The Heartless Persona

11

"I remember my teacher farted in class and started crying," Jack had said. They had all stopped to grab a bite to eat and were all telling funny stories. Instead of Keri sitting next to Cam, he had sat down next to her.

Everyone laughed at Jack's story. Keri didn't do her usual giggle, but truly laughed--with an ocassional quiet snort, too.

"One time, I ran into a door and had to get stitches," Keri remembered.

"I remember that!" Cam chuckled. "You saw a dog and got distracted."

Keri looked over to Cam with a grin on her face. He stared back at her with one side of his mouth pulled towards his ear.

She noticed how deep his dimple was. Or how he wore a different cologne every day (which always smelled amazing). Or even how his eyes were soft and warm.

She saw things she never saw before.

Keri broke her gaze away, realizing that she was staring at him for a while. Her eyes had looked over to Jack, who was still smiling from the stories.

"Did Cam ever tell you about that one time we wanted to make our own pool, so we filled up the bathtub and ended up flooding the bathroom?"

That threw Jack into a laughing fit. He threw his head back and his face turned red. He started to complain that his stomach and cheeks hurt from laughing so much.

Keri noticed how certain aspects of Jack reminded her of Cam, when they were his age. Both of the boys would laugh easily--and when they did, it was hard for them to stop. They were both well-mannered. And they also looked alike, although they didn't have a lot of the same features like Mason and Cam did. Instead, Keri could see that Cam and Jack made the same expressions and gestures.

Cam couldn't help but to stare at Keri with the same expression on his face. Mason had even noticed it.

"You okay there, Cam?" Mason smirked with a devious twinkle in his eye.

"Perfect."

After paying the bill, they all went to a few more stores before getting a taxi to go back to the house.

Keri twirled her new bracelet around her wrist as she laid on her bed. A small smile appeared on her face as she remembered the day's early events. Her feet kicked in the air and she rested on her stomach.

She suddenly heard a knock on her door, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Come in!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, sweetie. We're all about to go out for drinks. We'll be back later," Mrs. Hastings said.

Shocker. They were going out for drinks. For the millionth time.

"Oh," she was secretly hoping someone else was at her door. "Okay. Bye," her voice was soft. She continued twirling around her new piece of jewelry until she got up off of her bed.

She was in pajamas with her hair pulled up as she made her way to Cam's bedroom. After lightly knocking, and hearing a 'come in,' she went inside.

"Hey," Cam said, his eyes flicked down her body.

"Hey," she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Um, thanks for the bracelet," she lifted up her wrist.

"Yeah, no problem."

It went quiet for a moment until Keri kept talking. "Anyway, you...you wanna watch TV, or something?" Her fingers anxiously toyed with the ring on her finger.

She didn't want to admit it, but she kind of enjoyed Cam's company. Especially after today's gesture. She was sure he was going to be stubborn throughout this entire trip, but he surprised her with the bracelet. Maybe it served as a peace offering.

"Sure, let's go," he smiled at her.