Chapter 9 – Too Real
Camille! Camille! She could hear her name echoing in the dark around her. The voice she recognized instantly as James' but, try as she might, Camille couldn't see anything. She spun around, trying to find a way out. The only thing she could feel was the floor beneath her, smooth and cold against her bare feet. After a few minutes, Camille noticed small bright light out of the corner of her eye.
"James? James, where are you?" She walked towards the light, trying to feel her way through the dark shadows. As she walked, it seemed the light moved further and further away, always out of reach. After what seemed like hours, Camille finally reached the light and was immediately engulfed by it. Nearly blinded, she covered her eyes. Soon the light dissipated and Camille peeked through open fingers. As her hands dropped, she gasped. She was back in her apartment at the Palm Woods. Her promotional posters for Magic Middle School adorned the living room walls, interspersed with photos of her family. Camille turned around, finding her Young Artist Awards still up on the shelf above the television. As she reached for one, she was startled by a knock on the door. Camille went to answer it, but when she tried to grab the handle, her hand passed straight through it. After a few attempts, she heard footsteps coming from her bedroom. A much younger Camille emerged, tears in her eyes. The sweats, the crop top, the running mascara, it was all coming back to her. "No, it can't be," she whispered as the door burst open.
"Cam, what's wrong? I came as fast as I…have you been crying? Cam, please tell me what's going on!" James stood in the doorway in a panic. His words flew by a mile a minute, his voice laced with worry.
"I'm…" the younger Camille ushered James into the apartment and shut the door. "James, I'm pregnant." She began sobbing.
James walked over to the crying girl, holding her close. "But we…we were careful. We—"
"Well obviously not careful enough!" she cried, pushing James away. The older woman gasped, searing with the same anger her younger self displayed. "What am I going to do, James? What am I going to do?"
"Well, are you sure you're even…I mean, how do you—"
Three white plastic sticks fell to the floor, young Camille's arm outstretched. "I'm a week late and they're all positive."
James stared at the pregnancy tests, the blue plus signs searing themselves in his memory. "I'm sorry. I am. I'm so sorry…" His voice trailed as his eyes, too, formed tears.
The room fell silent. Camille watched from the doorway, her heart pounding. Though she'd been here once before, she anxiously hoped the outcome might be different this time around.
"Who knows?" the boy finally mustered.
"Right now, just you."
"When did you figure it out?"
"A few days ago."
Silence fell. Suddenly James fell to one knee.
"James, what are you—"
"Marry me."
"What?"
"You heard me, Camille. Marry me."
"James, what the hell?"
"Look, I can't undo what we did, but I can at least try to make it right."
"Make it right? James, nothing can make this right."
"Well, at least let me try. I've got all this money saved up, we could get a place, I can take care of you. And the baby…We can make this work."
"What about this?" Camille gestured between the two of them. "How are we going to make us work?"
"What about us?"
"James, I can barely even look at you after what you did to me, how do you expect me to live with you?"
The tears were streaming down his face now. "Camille, what are you saying?"
The older Camille took a deep breath, bracing herself for what she knew came next.
"You took advantage of me, James! You know it, too. You think I don't remember that night? All your talk about me being something special, a star? What a load. Then telling me to keep it a secret the next morning? And of course I did it, because for some reason I thought you were different, I really did. But you're not different, James. You're just like any other man. And to add insult to injury, you went and knocked me up. You didn't care about me at all, James. You just wanted to get in my pants. Well, congratulations. You got what you wanted. Are you happy now?" Hands flew over her mouth as soon as she finished, wishing the words could be taken back.
James looked like he'd been punched in the stomach. "Is that really how you feel?"
Her head hung low, still in shock. "Yes, but—"
"That's all I needed to hear."
Suddenly everything began to fade away. Camille crumbled to the ground as she heard her younger self calling after James, both of their sobs echoing in the darkness.