The Girl Behind the Cameras

Chapter 5

The next day I watch as the bus makes its rounds to pick up schoolchildren, but I had to walk a bit to the public bus that leads out of town. I keep my head down under my hat and my hair in gentle curls.

I make it to the bus stop and sit on the bench until the blue and white bus moves by me. It stops and the doors sling open. I step onto the steps and hold onto one of the slick metal poles.

The ride was long to be standing the entire time, but it wasn't anything new. Some people recognize me while I'm out, but most either point or just stare. Paparazzi have a habit of harassing be though.

I step off the bus and make the walk to my dad's house. The dirt road was old and has once been kept up by an old neighbor before he passed away. Now, branches from storms months ago still lay in the road.

It wasn't long before I was pushing open the screen door as stepping into my dad's kitchen.

I walk throughout this the house and into the living room and my brother sits, propping his legs up on the recliner in front of him with a soda in one hand. He was darker now than he was when he left and his hair was shorter. My father and him looked deep in conversation.

"Look who's home." I say with a smile. Cameron's eyes move to me and he pushes in his recliner and stands up to hug me. He raps his arms around my neck and traps me in his grip.

I struggle to get away from him, laughing. He's went on trips like this before and came back with the same personality but different ideas on life.

When I pull away I smile and push him playfully away. I hug my dad who stays in his chair and then sit beside Cameron on the couch.

"How was it?" I ask, though I got updates frequently on everything going on while he was away.

"Great. You should go somewhere with me next. It's worth it." His face says it all. I'd thought about joining him on another one of his trips, but I always found reasons why it was a bad idea.

Cameron was enrolled in an online college that had connections with a study abroad program. He was going into a medical field and gets credits for doing these things. He was twenty one and had done well so far.

"I'll think about it." I say with a slight laugh and leave it at that. Cameron launches into some conversation with my father about I kid they brought a prosthetic leg for.

Later that night I was still thinking about Trey, but I didn't know why. Questions swarmed my head: Why did he hold my hand in the cinema? Why did he want to take me out to dinner? And how did he understand the things I felt when I barely did?

My door creaks open and the light streams into my room from the hallway. Cameron stands as a silhouette but steps into my room and shuts the door back. I sit up in my bed which was in the corner of my cozy room and watch him.

"Make room." Cameron says and pushes me over on the bed and lifts the covers so he can crawl into my bed. His hair was still damp from the shower he took and his clothes were older ones that he left here.

"Hey." I mutter quietly. Cameron had the same blond hair that Paisley and my mother shared, but instead of deep blue eyes he had grayish-blue ones. The three of them could pass as a beautiful and happy family. I could be picked out as a black sheep easily.

"What's wrong? You've been distant all night." He says seriously and watches me from where he sits beside of me. I look down at the blanket that was falling from my bent knees.

"There's just a lot to think about." I say, which wasn't exactly a lie but I doubt it was what Cameron was looking for.

"Like What? I know mother can be difficult, but is it that different than it always was?" He asks, confused.