those years between us

[25] COOL WITH YOU

"I'VE HEARD SOME interesting things about you," I drawled out, staring at Cami as she adjusted the stack of books on her dining table. She'd kept a mass majority of Livia's furniture, only moving a shelf here and there, and so far she'd done a good job of keeping the room neat. She usually struggled with that, especially during our years at boarding school. I liked to think that me screaming at her every time I walked into her old dorm room and seeing the piles upon piles of random stuff on the floor helped with that.

"You'll have to elaborate," Cami answered, turning her head to glance at me. "What specifically?"

"Dean Hui?"

"Oh Christ."

"I seem to have severely misunderstood the situation. Sort of reversed the roles you two had in your... conflict."

"What, you thought I'd fallen for him?" There was a wry little smile on her face as she shoved the books to the side, turning around, both hands perched on the table as she stared at me. "You know what kind of person I am."

"I'd also heard a lot about Dean's reputation."

"He's not as cold and mean about that kind of thing as you might think. He's not actually allergic to dating. Quite obviously."

"You said no?"

She shrugged. "Kind of, yeah."

"You're not into him?"

"He's cute."

"That's not an answer."

"No, Salome, I don't want to date him."

"He wants to date you?"

"That's what he said."

"And now he's angry?"

Cami bit her lips. "I seem to have accidentally led him on."

I groaned. Loudly. "This is what I told you not to do, Cami."

"I think you were more worried about him breaking my heart than the other way around."

"I mean, I don't know him, but I know you, and you're my friend. Of course I'm worried about you getting hurt."

"Yeah, well, I can handle myself." She wrinkled her nose. "I don't know about him, though."

"You guys..."

"Fucked? Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "Don't be a prude, Salome, I'm eighteen."

"No, no, I'm not judging, just... wow. How was it?"

Now she narrowed her eyes as she stared at me. "Now you're a bit too open, Salome."

"So am I too prude or too open? Make up your mind."

"A bit of both right now." She shook her head, strolling over and plopping herself onto the sofa next to me. "I'm not answering that, Salome. Not unless you tell me what it feels like to make out with Orion Ip."

"I did not make out with him."

"You kissed him though."

"Like once," I huffed. "Hardly worth mentioning."

"Hardly worth mentioning? Seriously, Salome? Was it that bad?"

"No, that's not what I meant, it's just—oh, for fuck's sake, Cami!"

She grinned, patting me on the back. "Now you know what I felt just now when you asked me that. Deal with it, suck it up."

I glared at her as she grabbed her iPad from the table, flicking the cover open. I turned back to my phone, letting my head lay on her shoulders, her hands wrapping around mine.