Never Grow Old (Ricky Horror Fan Fic - I Need To Be Loved Book #3)

When Love Met Destruction

AN: This chapter is dedicated to @attackthemotionles for being the first to leave such a lovely comment on the last chapter! :)

Song: You Had Me @ Hello by A Day To Remember

Cameron

First period was slow and boring, but at least I had Alex to suffer with me. The bell rang, dismissing us from the hell that was Chemistry. I reluctantly said goodbye to my friend and went to find my English class. I actually really liked English. I loved to write. Maybe it was because my both my parents were so great at writing songs, so the trait was practically running through my blood. When I did find my class, I took a seat in an empty desk in the front row next to a boy I had never seen before. He had short blonde hair and the most amazing green eyes I had ever seen. His muscular body screamed 'jock.' Considering I was unfamiliar with him, I figured he was new. Even though I had only a few friends, I knew the names of almost everyone in my class. I hadn't realized how long I was looking at him until he shot me a breathtaking smile. Wait, was I really attracted to him? I mean, I had to admit, he was easy on the eyes, but he was obviously athletic, which probably meant he was a complete asshole. Then, why would he smile at me? If he was an asshole then he would've taken one look at me and thought that I was weird. I softly smiled back before the bell rang and our teacher appeared at the front of the room. He gave us all welcoming smiles before starting in on his beginning of the year speech and took role.

I tried not to stare at the guy next to me, who I found out through role call was named Elliott, but I kept finding myself stealing glances. Thankfully, I don't think he noticed. Finally, the bell rang and everyone flooded out of the room. My next class was pre-calculus and I was dreading it. I took a higher level math and I had regretted it from freshman year. The problem now was that every lower level class seemed to be a repeat of the previous year's higher level class. So, it was either struggle or be completely bored. As all these math thoughts raced around in my brain, I didn't realize that someone had started to walk next to me. When I looked over, Elliott towered over me. I hadn't realized how tall he was until then. He had to be over six feet tall and because I was tiny I looked like a midget next to me.

"Hi, I'm Elliott," he greeted, peering down at me. He ran a hand through his light hair, making his muscles flex. He was even more beautiful close up

"Hey. I'm Cameron," I responded, feeling my cheeks turn hot. Why was he talking to me? Most of the jocks barely even acknowledged my existence let alone started a conversation with me. The butterflies in my stomach flapped their wings vigorously. "Um, did you just move here?" I questioned nervously. I rarely talked to anyone besides Alex and Luke unless it was to stick up for myself, like this earlier with Brittany.

"My family moved here in the beginning of July," he responded. That explained why I hadn't seen him over the summer. Motionless In White and Into the Dark had done a short co-headliner over the summer, so we had been gone most of the summer. Even if he lived down the street from us, I probably wouldn't have known. "Do you know where room D-18 is?" he asked after a pause.

"Yeah, I'm going to D-16 so I'll show you," I responded with a smile. The rest of the way there was forced to be silent by the crowds we had to weave through. It was hard to think of something to say if when I had to avoid slamming into people.

"Uh, thanks. I'll see you later," he told me when we arrived at our destination. I gave him a smile as he entered the room. As soon as he was out of sight, my heartbeat seemed to slow down and the butterflies in my stomach seemed to calm themselves. I was still kind of confused as to why he talked to me. There were over a thousand people in this school, so why would he start a conversation with me of all people? I just shook my head and continued down the hall to D-16.

The next few periods went by slowly, but at least no one made fun of me. When the bell for lunch finally rang, I started to my locker. Alex and Luke had agreed to meet me there before we all headed to the cafeteria. Both of them were already there when I arrived. Because they didn't know each other too well, they weren't talking to each other, but, to my surprise, Luke was standing next to another guy who was also dressed in all black. "So, do I need to go intimidate any freshmen?" I asked my best friend when I approached him with a joking grin.

"It actually wasn't as bad as I though it would be," he responded with a small smile. That sentence was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I would seriously beat up anyone who messed with Luke. I was like an overprotective older sister when it came to him.

I looked at the new guy, my brow furrowed with question. "Oh and this is Jake. We figured out we have almost ever class together. Jake, this is Cameron," he introduced. Knowing that he had a friend that would hopefully be there to help him through everything also put me at ease.

After the introductions, we started to walk to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was probably the worst place in the whole school. It was loud. It was a prime time for people to pick on each other. It was living Hell. Thankfully once we got there we were able to find an empty table with no problem. It was a known fact that unless you wanted to die, you had to bring your own food, so none of us had to stand in line. I swear, the food they served resembled dog food. It was never pleasant when you were forced to buy lunch.

I was about to ask Luke what classes he had already had when Elliott walked by our table with some of the football players. I was guessing that he joined the football team over the summer when their practices started and that was how he knew them. He gave a smile and I smiled back, the butterflies immediately returning to my stomach. Why did someone I barely knew have this affect on me? I had never been this nervous around anyone. I had had one boyfriend before this and not even he had made me feel like this. Well, that was probably why we didn't last very long. I met him when I was in search of a band to join. We ended up going out for about a month before we decided to just be friends. I'm still the guitarist for his band, but all the members lived in a different town, so they went to a different school.

"Who are you smiling at?" Luke questioned, turning around to see what was preoccupying me. When he saw Elliott, he turned back to me. "Who's that?" he asked in disgust. I had to admit, Elliott was nothing like us. By that I mean, he was where a white t-shirt and cargo shorts, not all black, and his face was makeup-less.

"Um, this guy in my English class. He's new," I responded, my cheeks burning with embarrassment as I looked down at my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Three set of eyes burned into the top of my head.

"Ooo, someone's got a crush," Alex teased, a huge grin on her face. I was surprised Luke wasn't the first to taunt me. We make fun of each often since we feel like brother and sister.

"You like him?" Luke questioned in shock. As I said, Elliott wasn't someone anyone who looked like me should go for, so I knew why he was so surprised. When I glanced over at the football players' table, I could already see girls, probably cheerleaders, at his side most likely laughing with their annoyingly high pitched giggles at something he said that wasn't really that funny. Why would someone like that like me? Why would I even waste my time thinking he would like me?

"He's nice," I mumbled, not wanting to confess my true feelings. I wanted to say that I thought he was really hot and that he made me all anxious inside and that I had never felt like this around someone, but I kept it to myself.

"You cannot like someone like that," he responded, with revulsion laced in his voice. Well, he was really being supportive, wasn't he?

"God, Luke, let her be. It's just a harmless crush. Anyway, he smiled at her first, so maybe he likes her, too. Just because he's athletic doesn't mean he's the devil. Just let her like him," Alex scolded, patting my back. Could he really like me back? He was probably just being nice because I showed him to his class today, right? He couldn't actually like me.

Thankfully, the conversation turned to our summers. Jake was pretty impressed when he found out that Luke and I had spent most of the two months we had off on tour. I kept glancing back over at the table where Elliott was sitting, though. Once our eyes caught and I gave him a soft smile, which he returned. What if he did like me? Was that really realistic?