in John's company.

John tried to remain comforting to Riley. He could easily imagine how scary Cameron could have been to Riley. Therefore, it was logical that she'd broken down… and that he had to comfort her. For some strange reason, however, he thought about Cameron again. Not about their quarrel, he considered it would take him time to forget, assuming he would one day. No, he oddly thought about Cameron's strong and blank side. She never was, or at least seemed to look out of control, in need to be comforted. This was one of the traits in her personality she lacked, one that had always prevented him to get closer to her. Boys always appreciate girls' vulnerable side and he believed girls always appreciate when boys comfort them and John was no exception.

Riley looked up and locked eyes with John. She brought her arm behind his neck and slowly pulled his head down as she was closing the distance between their faces and parted her lips in anticipation of the kiss, one that should have the taste of victory.

Their lips were only millimeters away when suddenly Riley felt a strong grip over her free arm. Before the two teenagers could understand what was happening, Riley found herself forcefully dragged back and in the confusion, she couldn't figure out who was pulling her.

John was snapped to reality when he heard Riley's cry of surprise and felt her arm that was around his neck quickly go away. It took him just a moment to realize that his 'sister' was rudely dragging his girlfriend-to-be away from him.

"Hey?" he cried.

Riley was complaining, barely keeping her balance as Cameron was still pulling her away.

"Cameron, stop that!" John shouted with more conviction and anger.

But Cameron wasn't listening, or more precisely making her best efforts not to. She adamantly kept leading Riley out the room. The scene was unreal. A girl was unceremoniously and effortlessly hauled by another girl who looked smaller, with an upset bellowing boy in their wake trying to catch up. Everybody looked at them until they all got out of the room.

Becky Taylor didn't see who was responsible for that mess, but she bet that it was Cameron Baum again.

Cameron only stopped when she made sure she found an isolated spot. She chose a storeroom distant enough from the ballroom, as she didn't know how the events would turn from this point. She tossed Riley to the far end of the room who lost her balance and almost crashed into the crates that were stored there. Then Cameron stood in the door's frame in a terminator-like steady posture, arms alongside her body and legs slightly spread and remained still, her death stare put on to complete the picture.

Just moments later, John arrived in the storeroom too and directly threw himself at Cameron in utter anger. "Why did you do that? Why do you hound her? What's wrong with you?" he yelled, drumming on Cameron's upper chest.

Cameron didn't prevent him from hitting her. She knew that at this point, it was useless to stop him and beside, he wasn't in a position to make her any damage. She didn't move at all and kept her perfectly blank expression all during the time he struck her. However as much as she expected John to do it and prepared herself for it, she found the experience extremely unpleasant.

Riley slowly collected her wits and realized that her nightmare had just resumed. Only John could save her now, she looked at him still hitting the machine.

John was beside himself. However, he quickly realized it was useless to hit Cameron, as she hadn't moved from a millimeter since he'd started and his fists were starting to be sore. He began to worry if she had gone haywire again but wondered why she wouldn't retaliate.

"What's wrong with you?" he ranted at her. He was close to losing it. "Tell me, or I'll take your chip out of that metal skull of yours and I'll destroy it myself!" he blurted out, pointing a menacing finger at her. Then he realized what he'd just said and in the presence of whom. He froze and put his hand before his mouth. He turned to look over Riley, but she didn't seem to be very surprised or feel concerned by what had just been said.

He turned back to Cameron, a puzzled look on his face. He was lost, he had no clue why his blunder had no apparent consequences. He didn't have the slightest idea of what was going on.

Is this a nightmare or what?

"It doesn't matter John," Cameron started. "She already knows what I am."

"What? How?" John asked in shock.

"She's from the future," Cameron deadpanned.

END OF CHAPTER