Lola

19

Reluctantly, I put on the gloves. They're disturbingly moist. The air in the greenhouse is sticky and reeks of manure. I look around at the dull surroundings. "Well, this is romance at it's finest."

Cam grins. "Sorry, there were no palaces nearby. You'll have to make do with this abundance of dirt and sweltering heat."

"Well, I guess that's nearly as good as a palace. I just needed to talk to you."

"Shoot."

I feel my face going hot. "I just think that maybe we should talk about what happened."

His eyebrows raise with surprise. "We did. We chatted for ages that night, remember?"

My blushing intensifies. "I suppose so, but we didn't really decide, you know, what we are?"

Now it's Cam's turn to blush. "You mean, if we're in a relationship?"

I'm grateful that he said it so I don't have to. "Yeah - that."

He looks at the floor. "Well, what do you want to do?"

This is the hard part. I can't appear too enthusiastic, but I also can't risk seeming disinterested. "I've been thinking a bit. And I think you're cool and stuff. But we haven't really known each other that long. Pretty much everything we talk about is to do with Lola. It seems quick to jump into a relationship when we've really only just met."

His expression is unreadable. "So...is that a polite way of turning me down?"

"No, no! Sorry, I'm bad at this. I don't want to let this opportunity pass me by. I just think that maybe we don't have to call it official yet. We can just be..."

I trail off, unsure of the word that I'm looking for before Cam jumps in. "Dating?"

I smile. "Right. We can just be dating and see how it goes."

A small smile spreads across his face. "Right, dating it is."

I sigh. "We seem to be good at making things complicated for ourselves."

"Sadly, yes. I guess we should tell the others and get the mockery over and done with."

Suddenly, I feel a pang of sadness. It must show on my face, as Cam begins to look concerned. "What's wrong?"

Somehow I doubt Cam will understand. "It's just...I always thought that whenever something like this would happen, my best friends would be the first to know. It'd be exciting, you know?"

The realisation is visible in his green eyes. "Right. And now Lola's, well, gone. And Caitlyn would kill you."

"Basically, yes."

He pats me on the shoulder with his sweaty gardening glove and I recoil slightly. "It's okay. My friends really like you. Kel's great for a good gossip, you can talk about it with her."

His effort to cheer me up is endearing, but we both know that talking to Kel wouldn't be the same. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Anyway, I was thinking I might try and talk to Jacob at some point and see if he'd open up to me rather than Zig."

"Hmmm. That could work. Did you know him well?"

"Not well, but we got along. Sometimes I'd play video games with him which he seemed to like. I often see him after school by the gate, so I could try talking to him then."

Cam seems impressed. "That'd be awesome. Thanks, Dani."

I smile. "Anytime, partner."

As I look up at him, I notice that he's come a little closer. I tilt my head to the side reflexively as the space between us slowly shrinks. This time, I know what's coming.

I close my eyes and feel his warm breath on my face. I momentarily wonder how I can discern the specific feeling of his breath in amongst the already hot and damp air of the greenhouse. At least I wouldn't be able to tell if he had bad breath with all this manure lying around. I place a sweaty, gloved hand on his shoulder awkwardly and lean in.

I think I'm ready this time.

Then, I hear someone bashing on the door.

Cam and I jump apart, and I expect an angry teacher to come in and tell us off. But the voice I hear tells me that things are a lot worse than I anticipated.

"Knock knock, lovebirds! Mind if I join you?"

Cam stares at me, his mouth open with horror.

Caitlyn is standing at the greenhouse door.