Red

Chapter 9

Soon he returns with my school bag in hand and he places down beside the bed. And then following that, I'm forced to drag myself to the school entrance where mum waits for me.

"Cam! Are you okay?" She asks.
"Yeah, I really don't know what happened, but my nose is still bleeding," I say, holding a tissue to my nose.
"Well, let's get you home and rested for when everyone comes round today. And if this happens again, we'll go to the doctors to see what's wrong."
"Okay, I'm sure it's just a one off occurrence though," I reply, deciding not to mention how I was found somewhere far from my class.

I follow her to the car, and as I go to get in, I see a glimpse of a familiar face that makes me gape almost too noticeably.

What's Shay doing here?

I could run after him right now if I wanted to, skip all the complicated stuff and just talk to him again, but mum is right there and due to his long legs, he's a much faster runner than me.

"Cameron, is something wrong?" Mum asks. Shaking my head, I get in the car, keeping a close eye on Shay as I get in. He doesn't move, this concerned look plastered on his face. Is something wrong?

Just moments after mum starts driving, she pulls to a sudden stop, her eyes widening as she stares at Shay. Or at least, where he was just a few seconds ago.

"I thought I saw him," she breathes, staring duly. "I thought he was there, I thought I would be able to bring him home, I... I'm sorry about all that Cameron, it's just-"
"It's fine mum, it's fine," I reply, lightly taking her hand. "You miss him, I understand."
"Cameron... it's not fine. I'm supposed to be strong for you and-"

"You're allowed to be upset by all this. I don't expect you to be strong through it all. He may be my brother, but he's also your son, and... you're allowed to mourn him and miss him and..." I trail off, realising that no matter how much I say all this, I might just leave her in order to find Shay, and she'll be in even more pain.

"Thank you Cam," she smiles, wiping tears from her eyes.
"Now let's go home. Or hey, how about this? We can go get some food, just us; dad doesn't need to know," I suggest, trying to change the subject.
"Well... fine... anywhere in particular you want to go?"
"Hmmm, not really... how about..."
"There's a nice café down Harlow Road, we could go there. You can get hot chocolate."
"Alright, let's go there!"

After about ten minutes of driving, we arrive at the road, where mum seems to spend another ten minutes finding a place to park. I knew it was difficult to park here, but I wasn't expecting it to be this bad at this time of day. It's not even noon yet, which I suppose is why mum suggested a café rather than a restaurant where you can only get large meals.

Eventually, she finds a spot to park on one of the roads leading off Harlow Road, and we can finally head to the café.

"Mrs Phillips owns this café. You remember her, right? Oliver's mum."
"I recall that she was quite nice and relaxed. Very different to Oliver... he's so loud," I groan, remembering our encounter just yesterday. "Does she know... y'know, about Shay?"
"Yes, why'd you ask?"
"Well... I bumped into Oliver yesterday. And he didn't seem to know. So either he really didn't, or he was messing with me."
"I know you dislike him now, but I doubt he'd do something like that," she replies. 
"Yeah... you're probably right. When it comes to Shay, it's like my anxiety skyrockets. School's far worse than usual at this time of year..."

"Maybe that explains why you fainted, maybe it's stress. And if that's the case, you can vent to me as much as you want, you know that, right?"

I nod with a smile despite not believing that stress caused today's peculiar event. First of all, I've been far more stressed before and nothing of the sort has happened and also, that simply doesn't explain where I woke up.

Now that I think about it, it's somewhat similar to what happened the other night. Falling asleep on the sofa watching Mulan, then waking up on my bedroom floor with a nosebleed.

Shaking my head very slightly, I look down at the bloody tissue I've been holding to my nose this whole time. Chances are it's just coincidence, but two nosebleeds in less than a week, both under odd circumstances, it just seems odd. Especially considering I'm not prone to nosebleeds, I'd usually only get them after actually damaging my nose, like that one time a netball was thrown right into my nose from the opposite side of the school playground. The main thing I remember about that day was how much one of the teachers yelled at the student who threw it, mainly because of how much I sobbed.

"I think I'm going to invite them..." I mutter out of nowhere as I glance down at my phone.
"Invite who? And to what?"
"Well, Phil and Emma seem really desperate to visit. I thought maybe they could come round after school at some point this week. Maybe... Wednesday?"
"Sure, whatever works for you Cam. Now come on, let's go eat."

I end up having a slice of delectable chocolate cake. The taste alone is enough to remind me of the times I would visit Oliver's house as a kid and his mum would make this very cake almost every time. Additionally, I can't help but satisfy my sweet tooth as I even get a hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream to go along with my drink.

"You could've gone for something at least a little healthy y'know..." Mum laughs slightly.
"I think I deserve to treat myself. I passed out earlier," I reply before taking a sip from my drink and getting whipped cream all around my mouth. I quickly wipe it off before taking a bite from the cake. "Yum... brings back memories."

As mum smiles gently at me, my phone rings quite loudly, the complete opposite of the energy mum was giving off just seconds ago. I look down and see Evie's name on the screen.

God, I'm going to get bombarded. But at the same time, later, I'll regret not picking up now.

"He-"
"Cam! Are you okay?! Robin told me everything! You're not dying, are you?!" Evie almost squeaks over the phone.
"Evie, I'm fine. I passed out, that's all, it's not the end of the world," I reply, trying to be as reassuring as possible.
"Well it would be if you ended up getting hurt... So, apparently Robin already told you, but I'm planning to visit over the weekend. I miss both of you so much, and by the sound of things, I'm gonna need to check up on you," she says. "Would I be able to stay the night at your house when I do?"
"Umm, lemme ask," I reply before moving the phone away from my ear. "Evie wants to visit over the weekend, is it alright if she sleeps over on Saturday night?"

"Of course it is," Mum smiles.

"It's a yes! Now... shouldn't you be in class?" I ask with a smirk.
"I-I've got a free period."
"Don't lie to me Evie, remember, you sent me a picture of your time table so we chat during free periods, right now you should be in an IT lesson."
"Fine, you caught me... I just got so worried so I told my teacher I needed to go to the toilet so y'know, I'm calling you in here. I guess I should go then... bye Cam, see you Saturday."
"Mhmm, bye Evie."

Soon, we finish our food and mum pays, so we head back to the car. On the way there, I notice a wide eyed cat staring at me, something about the cat seems familiar. That's it! It looks like Evie's cat Draco. I almost feel obligated to take a picture for her.

Carefully, I reach out and stroke the cat, taking a picture of it as I do. It seems like I'm still a cat person after all this time. We had a cat for a period of time when I was little, my parents had gotten her a few years before even Shay was born, so by the time I was born, she must've been about six or seven. She was a black cat named Socks, the name inspired by her white paws. She died when I was seven, so none of my current friends got to meet her, but I know that both Evie and Robin would've adored her. I certainly did. She was so soft and fluffy and unlike most cats, she loved hugs.

A grin on my face, I send the picture to Evie along with a little caption to add to it.

Me: Looks like I found Draco's twin!