teenage tragedy (Max Mayfield)

1. three

Camden's phone woke her up the next morning. She groaned and answered it.

"What?" she mumbled.

"It's Mike," he said.

Camden lifted her head up, seeing it was six am.

"Wheels, I'm going to fucking murder you. It's six in the fucking morning and school doesn't start until eight," Camden said.

"You need to stay off school and come to my house. It's about Will," Mike said.

Camden groaned loudly over the phone.

"I am so mad at you right now. I'll be there soon," Camden snapped.

"Come through the basement," Mike said.

"Aye aye, captain," Camden said.

She slammed the phone down and rolled out of bed with a groan.

"Honey? You up?" Marissa knocked on Camden's door.

"Yeah, mom. Uh, I had another bad night," Camden said, opening the door and pulling on a fake-sick face.

Marissa put her hand to Camden's forehead and frowned.

"You still have this fever. Okay, downstairs. We're going to check it with the thermometer," Marissa said.

Camden followed her downstairs and into the kitchen where Peter, her father, was pouring coffee into a travel cup for himself and Marissa.

"Hey, kiddo," Peter nodded at her.

"She still has her fever," Marissa said, sitting Camden at the kitchen island.

Camden sighed as Peter immediately moved to grab the first aid box where the thermometer was.

"Did you have another nightmare?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Camden said.

It wasn't exactly a lie. Since Will had gone missing, Camden's nightmares had become a nightly occurrence. Before his disappearance, she only had them once a month and on the twenty fourth of every month, which was the date of when the fire happened.

"Open up," Marissa said, producing the thermometer from the box.

Camden opened her mouth and let Marissa take her temperature. The thermometer beeped and Marissa pulled it out.

"101.2," Marissa said. "Peter, dear, will you phone the school and tell them she's not coming in today?" she said.

"Of course," Peter said, moving to the phone.

"Come on, honey. Back to bed for you," Marissa said, patting Camden's shoulders.

Camden nodded and headed back upstairs.

"Are you at home today?" Camden asked.

"No, I'm heading out before Steve does with your dad. But you need anything, you call me. Loads of water, okay? And make sure you eat something. If this carries on, I'm taking you to the doctor tomorrow," Marissa said.

"They can't do anything, mom," Camden said, getting back into bed.

"Well, they can try something. This isn't normal. You're never normally like this, not when it isn't the anniversary," Marissa said, tucking Camden's hair behind her ears.

"I'm fine, mom. I promise. I'm just tired," Camden said.

"I know, honey. I know," Marissa kissed her forehead. "Call me if you need anything, okay? I love you," Marissa said.

"I love you, too, mom," Camden said.

"I'll tell Steve he's not taking you again today. I'll be back by seven and so will your dad," she said.